The STNE WG work programme for the five priority activities was endorsed by the Statistical Programme Committee at its meeting in September 1996.
The SPC confirmed its desire to retain focus by limiting the number of active projects, and to maintain coordination with the statistical elements of the telematic programmes i.e. IDA (Interchange of Data between Administrations) programme. The SPC confirmed its support for the formation of closer domain specific partnerships between statisticians and IT service suppliers within and between Member States and Eurostat (in particular, production units).
Eurostat is coordinating the work in the STNE work programme with other telematic projects such as HIEMS and TELER.
The work programme for each of the priority activities is outlined below.
European Reference Environment and DSIS Metadata
The Dissemination Environment: Multimedia and information highways
Exchange of Statistical Data Using EDI
Integration with Trans-European Telematic Networks
The aim is for each DSIS organisation to make their ERE conformant data available to authorised users by putting in place its own reference environment, alongside a local metadata service, to meet both its own needs and those of other statistical authorities. The local metadata services will be populated by the Metadata Service.
The ERE is being implemented in phases. The perceived benefits of moving to the reference environment will encourage its timely adoption across all sectors and authorities. A phased approach is being taken to harmonising the metadata supporting the statistical processes across the production, reference and dissemination environments. There will be operational services in sample organisations within two years. Specifically, the work has been focused on identifying common metadata for the ERE. User requirements and technical specifications have been produced for the ERE and the "Master Metadata Service" (MMS) database. Development of the MMS prototype has been completed. EDI message exchange formats for statistical data and metadata are GESMES and CLASET.
The aim of the future work programme is to:
These wide ranging and complex tasks are co-ordinated by the DSIS Metadata Task Force. The Metadata Task Force examines the technical and organisational issues of the ERE and DSIS metadata and searches for pragmatic solutions. This work has a tangible aim and access to the ERE should be achieved by the end of 1998.
Click here for progress.
Eurostat and Member States are already investigating and using Internet technologies. It is anticipated that there will be operational dissemination services in sample organisations within two years. However, if there are no unforeseen difficulties, it should be possible to reach full scale deployment of services and infrastructure working in all relevant organisations within this timescale.
This will be achieved by the progressive development of a dissemination network in a telematic environment, supporting Data Shops (the Data Shop Network), introduction of electronic document repositories and forums, and by further exploitation of multimedia techniques (CD-ROM, multimedia information kiosk, printed catalogues, Internet technologies, ...). As the results of technical and organisational experimentation emerge, other derived products, such as multimedia catalogues or "just published" announcements will be experimented.
The integration of these new technologies with existing information systems and the reference environments will be prototyped. The coupling between reference and dissemination environments will be strengthened. The rapid emergence on the world market of multimedia and the Internet brings new opportunities and risks for exchanging and presenting statistical information. The beneficial impact on the Community Statistical System of using both multimedia and Internet technologies (but not necessarily the Internet network itself) will be profound. The high speed of development in both technologies is such that they currently need continuous assessment and this is being done within the Statistics, Telematic Networks and EDI (STNE) work programme.
Click here for progress.
The aim of the future work programme is to integrate open EDI technologies into operational data exchanges and to submit the EDI messages for acceptance by the EDI standardisation bodies (e.g. ISO/SGML, CEN, and EWOS).Although work will continue on the design of specific messages, the bias of the programme will be toward the operational use of messages already designed and trialed in years 1&2. Lessons learnt from the trials will be taken into account. Advice and technical support will be given to DSIS organisations on the integration and usage of EDI messages in the priority statistical domains.
All the relevant EDI messages will be documented and submitted to the EDI standardisation bodies via the EBES/EG6 to ensure their technical assessment, wide acceptance and dissemination. The work will concentrate on documentation, training and awareness activities and production of EDI benchmarks.
Responsibility for the assessment and acceptance process is under the control of neither the Statistical Programme Committee nor the Statistics, Telematic Networks & EDI (STNE) Working Group but, on the basis of experience of the lengthy standardisation process, it is estimated that all EDI messages identified by the statistical sector will reach the pilot or prototype stage by the end of year 3 of the STNE work programme, 1997. Use of the STADIUM service will be encouraged, at least for the most regular and frequent dataflows in the priority statistical domains. The Comité de Direction has sanctioned this policy. Efforts will be made to integrate those EDI messages used by the statistical sector (GESMES, CLASET, RDRMES, ...) into commercial software products and services by working closely with software houses.
It is anticipated that there will be an operational service working in sample organisations for all statistical domains making use of EDI messages within two years. Full scale deployment of services, and even full operational service working in all relevant organisations, may be reached for statistical domains having well identified requirements, partnerships, time constraints and deadlines.
This work will continue to be closely associated with IDA horizontal activities and that of standardisation bodies.
Click here for progress.
The aim is to extend and prototype the use of the EDI messages for raw data collection and to integrate electronic questionnaires into administrative procedures. For the priority statistical domains:
It is anticipated that there will be operational services in sample organisations within two years.
This work is closely associated with SERT activities.
Click here for progress.
Achievement of the benefits of the DSIS framework are critically dependent on organisations providing good local and external connectivity to give "door-to-door" and "door-to-application" telecommunication services. It is hoped that all DSIS organisations will have good commonly available telematic services in full operational service within two years, or two and a half years at the latest. This action is on the critical path of most priority activities.
The aim is to continue to encourage committee members to use electronic mail so that 100% participation is achieved and, later, to use advanced office automation tools (document repositories, electronic forums, ...). Advice and technical support will be available to DSIS organisations on the integration and usage of the commonly available telematic services which are necessary to give the desirable level of automation, inter-connectivity and inter-operability between administrations. Automation will be reached by the integration of information systems with the telecommunication layer using, for example, common application programming interfaces such as STATEL. Inter-connectivity will be achieved in a number of ways, such as by the use of X.400 or Internet. Synergy will be developed with European initiatives such as the ones launched by the Commission or the IDA programme. A DSIS Information Resource Centre has been configured. It gives DSIS organisations and other users controlled access to key documents, information sheets, standards, auto-installable software, multimedia resources and electronic forums. This repository will be promoted to statistical working groups and task forces, in particular those involved in STNE activities. Trials of access to DSIS services through public or private value-added services will be experimented with. It is anticipated that full scale deployment of services and infrastructure working in all relevant organisations will be reached within two years of the STNE work programme.
Click here for progress.