Objective
The objective of the InfoWin project is to provide the ACTS Information Window. This window allows information to flow from ACTS projects to the outside world, and also helps the outside world to be visible to the ACTS projects.
The window is intended to ensure that the work carried out in ACTS is timely and relevant. It ensures that ACTS participants keep an up-to-date view of the development of the market and its needs, and simultaneously it ensures visibility of the work carried out within ACTS.
To maximise the synergy to be obtained by carrying out the research and development of ACTS within the overall framework of a collaborative programme, the InfoWin project provides support for the internal communication of the ACTS programme, both within the projects and between projects and the Commission.
The goal of InfoWin as a service project is to provide a variety of information and news products and to provide services to the ACTS projects.
ACTS Information Window
The main entry to the ACTS Information Window, URL http://www.infowin.org.
The ACTS Information Window is the main on-line dissemination forum of the ACTS programme. It provides an easy access-point to a number of the services, to information on ACTS, and to the InfoWin publications.
InfoWin produces four regular information products:
Newsclips are published and distributed via WWW and email twice a month.
They inform about ACTS projects and new items in the advanced communications technologies.
Bulletins, which appear four times a year, cover special research topics of ACTS or other topics of current interest, important events, articles, and publications. It is mostly dedicated to ACTS projects.
Thematic Issues published quarterly cover a special research topic of ACTS or other topics of current interest in depth. A Thematic Issue can be a regular publication or it may be a workshop.
The following Thematic Issues were already published. A complete version is available in the WEB, some issues as CD-ROM or in a paper version:
* Eastern European Countries -Workshop
* Multimedia Success Stories
* Advanced Business Communications in Europe
* Mobile Communication
* ATM
* Multimedia Broadcast
ACTS 97, InfoWin assists the Commission in producing a printed as well as a CD-ROM version of ACTS 97.
Other Services
InfoWin supports the general information flow within projects and within chains and domains by offering a number of services. Among these are:
Directory services, search facilities
Support for mailing lists and discussion forums
Email help-desk
WWW server space, and
Security Server - Support for PGP
The InfoWin Security Server provides a database of public PGP-keys.
InfoWin maintains a database of public PGP-keys. Members of the ACTS community can register their keys and can obtain the public keys of others.
Expected Impact
The main role of InfoWin is to improve the circulation of information, between ACTS projects, and from ACTS projects to the outside world.
By maximising the impact of the work of ACTS, InfoWin supports the development of the information society in Europe and on a global scale.
InfoWin also supports the dissemination of advanced communications concepts and services into all the regions of Europe, ensuring that the benefits can be felt throughout the community, such as in the introduction of teleworking in peripheral regions as well as in the development of high-speed infrastructure in the core regions
Technical Approach
The project is focusing on obtaining and disseminating relevant content.
The basis for InfoWin is a combination of electronic and human means. Electronic, because we are in the information age. Human, because, in the quest for information, nothing replaces the expertise of a group of people.
The project therefore is structured around information and marketing, editorial and dissemination, on-line as well as through other means.
The on-line services support the on-line information dissemination as well as helping projects communicate via forums, setting up support for PGP, etc.
To ensure European coverage of information gathering and of marketing regional representatives have been appointed. The regional representatives are mostly representatives from the National Hosts.
In order to cover the whole of Europe, and to bring a service close to the people who need it, Western Europe has been divided into the 9 regions (Austria/Germany, Benelux, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland/UK, Nordic Countries, Spain/Portugal, Switzerland) each covered by one or more regional representatives responsible for promoting the activities of ACTS and for gathering information on relevant results and activities.
Regional InfoWin representatives are the main front-end of InfoWin towards the ACTS community and the outside world. Their main tasks are, on the one hand, information gathering and information production, and on the other, marketing and information dissemination. Their main activity is promoting ACTS and InfoWin through personal visits, workshops and attending conferences and other events. They will get feedback on the InfoWin publications through market analysis. In parallel, they have to handle requests for information gathering and production for the Multimedia InfoWin publications.
Summary of Trial
The work of this project is such that no practical experimentation is foreseen.
Key Issues
The key tasks of InfoWin are:
information gathering
editing
marketing and dissemination, and
on-line services
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
70550 Stuttgart
Germany