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This page is intended for printing purposes. Note that the internal links to references will not work correctly.
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By Concha Fernández de la Puente - January 2001
This section aims to provide news of the European Commission's initiatives in the field of digital heritage and cultural content. Its objectives are to summarise the developments in programmes, projects and activities since the last Cultivate Interactive issue and to give a clear picture of progress in the area. It certainly does not pretend to be a comprehensive account of what the EC is doing in the area but rather a short summary of some of the key items. The content is based largely on the information provided in the e-Culture Newsletter, published by the European Commission, DG Information Society, Cultural Heritage Applications Unit, that can be found on the Web [1].
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The Cultural Heritage Applications unit, that runs RTD and content projects in the area of cultural heritage has been following up its activities since the last issue of Cultivate Interactive and would like to present these developments to you now after the Christmas break.
The Information Society Technologies Programme (IST) has published the workprogramme [2] that will be implemented in 2001 For the Digital Heritage sector, two action lines have been included: ALIII.1.2 Heritage for All and ALIII.1.3. Next Generation of Digital Collections. We expect to include them in the call that will be launched in January 2001. If you are interested in these action lines, keep in touch through our Web site [3]
Since the beginning of the IST programme in 1998, there have been 4 calls that included action lines for the digital heritage sector. We can now give you some figures for the first 3 calls, which show the scope and impact of this sector. We have received 174 proposals that have resulted in a total of 32 actions funded (23 RTD projects, 6 support actions and 3 grants) with a cost of 82 Mecu of which the EC funding is 43 Mecu. The average size of a RTD project is 3.3 Mecu with an average number of 8.5 participants. There are 295 participating organisations of which 258 are from EU Member States and 37 are from non-EU countries. We have also identified some emerging clusters from the funded projects: film heritage, digital libraries, metadata, virtual heritage, knowledge information chains and cross-domain issues.
As we can see, the Digital heritage and Cultural Content sector of IST has a number of activities in the area of applying new technologies for accessing and preserving film heritage [4]. The sector is also following the DG Education and Culture activities on film heritage, specifically the European Council’s resolution on the conservation and enhancement of European cinema heritage. It is participating in the “Groupe de contact patrimoine audiovisuel et cinématographique” established at the general assembly on film heritage held in Sintra.
The projects funded under the film heritage area deal both with digital restoration of film and with the development of access to digital film collections, and have in total around 20 Meuro costs, with 10 Meuro funding from the Commission. Some of the technical research areas are automatic restoration of impaired film to HDTV quality, digital film libraries accessible over the Internet, improved retrieval and identification techniques (image recognition, speech recognition) and multilingual access and multimedia system for creating and managing digital archival material and for providing access to it.
The 5th Framework Programme is expanding geographically. Switzerland is phasing in for full participation in the Programme [5]. The ratification process of the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the European Union is currently underway in the EU member states. As soon as the agreement enters into force, Switzerland will be considered as an associated country without funding to the 5th Framework.
The other important news is that the Council adopted on 22 December 2000 the new programme eContent [6] in favour of European digital content industries. eContent is part of the eEurope Action Plan that aims at accelerating the uptake of digital technologies across Europe and at ensuring that all Europeans have the necessary skills to use them. The programme will follow actions along three lines: access to capital for start-ups, exploitation of public sector information, and linguistic and cultural customisation. Three strategic studies covering the content of each action line have already been launched and the results are published on the Web [7].
The MEDIA Plus programme [8] has been adopted by the Council on 23 November 2000 with a budget € 400 million, as proposed by the Commission. The programme covers continuing training for audiovisual professionals (adaptation to digital technology, sales techniques, training in scriptwriting, etc.), which will receive € 50 million; and development of production projects and companies and distribution and promotion of the European audiovisual sector, which has been allocated € 350 million.
On 18 and 19 October 1999, the European Commission organised the DLM-Forum 99 [9] the second multidisciplinary forum on the problems of the management, storage, conservation and retrieval of machine-readable data. Two of the major results of this DLM-Forum were the progress in the development of a reference model for the management of electronic documents and records and the decision to prepare a first module for a basic European training programme in the field of electronic documents and records management. The other important results was the elaboration of a "DLM-message" to the ICT-industry to promote best practices in public administration and provide easily applicable and cost-effective records management and digital archival solutions. The ICT industry has given an answer [10] to this message in which it readily accepts the challenge given to it by the DLM Forum and is prepared and willing to support the efforts of the European Union for the preservation and public access to archives and records in a variety of practical ways.
Finally we would like to thank in this column Ariane Iljon,
who successfully managed the Telematics for Libraries programme
for eight years and dedicated her career to the creation of a
European library space. Ariane has just retired from the
Commission. We would like to thank her for her valuable
contribution to the libraries world and wish her all the very
best for the future.
This short overview is a review of the key EC initiatives in the cultural heritage area. We are already working to prepare the Sixth Framework Programme and we will keep you inform of any developments.
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Concha
Fernández de la Puente
European Commission
DG Information Society
Cultural Heritage Applications
concha.fpuente@cec.eu.int
<http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/digicult/>
The information provided does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission.
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For citation purposes:
Fernández de la Puente, C. "DIGICULT Column", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29th January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/digicult/>
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By Guy Ben-Ari - January 2001
Guy Ben-Ari, the National Node representative for Israel, reflects on the initial lack of Israeli participation in cultural heritage and digital content programmes and the work by ISERD that has led up to Israel's recent entry into the IST programme. ISERD, ISrael Europe Research and Development, is the Israeli National Node for CULTIVATE [1].
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ISERD, the Israeli Directorate for the Fifth Framework programme of the European Union, has been jointly established, as a non-profit organisation, by the Ministries of Science, Industry and Trade, Finances and Foreign Affairs and the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education. ISERD was appointed to promote the participation of Israeli companies and the research institutions in the EU RTD Fifth Framework programme, with the aim of realising the inherent business potential of this programme. ISERD commenced its activities in promoting the EU research programmes in August 1996 and has been active in organising seminars and consultancy meetings, disseminating information via mail and newsletters and partner searching.
On May 8th 1999 the new association agreement between the EU and Israel entered into force. Israel consequently continues to be a full participant in the 5th. Framework programme. Israel’s’ reasons for participating in this research and development (R&D) programme are numerous. First and foremost, participating was seen as a step toward becoming part of the globalisation process via the EU economy. The fostering of research cooperation and the founding of strategic partnerships and business ties with EU organisations were also important points which were taken into consideration. Finally, the Framework programme offered an opportunity for alternative finance sources for Israeli organisations and academic institutions.
The Israeli high-tech sector, which ISERD supports, is one of the worlds’ largest. Production from this sector accounts for over 50% of all of Israel’s’ industrial production and a similar percentage of its industrial exports. Israeli spending on R&D is amongst the worlds’ highest at 3% of the GDP. Civilian spin-offs of the defense technologies and the world highest per-capita science graduates and scientific work force (1.4 % of the population) are other important factors in the Israeli high-tech success story.
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| Figure 1: Archaeological excavations at Bet Shean in the Jordan River valley |
The worldwide success of Israeli high-tech and R&D has now come of age within the European R&D programme. Since the beginning of FP5, hundreds of proposals with Israeli partners have already been submitted within the IST programme alone, resulting in over 100 participations in R&D projects. More important, these projects enabled Israeli entities to cooperate in technological development with European industries, research institutions and universities and to showcase Israeli abilities, often in collaboration with important European multinationals.
To date, the cultural heritage and digital content sectors were the ones that saw the least Israeli participation. The first three IST calls for proposals (Jan. 1999 – May 2000) saw only a handful of Israeli partners in submitted proposals from these action lines. There were several reasons for this under representation. Firstly, the Israeli hi-tech sector is very business oriented, and digital cultural heritage was seldom seen as an attractive alternative to the more profitable software, telecommunications and Internet sectors. Secondly, the local culture organisations tended to be under budgeted as well as technologically conservative, which usually did not lead them to search for innovative technology solutions for the management, preservation and display of their content. Last but not least, both the industrial and culture sectors suffered from a severe lack of information regarding the possible means of cooperation and funding offered by the European Commission for research into new cultural heritage applications.
And yet Israel definitely has a lot to offer not only in IT, but also in the cultural heritage field. Its long and varied history, from the earliest Canaanite civilization through Biblical, Medieval and modern times, has made it a historian’s and archeologist’s paradise. The fact that it has seen the birth and flourishing of two world religions, Judaism and Christianity, has contributed to the country’s’ rich cultural and religious heritage. Lastly, since its creation in 1948, the state of Israel has been committed to the preservation and research of the many aspects of Jewish culture in the hundreds of Jewish communities around the world.
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| Figure 2: View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives |
Since the beginning of this year, ISERD has focused on achieving greater participation of Israeli companies and organisations in the cultural heritage action lines of the IST programme. The first step was to ensure proper dissemination of information on the possibility of participation in FP5 and to raise awareness of this opportunity for funding and cooperation within the Israeli culture community. This was done through the enlistment of the aid of the Culture Directorate in the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport, the government body heading the country’s cultural affairs [2]. Within a short time, a list of all major culture organisations - museums, libraries and archives, had been made, thus identifying the most important local players who should be approached and introduced to the IST programme.
Next, personal meetings were arranged with the heads of these organisations, with the aim of convincing them of the benefits that are to be reaped from participation in the IST programme. Many meetings were arranged with the help of the Culture Directorate and the Culture and Scientific Agreements Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [3]. The assistance of this second, no less important, government body was also important in securing ties between Israeli culture organisations and ISERD. Within a few months, all the important players (and many of the smaller ones) in the Israeli cultural heritage sectors were made aware of the IST programme, and some were quick to begin the long march toward participating in its proposals.
The way has not been an easy one. Many culture organisations find it hard to make the transition from classic to hi-tech applications in their institutions. Those who do are often hampered by lack of funds and/or manpower, insufficient technical know-how within the organisation and inability to team up with strong technology providers. In addition to this, initiating the first contacts with potential European partners has been difficult, especially for those organisations used to operating mainly at the local, regional and national levels.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel: Israeli hi-tech companies as well as culture institutions are currently making their first attempts at successful participation in the Multimedia and Content key action of the IST programme. The fourth IST call has seen the first major participation of Israeli organisations in its proposals, both as partners and as coordinators. Preparations are already underway for an even wider response to the sixth call in the beginning of 2001. It must be stressed that this significant increase in participation was in part due to the willingness of on the part of the European partners to cooperate with the Israeli “newcomers”. Once initial contacts had been established, the stage was set for personal interaction, exchange of ideas and professional relations on a regular basis.
Israeli is still taking its first steps on the European scene of technology applications for cultural heritage. Bearing in mind the technological and cultural advantages its organisations posses, the future of cooperation within the FP5 IST programme seems bright.
The culture sector in Israel:
Today, Israel boasts over 180 Museums situated in all parts of the country [4]. The collections are varied indeed, and include such themes as archeology, Mediterranean history, Jewish history, art, nature and science. The Museum Department of the Culture Directorate (part of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport) is in charge of allocation of funds to the many museums, but also of the training of professional museum staff and of the forming of museum policies (including digitization policies) at a national level. It also aids museums in acquiring and implementing new technologies and in long-term preservation programmes.
The Museums Department is divided into 3 sub-departments, each covering a separate region of the country. One sub-department covers Haifa and the north of Israel, another covers Tel-Aviv and the central part of the country, and the third is in charge of Jerusalem and the southern regions.
The top national body in charge of all libraries in Israel and their policies is the Libraries Department in the Culture Directorate. The Department budgets the acquisitions of public libraries from suppliers, fosters the professional advancement of librarians, advances computerization and communications, and plans new projects in the libraries.
Another important body at national level is the Israeli Center for Libraries (ICL) [5]. This is a professional body, which renders services in various areas for all libraries in Israel, with a special emphasis on public libraries. The objective of the Center is to enable libraries to extend their professional knowledge and to develop a fruitful professional dialog among librarians and libraries in Israel. Amongst other things, the Center aids in the training of library professionals and in the implementation of new technologies in the libraries sector.
Apart from these two bodies, all major municipalities in Israel have a department of libraries in charge of the libraries in their city. Last, but certainly not least, all the libraries in Israel’s universities and colleges are interconnected via the Israeli Academic Inter Library Network [6]. Believing that modern information services can be provided more efficiently and at a lower cost per-user by inter-university cooperation and pooling of resources, the network provides access to fulltext services and bibliographic databases, which are available to any workstation with a university internet identification number and with a standard WWW browser.
The Israeli States Archives is the official body governing the archives sector in the country. These comprise an organised, systematic collection of records from the period of Ottoman and British Mandate rule until today. The Archives oversee the management of governmental records, public archives and other material of value to scholars, the Jewish People, and Israeli society. In addition, the Archives actively perpetuate the memory of Israel's presidents and prime ministers and publish documents on the State of Israel's foreign relations. The Archives also hold advanced training courses on managing historical records and archives.
The second important organisation in this field is the Israeli Archives Association (IAA) [7]. This body coordinates the activities of some 50 local and regional archives in Jewish and Arab communities around the country, and also helps preserve data related to Jewish communities around the world. In addition to these activities, the IAA is involved in the creation and operation of study programmes in universities and colleges for "Certified Archivist" Diploma.
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Mr. Guy Ben-Ari
IST programme Assistant
ISERD – The Israeli Directorate for EU FP5
GuyBa@gilat.com
URL: <http://www.iserd.org.il/>
Phone: +972-3-5118122
At the time this article was written Guy Ben-Ari
was the Assistant to the Director of the IST
programme in ISERD. In this role he helped provide Israeli organizations
with information on EU Fifth Framework programme projects and
partner search and aided in the maintenance of
international cooperation between organizations from EU states
and those in Israel. Guy has recently been replaced by Judy Goldberg.
She can be contacted on judy@iserd.org.il
Following three years of service in the Israeli Defense Forces, Guy worked for five years at the Israeli Prime Minister's Office as an independent consultant on language, culture and communications issues, prior to joining ISERD.
Guy Ben-Ari holds a BA from Tel-Aviv University in General History and Political Science and is currently completing his masters degree in International Relations. He left ISERD a month ago to work as coordinator for EC funded research and development projects at Gilat, an Israeli satellite communications company.
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For citation purposes:
Ben-Ari, G. "National Node Column: Israel", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29 January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/nodes/>
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By James Hemsley - January 2001
VASARI [1] was established in 1993 as a result of the EC's ESPRIT research and development VASARI Project, named in honour of the famous Italian father of Art History, Giorgio Vasari. VASARI's current role is to promote the application of Electronic Imaging within the Visual Arts. Their main work involces the organisation of EVA Events (Electronic Imaging & the Visual Arts) which are held throughout the world. James Hemsley, Managing Director of VASARI UK, reports on the EVA conferences held in 2000.
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The Electronic Imaging & Visual Arts EVA Conferences held in autumn 2000 were as follows:
Altogether, since the first EVA Conference at Imperial College, London in 1990, there have been nearly 50 EVAs across the European Union, Japan, Russia and the USA, including six EVAs in 2000, in Florence, Athens & Edinburgh as well as the three reported in this article.
EVA 2000 Gifu [2] took place in the heart of Japan, midway between Tokyo & Osaka in the beautiful Gifu prefecture and was the second EVA in Japan. It formed part of a trio of events – the other two being EURO-GIFU, aimed at building business relationships between the EU and Japan in the hi-tech field, and the VSSM [Virtual Systems & Multimedia] Conference – this included a major track on virtual heritage launching the Virtual Heritage Network by Professor Ojika of Gifu University.
Held at the Softopia Science Park, now one of Japan’s leading R&D centres, the three day EVA Conference was organised by the Gifu Prefectural Government and VASARI UK. The programme ranged from strategic papers to cultural tourism. Highlights included a session on regional developments in cultural multimedia systems showing that Japan is not as homogeneous as often thought. Indeed, regional cultural differences in Japan can be very significant as was made clear in this session, which also included presentations and discussion on the ‘Culture x Technology’ situation in Baden-Wurtemburg and Scotland.
In addition to papers from Japan and Europe, the EVA Conference also included speakers from Australia, China, Russia and USA providing participants with the opportunity to assess international progress and build international relationships – a key EVA objective. Of particular note were two papers [from Japan & Italy] on the new EU supported TRADEX Project exploring cultural e-commerce, which includes Japanese partners. Their kick-off meeting was held during the conference. A joint German-Japanese project on Castle VR reconstruction was presented by GfaI Berlin, showing remarkable results carried out together solely by e-mail co-operative working. A famous Japanese castle in Gifu was virtually reconstructed by the Berlin team and the Berlin Castle, unfortunately destroyed during WWII, being similarly recreated by the Gifu team, necessitating substantial cultural and historical information communication – the results were most impressive.
Of many interesting Japanese papers, the most commercially and behaviourally significant one was from DOCOMO NTT on ‘I-Mode’ [internet mobile telephone] which has had incredible success in Japan with 12 million subscribers [at the time of the conference] increasing at a rate of one million per month. Their new 3G mobile communications service will be introduced in May 2001. Another striking paper by a well known Japanese artist showed 3D representations of famous masterpieces from Europe and Japan, indicating how creative artists can build on the past, using new technologies.
A number of European speakers also took advantage of the joint event exhibition in an ‘EVA Corner’: Centrica from Florence, ABIS of Italy & UK with its worldwide museum portal [www.museumland.com] and Regency House of Brighton. SCRAN [Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network] was prominently displayed.
The third ‘EVA Gifu ’is being planned for October 2002. Early expressions of interest, offers of papers and exhibition participation are invited.
EVA 2000 Berlin [3] was held at the Museum of Decorative Arts in the Kulturforum in the centre of the city, close to the Potsdamerplatz, previously Europe’s busiest intersection where a massive rebuilding programme following the fall of the Wall is now being completed. Notably this seventh EVA Berlin, aimed primarily at the German language region, had to close registrations a week before the conference due to participation exceeding expectations. EVA 2000 Berlin coincided with the major ‘Seven Hills’ exhibition at the Martin Gropius House organised by the Berliner Festpiele, one of the sponsors. A major feature of the Conference was a special tour of this stimulating event.
Prior to the two day Conference a special ‘Tutorial Day’ was held including sessions on CD-ROM, DVD and Web case studies, 3D systems and metadata. The Conference was accompanied by an exhibition with over 30 stands ranging from new image compression tools [Luratech] to very high quality imaging [Leica].
The first Conference day included as usual in the previous six EVA-Berlin conferences a high proportion of advanced technology papers for example in new 3D methods. One of the highlights was a paper on the new systems being developed for the new Wallraf Museum in Cologne which will include special sets of seats and monitors in each of the main rooms to provide supporting multimedia information for visitors while they are enjoying and studying the original works of art in comfort – an innovation for art museums. It will be interesting to see how it is received by the visitors to the art museum.
Other case study reports on new developments in practice included papers from Austria and Switzerland as well as from across Germany. In addition there were several papers from Central and Eastern Europe [reflecting both Berlin’s geographical position and the special encouragement given to ‘new accession’ countries to participate] including a very impressive paper from Slovenia on developments and experiences with robot-based internet visits to museums.
The second Conference day was devoted mainly to European R&D initiatives including results from Fourth Framework projects such as ACOHIR on high quality 3D imaging and TOSCA on portable multimedia guides for cultural tourism. An overview of new Fifth Framework Projects and the latest Calls for New Applications was provided by Claude Poliart from Key Action Line 3 based in Luxembourg. [N.B. he also gave a similar presentation at EVA 2000 Gifu]. The final session included suggestions from participants on topics for the potential Sixth Framework Programme being considered for 2003 – 2006.
EVA 2000 Moscow [4] supported by a special EC grant was held for the third time in the large lecture hall of the Tretyakov Gallery, which contains a magnificent collection of Russian paintings. Lasting an entire week the conference attracted over 800 registrations with participants coming from Eastern Europe and USA as well as the European Union & Russia. Over 120 papers were given with the parallel sessions running for most of the week, one of which had simultaneous translation into English. It is therefore very difficult to provide a summary of such a large event in this summary article. However, some highlights were as follows:
An exhibition accompanied the Conference with over 30 stands and over 60 Cultural CD-ROMs being on show, as well as a new DVD from The Hermitage and additional technology developments, notably a wide screen developed in Russia, produced in Germany.
Altogether EVA 2000 Moscow confirmed the view that Russia is still a ‘cultural great power’; with visits to top Moscow and St Petersburg museums on the Saturday following the Conference enabling participants to enjoy Russian and international masterpieces.
The fourth EVA Moscow is planned for 3-7 December 2001. Early expressions of interest in participation are invited [5]. Further information on the three 2001 autumn EVA Conferences is provided on the VASARI UK Web site which has links to the local organisers [1].
We hope that it will be possible to provide selected papers on the Web. For printed proceedings see the individual conference contacts for details [see biography below].
In 2001, the first two EVA Conferences will be as follows:
These two conferences will in particular help in dissemination of EC project results, thanks to EU support from the new EVA Networking Project, EVAN, being launched a the beginning of 2001. Information on this initiative will be provided later.
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James Hemsley
Managing Director
VASARI UK
jamesrhemsley@cix.co.uk
<http://www.vasari.co.uk/>
James Hemsley was the Project Manager of the original EC research and development VASARI Project, founder of the EVA Conferences in 1990 and VASARI UK Ltd in 1993 and passionate supporter of co-operative European & International efforts in ‘Culture x Technology’. He studied Mathematics at the Universities of Oxford and London. He is now Project Director of the new EC supported EVA Networking EVAN Projects and will be taking up a part-time position with the National Museums of Scotland early in 2001.
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For citation purposes:
Hemsley, J. "A Chain of EVA Conferences", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29 January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/vasari/>
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By Torill Redse, Jorunn Hesjedal, Walter Koch and Karin Hafner - January 2001
Walter Koch, Karin Hafner, Torill Redse and Jorunn Hesjedal report on the Information Society Technologies conference held in Nice, France between 6th to 8th November 2000 where inclusion, elearning, globalisation and flexibility were the buzz words of the day. The conference looked at how the Information Society is effecting Europe and the how we can cope with the challenges it brings.
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Building an information society for all is the ambition for
Europe, but how far have we come at the dawn of the 21st century?
Is the information society a real chance for everyone? Will it
strengthen competitiveness in Europe? What technological
challenges are at stake, and how should we change the rules to
support this process in a sustainable way?
These were some of the main themes underlying the IST 2000 conference in Nice on 6th to 8th November 2000. The annual IST-event, organised by the European Commission’s DG Information Society, brought together almost 2000 delegates from 80 different countries at the Nice Akropolis. In the course of three busy days, a variety of plenary sessions, round tables, exhibitions and prize awards shed light on the many activities under the IST programme. The conference offered an assessment of the achievements made so far, and addressed the central challenges for the future.
Representatives from EU, the French Government, and central persons from research and industry contributed to the programme. The opening session included speeches by the President of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine, the French Minister of Research, Roger-Gerard Schwartzenberg, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique V. Iglesias, and Commissioner Erkki Liikanen. All speakers emphasised the importance of ensuring development that will bridge the digital gap. Europe has come a long way, but the vision of an information society for all will not be achieved until all citizens, regardless of age, nationality and social standing share the opportunities offered by the rapid technological development. Everyone should be able to benefit from the new opportunities for easy access to information on the Internet, and take part in the new economy.
Building an information society for all is of course a technological and economic challenge, but it is also a human challenge. This was emphasised by all speakers in the session. Knowledge is as important as technology, and it is therefore vital to invest in human resources in primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as in life long learning. It is also important to ensure a global approach. This was underlined by President Iglesias’ presentation of the Latin-American and Caribbean situation. Keywords for a successful development will be co-operation between countries and sectors, enhanced quality of research by inter-linking of networks and legislative initiatives that ensure a sustainable development.
Most of the questions raised in the opening session were further debated in the following sessions of the conference. A summary of the themes for each session, as well as many of the papers presented during the conference is available from the IST Nice Web site [1].
The importance of ensuring access to Internet resources and participation in the new economy for all citizens was further emphasised in the session about ”An Inclusive Information Society”. Strategies for enabling teachers and students to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the new technology and new pedagogical challenges related to e-learning was discussed in the three sessions devoted to education and e-learning. The goal is that all European schools shall have Internet access by 2001, and that all students shall be digitally competent by 2003. Knowledge is the key to a positive development, and is important to provide today’s youth, regardless of social, geographic and economic status, with the necessary skills to work and live in the digital age. Furthermore, lifelong learning becomes increasingly important in a rapidly changing technological society, and it is necessary to make it a political matter to ensure equal opportunities for all. If these issues are not taken seriously it could easily lead to the emergence of new social divides which might ultimately threaten the European democracy.
The focus on human resources, intelligence and skills was also central to the session about “The Information Society in Europe in 2020”. The speakers expect development to take place where the user would be in the foreground, and technology in the background, and where individually tailored products would replace collective solutions. Furthermore, they expect the world to become increasingly united as a result of improved access to new technological opportunities for communication and co-operation. The importance of avoiding different speeds in technology/economy and politics was stressed. Politicians must guide the development to ensure that “action is the sister of dream”. As Tony Davidson from IBM put it: “The easiest way to predict the future is to invent it”.
Looking ahead to the 6th framework programme, the session called “A policy for the research frontiers” concentrated on the possible public and private research policies responding to the scientific and technological challenges for the future. Like the speakers in the session about Europe in 2020, Vinton G. Cerf (the inventor of Internet) suggested that the challenges for the future were more political than technical. He emphasised that the management of Internet, and Internet security, will be one of the main challenges in the years to come. The importance of creating a global legal framework for the use of Internet was stressed by several of the speakers.
A global approach was also recommended for the research policy for the future. The speakers stressed that it is important to ensure a better co-ordination between national and central research policies. Researchers do not care about nationality and boarders, and the EU should not impose unnatural limitations on the research communities. The general opinion was that future research policies need to be more flexible and less bureaucratic, but still ensure a strong, unified approach.
The importance of flexibility, integration and a globalisation of politics and research was further emphasised by Robert Verrue, Director General of DG Information Society in the last session of the conference: ”The IST programme on the move”. Robert Verrue presented the five-year evaluation report from the IST Advisory Group, and the session addressed issues related to the implementation of the e-Europe intitative, the preparation of the IST workprogramme for 2001, and the plans for the sixth framework programme.
The year 2000 winners of the prestigious IST Prize award for innovation of groundbreaking products within European information technology were announced during the conference. The prize is organised by the European Council of Applied Sciences and Engineering (Euro-CASE), with the support and sponsorship of the IST- Programme. It provides public recognition and a highly visible profile of entrepreneurial teams that excel in generating and converting novel ideas and R&D into marketable products. 20 winners situated in France, Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Israel were selected by a group of 15 independent European experts. The group also selected three Grand prizewinners from the 20:
All Grand prizewinners received € 200 000 each.
The exhibition held during the IST 2000 Information Society Technologies Event presented science, technology and research from all over Europe and the rest of the world at over 160 stands. The exhibition represented the activities of the European Commission Directorate General Information Society. Around 70 IST projects demonstrated their results, the projects had been carefully selected to represent the depth and breadth of the IST Programme. At the Information stands more IST related initiatives, support actions and services were presented. The French Pavilion hosted key national research activities from the French government, industry and scientific community, the European Commission also had a stand and for relaxing people could turn to the @ Web`s Cyber Cafe. A full list of all the stands is available from the IST Nice Web site [2].
The IST-Projects were grouped into four sections:
eWork looks at new ways of interacting in the workplace as well as away from it. eSecurity explores security and privacy solutions. eBusiness looks at business-to-business and business-to-consumer issues within the expanding digital economy [3].
Beyond the Small explores cutting edge micro, nano and photonetic research. Essential Broadband and Mobile Infrastructure projects show the applications and services that enhance our quality of life and mobility. The Control and transport zone depicts a wide range of industrially oriented activities within the robotic, automotive and aerospace sectors. [4]
Visualisation and interaction in three or more dimensions is a challenging field with popular appeal. View the latest trends in Entertainment fuelled by the emergence of digital Content across multiple-media-platforms [5].
eHealth illustrates examples of how we can all benefit from improved methods and integrated approaches to healthcare. eAccess explores and expands the horizons of uniform accessibility for all members of society regardless of (dis)ability or age. eAdmin illustrates open access to public and other administrations within the society. The eLearning zone is an introduction to novel approaches to learning and training [6].
Over 20 Information Stands represented support activities related to the IST-Event and the IST programme, including start-up/SME support actions, the Investment Forum, partnership services, international organisations, standardisation bodies, networks and local/regional information centres. Specific projects directly supporting the eEurope Action Plan also showed their results [7].
The Newly Associated States are Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. These Countries are fully participating Partner countries within the IST Work Programme. Potential partner organisations within these countries cover a wide spectrum of interests within the IST Work Programme. This has been successfully demonstrated through participation in the first Calls for Proposals of the IST Programme. So far, over 300 organisations from these countries have been included in IST projects.
BULGARIA: The Bulgarian stand at IST 2000 demonstrated different facets of the Bulgarian Information Society, emphasising the use of new Information and Communication Technologies in everyone's life. Visitors were able to obtain information on the results of a number of EU-funded RTD projects.
CYPRUS: Cyprus was represented by the academic, private and public sectors. The stand demonstrated Cyprus' presence in the digital age, highlighting the growing influence if ICT applications and services in Cypriot society.
CZECH REPUBLIC: The stand featured demonstrations of CD-ROM: Czech Republic Contacts for IST co-operation and Processor ExpertTM (PE): Graphical easy-to-use user interface for modelling of embedded systems behaviour and for building complete communications applications (CAN, LIN). The project demonstrated its state-of-the-art technology using MCU development HW board-kit.
IP Cores: this project represents the current state-of-the-art technologies in designing complex integrated circuits using the IP (Intellectual Property) cores. For an Internet 3D presentation of Virtual Prague 2000-Euroepan City of Culture see the Web site [8].
ESTONIA: Estonia presented a number of national programmes in line with eEurope initiatives and innovative projects which contribute the development of the information society. Their general themes included the status of information technologies in Estonia (including a continuously updated directory of IST R&D entities in Estonia); Services for citizens (Overview of the main government and legal information resources available online) and Electronic commerce (electronic banking, new business models and security systems for computer networks. Also Multimedia in culture and education (a number of RTD projects in cultural heritage and language technologies were displayed) [9]
HUNGARY: The stand of Hungary included a series of short representations of selected projects implemented under different Hungarian R&D funding schemes in the field of information and communication technologies. Visitors were able to access databases that demonstrate research capabilities and project ideas. The stand was organised by the Research and Development Division of the Ministry of Education and offered contact possibilities with the representatives of the Hungarian R&D community present at the exhibition.
LATVIA: The stand demonstrated comprehensive aspects of Latvian IT research, education, software development applications as well as international co-operation including offers for collaboration from companies and organisations. Visitors obtained information on contacts and ongoing projects. Some of the participating organisations: Latvian Unversity, Riga Technical University, The Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Latvia, The Latvian Technological Center, Corporation "DATI", "TILDE" Ltd., Non-profit Public Foundation "Open Latvia".
THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA: A variety of projects, which are contributing to the development of the information society in Lithuania, were demonstrated on the stand. Representatives of the Association InfoBalt (Association of Information Technology, Telecommunications and Office Equipment Companies of Lithuania) were present and supplied stand visitors with information on the Information Technologies sector in Lithuania.
POLAND: The Technical University of Gdansk, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Chair of Sound Engineering presented the testing of hearing using a standard multimedia computer locally or via Internet. The Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center showed a bilingual (Polish, English) WAP service, which offers information about the city of Poznan.
ROMANIA: The stand featured demonstrated and documented the Information Society in Romania, themes of the featured demonstrations were: Public administration, GIS, Electronics, Education, Tourism. Participants: National Institute for R&D in Informatics - ICI, Institute for Automation - IPA-SA,
SLOVAKIA: The stand presented the Slovakian IST base, its potential and possibilities for collaboration at international level. Visitors were informed about collaboration possibilities with the Slovak Republic, potential Slovak partners (companies, RTD institutions, universities) - both technology providers and users. Also a variety of EC funded projects with participation of Slovak institutions and their results were presented on the stand during the exhibition [10].
SLOVENIA: Several organisations and companies were present on the Slovenian stand and demonstrated the following systems: a decision making tool which provides objective and unbiased evaluation; a Multimedia Slovene Language Dictionary for the Deaf; Lightning Monitor - a real-time system to track flash strokes in Slovenia; Health Insurance Smart Card System (a new citizen's electronic document) and Primary Physicians' Communication Network established by two regions in Slovenia and Hungary for exchange of routine messages. Sport Shoes Design Robot - bio-mechanical parameters are obtained by special equipment measuring movement; an information service for medicine.
Also represented in the international contributions area were Australia, Brazil, Canada, Malta, South Africa, Asia IT&C, EUMEDIS, EUROLAT-IS, China 2002, EURIDIS. The Commission has reached Scientific and Technical agreements with a number of countries outside the European Union in order to further international co-operation. the IST programme has concluded specific funding arrangements with several countries and agencies.
MALTA: Malta is currently in process of becoming fully associated to the Fifth Framework for Research and Technological Development and Maltese organisations are already in a position to join FP5 consortia. The Malta Council for Science and Technology is the national agency responsible for promoting and coordinating Malta's effective participation in FP5 and can put interested persons in contact with the relevant Maltese partner(s) for IST project proposals.
ASIA IT&C: The Asia IT&C (Information Technology and Communications) Programme is a recent European Community initiative established to co-finance projects in IT&C between European and Asian organisations. Eligible organisations from at least two European countries and one Asian country are welcome to submit Proposals prepared according to the Application Guidelines available on their site [11].
EUMEDIS: EU-Mediterranean Co-operation. EUMEDIS is a regional MEDA project for the development of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society. The EUMEDIS projects are open to any private or public legal entities in one of the 12 Mediterranean partners of the Barcelona Political Dialogue: Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey [12].
EURIDICE: EU-Mediterranean Co-operation. Development of a Diving Navigation System: The EURIDICE Project Scuba-diving is one of the most promising activities for the development of Mediterranean maritime tourism, both for European and Developing Countries. Safety aspects still need to be improved, especially in the areas of the divers' navigation and prevention of accidents. The "Advanced Navigational System" relies on sophisticated signal processing technology.
EUROLAT-IS: EU-Latin American Co-operation. EUROLAT-IS is a Thematic Network supported by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme, co-ordinated by Universidad Politècnica de Madrid (Spain), with the participation of the 15 European union Member States and the 19 Latin American countries. Its main objective is to stimulate Euro-Latin American collaboration in areas of application of Information Society Technologies (IST), undertaken by consortia of European and Latin American companies, universities and other institutions, in areas of importance for social and economic development in Latin America.
EU CHINA: EU CHINA 2002 is a co-operative event on the Information Society organised by the European Commission and the Chinese Authorities in Beijing in early 2002. The event will serve as a focal point to all European companies interested in Chinese markets and the rapid development of the Information Society in this country.
AUSTRALIA: The stand displayed Australia's research capabilities in information society technologies. Information about Australian companies, universities and research organisations was provided, to facilitate partnering between Australia and Europe in research and development. Many Europeans and Australians already have strong research links and are working together on joint projects [13].
BRAZIL: The Booth of Brazil brought together ICT stakeholders from government, research organisations and industry, which have expressed a keen interest in collaborating with European partners funded under the IST Programme. A number of Brazilian research projects was demonstrated on the stand, showcasing novel software and web-based applications.
CANADA: The Canada stand projected Canada's information society technologies and served as a point of contact for European researchers looking for potential Canadian partners.
For European R&D organisations entering into partnerships with Canadian organisations it means that research, technology development and demonstration results can be achieved faster, at a lower cost and reach more users in different markets and contexts.
ISRAEL: The Israeli Directorate for the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Union (ISERD) has been jointly established as a non-profit organisation, by the Ministries of Science, Culture and Sports, Industry and Trade, Finance, Foreign Affairs and the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education. ISERD was appointed to promote the participation of Israeli companies and of research institutions in the EU Fifth Framework Programme for RTD, with the aim of realising the inherent business potential of this programme [14].
SOUTH AFRICA: Information on South African participation in the European Union's Fifth Framework Programme, specifically the thematic programme on Information Society Technologies, was provided. The focus was on highlighting the many exciting opportunities for collaboration between European and South African researchers in the IST field, also beyond the present IST programme. The booth served as a contact point for European researchers looking for potential South African partners.
The IST Prize Village at the Exhibition displayed the products developed by each of the 20 Winners, featuring interactive demonstrations and an opportunity to meet some of the men and women behind these ideas[15].
The French Pavilion was organised by the Ministry of Research, the Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industry and the CFCE (French Export Institute). The French Pavilion included a selection of enterprises and national laboratories representing the vibrant technology sector of the Information Society in France [16].
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Torill Redse
Senior Adviser
Postboks 8046 Dep
N-0030 OSLO
Norway
Phone: (+47) 23 11 89 00
Fax: (+47) 23 11 89 01
Jorunn Hesjedal
Senior Executive Officer
Postboks 8046 Dep
N-0030 OSLO
Norway
Phone: (+47) 23 11 89 00
Fax: (+47) 23 11 89 01
Walter Koch
c/o CSC-Cultural Service Centre Austria
Hans-Sachs-Gasse 14/3
A-8010 Graz
Austria
Phone: +43(316)811210-0
Fax: +43(316)811210-30
kochw@cscaustria.at
<http://www.cultivate.at/>
Karin Hafner
c/o CSC-Cultural Service Centre Austria
Hans-Sachs-Gasse 14/3
A-8010 Graz
Austria
Phone: +43(316)811210-0
Fax: +43(316)811210-30
karin.hafner@cscaustria.at
<http://www.cultivate.at/>
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For citation purposes:
Redse, T., Hesjedal, J., Koch, W. and Hafner, K. "IST 2000 NICE - The Information Society for All", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29 January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/nice/>
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By Caroline Milner - January 2001
Europe’s leading conference and exhibition for the Internet librarian and information professional is to be held between 26 and 28 March 2001 at Olympia 2, London. Caroline Milner of Rubicon Communications reflects on last year's successful conference and previews what's to come.
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Internet Librarian International 2001 [1] is Europe’s only Forum for information professionals who are using, developing, and embracing internet, intranet, and web-based strategies in their roles as information navigators, webmasters and portal managers, content evaluators, product developers, and searchers, among others.
The conference is now in its third year. Last year’s conference attracted 500 delegates from 40 countries [2]. The visitors to the conference came mainly from academic, public, research or business library backgrounds, though there were even delegates from government and medical sectors. See figure 1.
| Library Type | % | |
| College/Universities | 25 | |
| Business (corporate/law) | 23 | |
| Public | 11 | |
| Research | 9 | |
| Government | 8 | |
| Medical/pharmaceutical | 5 | |
| School | 4 |
Figure 1: Visitors to Internet Librarian International 2000 by library type
The conference has been very popular in the past. Its true success can be seen through the comments of attendees:
"Internet Librarian International is a very focused
conference with a nice blend of representatives from the industry
and the library profession itself. The adjoining exhibition
offers a glimpse of the major suppliers new products. I am
definitely coming back."
Anders Renman, Information Specialist
Aeronautical Research Institute of Sweden
"Internet Librarian International was certainly international
in flavour - I had the opportunity to visit with colleagues from
all over the globe, as well as learn that library technology
issues really are global in nature. I was most impressed with the
high quality and interesting sessions."
Debbie Fyfe
Collections / Reference Librarian
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
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| Figure 2: Socialising at the Conference |
This year's “Nothing but ‘Net” conference theme provides comprehensive coverage of issues for today’s internet information manager and user. The conference coverage includes: intranets, tools and systems, e-resources, portals, web design, content management, knowledge management, internet navigation, search engines and e-roles and e-learning.
As in previous years, Internet Librarian International also features a series of pre- and post-conference workshops covering: Emerging Technologies, Electronic Publishing, Content Management, Designing Web Sites, Web Searching, XML, Intranet Taxonomies & Metadata, Business Information Online, Technology for Building Client Relationships, Digital/Video Media Streaming, Negotiating Global Contracts, and Publishing Web magazines.
The Internet Librarian International exhibition features an extensive range of products and services covering aspects of internet, intranet and library technology including search engines, software, document delivery and Web delivery systems, online services, content providers, and more. At the exhibition it will be possible to meet:
 |
| Figure 3: Visitors to the Exhibition |
The exhibition is free to those who apply online [3].
Internet Librarian International 2001 is again working with the organisers of London Book Fair to add value to your visit. The unique alliance with London Book Fair means that visitors Wearing Internet Librarian International 2001 badges are entitled to free access to London Book Fair throughout the shared open days.
Internet Librarian International 2001 is an Information Today Event managed in the UK by Rubicon Communications Ltd
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Australia Austria Bahrain Belgium Bermuda Bosnia Canada Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Finland |
France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Luxembourg Malaysia Netherland |
New Zealand Nigeria Norway Poland Portugal Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Slovenia South Africa |
Sweden Switzerland Thailand Turkey Uganda UK United Arab Emirates USA Zimbabwe |
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Caroline Milner
Rubicon Communications Ltd
Oxford Centre for Innovation
Mill Street
Oxford
OX2 0JX, UK
c.milner@rubicon-communications.com
Phone: +44 (0)1865 811145
Caroline Milner is Marketing Manager for Rubicon Communications Ltd., an Oxford-based event organiser. Rubicon Communications develop and manage events for both the B2B and B2C sectors specialising in the fields of the information sciences.
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For citation purposes:
Milner, C. "Internet Librarian International 2001 Preview", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29 January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/ili/>
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By Dr. Massimo Craglia - January 2001
Dr. Massimo Craglia, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield, provides an overview of the INFO2000 project on Methods for Access to Data and Metadata in Europe (MADAME). The article sets the project in its policy context, describes its objectives, introduces the partners, and summarises its achievements.
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The Internet continues to grow at a phenomenal pace. Internet users have soared from 171 million in 1999 to 377 million in September 2000, of whom 160 million in North America, and 105 million in Europe [1]. Whilst North America remains in the lead, the variations within Europe are very significant as shown in Table 1 with Internet penetration ranging between 49% in Norway to 6% in Portugal [1]. These differences reflect different stages of economic developments, and historical and cultural traditions. However, governments also play an absolutely crucial role not only in the provision and regulation of the underlying infrastructure, including direct public investment and education, but also in creating the policy framework within which increased use of information and communication technologies takes place.
| Norway | 49% |
| Sweden | 44% |
| Finland | 38% |
| Denmark | 35% |
| UK | 26% |
| Benelux | 24% |
| Switzerland | 23% |
| Slovenia | 23% |
| Germany | 19% |
| Italy | 16% |
| France | 15% |
| Greece | 12% |
| Spain | 9% |
| Portugal | 6% |
Table 1: National Internet Penetration Rates - Source [1]
Moreover, public sector organisations are also the major single holders of information, and hence of the essential resource upon which information-based industries and services can develop.
A recent study for the European Commission [2] estimates the total value of public sector information (PSI) in Europe at € 68 billion annually, a substantial part of the total economic activity within the European economy. The report distinguishes between investment value, i.e. what government invests in the acquisition of PSI, and economic value, i.e. the part of national income attributable to industries and activities on the exploitation of PSI. European governments invest annually some € 9.5 billion in PSI, the largest sector of which is represented by geographic information (mapping, land and property, meteorological services, environmental data), followed by cultural and company information. The economic value of such investment is estimated to be in the range € 60-70 billion, of which geographic information represented over one third.
Given the importance of PSI to develop the Information Society, a number of initiatives at national and European level have started to take place to increase access to this vital resource to both citizens and business. At the European level, the most recent initiative launched by the European Commission and agreed at the highest political level at the Lisbon Summit in 2000 is 'e-Europe: An Information Society for All' setting out the European agenda for the further stimulation and growth of the Information Society. It identifies ten priority areas to bring Internet access to the reach of all, and develop key applications in the fields of education, health, transport, and access to government information. At the Feira Summit in June 2000 the e-Europe Action Plan was agreed. Within the action plan 'Government on-line: electronic access to public services' focuses on the extent to which digital information can transform old public sector organisation and provide faster, more responsive services. It can increase efficiency, cut costs and speed up standard administrative processes for citizens and business.
National initiatives are also moving along similar lines. As a matter of example, the UK government has set a target of all interactions between government departments and citizens to be on-line by 2005 [3]. Similar initiatives are also taking place in other countries [4]. What we are witnessing therefore is an increasing pressure on public sector organisations, both at central and local level to use Information Technologies to become more effective and efficient, and more responsive to the needs of citizens. At the same time they are also often asked to become more open in respect to the information they have, share it with others, and in many instances also exploit this information to recover some of their costs. These are potentially major undertakings for public sector organisations, and particularly for local authorities, the vast majority of which are very small and lack both technical and financial resources.
Whilst it is very seductive to think that at a time when most information in the public sector is processed and stored in computers, it is very easy to make it available to others by 'putting it on the Web', reality is much more complex than that. In the first place, most public sector organisations do not value the information they have as one of their crucial assets. Instead, they tend to see information as only functional to the specific task for which it is collected in the first place. The re-use of this information for other purposes, including public consultation and use, and integration and value-adding by the private sector, is hampered by limited visibility of who has what information, barriers to access including legislation, and pricing, and a host of perceived problems within the organisations 'owning' this information that do not value the full potential of their information resources, and fear that opening access might lead to misuse, liabilities, or simply embarrassment about errors in the data. Moreover, many public sector agencies, particularly at the local level, feel that there is a lack of guidelines on how to go about providing access to the information they hold, disseminating it, or exploiting it, and rightly fear about making mistakes, or use this as a convenient excuse to wait and see.
Recognizing the complexity of the context outlined above, we decided to respond to the call for proposals of the INFO2000 programme in February 1998, with a project that took a broad view of the issues involved in 'access' to PSI. In the first place we wanted to utilize the significant amount of operational experience that already existed in the public sector in Europe, learn from it, and disseminate it as widely as possible to help others avoiding mistakes and 'reinventing the wheel'. We developed a partnership therefore among organisations with some 10 years of experience each in on-line data and metadata service provision. We were particularly interested in comparing and blending experience at three levels: Europe-wide, national, and local. Within the broad range of information collected by the public sector, the project focused on statistical and geographic information. The latter, which includes information about land and property, service provision, and both natural and man-made features constitute a large part of the information managed daily by local authorities.
When we first met to define the project, we also realized that all of us had been making information available on-line, with often sophisticated support services around it, and yet we were not entirely sure about who was using this information, how they were using it, and what they generally thought about the service provided. In other words we all needed to move from our current information-provider perspective to a much more user-oriented one. This became then one of the hallmarks of our project. Finally we recognized that we wanted not only to learn from each other, but also tap on the advice and experience of others particularly in respect to the broader institutional, organisational, and economic issues that provide the framework within which PSI is made available and exploited. Our final objective was to distill this cumulated knowledge into generic guidelines that may be of help to any organisation, but particularly to local authorities that are starting the process of increasing access to their information resources.
University of Sheffield [5]: Department of Town and Regional Planning (co-ordinator)
The Department is an internationally recognised centre for high quality research. Between 1993 and 1997, it co-ordinated the European Science Foundation GISDATA [6] scientific programme which was funded by 14 European countries. Given the leading role played by the Department in this programme it was able to act as the voice of this strategic platform and contribute on its behalf to the discussions on GI2000 and on the Fifth Framework Programme. The Department has also been involved in other European projects including the GI-POLICY and GI-META studies for the European Commission, and the establishment of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe [7].
Centro Nacional de Informação Geográfica – CNIG [8]
CNIG is a research agency from the Portuguese Public Central Administration. It is responsible for the implementation, co-ordination and management of the National Geographic Information System (SNIG) which was created in 1990. SNIG is a network of central, regional and local Geographic Information Systems developed by the corresponding Administration Agencies, that also links the geographic data bases - graphical and alphanumeric - implemented by the producer agencies. SNIG counts on the participation of the major Portuguese GI producers at the national, regional and local scale.
Intercommunale d’Equipement Economique de la Province de Luxembourg (IDELUX) [9]
I.D.E.LUX is a cooperative society aiming at the economic development of the Belgian Province de Luxembourg. The associates of I.D.E.LUX are all the 44 municipalities of the province, the Province de Luxembourg itself, as well as some private companies and institutional investors. In order to fulfil its mission of global development of the province, I.D.E.LUX acts as project owner in several domains, including the development of telematics services, operated through Centres de Support Télématique. Positioned between the Walloon Region, the Provincial authorities, the municipalities and the economic operators, I.D.E.LUX is in an excellent position to demonstrate and improve the particular situation of public sector information at the local level.
The National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) [10]
The National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) produces and provides information and services on real estate, topography and the environment for the needs of customers and the community at large. NLS is responsible for Finland's cadastral system, databases pertaining to real estate and general topographic mapping assignments. One of the principal functions of NLS is promotion of the shared use of geographic information provided by various public authorities to public bodies and private enterprises. Shared use in Finland is based on standardised data interchange. The goal is to bring all the major Finnish geographic information sources into the information service. One of the means for promoting the shared use of geographic information is the maintenance of the national geographic data description directory. The directory currently holds descriptions of 150 datasets from 20 national organisations and about 100 datasets from local administration.
Resource Centre for Access to Data on Europe (r·cade) [11]
r·cade is a resource centre established in 1993 by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Its mission is to establish a central access point for statistical information on Europe for the social science research community. In February 1999, r·cade signed a contract, in partnership with the ONS, to become the official UK Eurostat Data Shop. This provides r·cade with access to Eurostat's complete catalogue of online data, digital data, and paper publications. The Centre is based at the University of Durham.
The MADAME project ran for 2 years, was completed in December 2000. During this period, a range of activities has been undertaken the results of which are documented in a series of reports:
The first four of the reports above are already available on the project’s Web site, whilst the fifth is been completed at the time of writing [12].
The first report has also provided the nucleus for an overview of data policies in twelve countries prepared on behalf of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, DG Information Society, and EUROGI, the European umbrella organisation for geographic information [13].
Of potential interest to many readers of this article are the findings included in the second report above. This includes a self-evaluation of the on-line services provided by the partners and the results of 10 focus groups undertaken in four countries with over 100 users and potential users of these services coming from the public and private sector and academia. The choice of the Focus Group technique, amongst a wider range of group interviews, was based on the fact that it is an excellent method of using group interaction to produce data and insights that would be less accessible without the lines of communication found in a group. This is the key distinguishing feature of Focus Group research and this is what makes it such an interesting technique to use. Moreover, Focus Groups are useful when it comes to investigating what participants think but they excel at uncovering why participants think as they do. Focus groups are not a methodology to provide a representative sample of the total population. They are a methodology to achieve depth of analysis rather than statistically significant findings. Over 500 hours of face-to-face contact time have certainly provided an enormous richness of information. Moreover, the number of people involved adds considerable weight to the findings discussed in this report, which will be of interest to any organisation providing on-line services.
For those readers who are particularly interested in metadata standards, particularly in the geographic information field, we recommend looking visiting our Web site [12] and also looking at the relevant section of the Guidelines, as we have made a considerable effort in helping forge a consensus among different projects involved with metadata in liaison with the ISO, the international standardization organisation, CEN, the European standardization organisation, and the European Commission represented by the Joint Research Centre.
As stated above, the MADAME project formally came to an end in December 2000. We are currently printing the Guidelines for wide distribution across Europe, with an extended Executive Summary in four languages, in addition to the dissemination via the Web site.
What we are looking forward to now is to help implement these guidelines and increase access to public sector information in a range of organisations, particularly at the local level. For this purpose we are looking at the first call of proposals of the eContent programme [14] which is likely to take place in March 2001. If anybody is interested in talking to us please contact me using my email address.
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Dr. Massimo Craglia
Senior Lecturer
Dept. of Town & Regional Planning
University of Sheffield
gisdata@sheffield.ac.uk
<http://www.shef.ac.uk/trp/gis/maxweb.htm>
Dr. Massimo Craglia is a Senior Lecturer in Town & Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield. His major research interests focus on the diffusion and application of geographic information systems in planning, and the development of data policies, and infrastructures for data sharing at national and local levels. He directs the EC project on Methods for Access to Data and Metadata in Europe (MADAME), and is the Director of the Sheffield Centre for Geographic Information and Spatial Analysis.
He is an advisor on data policies to the European Umbrella Organisation on Geographic Information, (EUROGI), and chairs the Data Policies Working Group of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE), as well as the European Special Interest Group of the AGI. Between February and July 2000, he was Detached National Expert to the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission with the brief to develop a GI policy for the Commission’s services.
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For citation purposes:
Craglia, M. "Methods for Access to Data and Metadata in Europe: An Overview", Cultivate Interactive, issue
3, 29 January 2001
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue3/madame/>
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ISSN 1471-3225 |