e-EIONET 2001

1. e-EIONET 2001 Hannu Saarenmaa European Environment Agency

2. Why? • End users ask: What is the purpose of this network? What will it do for me? Why don’t we just use email and the web? • Developers ask: How should applications be designed for EIONET? Can’t we just use our own tools? • EEA asks: Can e-EIONET provide new products and services?

3. General business requirements for EIONET • Provide an integrative generic infrastructure • Platform for coordination of initiatives, enable interoperability, creation of new opportunities • Support the collaboration process of integrated analysis withinDPSIR framework • Project coordination, management of information overload, making life easier, achieving savings, other practical benefits... • Streamlineenvironmental data- and workflows within the wider MDIAR chain • Remove duplication and reporting burden

4. Infrastructure

5. e-EIONET is about infrastructure • The prerequisite of interoperability • Building on each others work • There are many aspects to infrastructure • Physical, network, application, information, harmonisation, support, security, ...

6. Application infrastructure Build apps (public, corporate, group,personal) Select common tools (CIRCA library, Yihaw, ...) Adopt generic services from open source (Zope, Apache...) Proto-cols Sup-port Use network infrastructure (Internet)

7. Information interchange infrastructure Application protocols (Domain XML Schema) Interoperability protocols (SOAP, RSS, ...) Appli-cat-ions Server protocols (HTTP, LDAP, SQL, CORBA, ...) Harmo-nisat-ion Network protocols (TCP/IP)

8. Data harmonisation infrastructure Resource discovery (UDDI, ...) Metainformation (DC, GELOS, ...) Sup-port Metadata (ISO11179, UML, XML, ...) Proto-cols Generic Search (Altavista, ...)

9. Details of the layered architecture Personal workplace Group collab app Corporate portal app Library tool DataMgmt tools Portal tools Other tools ... Generic services from open sources www, directory, email, news, search, SQL, ... Internet and its communication protocols TCP/IP, http, ldap, nntp, smtp, ... 33Unix server computers across Europe

10. e-EIONET decomposition diagram

11. HW and network decomposition

12. Generic services decomposition

13. Common tools decomposition

14. Application decomposition

15. Developer API decomposition

16. Support for collaboration

17. Portal Tool Kit 2.0 • Some of the following features can be expected by end of 2001 • Calendar and meetings • Expertise exchange • Enterprise knowledge portal • CIRCA integration • Registry of collaborating portals • Personalisation between and within channels • Search

18. CIRCA will prevail (currently 2.4)

19. CIRCA 2.5e • Roles • Organisation objects • Dynamic mailing lists based on roles • Library enhancements • ”What is new” • Rich Site Summaries • Multi-node administration support

20. CIRCA 3.0 • Database foundation • Domain access for multiple directories • Open source engines • Electronic newspaper (Slashcode) • Linux platform • October 2001 • Modules with Java 2 Enterprise Edition • in 4.0?

21. New data management tools • Reporting Obligations Database • Inland Waters Data Warehouse • Coastbase (IST project) • EUNIS Data Warehouse • Metadata (XML Schema store) • Content registry (UDDI) • DEMs with XML interchange

22. Streamlining

23. Reporting burden • Each year, each member state has to provide 37,000 figures to various international environmental reporting systems, essentially answering that many questions. • Only 17% of these figures are related to evaluating the effectiveness of any particular EU policy. • There are 57 sectoral committees in the environment sector alone. • Most of them have developed their own data collection and applications.

24. Currently: Ad-hoc overlapping dataflows on email, floppy, fax, letter The Public and Decision-Makers The Public and Decision-Makers EuroStat EuroStat EC EC EEA EEA OECD OECD UNEP UNEP DG DG ETC ETC DG DG NRC NRC NFP and other National Authorities NFP and other National Authorities

25. 2001: Report to Data Warehouse on NFP EIONET server The Public and Decision-Makers EuroStat EC EEA OECD UNEP DG ETC DG EIONET Server NRC NFP and other National Authorities

26. Reportnet - the real CIRCLE

27. Opportunities abound

28. bring every citizen, school, business and administration on-line - quickly • create a digitally literate and entrepreneurial Europe • ensure an inclusive information society Objectives 11

29. address key areas of action at European level can make a difference • collaborative efforts by Member States, Commission and private sector • 10 key areas selected for action How? 12

30. Action 1. European youth into the digital age 2. Cheaper Internet access 3. Accelerating e-commerce 4. Fast Internet for researchers and students 5. Smart cards for secure electronic access 13

31. Action 6. Risk capital for high-tech SMEs 7.eParticipation for the disabled 8. Healthcare online 9. Intelligent transport 10. Government online 14

32. Government Online priorities • Ensure easy access to at least four essential types of public data in Europe. • Define the pilot areas • Ensure consultation and feedback via the Internet on major political initiatives. • Ensure that citizens have electronic access to basic interactions.

33. Lessons learnt in e-community building

34. General success factors in network building • It is easy to start a network, but difficult to keep alive • Build the organisation and technology hand in hand: Managers must understand technology andtechnologists must listen to users • Understand users' contraints • Respect rights of data custodians • Provide opportunity -- the IS lives by opportunity • Then, persistence

35. Building institutions • Network organisations can not be managed – but they can be led • Network organisations are normally based on voluntary cooperation – motivated by opportunity • By nature, network organisations are slow – a top down drive difficult to create • The traditional approach for defining user needs first and then finding technological solutions does not normally work • Demonstration, interaction, and iteration works • Spread of best practice: make the best the norm • Providing a political forum works

36. Building network infrastructure • Model the organisational network in technological infrastructure– ownership • Build services that provide opportunity • Learn how to build on each others' work • Build infrastucture – open interfaces • Build gateways – navigate by metainformation • Allow contributions – build dialogue and platform for opportunity • Personalise and integrate • Don't build applications – build infrastructure

37. Building content value chainsfor e-communities • Information society consists of communities (i.e., networks of people and organisations) • Content can not be the same for all • We have tried mass personalisation: How to define Special Interest Groups without excessive fragmentation? What is the critical mass? • Personalisation via community portals • Involve content publishing expertise in all teams • Avoid information overload • Key in value chain: From information exchange to information provision • When is information sustainable?