MARINFO launches maritime information system on Web
An internet-based information system for the maritime industries of Europe has been developed through the European Union's Esprit programme. A group of ten European partners under the leadership of FDS - the German shipbuilding research centre - have now launched the MARINFO information system after a year of information analysis, prototype development and testing the system. It is hoped it will provide easy access to the contents of the industry's research and development strategy, thereby safeguarding the future of the R&D Coordination Group. There are three main segments: - MARDATA which provides information relating to organisations, companies, literature and research projects, including maritime workshops, conferences and exhibitions. The service is interactive; - MARWORK which offers a virtual meeting and conferencing facility; - MAREXPERT which provides a databank-supported search engine for individual experts in the industry. The other partners involved in the project are Astilleros Espanoles (AESA), British Maritime Technology (BMT), Bureau Veritas (BV) Chantiers de l'Atlantique (CA), Fincantieri (FC), Germanischer Lloyd (GL), Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW), Odense Steel Shipyard (OSS) and the Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg (STS).