EP Topic News: 16th May 2002

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Future of EP study call
IPR Helpdesk relaunched
IST Programme in FP6 Workshop
Cell Broadcast Forum
Ipedo XML database for Europe
Wireless data to overtake voice?
Certified trading on the web
"Applications of Metadata" Conference
Europe overtakes US in Internet users
Bluetooth Hi-Fi audio headset
XML authoring
Getty Museum to uses wireless
Online Publishers Association
XML and XSLT for the enterprise
Wireless Internet: is US falling behind?
Abilizer - portal management
GameWorld games for mobiles
WapOneline - SMS service management
VoiceXML tools reviewed
Web services workshops
XML.com - privacy and semantic web
Safer Internet Newsletter May
MPEG-4 licensing, M4IF's views
Euromap Language Technologies news
Summer academy for arts and media
CGI links and resources
IBM web services resources
"Trusted Digital Repositories" - report
MS Windows XP deployment resources

Future of EP study call

The European Commission's Interactive Electronic Publishing sector (which supports the publication of the El.pub Information Services) has issued a call for tender for a study on the "Future of Electronic Publishing towards 2010". Published in the Official Journal (OJ S88), the deadline submission of tender documents is June 17, 2002. We have published below the call below in its entirety, for further information please contact Pascal Jacques: using the numbers shown.

L-Luxembourg: open call for tenders for a study on "Future of electronic publishing towards 2010" 2002/S 88-068792

1. Awarding authority: European Commission, Directorate-General Information Society, Directorate D Information Society Technologies, Content, Multimedia Tools and Markets, Unit D1 Electronic Publishing, Att: Mr Pascal Jacques, Office EUFO 1195 , rue Alcide de Gasperi, L- 2920 Luxembourg. Tel.: (352) 43 01 380 34. Fax: (352) 43 01 380 69.

2. Category of service and description: The objective of the call for tenders is to prepare and support the IST programme with a study on the 'future of electronic publishing towards 2010'. Category of service: 865 - consulting and related services.

3. Place of delivery: As in point 1.

4. (a) Not applicable. (b) Not applicable. (c) Legal persons are bound to give the name and qualifications of the personnel responsible for the execution of the services.

5. Not applicable.

6. Variants: Would not be acceptable.

7. Time limit for completion of work: The foreseen duration of the study is 9 months as from the date of signature of the contract.

8. (a) Name and address of the service from which the terms of reference for the study may be requested: As in point 1. (b) Final date for making such requests: 30 calendar days from date of dispatch of notice - see point 19.
(c) Requests for the terms of reference for the study may be made by fax or letter. When requests are made by fax, they must be confirmed by letter dispatched before the expiry of the time limit referred to in paragraph.
8.(b). The tender documents and the conditions governing contracts of the Commission will be forwarded without charges.

9. (a) Final date for submission of tenders: 17.6.2002. (b) Tenders shall be sent to the address in 1.

10. (a) Persons authorized to be present at the opening of tenders: Official representatives of the European Commission and one authorized representative per tenderer. (b) Date, time and place of opening: Tenders will be opened in the Euroforum Building, 10 rue Robert Stumper in Luxembourg, Office EUFO 0279 on 25.6.2002 at 10.00.

11. The contractor may be requested to provide the Commission with a guarantee equal to the amount of any advance obtained.

12. The payment modalities are specified in the tender documents. The total amount is up to 200, 000 EUR.

13. Tenders may be submitted individually or jointly. If two or more applicants submit a joint bid, one must be designated as the lead contractor and agent responsible.

14. Information concerning the tenderer's position (exclusion and selection criteria): The tenderer will be required to provide economic and technical information for appraisal purposes. These requirements will be specified in the terms of reference.

15. The offer shall be valid for a period of 6 months from the time limit for submission of tenders.

16. Evaluation criteria (award criteria): Will be included in the terms of reference.

17. Not applicable.

18. This call for tenders corresponds to a pre-information notice published in the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities' OJ No S 6-003886 of 9.1.2002.

19. Date of dispatch of the notice: 24.4.2002.

20. Date of receipt of the notice by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities: 24.4.2002.

21. This procurement is covered by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

IPR Helpdesk relaunched

The European Commission’s new Intellectual Property Rights Helpdesk (IPR-Helpdesk) has been launched. The IPR-Helpdesk aims to assist European organisations in addressing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues related to Research projects that are receiving European Commission funding. The Helpdesk will also provide guidance to organisations that are not taking part in EC funded Research and Development projects. The latest Helpdesk is offering:

• Website (fully operational by end June 2002): which is designed to provide users with the most to date information on Intellectual Property Rights issues.
• It provides a wide range of IPR material and resources and is available in 5 languages (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) and links to other web sites for additional downloads.
• Helpline (fully operational in May 2002): the IPR-Helpdesk team of legal experts available to solve detailed legal queries concerning IPR.
• Representative Office: which provides general information on IPR-Helpdesk services and to coordinate the IPR-Helpdesk dissemination activities (it includes the organisation of a regular flow of IPR-Helpdesk presentations and seminars).
• Info-Service: to inform users about both European Community rules for dissemination and protection of RTD results and IPR issues of special interest. It does this through publication of a free email newsletter (published every two months) to which users can subscribe.

URL: http://www.ipr-helpdesk.org
Email: further information mailto:ipr-helpdesk@global-eu.com

IST Programme in FP6 Workshop

The IST Programme in FP6 Workshop, to be held on June 17 in Cambridge UK will explain the Commission's proposals for new mechanisms of research support which should come into effect towards the end of 2002. Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence are the new instruments through which the Commission will channel research funding. This workshop will explore how these funding mechanisms will operate in practice. It will consist of lectures, practical exercises and feedback sessions, and provides lots of opportunities for questions and discussion. The workshop is intended for research managers and administrators who already have some knowledge of EU RTD Programmes.

For more information and booking form, please contact Sue Greig of Singleimage Limited.

Email: mailto:sue.greig@singleimage.co.uk
URL: http://www.singleimage.co.uk
Tel: +44 1480 497712
Fax: +44 1480 497714

Cell Broadcast Forum

The Cell Broadcast Forum (CBF) is a non-profit industry association that supports a standard for cell broadcast wireless information and telephony services on digital mobile phones and other wireless terminals. The primary goal of the Cell Broadcast Forum is to bring together companies from all segments of the wireless industry to ensure product interoperability and growth of wireless market. Cell Broadcast Forum members are drawn from the global handset market, carriers, infrastructure providers, software developers and other organisations providing solutions to the wireless industry.

Cell Broadcast (CB) is a mobile technology that allows messages (currently of up to 15 pages of up to 93 characters) to be broadcast to all mobile handsets and similar devices within a designated geographical area. The broadcast range can be varied, from a single cell to the entire network. This technology is used in deploying location-based subscriber services, such as regional auctions, local weather, traffic conditions and "nearest" services (like requesting the nearest service station or restaurant). Cell Broadcast is designed for simultaneous delivery of messages to multiple users in a specified area. Whereas the Short Message Service (SMS) is a one-to-one and one-to-a-few service, Cell Broadcast is one-to-many geographically focused service. It enables messages to be communicated to multiple mobile phone customers who are located within a given part of its network coverage area at the time the message is broadcast. Cell Broadcast is more akin to other mass distribution media such as teletext or Radio Data System (RDS).

The Forum is holding its General Assembly and Plenary Meeting in Milan, Italy on May 28-29, 2002, further information from the Forum's web site.

URL: http://www.cellbroadcastforum.org

Ipedo XML database for Europe

Ipedo has expanded its operations across Europe by forming a partnership with DigitalML, a leading builder of native XML solutions in Europe. DigitalML will offer Ipedo's modular Dynamic Information Suite, based on the Ipedo XML Database 3.0, to the European market.

URL: Ipedo http://www.ipedo.com/
URL: DigitalML http://www.digitalml.com/

Wireless data to overtake voice?

The Strategis Group suggests that new research shows a dramatic shift in wireless services in Europe. According to a company press release, the arrival of next-generation technologies will drive future demand for wireless data services. Its forecasts show the evolving wireless infrastructure in Europe is on track to primarily carry data, with the total number of data switches installed throughout the 39 European markets profiled growing from 34 in mid-2000 to a peak of 2,111 in mid-2005. By contrast, the number of active voice switches in these markets is projected to peak at 553 in 2003.

The report, "European Next-Generation Wireless Infrastructure: Licensing, Technology, Vendors and Investment," offers a concise and comprehensive overview of the 3G licensing and regulatory situation in Europe. Analysis is included of available technology solutions and projected levels of investment in next generation wireless infrastructure throughout 39 markets in Eastern and Western Europe.

The Strategis Group has included: expanded and updated licensing analysis, radio access technology information, base station forecasts, switching forecasts, vendor profiles incorporating next generation offerings, vendor market shares, vendor contract award frequency analysis. The Strategis Group sponsored a webcast on Thursday, March 28, 2002 to share some of these recent findings, and discuss areas of rising demand for wireless devices and services throughout the world. The replay will be available until June 28, 2002. To listen to the replay of the webcast, register online.

URL: webcast http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=3795
URL: The Strategis Group http://www.StrategisGroup.com

Certified trading on the web

It is well documented that the development of commercial trading on the web is being held-back by users' fears over the security of transactions and concerns relating to privacy. A report, "E-commerce and consumer protection: a survey on codes of practice and certification processes", from the Joint Research Centre's Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) considers codes of practice and certification procedures that are being put in place to remove the uncertainties. These codes aim to offer the public guarantees that their chosen web trader is following proper practices, that product information is complete and the buying process is secure and respects the customer's privacy. The research considers five major networks of codes of practice, but the results are not promising. There is an executive summary of the report available online.

URL: http://econfidence.jrc.it

"Applications of Metadata" Conference

The Electronic Publishing Specialist Group of the British Computer Society (BCS-EPSG) is running a one-day conference entitled: "Applications of Metadata" on May 29, 2002 in London. The aims of this meeting are twofold. The first aim is to broaden the awareness of metadata and the use of metadata in the fields that will be covered, while the second aim is to encourage some forms of cross-fertilisation of ideas, so that workers in one field discover more about how metadata is being used elsewhere.

After a general introduction on metadata, there will be speakers from a range of areas, who will explain how metadata is being used in their particular area. It is hoped that the areas will include academic publishing, government, cultural digital collections, IPR, protecting children on the Internet, the newspaper industry and publishing production workflows, the last from Adobe Systems whose XMP (eXtensible Metadata Platform) is being introduced as a feature of a number of popular publishing programs.

URL: http://www.epsg.org.uk/meetings/metadata2002/

Europe overtakes US in Internet users

eMarketer has published a statistical report Europe Online, based on ITU data. "Europe Online: Access, Demographics and Usage" is a comprehensive review of Internet users and usage in the 12 "core" countries that best represent the region's market. With roughly 144.4 million Internet users by the end of 2001, Europe is the second-largest regional market behind Asia-Pacific and ahead of North America. eMarketer's Europe Online Report reviews Internet penetration rates in each country, how users are accessing the Internet, and why. Excerpts are available free on the web site and show country breakdowns of users and forecasts of future growth.

URL: http://www.emarketer.com/ereports/europe_online/

Bluetooth Hi-Fi audio headset

Impulsesoft Private Limited has announced that its embedded Bluetooth protocol stack, iBTStack, has been integrated into the Hi-Fi audio headset developed by Openbrain, a Bluetooth development company in Korea. Open brain has licensed the protocol stack for use in series of products using Bluetooth.

URL: Impulsesoft http://www.impulsesoft.com/
URL: Openbrain http://www.openbrain.co.kr/

XML authoring

Lightspeed Interactive, a provider of information management and delivery solutions and Altova, the company responsible for an XML development tool suite (XML Spy 4.3), plan to collaborate on integrating their respective technologies to "provide the industry's most advanced XML environment for creating, managing and delivering advanced XML-based applications".

URL: Lightspeed Interactive http://www.lspeed.com/
URL: Altova http://www.altova.com/

Getty Museum to uses wireless

The J. Paul Getty Museum is working with Sun Microsystems to develop "location-based personalised services". The museum has mapped-out it's requirements for wireless applications that provide visitors with both a "way-finding" device and a resource to explore the museum's collections, architecture and gardens. The final system, expected to be available by Spring 2003, will be based on Java and XML technologies and use the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE), and will replace the existing audio-guide players currently used in a number of museums.

URL: J. Paul Getty Museum http://www.getty.edu
URL: Sun Microsystems http://www.sun.com/

Online Publishers Association

The Online Publishers Association was founded in June 2001 as an industry trade organisation whose mission is to "advance the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public".

URL: http://www.online-publishers.org/

XML and XSLT for the enterprise

eFORCE and McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media have jointly published the "XSLT Developer's Guide," which is described as "a professional resource tool designed to assist web and enterprise software developers in building and deploying real-world XML (Extensible Markup Language) and XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language for Transformations) applications". The Co-authors, senior technical directors at eFORCE, have attempted to provide a practical implementation guide based on their technical knowledge advising clients in the manufacturing, transportation and financial services industries.

URL: "XSLT Developer's Guide" http://www.osborne.com/
URL: eFORCE http://www.eforceglobal.com/

Wireless Internet: is the US falling behind?

In the US, the Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC), in conjunction with the Congressional Internet Wireless Task Force hosted an event on April 25, 2002 in which they discussed whether the US is lagging behind in the roll out of advanced wireless services and its effect on domestic consumer demand. The event included demonstrations of current wireless devices and advanced wireless services in use throughout the world. The panelists included wireless experts with specific knowledge of wireless device manufacturing, wireless consumer demand, wireless culture, and wireless platforms and markets in the US, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Further information on the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee is available on the web.

URL: http://www.netcaucus.org/
URL:event http://www.netcaucus.org/events/2002/wirelessdemand/

Abilizer - portal management

Abilizer Release 6.0 builds on Abilizer's existing platform, and aims to provide a "portal-based" front end to enterprise information. It's developers claim that it will provide "end-users a single point of access into disparate web and legacy enterprise applications and data repositories". It does this through the establishment of a "new file-based XML metadata repository".

URL: Abilizer Solutions http://www.abilizer.com/

GameWorld games for mobiles

GameWorld Technologies, a wireless game platform and services provider for mobile operators, has signed a wireless game distribution agreement to provide top GameWorld titles to select carriers world-wide and exclusively via nGame's global distribution network. GameWorld uses the PureVis visual development environment and server family for building and deploying networked games and applications across Java-enabled systems, wireless devices and the web. nGame, based in the UK, is a "wireless entertainment aggregator", (based on SMS, WAP and Java), active in the Americas and Europe.

GameWorld Technologies http://www.gameworld.com/
nGame http://www.ngame.com/
PureVis http://www.purevis.com/

WapOneline - SMS service management

WapOneline is launching a mobile communications service to enable UK businesses to become SMS content providers. According to a press release from the company, "the Mobilenator Express gives customers a complete 'plug-and-play' software and hardware package to supply and bill SMS content quickly and securely". It appears that the SMS content is hosted on servers run by WapOneline which connect to all UK mobile networks. The company are also offering potential mobile publishers syndicated content.

URL: http://www.waponeline.com

VoiceXML tools reviewed

VoiceXMLPlanet.com has published a couple of articles which look at the Voxeo Community, a hosted VoiceXML Platform which allows developers to develop and test VoiceXML-based applications using a combination of a browser-based interface and a phone.

URL: Voxeo Community (Part I) http://voicexmlplanet.com/reviews/voxeo.html
URL: Voxeo Community (Part II) http://voicexmlplanet.com/reviews/voxeo2-1.html

Web services workshops

IBM is running a number of free workshops around the world (Germany and France in Europe) which focus on how web services can enhance existing applications. The 3-day workshop covers: general web services architecture, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI; web services scenarios for legacy application migration; Apache SOAP
implementation (bundled with the IBM Web Services Toolkit); amongst other topics. Further information concerning where and when the workshops are scheduled via the link below.

URL: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/offers/spc/spc_wsws.html?n-522

XML.com - privacy and semantic web

XML.com has published an introduction to privacy issues on the web, along with a follow-up article, which describes how XML is being used to address the issue of online privacy, covering P3P, XACML, XML Encryption and Signature, WS-Security and SAML.

URL: XML and privacy http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/05/01/privacy.html

Also available are a number of articles which consider developments associated with the sematic web including:

Consideration of the DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML), an important part of developing semantic web technology;

URL: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/05/01/damlref.html

A column which examines the W3C's Web Ontology Working Group (WebOnt WG) and it's work, which is developing a language that has the potential to be the successor to DAML, intended for use in describing ontologies.

URL: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/05/01/webont.html

Safer Internet Newsletter May

The May 2002 issue of the Safer Internet Newsletter (Number 14) has been published by the European Commission's Safer Internet Action Plan. It reports that: "The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to oppose the use of 'blocking' as a way of regulating content on the Internet. The vote (460 in favour, 0 against and 3 abstentions) means that ISPs will not be forced to restrict access to web sites. Instead, they have been given the green light to continue with self-regulation".

The newsletter, published in English, French and German, can be viewed online and is also available as a free subscription service, delivered via email in PDF format.

URL: http://www.saferinternet.org
Email: subscribe mailto:info@saferinternet.org

MPEG-4 licensing, M4IF's views

The MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF) held a meeting to discus the issues surrounding MPEG-4 licensing. Decisions on licensing were not taken, as M4IF is not responsible for such terms. However the M4IF are hoping that the open discussion between licensors, their representatives and potential licensees "will result in a better mutual understanding of the situation and an even greater sense of urgency among licensors than already existed". Notes taken during the discussion by Rob Koenen, President, M4IF along with the resolutions of the meeting will be posted the M4IF's web site.

M4IF run an open discussion forum (open to all interested parties) for all issues that affect the uptake of MPEG-4, licensing is one of the discussion topics.

URL: (see under M4IF News) http://www.m4if.org
URL: discussion list subscribe http://www.m4if.org/public/publiclistreg.php

Euromap Language Technologies news

The May 2002 issue of the Euromap Language Technologies monthly newsletter has been published. The newsletter, available in French and English is published online and can also be received via email. The newsletter aims to provide news on: the latest developments in the field of Human Language Technologies from Europe, upcoming events, and European Commission research calls.

URL: http://www.hltcentral.org/newsletter

Summer academy for arts and media

The 11th International Salzburg Summer Academy for Arts and Media Management is inviting professionals and leaders from the arts, culture and media spheres to develop their professional skills, establish new international contacts and develop strategies and solutions for their projects under the permanent coaching of leading international experts. This year, the Summer Academy will be held at the International Centre for Culture and Management (ICCM), Salzburg, Austria from July 22 - August 3, 2002. Further information is available on the web

URL: http://www.iccm.at

CGI links and resources

Webreference.com has updated its CGI links and resources section providing a collection of links to tutorials, tools, and scripts.

URL: http://www.webreference.com/programming/cgi.html

IBM web services resources

IBM have created a "knowledge centre" on the Rational Developer Network for developers, testers and analysts working with Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and web Services business applications. The IBM knowledge centre provides development teams with articles, code and discussions relating to using products from Rational and IBM.

URL: http://www.rational.com/ibm
URL: Rational http://www.rational.com

"Trusted Digital Repositories" - report

RLG and OCLC have released a report on long-term preservation of and access to research materials in digital form. "Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes and Responsibilities", available in PDF, is primarily intended for cultural institutions such as libraries, archives, museums, and scholarly publishers and is specifically aimed at those with traditional or legal responsibilities for the preservation of cultural heritage. It is written to aid senior administrators as well as those implementing digital archiving services.

Following a short historical introduction, the report presents a brief definition of "trusted digital repositories", provides some examples of the circumstances in which institutions are undertaking their creation, and speaks to the nature and achievement of trust. It addresses the seven attributes such repositories must have and discusses requisite responsibilities at both the higher organizational curatorial level and the operational level. Finally, the report looks at how repositories can be certified and summarizes seven key recommendations. An appendix to the RLG-OCLC report provides technical overviews of the "Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System" (OAIS) - a common framework for describing and comparing architectures and operations of digital archives.

URL: report http://www.rlg.org/longterm/repositories.pdf

MS Windows XP deployment resources

Microsoft has launched the Desktop Deployment Resource Center, a "one-stop shop" that provides business decision-makers and IT professionals with resources to address their needs in evaluating, deploying and maintaining Microsoft Windows XP and Office XP. The portal offers a comprehensive view of the deployment process by bringing together Microsoft deployment resources such as TechNet, white papers, guides, services offerings, knowledge base articles, third-party tools and best practices from early adopters. Web-based seminars on Windows XP deployment are also planned.

URL: Resource Center http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/deployment
URL: web-based seminars http://microsoftseries.digisle.tv/

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