330 likes | 504 Views
EIONET the Telematic Network. European Environment Information and Observation Network *** European Environment Agency European Commission DGIII - IDA Programme European Commission DGIA - Phare Programme Finsiel SpA., European Dynamics S.A. EIONET Origin and Facets.
E N D
EIONET the Telematic Network European Environment Information and Observation Network *** European Environment Agency European Commission DGIII - IDA Programme European Commission DGIA - Phare Programme Finsiel SpA., European Dynamics S.A.
EIONET Origin and Facets • EIONET was set up at the same time and on basis of same legislation as the EEA in 1990. • EEA became operational in 1994. • EIONET is both an organisational network and a telematic network. • Here we only speak of the latter. • It became operational in 1997.
General Business Requirements for EIONET • Support integrated analysis of state of environment and reporting on it • Streamline dataflows, remove duplication • Public access to documents and databases • Vehicle for coordinating international and national initiatives • Integrative platform for applications and linking to other economic sectors • Project coordination, manage info overload
From Data to Decisions:The Famous Pyramid of Information Document management Decision Judgment VALUES DSS Analysis (Indicators) Data Warehouse TOOLS Integration (Ontology) Data- bases Data & Observations 3 8 1 6 9 7 1 4 1 TEXT DATA INFO
Multiple EIONET Projects • EIONET began as Intranet (IDA-1 1995-97) • Virtual Private Network on public Internet • EIONET became an Extranet (1998-) • Accommodate new partners flexibly, integrate • Connect with suppliers and customers • EIONET on public Internet (IDA-2) • Public access to best available information • Improve information by exposing it
Phasing of EIONET • 15 Member State NFPs 1996-1998 • 9 European Topic Centres 1997-1998 • 3 EFTA country NFPs 1998-1999 • 13 Phare countries 1997-1999 • Capacity building for national EIONETs 1998- • Applications through DGXIII 1999-
EIONET Zones Public www- services and news broad- casting Core Extranet of 40 nodes Public International institutions NRC EU Insti- tutions NGO ETC Part- ners NFP ETC EEA Media R&D projects Con- tractors Phare Phare Topic Links Special Interest Networks Semi- public Internet Full EIONET of 600 nodes Scientists
EIONET the Mother of Intranets Intranet: Replication of data and physical network security ETC Partner NRC Phare Topic Link ETC Phare NFP NRC NFP EEA NRC Extranet: Password access Euro- Intranet Contractors
Linking National and European Interest Groups National Environmental Extranet NRC Data warehousing Document sharing NFP CIRCLE Replication of selected data CIRCLE EEA Document sharing EIONET Extranet
NRC Phare Set-up at each EIONET node EEA ETC Directory Email Newsgroups Document management On-line database NFP Extranet CIRCLE server Internet Fire- wall Local LAN Router Public server General public Electronic publications State of environment reports Public discussion fora Links to other nodes Search engines
Technologies Selected • Internet backbone • From public Internet to TEN-34? • UNIX Computers of Digital, HP, IBM, Sun • Routers of Cisco • Firewall of IBM • Netscape Communicator/Composer • Netscape SuiteSpot servers • IRC/CIRCLE from European Dynamics
EIONET LAYERED SERVICES PUZZLE Public News WebCasting Data Warehousing Vertical Applications CIRCLE Cataloguing and Searching Agents Replication Project Management Certificates Calendar Document Sharing Data Modelling Directories Messaging Web API Conferencing DNS LDAP SMTP Z39.50 HTTP IIOP CORBA TCP/IP Databases Wires Boxes
Messaging “If the only tool you know is a hammer, the world soon looks like nail.” • Email contributes to information overload • Encourages unstructured communication • Organisation of material left to recipient • EIONET was not built for email,although email has an important role in time-critical announcements and distributing URLs • Mailing lists @eionet.eu.int • nfp, etc, ittag, ittag-etc, ittag-nfp, sysadmin • Functional mailboxes at nodes
User Publishing Don’t print, don’t email, but... • …upload - share - search! • EIONET has become a major document management project • One-button publishing with CIRCLE • Users control content • Especially for drafts, bypass the webmaster • Faster turnaround, quality assurance easier • Project homepages (interest groups in CIRCLE)
Conferencing African village metaphor: “The world is one big meeting.” • New ways of working together needed • Meetings are very resource-consuming • Communication needs escalate • Virtual conferences and videoconference help • Connecting discussions with documents • Announce postings in newsgroups • Conduct threaded discussions on documents • Done with CIRCLE NNTP interface
Directory Services The ultimate solution for the address database problem • Distribute to NFPs and beyond • Address database, CDS, and DS integration • How to manage external contacts problem • LDAP an essential part of CIRCLE • Usernames/passwords in a common pool • Created and maintained at each node • Replicated between sites • Certificates via TrustFactory (1999)
Replication Bandwith is a problem - the missing European backbone • Mechanism to transport selected files from one server to another automatically • Built-in in directory services and CIRCLE NFP NFP NFP EEA NFP
Search • When we have 40 nodes and several projects on each of them, how do we find information? • On each IG there is a search facility • Across IGs there is currently nothing, • To search multiple nodes there is only CDS • Push technology pilot by Tieto
Helpdesk and training After the training the users...." • Four levels of helpdesk • 1st level is IG leader/secretary: allow users, control access, structure library and discussions • 2nd level at EEA helpdesk@eionet.eu.int • 3rd level at European Dynamics • 4th level by vendors • Training programme • EIONET Newsletter appears 3 times year.
Online Databases • Improving by exposing • Generate lots of hits • Legacy databases from CORINE are receiving web front-ends, new ones built direct to web • Data Warehousing • Consists of data extraction, cleaning, mining for patterns, web access
EIONET Distributed Data Architecture Distributed Data Warehouses Report Warehouse Operational Databases in Member Countries ETC EEA NFP “Data - Information- Knowlegde”
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
1999: 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
2001: Automated Dataflows between Data Warehouses on Multiple EIONET Servers The Public and Decision-Makers EuroStat EC EEA OECD UNEP DG ETC DG EIONET Server EIONET Server EIONET Server EIONET Server NRC Database Server NFP and other National Authorities
EIONET Interface to Other Networks • Integrate to the networks of other sectors • Provide a platform for participation • Avoid duplication of work • Host activities that complement EIONET • EEA coordinates, locates, links, supports,… • Users identified but not restricted
Other Networks to Integrate with • Telematics Applications Programme of DGXIII • 26 applications in FP4: including IRENIE • FP5 to start in December 1998 • EIONET can provide an intergrative platform • Networks of energy, agriculture, forests, ...
More Other Networks • Special Interest Networks may carry “Best Available Information”: Quality control? • BALLERINA • International conventions • Clearing-House Mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Europe
Information Locators “Best Available Information” • EIONET Directory Service • Catalogue of Data Sources • G7/GELOS • EDEN
Situation with www.eea.eu.int • Present EEA homepage is a document store • 300,000 hits per month (January 1998) • What is the balance between electronic and paper publishing? 200% • Languages and translations • All deliverables direct to web • Online database access sorely needed! • Beyond documents into news broadcasting
Reference Centre • One-stop-shop for electronic information • Link to information held by others • So far, web has been an afterthought just used for wider dissmination of paper-based products • Towards continuous updating • Topical arrangement
SUMMARY • There are multiple EIONETs • Gradually opening up, merging with Internet • Core services now around Internet-based document management -- success • Existing ad hoc dataflows are being tackled • Information for the citizens next