Objective
The main objectives of the ASTRA project were to contribute to the common understanding of office automation problems in public administrations in different European countries, and to integrate state-of-the-art technology, concepts and results.
The project consisted of the following phases:
-definition of user requirements for a system supporting different types of objects
-definition of an office model with the identification of functional blocks and cooperation strategies
-implementation and assembly of components
-development of a prototype system.
The prototype makes use of advanced storage and retrieval systems based on optical discs. The results of the project were targeted at the public administrations of European member states.
The main objective of the advanced and integrated office systems prototypes for European public administrations (ASTRA) project were to contribute to the common understanding of office automations problems in public administrations in different European countries, and to integrate state of the art technology, concepts and results.
The methodology was defined for the analysis of user requirements in the 4 partner states, the user requirements analysis completed in the selected public adminstrations, and a synthesis of requirements achieved. The technological basis for the prototypes was also established.
Procedures, standards and technqiues for public administration information systems can be derived from the project results. The main target was the integration of large scale information handling within national bodies. The information flow has primarily been supported through the processing of multimedia documents. A document specification has been established for document filing and retrieval, covering the document viewed as a set of frames and with a document profile attached.
The hardware and system software specification was completed. A prototype has been established based on the Olivetti and Bull hardware and system software in an open system. The application software specification has also been completed; it is based on a client server model, concentrated on the processing of multimedia documents.
The methodology was defined for the analysis of user requirements in the four partner states, the user requirements analysis completed in the selected public administrations, and a synthesis of requirements achieved. The technological basis for the prototypes was also established.
Procedures, standards and techniques for public administration information systems can be derived from the project results. The main target would be the integration of large-scale information handling within national bodies.
The information flow has primarily been supported through the processing of multimedia documents. An ASTRA document specification has been established for document filing and retrieval, covering the document viewed as a set of frames and with a document profile attached.
The hardware and system software specification was completed. A prototype has been established based on the Olivetti and Bull hardware and system software in an open system. The application software specification has also been completed; it is based on a client-server model, concentrated on the processing of multimedia documents. The client-servers cover the following functionalities: archive, directory, file, mail (X.400) and print.
Guidelines for the design of office information systems in the public sector have also been produced. The ASTRA project's results were demonstrated at the 1989 ESPRIT Conference and the 1990 Hannover Fair.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
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00161 Roma
Italy