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TAP concertation meetings calendar 1997
The TAP concertation meeting calendar for 1997 has just been released by support project Concord. More information about concertation meetings in 1997 can be found via Concord at concord@cscdc.be.
As part of the Telematics Application Programme Support Actions, this WWW site is often a "first port-of-call" for other projects and interested parties, trying to get a first impression of the range of TAP and the projects funded within it. We publish regular updates on individual projects, and the latest projects to supply us with information are detailed below:
PROJECT IMPRESS
IMPRESS, a project of the E.U. Telematics for Libraries programme, aims to support, disseminate and encourage implementation of the book and serials sector EDI standards produced as part of the EDILIBE (see footnote below) project by providing maintenance of the message formats, stimulating and supporting their implementation and promoting the benefits of electronic commerce. Having previously completed regional promotional activities in Spain and Italy, this project includes regional promotion of EDI in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
The project is managed and co-ordinated by EDItEUR, the European group for electronic commerce in the book and serials trade, which is sponsored by the Federation of European Publishers, the European Booksellers Federation and the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations. EDItEUR acts as an umbrella for a number of national EDI book sector EDI groups, many of them set up with help from EDItEUR, and has 90 corporate members from 17 countries including the US, Canada, Japan and Australia.
The project's tasks include:
The project started at the end of June 1996 and, following some administrative delays, good initial progress has been made in each of these areas, including:
Supported by the Libraries Programme, key effects have been to influence the book sectors of other non-EU countries, such as Canada, Japan and the US, to adopt the EDItEUR message standards, providing opportunities for libararies to obtain the books they require from those countries, and to facilitate export of European books. The use of EDI has also been shown to increase efficiency and reduce costs, enabling staff to be employed in more productive tasks than rekeying, and also improving customer service throughout the book sector.
Although IMPRESS and the development of EDI remain central to EDItEUR, there are several other aspects of electronic commerce that are demanding the Project's attention. The timely and accurate provision of product data, both bibliographic and marketing, is a recurring but so far unfulfilled demand in the book trade. EDItEUR is working on standards for both the information that should be supplied and for its electronic communication. EDItEUR is also becoming involved in the world of electronic publishing. The use of EDI for trading intellectual property rights, the standards infrastructure for customised and on-demand publishing, the taming of Internet to support rather than replace standards are all issues on EDItEUR's current agenda.
Footnote: EDILIBE (Electronic Data Interchange for Libraries and Booksellers in Europe) was an EU-funded project to evaluate the EDI requirements of international library supply and pilot trading links using the EDItEUR EDI message set which was developed collaboratively by EDILIBE and EDItEUR and is based on the cross-sectoral EANCOM subset of UN-EDIFACT. The EDILIBE project partners included academic and national libraries, library booksellers and system vendors in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
For further information on the IMPRESS project, EDItEUR and its member organisations contact the project co-ordinator:
Brian Green
EDItEUR
39-41 North Road
London
N7 9DP
E-mail: brian@bic.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 171-607 0021
Fax: +44 (0) 171-607 0415
PROJECT SCRIPT
A significant portion of Europeans live in smaller towns and rural areas. Many are remote, and most do not enjoy anywhere near the same level of access to services and information as do city dwellers, while sections such as the disabled and elderly are often deprived. Telematics offers an obvious means of improving not only access, but also the levels and quality of information available to these people, so real solutions are now available for tackling a real and European wide problem.
The work from this first nine-month-long Feasibility Study which ended in September 1996, looked at the use of telematics to improve the quality of life over a wide geographically distributed area and, specifically, to provide all visitors to and, all inhabitants, enterprises and organisations of the participating regions with immediate access to information about all services (public, private & commercial) and links to local, national and international communication networks. The European regions taking part in the project included West Sussex (UK), Hameenlinna (FI), Haute Normandie (Fr), Limerick (Ir), Umbria (It), Devon (UK), West Sweden (Sw), and The Peloponnese (Gr).
Broken into a series of work packages, the consortium spent time considering the following areas:
User Needs
Considerable emphasis was placed on the user needs element. Surveys, group discussions and interviews led to the analysis of an enormous amount of data. This fell into two categories: Technology - the appearance and useablity of the yet to be designed demonstrator; and, Information - the type of information and services that should be made available.
Technology Review
Looking at the existing infrastructure available in each of the partner regions and establishing the extent of current network capabilities. An immense diversity was noted, from simple telephone, radio and teletext links to advanced video-conferencing facilities.
Taking into account the technology review and the user needs analysis, a series of tables were produced by each region showing the impact of the proposed demonstrator. The effects were considered not only at an immediate impact level - for example, a reduced need for individuals to travel to large urban centres, but to a third tier which took into account ultimate impacts on pan European concerns such the environment.
Considering the results of the previous packages, there were three areas that had to be drawn into the conceptual design of a demonstrator
Initially a purely transport based activity, the SCRIPT consortium has now broadened its scope and includes four sectors; transport, education & training, urban & rural and administrations. Within rural areas, it is not simply one sector that needs to be addressed, but many.
The success of the Feasibility Study has pushed the consortium to continue its research, without the commitment of further immediate funding from the Commission. It is envisaged that the next stage will be the design, demonstration and validation of a human - machine interface which will permit the realisation of the SCRIPT Vision.
For further information about the SCRIPT Project, contact:
Mr Mike Sargent
Project manager
West Sussex County Council
County Hall
Chichester
PO19 1RH
E-mail: sarge.wscc@dial.pipex.com
Tel: +44 1243 777362
Fax: +44 1243 777257
The focus of this urban project is to get the best from telematics, especially in the area of economic regeneration. This will be done through an open framework for co-operation between cities, towns and regions, and builds on the work already done by the Telecities network since October 1994. In addition to Telecities, the POLIS and Car Free Cities networks and the Eurocities Transport Committee are partners in the EDC project. The latter three organisations focus on the development of transport telematics for Europe's cities and regions.
Since the start of the project in January 1996 much has been achieved in terms of awareness-raising and European co-operation, where the main challenges of the Information Society are concerned. This has been done through the first EDC Conference, two Telecities seminars, the publication of three EDC newsletters, the establishment of an EDC World Wide Web site, regular dialogue with the European Institutions and the day-to-day activities of the EDC co-ordination office and members cities and regions.
At the end of February 1996, over 80 city representatives attended the first Telecities seminar to take place in the framework of the EDC project. Here, cities established working groups for the year ahead on a range of themes:
These groups finalised their work programmes at the following seminar held during the second week of May in Copenhagen.
Also, in Copenhagen during the same week, the first European Digital Cities Conference "The Challenge of the Future" was held. This event attracted over 170 participants representing local and regional authorities, research bodies and industry (mainly telecom and IT companies). The main aim of this launch conference was to raise the general level of awareness of the many aspects and implications of the Information Society, and to present the work planned within the EDC project. These goals were achieved through the five sessions dealing with issues ranging from the social to the technological. Speakers at the opening session included Erika Mann MEP, Jens Kramer Mikkelsen, Lord Mayor of Copenhagen and Walter Vitali, Mayor of Bologna and President of Eurocities.
The city of Strasbourg was selected by the EDC Management Board to host the next EDC Conference, which took place last week from 12-13 December. Main reason for the choice of location was the opportunity to hold a session in the European Parliament to increase the level of awareness of urban Information Society issues among its members.
The second conference showcased the first results of telematics pilot projects being developed in urban areas across Europe, as well as results of the 1996 EDC annual survey on telematics development in urban areas, currently under way.
Four key topics were addressed:
Among the rest of the dissemination activities, EDC is working steadily on strengthening its links with other projects and organisations, working in areas relating to the development of the Information Society in Europe. The contacts established last year by Telecities with the IRISI and Teleregions initiatives are continuing on a regular basis. These organisations also participated in their first EDC Conference. First links have been established with the industry, mainly through the City Information Highway workshop organised in Eindhoven in May 1996 by the European information Technology Industry Round Table (EITIRT), and with telecom operators (British Telecom, UNISOURCE, ACE2000). Discussions are going on to find the best way for efficient co-operation at European level.
For further information, contact:
European Digital Cities Coordination Office
c/o Eurocities
18 Square de Meeus
B-1050 Brussels
E-mail: edc@mcrl.poptel.org.uk
Tel: +32-2-5520868
Fax: +32-2-5520889
URL: http://www.edc.org.uk