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EURopEAn WatErways networked information system

Objective

Europe's waterways are a focus for a wide range of tourism and leisure activities - boating, angling, walking, cycling, EurEauWeb aims to develop products which will help increase commercial viability of Europe's waterways and leisure related businesses, preserve the heritage and environment of Europe's waterways, improve accessibility by the disabled, elderly and socially disadvantaged, and attract future generations of users. The products are intended for use on and beside the waterways but could be used anywhere. The product set will consist of a Portable Audio-Visual device providing location sensitive multimedia information (including digital maps) on all aspects of waterways use and allow feedback from the users; a European Waterways Portal Web Site which will bring together all aspects of Europe's waterways for world-wide user access, The project will also aim to encourage the start-up of new SMEs in the waterways related sector.

Objectives:
The main objectives of EurEauWeb are aimed at providing solutions to the following problems/issues/market gaps:
- The need of users to find localised information quickly and easily while on the move;
- The EurEauWeb portable device (to be called the EurEauMap) will provide waterways users with multimedia-capable location-sensitive information tailored to their user profiles that can be used with a demonstrable high quality of use as measured by quantitative indicators;
- Likewise, there is a need to capture and disseminate information relating to heritage and cultural aspects of the waterways and local non-waterway attractions;
- EurEauWeb will not only detect and distribute existing internet based data via the EurEauMap, but will also be building databases of information that can be pre-loaded prior to visits/journeys, or pre-fetched at various locations around the waterways/downloaded from the internet at set periods/locations. This data will be available via the EurEauWeb Portal web site or directly importable to the EurEauMap database;
- A new generation of 'users' needs to be encouraged to take interest in, visit and help maintain the waterways culture, heritage and environment;
- Since the new generation are not only IT literate but in many case IT dependent, it is considered that the EurEauWeb and particularly the EurEauMap will attract such users and help increase leisure use of the waterways for the foreseeable future. EurEauMap will present not only good Efficiency and Effectiveness for such users, but also acceptable levels of user Satisfaction, measured by quantitative, baselined metrics;
- Waterways authorities and associations and the waterways leisure industry need to have increased access to existing and potential users, including the disabled, and to improve their services and increase revenue;
- There will, for some years yet awhile, be a 'core' group of waterways users who will always be averse to the introduction and use of new tech.

Work description:
EurEauWeb is a concept using state-of-the-art as well as state-of-the-market technology and equipment to provide location and user profile-sensitive information quickly and easily to the wide range of leisure and tourism users of Europe's inland waterways environment. The concept encompasses a number of components usable by waterways visitors of all types as well as those seeking information at home, in the office, at tourist centres. The concept will develop two major products as follows:

1. The EurEauMap will be a hand-held device that can be mounted on a boat, cycle, wheelchair, providing users with locationally aware information such as:
- places of interest, refreshment/entertainment establishments;
- retail outlets, marinas, chandlers, fuel, water and refuse points;
- angling/rambling/cycling/jogging/wildlife information;
- disabled access standards and information on accessibility. It will be triggered by GPS or bankside devices to provide the user local information. The EEM data will be accessible interactively, pre-fetched at key points or pre-loaded from the Portal prior to a visit/trip. The design will be based on state-of-the-art 3G telecommunications, PDA and positioning systems;

2. The EurEauWeb Portal: will establish a single point of entry for worldwide access to information on European waterways. It will link European waterways authorities/associations web sites and other web sites connected with leisure use of waterways (e.g. marinas, angling clubs, boat builders & hire companies, canal societies, waterways magazines, rambling associations, travel agents, cruising hotels/restaurants, emergency & medical services, local councils, accessible events) nologies in the waterways environment.

However, many existing and most future users will readily embrace such technologies, provided they are designed and implemented in manner 'sympathique' to the traditional culture and the relative peace of the environment. EurEauWeb will place great reliance on the views of a wide range of user and user-related organisations in order to design products that are inexpensive, compact an 'blend in' with the environment in which they are used:
- Many visitors to Europe's waterways come from outside of Europe, particularly from North America, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as Japan and South Africa. These visitors range from individual boat hirers, walkers, cyclists and tour groups on the larger riverboats. Currently relevant information is difficult to obtain quickly via the web;
- visitors often have to spend considerable time accessing information e.g. by writing to various tourist agencies or relying on word-of-mouth and other recommendations;
- EurEauWeb intends to provide improved worldwide access to European waterways information via the EurEauWeb Portal web site, associated database and links to key information sites;
- Waterway authorities require up-to-the-minute information on the state of the waterways, in order to provide a well-maintained environment. There is also a continual necessity to monitor and improve the safety, convenience and accessibility of all users, and particularly the disabled visitor, to the water ways;
- The EurEauMap will aim to provide 2-way communications, so that in addition to information provision to the user, they will have the means to contact relevant authorities, associations for problem/incident reporting. This should enable waterways authorities and the like to improve their ability to properly maintain the waterways environment. This functionality should also help in safeguarding the waterways environment for all users. Such functional.

Milestones:
The major milestones are associated with delivery of the main project components and the output validation and verification results. These are (end of month):
Month 04: Approval of Requirements Specification by Project Advisory Committee;
Month 07: High Level Design and Test Plan approved;
Month 06: Technology Implementation Plan, first version & Marketing Strategy delivered;
Month 08: Digital mapping first version;
Month 12: Use of Portal prototype for initial web-based marketing activities;
Month 19: EurEauMap prototype delivery;
Month 25: EurEauMap demonstrator delivery
Month 26: Services Detection and Distribution demonstrator;
Month 31: Portal final release;
Month 32: EurEauMap final release;
Month 33: Production of final demonstration system, integrated with the databases and service functionality;
Month 37: Delivery of the populated database;
Month 42: Completion of successful demonstration of EurEauWeb system to users; Technology Implementation Plan final version.

Call for proposal

Data not available

Coordinator

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK - NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, CORK
EU contribution
No data
Address
WESTERN ROAD
CORK
Ireland

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Total cost
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Participants (6)