Fair is as FAIRNET does
Previously, the success of trade fairs depended very much on the skills of its organisers. Entire teams of promoters, organisers and support staff are generally required; the greater the scope of the fair, the greater the support required. The actual running of the fair is but one aspect of the entire endeavour and usually the most simplistic. Such tasks as exhibitor acquisition, stand bookings and cancellations, coordination and marketing planning require enormous preparation activities. Currently, there is an online web-based solution that proffers a number of functionalities such as content management, cooperation mechanisms, retrieval support and data. The FairsNet project sought to customise and refine an IT solution that would assist with difficulties involved in organising a trade fair. Its solution, FAIRWIS, is an IT based product with a twofold objective. The first prong is based on the functionality of the system, offering flexible support for the entire management process and business cycle involved. From planning to execution the FAIRWIS provides customisable data management. The second prong is based on system quality, providing leading edge technology for a real-product application. The FAIRWIS project has resulted in a system that exhibits three major characteristics that make it a potentially useful application. The first of these is the system authoring tool based on the IPSI developed taxonomy. The second is its intuitive information visualisation tool and the third is that it is based on XML, RDF, Xform, SOAP and ODBC standards. In a nutshell, these tools allow users to dynamically set-up, customise and adapt the trade fair. They can structuralize stand or booth planning, adapt catalogue browsing, and compose fair visitation planning. In fact, the visualisation metaphors provide both 2D and 3D visualisation approaches that support many of the business steps involved. Currently, the system is being evaluated and validated under real business conditions in real trade events.
