The aim is to provide a global view of all statistical dataflows sent by Member States to Eurostat in order to promote electronic transmissions.
The aim is to provide a global view of all statistical dataflows sent by Member States to Eurostat in order to promote electronic transmissions.
Contents:
| Aims of the EDIFLOW project |  top |
To assist in the sending of data flows to Eurostat, the EDIFLOW project
is compiling an inventory of data flows between Member states and Eurostat.
By obtaining a global view of all the dataflows, Eurostat and Member
states will better understand how, by whom and when, dataflows are being
sent. With this information, the dataflow management can be improved. This
will enable Eurostat to support and assist DSIS organisations and end users,
in the introduction of electronic communications for the transfer of statistical
data.
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The dataflows are being looked at from two different perspectives.The first perspective is to examine the flows sent by Member states to Eurostat, and the second perspective is to monitor which flows are being received by Eurostat from Member states. In this way any discrepancies in the information can be spotted. |
| Description | top |
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The project to map dataflows from Member states, started
in 1995, with pilots in Greece and Spain. This has been extended in 1998
to three other Member states (Belgium, France and Luxembourg) and will
be extended to all Member states in 1999.
The dataflow inventory, which has been compiled so far, is now available on a CD-ROM along with other software such as Stadium, Statel, Adobe Acrobat and Netscape Navigator. There is also a description of services offered by TESTA. The inventory can be viewed through a MS Access Reader available on the CD-ROM. The user can coose to look at information about the dataflows by state, theme or person. The screens display details of the Competent National Authority, periodicity, transmission media, deadline and volume of each dataflow. |
screen shot from the ediflow inventory
Two approaches have been adopted to complete the picture of the data flows. Firstly a horizontal approach is being used, which covers all Member states. Secondly, a vertical approach has been adopted, whereby the priority data flows have been identified in all Member states. For example, the foreign trade database COMEXT, has very high volumes of flows and this is followed closely by flows for the Labour Force Survey.
The inventory has enabled Eurostat to identify
the periodicity of the flows, the method of transmission, and the different
types of organisations responsible for sending the flows. For example,
from the flows collected so far, it appears that just under half of the
flows are sent electronically, with other flows sent by fax, diskette,
paper or some other means. The majority of flows come from producers, and
are sent on an annual basis.
| Tools and Services |
|
Eurostat have also developed various tools and services
to help in the dissemination and transmission of statistics.
| STADIUM
is a Eurostat tool which receives electronically transmitted statistical
data and automatically forwards it to the correct destination. In this
way it behaves like a "postbox". It comprises two components; a server
used for classifying, routing, and maintaining datasets and an optional
client used for sending and receiving data, as well as to provide follow-up
monitoring and reporting tools about data exchanges with the server.
The Stadium Server has an embedded EDI translation facility which can be configured to translate EDIFACT messages into the format expected by the recipient application. Stadium Clients can be UNIX servers or PCs with DOS or Windows, based at DSIS organisations. The Stadium Client may be freely installed at any organisation exchanging statistical data with Eurostat. While e-mail, file transfer and other media can offer speed, ease of use, confidentiality and integrity, there are additional advantages to Stadium when transferring data files. These are: management follow-up; end-user independence; automatic routing; alarm generation; backup; global data flow monitoring and automatic acknowledgement.
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The diagram below shows the sequence of actions executed when data is
sent to Eurostat through STADIUM:
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Eurostat’s Board of Directors are encouraging the use of Stadium for central collection of structured data and also to decrease the amount of bilateral flow. It is hoped that 90% of all data transmissions will be made via Stadium or e-mail by 1999.
STATELis
multi-protocol file exchange software which fully integrates telecommunications
and allows partners to exchange files and directories through a standardized
Application Programming Interface (API). It is independent of the telecommunications
protocol used.
| Statel works by using a shared disk space between two communicating systems and offers an API to access the data in the shared space. This Virtual File System (VFS) behaves like a normal file system in that it contains files that are accessible to both parties. |  |
A new version, Statel 3.5, is now available which contains a simple version of Statel for users with limited hard disk space. There is a new scheduler which allows the user to transmit data during non working hours, thus enabling more efficient use of the available bandwidth. For a new user of Statel, a Statel NickName, SNN, is set up on a production server at Eurostat. The user is sent the Statel installer program and needs only to run the executable file. The set up of the Statel software can be pre-configured for each individual user.
TESTA
(Trans-European Services for Telematics between Administrations) is a private
data network for use by European Institutions. It is built on the technology
of the Internet so that well known web browsers and e-mail packages can
be used. It was developed by the European Commission and the Member States
in 1995 as part of the IDA program.
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The main advantages of TESTA is that it is a single global provider with widespread points of presence. This means that there is help desk support in every country in the native language. TESTA also offers a guaranteed level of service. TESTA supports both IP and X400 protocols. The IP protocol makes it Internet compatible so that SMTP, HTP and FTP are available. In addition, by using TESTA, it is possible to connect to the statistical database at Eurostat called new CRONOS and the foreign trade database called COMEXT. |
There are plenty of services available through TESTA, but to simplify the ordering procedure, seven user profiles have been defined by Eurostat which are suitable for the user of a single PC or a LAN environment. The costs are based on the operator profile chosen. Full ATM connectivity can also be provided. TESTA services are competitively priced at an average cost of 5.5 EURO per hour of connect time using a dial up connection.
TheE-mail
for Administrations and Groups (EM4AG) project was established
within the IDA programme in 1997 to help a sample set of advisory committees
and working groups use electronic mail in their work.
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The proliferation of computer applications and the widespread use of e-mail has produced a variety of different products, standards and systems which have complicated the direct exchange of documents. Sending simple text messages is usually no problem, but sending attachments with graphics, spreadsheets for example, can cause difficulties. Complications such as differences between encoding methods, different address formats, different types and versions of word processors and many more problems have started to emerge. The EM4AG project is attempting to overcome these difficulties. |
Currently, 82% of Eurostat Working Groups, (approximately
60 committees), are supported by e-mail. In committees where e-mail has
been successfully integrated, it has led to a significant decrease of communication
overheads.
| Future Plans | top |
The challenge now is to keep the dataflow inventory up to date. In order to do this, Eurostat is encouraging National Statistical Associations to appoint a local co-ordinator to maintain the work at a local level. This role needs to be recognised and supported by the Competent National Authorities and the statisticians.
A Web Client is being developed and tested and will be hosted on an Internet server. The prototype is operational but as yet has not been implemented for general use. The Web version of Stadium will simplify client-server usage as access will be through a web browser. A Web access point has also been developed where GESMES messages can be tested and validated.
Attempts are being made to render the product as transparent as possible and to have standard protocols. It is hoped that Statel will become a commercial development. The aim is to become compatible with all Member states networks. In 1999 Statel will be set up in five more organisations and is currently being tested with DG IV and DG XIV. New encryption and compression techniques are being investigated to be incorportated into later editions of the software. In the near future all documentation, frequently asked questions and the latest issue of the Statel software will be available in the Statel section on the DSIS-IRC. Access is password protected. Interested users are invited to contact the help desk to obtain a login and password. Further information about Statel can also be obtained from the Statel Network News which is published twice a year.
A greater expansion of services is desired. Many projects are already using TESTA and it is hoped that the Datashop network will soon employ TESTA services.
The main objectives for the remainder of the project are to organise the provided services in such a way that they can easily be maintained after expiration of the project. The spreading of the use of e-mail can then continue without project support. To help make e-mail services self sustainable, the EM4AG support services are being integrated with Eurostat support services. The objective is that by the end of 1999 all committees supported will be independent.
A guide for e-mail committees has just been published
which is available from the EM4AG office. It covers troubleshooting, technical
details and information regarding which formats to use.
| Contacts | top |
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