Consulting

Project management

Business development

Software development

Market research

Publishing

Thinking FuTureThinking FuTure

www.contact-net.ro

ABOUT US

CONTACT NET LTD is an innovative SME set up inRomania in 2000, all its activities being targetedtowards the deployment and adoption ofInformation Society Technologies, in the context ofdeep transformations and dynamic restructuring,and the provision of enhanced possibilities to allcitizens to be integrated and adapted to the newrealities.

Our company activity covers several fields focus-ing on Project Management, Consulting andBusiness development, Market Research,Publishing, Trainings, and Software & Servicesdevelopment.

CONTACT NET Ltd is ISO 9001 certified since2005.

Consulting and Project Development

Since 2002 CONTACT NET has been focusing onthe challenging and brain-intensive field of Projectdevelopment, coordination and management - ourprojects involving research, innovation and newtechnology implementation, following and oftenforeseeing the knowledge-based society interna-tional trends.

We currently provide consulting for the prepara-tion of European IST projects, and R&D projectsfor international and national auctions and projectcontests.

Since 2003 CONTACT NET team courageouslytook the responsibility of international projectscoordination, such as IOSSPL and EK-HR, the mainR&D projects focusing on multi-language handwrit-ing-recognition systems, libraries automation andweb-integration based on Grid technology. For theprojects timeframe we have also set up and coordi-nated project-offices in several countries (France,Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland), closedpartnerships with local research institutes and com-panies, and recruited and trained the required per-sonnel to fulfill the project specific tasks.

Governmental Consulting and Projects

In 2004 we have been selected as official consult-ing providers for the World Bank-fundedGovernmental programme GFP - Grant FacilityProgramme - the national-scale award of grants fol-lowing the publication of several Calls forProposals under the general goals of the

Company Info

www.contact-net.ro

2

dr. adina riPosan-taylorgeneral managerwww.contact-net.ro/adinariposan.php

Consulting

ProjeCt management

Business develoPment

software develoPment

market researCh

PuBlishing

Knowledge Economy National Project. We haveprovided Consulting services to the Ministriesinvolved and worked out the mechanism, the pro-cedures and the methodology required for theCalls for Proposals organizing, the Applicationprocess and packages, Eligibility & AdministrativeCompliance guidelines, Evaluation & Selection cri-teria and procedures, Coordination & Supervisionmechanism, Uniform Reporting Guidelines,Monitoring & Impact Assessment Process for theentire GFP Programme, as well as an outline of theInformation & Dissemination Plan.

Software and Services Development Our Software and Services development depart-ment is growing and consolidating around thehighly talented young and visionary team ofdevelopers, providing services ranging from sys-tems and requirements analysis to the develop-ment, implementation, testing and support.

The ICT projects of national importance we areundergoing, with wide international implications,address the libraries automation and integrationat the national scale, aiming to fulfill the integra-tion within the European libraries arena, portalsdevelopment, web-integration of national associa-tions, mayoralties, as well as support for E-Inclusion (implementation of AdaptableMultimodal Interfaces for Visually Impaired peo-ple to access Virtual Cultural Patrimony). By hav-ing proven the value of the company human capi-tal at the top of international expectations, ourclient portfolio covers today a wide range of activ-ity domains and geographical locations.

R&D activities are conducted in parallel Our main objectives and on-going research anddevelopment (R&D) efforts are in the areas ofGrid technology and Virtual Organisations man-agement, Portal technologies, Security infrastruc-tures and applications, Mobile Computing, DigitalLibrary technologies, Embedded Systems,Handwriting recognition software, Cognition.

Market ResearchOur long-run market study activities have extend-ed from the internal surveys to the internationalmarket research projects. Our studies are alwaysconnected and support the R&D activities,addressing major societal objectives andadvanced research goals (multi-language hand-writing recognition, automated & digital libraries,digital radiology, vehicles mobile guidance andmonitoring).

Publishing

In support to the projects development and coordi-nation, our Publishing team has been editing printand on-line magazines of national audience in theICT field, in both English and Romanian languages.Our magazines "E&m Global Perspective -Integration and Connectivity Today" and "XXISolutions - Competitive Management in theInformational Society" have proven high successsince the very launch and have attracted bothnational and international audience.

OUR VISIONis to always think "one step ahead" and stay confi-dent that anything that proves feasible, responsibleand worth doing it is worth and possible to beaccomplished.

OUR MISSIONBy every accomplishment, in the context of deeptransformations and dynamic restructuring, CON-TACT NET bridges the gap between opportunityand success.

We set a target to identify those critical areaswhere our solutions could prove reliably supportiveto our customers, contribute to a substantial num-ber of critical areas turning clear and provide reli-able solutions to identified problems.

By informing in-depth and offering professionalsupport for development and implementation guid-ance, CONTACT NET makes a point of acting as a"link" between aims and reality.

OUR POLICYis to salute our partners' initiative, jot down ourown ideas, agree on the best alternative, proceedand develop the entire process.

Through innovative initiative, determined hardwork, effective communication and mutual respect,every project we approach benefits from the enthu-siasm of a young and visionary team of profession-als, permanently oriented towards meeting our cus-tomers' requirements at the peak of their expecta-tions.

www.contact-net.ro

Company Info

3

HR-EKMulti-country Handwriting-Recognition project

http://www.contact-net.ro/projects_hr.php

EK-HR is a multi-country and multi-year

ICT and Market Research Project

for the development of advanced

Handwriting-Recognition software for

the next generation Tablet PCs.

The project covers more than 20 countries from

Europe, Asia, South America and Africa.

The project is developed by EMERSON

KENNEDY Handwriting Group, US, in partner-

ship with CONTACT NET.

In the first stage of the project development,

CONTACT NET has undergone the market

assessment and specific national conditions

evaluation, from the legal, fiscal, economical,

human resources and sociological points of

view, for the initiation or extension of the proj-

ect in every new country approached by the

project.

Further on, for the project timeframe,

CONTACT NET has set up and coordinated proj-

ect-offices in several countries (France, Germany,

Russia, Czech Republic, Poland), closed partner-

ships with local research institutes and companies,

PROJECT OFFICES http://www.contact-net.ro/projects_hr_offices.php

Projects Portofolio

HR-EK

www.contact-net.ro

“Emerson Kennedy has been working closely with Dr. AdinaRiposan-Taylor and her company CONTACT NET for wellover a year, and the work she has performed has been invalu-able to us. Opening an office in one foreign country can be apressured affair, let alone opening several concurrently… Herfriendly approach to our queries and concerns has helped findpaths through some very rough spots and handle the numer-ous crises that always seem to emerge. She has also consis-tently worked with our US staff to find innovative business solu-tions…”

Paul K. BryantPresident, EMERSON KENNEDY -

Redmond, Washington, USA

Germany, Munich France, Paris

Czech Republic, Prague4

and recruited and trained the required personnelto fulfill the project specific tasks.

2003 - CONTACT NET Participated in:n Project preparation for the auctionn Set up of the data collection centres in the

European countries n Co-ordination of several European collec-

tion centres for 1 year (France, Germany,Czech Republic, Poland)

2004 - CONTACT NET Participated in: n Project preparation for the 2nd year

auctionn Set up of the data collection centre for an

experimental 3 months timeframe inRomania

n Project coordination in Romania

2005 - CONTACT NET Participated in: n Project preparation for the 3rd

year auctionn Set up of the data collection centre in

Russian Project coordination for 1 year in Russia

CONTACT NET is further undergoing the mar-ket assessment and specific national conditionsevaluation for the extension of the project innew Asian and Arabian countries.

www.contact-net.ro

Projects Portofolio

HR-EK

Poland, Varsaw Russia, St. Petersburg

Romania, BucharestRomania, Bucharest

Russia, St. Petersburg

IOSSPLIntegrated Open-Source System for Public Libraries Automation

http://www.iosspl.org/

IOSSPL is an RTD project in the area of Public

Libraries Automation and Integration.

CONTACT NET has gained an international

projects contest launched by the Italian

government, the Ministry of Productive Activities,

under the framework of the Italian Law

212/1992, in October 2003.

The official launching of the IOSSPL project was

on June 1st, 2004.

The Ministry of Productive Activities, by the

General Direction for the Promotion of Exchanges

- Division IV - ROMA, approved, by the Decree of

the Ministry of Productive Activities issued on

29/12/2004, the IOSSPL Project (cod

212/03/ROM15) to be financially sustained

under the Law 212/92 D.M. n. 171 from

19/04/2001.

CONTACT NET involvement: n Project preparation for the European projects

contestn Project coordination for 2 years timeframe

The project is planned to be continued on aEurope-wide scale, in collaboration with ELAG(European Library Automation Group), CONTACTNET providing the software, implementation servic-es, localization and customization.

The Italian partner for the IOSSPL Project is PROGETTO SOFTWARE (Ragusa, Italy).

IOSSPL Background and Motivation:

The IOSSPL Project comes as complementary to "TheNational Program for the Automation andDevelopment of Public Libraries Services in Romania"

It is of national importance, in Romania, theAutomation of the operations and services of thosepublic libraries which do not dispose of informa-tional specialized systems at prezent, nor of finan-cial resources for such development, with the finalgoal to enter the application frame of the"National Program for the Automation andDevelopment of Public Libraries Services inRomania", under its both components: the NationalVirtual Library of Romania (full-text database) andthe Shared National Catalogue.

The main draw-back against the complete achieve-ment of the national program:

n The application framework of the "NationalProgram for the Automation and Development ofPublic Libraries Services in Romania" is dramati-cally limited because very few public librariescan be connected to The Shared NationalCatalogue (the collective catalogue meant tobasically reunite the online catalogues of all pub-lic libraries in Romania), not using automatedinformation systems and electronic catalogues.

Projects PortofolioIOSSPL

www.contact-net.ro

“The ELAG - European Library AutomationGroup is happy to support the «IntegratedOpen-Source System for Public Libraries inRomania» project. […] We are convincedthat it is a project of interest not only forRomanian libraries. We are sure that - if suc-cessful - the resulting system will be largelyused in Europe. Beside, the fact that it is opensource will allow its further development andrefinement in the next years.”

Paula GoossensPresident of ELAG

Brussels, June 2003

6

n The other program component - The NationalVirtual Library of Romania (full-text database)is even more difficult to achieve at the nationalscale, considering that most of the publiclibraries are functioning based on "paper".

IOSSPL Objectives:

The IOSSPL Project proposes to develop a com-plete web-based, standards-compliant, open-sourcelibrary software system which will become avail-able to be implemented in all the public libraries inRomania in the long run.

The IOSSPL system will be first implemented in 5Pilot-Libraries in Romania. The Installation Kit, theTechnical Documentation and the User Guide willbe made available to the Ministry of Cultures andReligious Affairs, in order to be further offered freeof charge to all the interested libraries in Romania.

The IOSSPL Project will also ensure the technical for-mation of the representatives of the Public Librariesin Romania (200 librarians and 40 metodists fromthe public libraries system will be trained for the PCutilization, and further in the field of BibliologicInformation Technology and applications).

Parties involved in the project:n CONTACT NET Ltd Bucharest,

project coordinator, Romanian promotern PROGETO SOFTWARE Ragusa, Italy,

Italian promotern CIMEC - The Institute for Cultural Memory

of the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs,Romania, Romanian partner

n County Library "Ovid Densusianu" Hunedoara,Deva (Public Regional Administration),Romanian partner

n Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs,Romania, Romania beneficiary

n Consulting from: ELAG (European LibraryAutomation Group)

Places to develop the initiative:n Bucharest - CONTACT NET, CIMEC n Deva (County Hunedoara) - County Library

"O.Densuianu"n Slobozia (County Ialomita) - County Library

"Stefan Banulescu" n Tandarei (County Ialomita) - Town Library

Tandarei n Tecuci (County Galati) - Municipal Library

“Stefan Petica”n Liesti (County Galati) - Village Library Galati

www.contact-net.ro

Projects PortofolioIOSSPL“The project under discussion is of great

interest to the Romanian libraries, in theireffort to offer the citizen the best access to the rich information they collect,to fulfill their part in the information socie-ty and to play a more important role inconsolidating the democratic society, thuscontributing to accession of Romania toEuropean Union.”

Acad. Razvan TeodorescuMinister of Culture and Religious Affairs

Bucharest, July 2003

7

IOSSPLIBLA Soft

www.contact-net.ro

8

IOSSPL Project - IBLA Soft

Under the framework of the IOSSPL Project, anOpen Source Software – IBLA Soft – has beendeveloped to assist the activity of public libraries in42 counties in Romania based on the merging ofadvanced emerging technologies for enterpriseapplications: OSS, JSR 168, GRID, J2SEE, JSF,Facelets, ORM, IOC, FRBR and OPAC.

General description

This project aimed at producing a high quality, lowtotal cost of ownership (TCO) solution to bedeployed on a national scale in public libraries,which would meet the needs of most small andmedium organizations.

During the initial user requirements analysis phasewe concluded that specifications clearly indicatedtowards a web based solution able to scale bothhorizontally (to accommodate more user requests)and vertically (to integrate more organizations in acooperative environment).

By examining the open source software (OSS) com-munity we have concluded that the best approachwas to use a portal framework. Although portal-likeenvironments have been in production for manyyears, a standard has been recently developed bythe JSR process community – JSR 168 – standardsupported by many large software companies likeSun, IBM, BEA and the OSS community. Thisapproach requires a portal framework (a softwareapplication based on standard J2EE enterprise tech-nology) to be deployed on the server machine, andindependent components also known as portlets(that are themselves J2EE conforming applications)to be published. The main advantage of thisapproach is that portlets can be developed inde-pendently and deployed in a highly configurablefashion on the portal.

IOSSPL Portal structure

User functional requirement analysis has led to a setof portlets being developed. Each of these portletsemploys an emergent technology from J2SEE com-munity that allows rapid deployment of rich graphi-cal user interfaces with multilingual support built in.n Catalog Search portletn Catalog Management portletn Assets Management portletn Loaning portletn Community Forum portletn Community Wiki portletn Community Messages portletn Generic Content portletn News portletn Administration portlet

An extensive toolset has been developed to allowthe administration from within the portal of anyaspect pertaining to its functioning. A complexorganization model allows for fine grained securitysettings. This power is mastered by administratorsfrom within the portal.

The operation of the library revolves around its cat-alog and the most important use case is the search.We have developed a powerful search engine thatis able to respond to queries of arbitrary complex-ion whilst providing a very simple and intuitive inter-face that any user that has ever accessed the inter-net, feels very comfortable with. Although this inter-face is suitable for “Average Joe” type of queries(and for someone who knows the syntax of the querystring it is more than enough), a more complicatedinterface is provided for those specific searches.

Emil Mieilica, product manager

Administrators can assign user to groups and monitor their activity

With the click of a button you can switch the language for the whole GUI

A Powerful administration portlet allows the configuration of any aspect of the portal from within the GUI.

www.contact-net.ro

IOSSPLIBLA Soft

9

Once an entity has been identified by the query itcan be displayed to the user or modified by thelibrarian. You might have noticed that I used theterm entity and not book or item. This is becauseour catalogue does not store just the attributes ofan item, but also the relationship between itemsand 3 more level of abstraction above it.

This approach is guided by the specification of alibrary standard named FRBR which stands forFunctional Requirements for Bibliographic Records.The librarian community seems to think, and for agood reason, that this standard is the greatestinvention since the proverbial sliced bread.

The FRBR specification is greatly influenced by thedesign of the WWW that has proved a tremendoussuccess. It defines several types of entities and therelationships between them. This allows for multiplelevels of abstraction in dealing with bibliographicentities. For example it defines the entities Work,Expression, Manifestation and Item in descendingorder of abstraction and it is worth noticing that aphysical copy of a book stands at the Item level,while the other levels are related (in reverse order)with a specific edition, a particular expression (e.g.a novel, a play, a movie), and finally with theabstract concept behind a book (e.g. Romeo andJuliet – no matter if it’s the original manuscript or amovie staring Leonardo DiCaprio). These entitiesare represented by XML documents and are storedin a database together with the relationships thattie them. A user is able to navigate this web of rela-tionships in order to find relevant information.

Because of the semantic nature of the informationstored, a great emphasis is placed on the correctinput of relevant information.

To aid the librarian in its work a wizard-like inter-face has been developed with the purpose of sim-plifying the task to such a degree that it is hard toenter invalid data or to forget to enter it.

By requiring the user to enter a small amount ofinformation at a time we keep him focused on thetask at hand and hopefully this method eliminatesany inconsistencies.

The Asset Management portlet facilitates opera-tions such as keeping the library inventory, fromacquisitions, items entry into the library inventory,items allocation to different library sections, to thefinal item outflow from the library inventory.

The Loans portlet facilitates the management of theloans by the librarians, as well as reservation oper-ations that can be performed both onsite by thelibrarian, and on-line by the registered customersof the library. For such on-line customers opera-tions, authentication is required.

Wizard second step: Fill a subset of attributes

Wizard first step: Select what needs creating

IOSSPLEVENTS

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10

The main events of the project were the launch-ing and the finalization events. During the proj-ect development some other events were organ-ized, and we have also ensured presence andcommunications to international and nationalconferences, seminaries, and professional meet-ings in the field of library automation, includingthe annual ELAG meetings and conferences in2004, 2005, and 2006.

The finalization of the project was realized withthe participation of all the partners, and wasorganized in synergy with the participation tothe ELAG 2006 international conference, theannual conference of the European LibraryAutomation Group, this year focused on thetheme "New tools and new library practices" (http://www.cimec.ro/elag/ ).

ELAG, the European Library Automation Group,brings together once a year people involved inlibrary automation in the leading Europeanlibraries and information centres. The organiza-tion counts 450 members in 27 countries all over

Europe. The annual meetings aim at in depth dis-cussions of particular library automation topicsand at the promotion of informal exchange ofideas and experience.

We have presented the project and the system tothe international audience attending the confer-ence by exposing the system at the IOSSPLstand, by live demonstrations and technical dis-cussions with the library specialists from severalcountries as well as local experts.

Communication activities were performed duringthe event, discussions with the mass-media repre-sentatives and software demonstrations.

During the ELAG 2006 conference we have alsodiscussed the opportunity to establish synergieswith international projects under way in thelibraries automation and integration field. IBLASoft is intended to be further involved in interna-tional R&D projects with Italian and Romanianparticipation, with the aim to extend the systemin some innovative directions and to establish sci-entific collaborations with research teams fromdifferent fields and different countries.

IOSSPL Events

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11

There is also high potential for further addressingthe Educational Libraries environment, independ-ently as well as under the framework of the edu-cational development projects. Further to thepresence and presentation at the ELAG 2006conference, and following our mas-maedia com-munication, we have received several expres-sions of interest from Educational Libraries andInstitutions that would like to be included in thewider initiative that will naturally continue theIOSSPL project, together with the PublicLibraries. The Educational Libraries representa-tives will contribute to the new analysis processfor the identification of the particular require-ments for adjusting and customizing the IBLASoft core system to the particularities of thelibraries in the educational field, to the testing ofthe system, professional formation of the person-nel, and potential collaborations in R&D futureprojects.

Moreover, the successful finalization of the IOSS-PL project was highly welcomed as valuable sup-port for other national programmes under way.A new synergy was extablished between thenational cultural programme and the nationalKnowledge Economy Programme coordinated bythe Ministry of IT and Communications. CON-TACT NET being a consultant to the Knowledge

Economy Programme, we ensure a point of con-vergence and we are prepared to participate tothe extension of the IOSSPL system in new areasof application, in synergy with both national pro-grammes, within the wider goal to promote theInformation Society in Romania.

IOSSPLEVENTS

IOSSPLPROFESSIONAL

FORMATION

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12

IOSSPL Professional Formation Activities for the professional formation of thePublic Libraries representatives in Romania wereperformed at several stages during the projectand covered different areas of interest, thusresponding to the requirements of various cathe-gories of public libraries personnel. The NationalAssociations of Public Libraries and the NationalCommission for the Automation of PublicLibraries were highly supportive during thisphase of the project.

The first module of the professional formationwas a preparatory stage providing training onthe basic PC utilization (MS Windows XP andMS Office XP), with a focus on database utilisa-tion (MS Access DB). The second and third mod-ules were focused on the topical theme of libraryinformation and automation systems and the newlibrary standards, as well as the practical utilisa-tion of the new library software system createdby the IOSSPL project.

The obstacle initially brought by the "inertia" ofsome library personnel in their professionalviews, not being immediately open to changeand innovation or finding it difficult to accommo-date to the impact of a new generation librarysystem on their activity practices and processes,was soon counteracted by the clear explanationof the benefits of integrating library services andmaking them largely (and still securely) avail-able as web-based services. Moreover, the uni-formization requirement in some professionalpractices was understood as a potential enablerfor large-scale integration, as well the substantialbenefits on the simplification of daily libraryactivities that can be brought by the librariesautomation and integration process, along withthe alignment to the new library standards.

The solution we found to the lack of uniformityand the confusion regarding various libraryautomatic activity chains and workflows wasmainly to discuss with the experts from theNational Commission for the Automation ofPublic Libraries about the necessity to providesome guidelines and reccommendations for theuniformization of the library practices andprocesses, regarding both the informational andthe activity flows. We further followed the guide-lines provided by the experts during this specificprofessional formation phase and will continueto collaborate on extending the libraries automa-tion and integration initiative on a larger scale,both at the technical consulting and professionalformation levels, after the project finalization.

Among other new developments and variousinnovative trends recently promoted within theautomation libraries international environment,the FRBR Cataloguing standard was introduces

www.contact-net.ro

IOSSPLPROFESSIONAL

FORMATION

13

and explained - which is the new standard forthe Functional Requirements for BibliographicRecords. FRBR defines entities and relationshipsand allows multiple levels of abstraction regard-ing bibliographic entities, and proposes to inte-grate the bibliographic records framework ofvarious cultural fields, such as the libraries` andthe museums` cataloguing systems. Even if FRBRproved to be difficult to understand, as it intro-duces new terms and terminology substantiallydifferent from the terms previously used in thecataloguing practice, the new standard was easi-er accepted when presented through a compara-tive maching guide between the long-used ISBDterminology and the new FRBR terminology. Thisapproach facilitated the librarians` understand-ing of the terminology and the acceptance of thebenefits brought by the recent FRBR implementa-tion.

Finally, the new approach of a library automaticsystem in the form of a web portal was alsointroduced and explained, so that the libraries`personnel attending the courses became awareof the benefits of the portal technology and the

supperior integration facilities that it provided tothe library system modules and functions. Theadministration of the library user groups andaccounts, with specific permissions and profiles,the entire security system, as well as the contentmanagement facilities, became therefore accessi-ble and understandable to the library personnelas user-friendly features, entirely web-based andusing open-source technologies.

were also performed on-site training activities atthe location of all the public libraries nominatedas pilot libraries in the IOSSPL project, duringthe implementation phase of the project. The uti-lization and administration procedures imple-mented by the new library system were present-ed to the libraries` personnel and the locallibrary employees were particularly trained onhow to fulfill their specific activities by the helpof the IOSSPL system.

On-site Training at the Pilot Public LibrariesBesides the professional formation modules tai-lored for different levels and topics of interestduring the professional formation phase, there

Official VisitsItalian-Romanian Cooperation

The delegation of the Italian Ministry of ProductiveActivities (MAP) has visited the Romanianlibraries - part of the pilot public libraries inthe IOSSPL project - in order to obtain acloser view on the libraries activity and thepractical integration of the IOSSPL system -IBLA Soft - within the daily informationalworkflows.

We have welcomed the official representa-tives of the Italian ministry and presentedto them the implementation of IBLA Soft atthe pilot libraries, as well as the integrationof library activities, workflows, catalogueadministration and asset management func-tions between different libraries intercon-nected by vertical or horizontal hierarchicrelationships.

We have organized meetings at the localmayoralties in order to discuss with theMayor and the authorities of the local com-munities about the aspects of the publiclibrary integration within the communitycultural and educational environment.

By following this approach the library func-tions become interconnected with theadministrative functions conducted by themayoralty and the local council, with theeducational institutions and other culturalinstitutions operating in the local communi-ty, for a coherent and efficient culturaldevelopment and synergy.

It can also ensure the web-integration of all themajor institutions in the local community under thesame web interface - the Gateway of the local com-munity within the national web space.

We also organized meetings at the Ministryof Culture and Religious Affairs for dis-cussing the integration of the IOSSPL initia-tive within The National Program for theAutomation and Development of PublicLibraries Services in Romania.

We also discussed the possibility of the con-tinuation of the project to include new com-munities and new libraries in the next stageof the implementation process.

IOSSPLOFFICIAL

VISITS

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14

The consultations with the technical expertsdelegated by the Italian ministry (MAP) con-tinued on-site for assessing the current imple-mentations and the possibility of furtherdevelopment.

We had an exchange of opinion andexpertise with the Italian experts regardingthe next steps that could continue the IOSS-PL research and development work-plan,with several new R&D directions such as:the development of the open-source systemto provide mobile services and mobile pay-ments for library services and digital con-tent, as well as the integration of advancedfacilities for visually impaired persons toaccess the library portal (adaptable multi-modal interfaces).

Another direction of development is the inte-gration of an advanced WorkflowManagement system - Triana open-sourcesoftware environment - for facilitating theautomatic remote updates and technicalsupport on a large scale.

www.contact-net.ro

IOSSPLOFFICIAL

VISITS

15

“Iosspl.org... Project proposes to develop acomplete web-based, standards-compliant,open-source library software system whichwill become available to be implemented inall the public libraries in Romania...”

worldwidirectory

http://www.worldwidirectory.com/Europe/Romania//Education.and.Reference/Libraries/

“Software free of charge for thelibraries... The public libraries willbenefit on a free of charge basis ofa software system which allowsbooks cataloguing and assets man-agement, due to a project realizedwith Italian funding. The IOSSPLproject - Integrated Open SourceSystem for Public Libraries waslaunched by CIMEC and theContact Net company.”

CHIP MagazineJune 2006

IOSSAC Project Integrated Software Platform for Juridical Libraries

Participation in the Development Programmefor Modernizing the Libraries of the RomanianCourts of Appeal, within the framework of theTransparency Phare Project

The implementation of the IOSSAC open-source library system, based on the customiza-tion and further development of the IBLA Softintegrated platform for Modernizing theLibraries of the Romanian Courts of Appeal,was part of the Phare Project – “Transparencyof the legal act” – the project beneficiarybeing the Superior Council of Magistracy . Thenecessity of such modernization was identifiedby the international experts nominated by theCentre for European Constitutional Law (CECL)(Greece), Human Dynamics (Austria) and theFoundation for Development of Civil Society(Romania).

The pilot project for the automation, optimiza-tion and modernization of the RomanianCourts of Appeal by the implementation of thecustomised version of the IBLA Soft open-source platform provided a series of advan-tages, both regarding the costs of customiza-tion and implementation of the library systemat the level of the Romanian Courts of Appeal,as regarding the future perspectives offered tothe beneficiaries by such system, such as thepossibility to disposes of the source cod andparticipate in the open-source communitydeveloped around the IblaSoft platform, the

support of this community formed of softwarespecialists as well as librarians with significantexpertise in the library services field, the bene-fits of preferential assistance and technical sup-port, as well as future periodical updates ofthe software system.

Building Communities around Libraries on the Web

The pilot implementations of the customizedIblaSoft platform, following the requirementsanalysis completed at the level of the pilotCourts of Appeal in Romania (Bucharest, Clujand Iasi), allowed the option of using the sys-tem in one of the following alternative imple-mentation modes:

1. Implementation at the central server level,and system exploitation by all the Courts ofAppeal in Romania via intranet or internet con-nection. The benefits of this community-orientedimplementation option are mainly related tothe possibility of creating and using a commonshared library catalogue, community buildingof specialised juridical librarians around theintegrated system on the Web, the engage-ment, participation and collaboration optimiza-tion among the documentarist court clerksbased at the different Courts of Appeal, as

well as the common exploitation of the extend-ed system resources (e.g., forum, wiki, etc.).

IOSSACPROJECT

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“Today, the overwhelming majority of libraryautomation software is offered through commercialcompanies as proprietary software. Open sourcesoftware contrasts with the closed software.[…]Based on what we now know, the recommendedsolution for the first common automated system ofthe libraries of the Romanian Courts of Appeal isintegrated open source system IBLA Soft. There isneed to keep up the compatibility, versatility, trans-ferability, standard and quality. IBLA Soft systemhas many years’ history of determined developmentparticularly for Romanian libraries […] a level head-ed solution for the libraries of the Romanian Courtsof Appeal of today.”

International Senior Short Term Expert Sinikka Kangas

Transparency Project

“At the present, libraries need external assistance toreach the technically adequate level for installing,operating, and supporting the information system.”

International Senior Short Term Expert Sinikka Kangas

Transparency Project

“You'd have to live on another planet not to know that a

fundamental shift has happened on the web. It's no longer

only about serving up pages of static content but also about

engagement, community, and participation. Librarians are

just beginning to find ways to make their web presencemore community-oriented.”

Marshall Breeding,

Content, Community and Visibility: a winning combination;

Computers in Libraries, April 2008

2. Implementation at the local level, providingthe alternative option of each Court of Appealmanaging its own server and performing localactivities on the local server, whether the individ-ual institutions preferred more independency inexploitation, handling security and maintenanceaspects without affecting the other library loca-tions in the system.

Testing and validation of the pilot implementation:

The implementation was completed in parallelwith on-going tests conducted with the participa-tion of the library professionals from all theRomanian Courts of Appeal involved in the proj-ect. The feedback gathered from the multipleusers were rigorously analysed and consideredduring all phases of the customisation, implemen-tation, testing, and demonstration, towards thefinal validation of the library software platform.

Personnel Training at the Romanian Courts ofAppeal Libraries:

In addition to the automation and optimization ofthe libraries activities, the project involved thetraining and professional formation of the per-sonnel at the Romanian Courts of Appeal to usethe specialized library services, automated operations and information flows, and thebenefits of the web-based community services. The documentarist court clerks from all theRomanian Courts of Appeal involved in the project participated in the seminaries and workshops organized at the Training Center forthe Magistrates in Sovata and benefitted fromspecialized training in the utilization of the IBLASoft library system, as well as broader aspectssuch as the novel approach in documenting,European trends in the field of library services,practical views and guidelines for the alignmentwith the professional standards of the Europeanlibrarians.

As final remarks regarding the long-termapproach and continual modernization of thejuridical libraries information systems, Mrs.Sinikka Kangas, Senior Expert, and Mr. IosifBiro, Junior Expert, have underlined the sugges-tions for potential new ways of development inthe framework of the collaboration between theRomanian Courts of Appeal and the IBLA Softteam at CONTACT NET.

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IOSSACPROJECT

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“The information specialists of the CourtLibraries have preliminarily evaluated theIBLA Soft system.[…] It is vital that the sys-tem is capable to offer the required fea-tures, scalability and reliability. Test data-base and demonstration of skills wouldfunction as documented evidence on themerits of the IBLA system.”

International Senior Short Term Expert Sinikka Kangas

Transparency Project

“Development activities supported by theTransparency Project have contributed to positiveprogress in the field of information storage andretrieval.[…] New channels of communicationbetween the experts have been opened at nationaland international level. Essential to the success wasthat the 2008 Transparency Project found an excel-lent local expert with good communication networkand potential for training.”

International Senior Short Term Expert Sinikka Kangas

Transparency Project

BiblioPortalIntegrated Web-based Library System

BiblioPortal (www.biblioportal.ro/portal)was launched on 21st of October 2009 - Integrated Web-based Library System that

comprises a series of automatic library applica-tions offered as online services to the group oflibraries subscribed to the portal, to theirbranches and their clients. BiblioPortal pro-vides hosting services to the subscribinglibraries, enabling the complete integration ofthe libraries’ catalogues within the commonShared Catalogue as well as their presentationwebsites. The libraries’ personnel may operatethe portal on the basis of preferential securedaccess, according to the user accounts andprofiles created for them in the administrationmodule. The portal was developed based onthe previous open-source version IblaSoft (www.iblasoft.contact-net.ro/portal) - the prod-uct of the IOSSPL project ( www.iosspl.org) -following the web development strategy ofCONTACT NET in the field of library softwaresystems.

The Integrated Web-based Library System cov-ers the entire range of operations and informa-tion flows that take place in a professionallibrary. The portal enables complex libraryoperations through specialized portlets in thefollowing categories: shared catalogue, cata-

loguing operations, complex search in the cat-alogue, assets management operations, stan-dard reports system, online reservations, loans,secured portal administration and preferentialaccess to services, internationalization module(the portal is currently localised in 7 Europeanlanguages). The portal facilitates inter-library

collaboration and allowsdirect communication throughthe BiblioPortal forum andwiki.

BiblioPortal ensures thepreservation of the libraries'individuality by creating thegroup culture and customizedinterfaces enabled by thelogin with the group creden-tial. Each subscribing librarymay access the portal in twoalternative modes of opera-tion: in open mode, commonto all visitors, allowing accessto the common SharedCatalogue and enabling com-plex search by a range of cri-teria, as well as browsing thenews sections;

and in preferential mode, by secure login tothe reserved library’s space in the portal,which allows all library personnel to performtheir daily activities and complete specific tasksaccording to the profiles and rights granted forthe permitted operations: the ‘cataloguing pro-file’, ‘assets management profile’, ‘loans pro-file’, ‘administrator profile’, etc. There is also a‘reader profile’ that allows the readers to holdweb-based reader accounts to the subscribinglibraries in the portal, enabling online reserva-tion and keeping track of the loans history andalerts, in direct communication with the librari-ans.

BiblioPortal allows customization for enablingall specific functions required by various typesof specialized libraries, and the integration ofa virtually unlimited number of libraries. Theportal is involved in several national and inter-national projects, the current implementationscovering several categories of libraries: PublicLibraries (Town, Municipal, Village Libraries),Juridical Libraries (Courts of Law, AppealCourts), Research Institutes Libraries,Educational Libraries.

BiblioPortal

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BiblioPortal is developed on Java portal plat-form, it runs under Centos server, and uses thefollowing main technologies and methodolo-gies: OSS, JSR 168, GRID, J2EE, JSF, ORM,IOC, Hiberante, Spring Framework, Jaspersoft,eXo Platform.

Based on the original IblaSoft platform, the newBiblioPortal system benefits from a restructuredarchitecture providing a cataloguing module thatwas migrated from the FRBR principles to theISBD standard. The search engine has been alsoextended to allow multiple searches based onthe ISBN/ISSN features, advanced search crite-ria, as well as navigation between connectedentities. We have further developed a novel sys-tem for diferrentiated access to the main titlesbased on customised librarian-defined protocols.BiblioPortal made available the electronic bookscataloguing and visualization module.BiblioPortal also introduced the Bar Cod identifi-cation module for the library items and librarysubscribers ID. We have introduced the on-linereservations module open for use to all librarysubscribers. We have also developed a new realtime monitoring system for notifying the returndelays, providing web-based visibility to both thelibrary personnel and the notified subscribers.Last but not the least, BiblioPortal introduced thenew reporting system based on the open-sourceJasperSoft platform, allowing the librarians toprint out complex reports and statistics on thelibrary cataloguing activities, assets manage-ment, loaning history, and library items files.Based on the new developments and modulesintroduced, as well as the ergonomic design,BiblioPortal has become one of the mostadvanced library software systems available onthe market.

BiblioPortalfor Juridic Libraries (2010)

At the end of 2010, on the occassion of the final-isation of the advanced BiblioPortalintegrated software platform, CONTACT NEThas upgraded the initial IblaSoft library systemat the Romanian Courts of Appeal with the newplatform BiblioPortal, in line with the final objec-tives of the IOSSAC project for long-term collab-oration and continual modernization of thelibrary services, formulated at the finalization ofthe Transparency Phare Project.

IOSS-RS

A new research project was initiated in 2007,for bringing the IBLA Soft library platform to thenext level. The collaboration between CONTACTNET and the National Institute for Research andDevelopment in Mine Safety and Protection toExplosion INCD INSEMEX (Petrosani) occas-sioned a new stage in research and requirementsanalysis in the view of developing and customis-ing the library integrated platform for the specif-ic requirements of a research institution and envi-ronment. The project was finalized with theimplementation of the customised software sys-tem at the INSEMEX Institute.

In 2009, our R&D activities continued with a newcollaboration project – the modernization andoptimisation of the specialised library services atthe National Institute for R&D in ElectricalEngineering ICPE-CA (Bucharest). The projectwas structured in several phases and the imple-mentation was finalized in January 2010, fol-lowed by a long-term post-project collaborationfor consulting, mentenance, and technical sup-port. The national ICPE-CA institute fully exploitsthe library portal at present, using a 10,000library items database, 8,000 electronic books,and integrated web services for library assetsmanagement, operation and information flows.

Based on the new developments and novel mod-ules and services resulted from the researchactivities of CONTACT NET and the collabora-tion projects fulfilled, the advanced BiblioPortallibrary software platform was born.

BiblioPortalfor Educational Libraries (2011)

CONTACT NET has set a new challenging targetfor 2011 – the launch of the educational versionof the library portal BiblioPortal namely the spe-cialized software system for the school and high-school libraries automation, based on theBiblioPortal system.

Under the framework of a wide-scale partnershipwith the Bucharest General Inspectorate forEducation, we have projected a pilot project toinclude schools and high-schools from all districtsof Bucharest, as partners and participants in theproject.

www.contact-net.ro

BiblioPortalIOSS-RS

19

GFP Governmental Project Consulting services

In 2004 we have been selected as official con-

sulting providers for the World Bank-funded

Governmental programme GFP - Grant Facility

Programme - the national-scale award of grants

following the publication of several Calls for

Proposals under the general goals of the

Knowledge Economy National Project. We have

provided Consulting services to the Ministries

involved and worked out the mechanism, the pro-

cedures and the methodology required for the

Calls for Proposals organizing, the Application

process and packages, Eligibility &

Administrative Compliance guidelines, Evaluation

& Selection criteria and procedures,

Coordination & Supervision mechanism, Uniform

Reporting Guidelines, Monitoring & Impact

Assessment Process for the entire GFP

Programme, as well as an outline of the

Information & Dissemination Plan.

The Grant Facility Programme - GFP - will have

as object the national-scale award of grants, fol-

lowing the publication of several Calls for

Proposals, according to the general goals of theKnowledge Economy National Project and thespecific objectives set for each target-groupaddressed.

For the preparation of the Grant FacilityProgramme launch we have provided Consultingservices to the Ministries involved and workedout the mechanism, the procedures and themethodology required for the development,coordination, monitoring and assessment of theGFP Programme, as well as an outline of theInformation and Dissemination Plan.

The Programme is planned so that theObjectives, the Results and the ImpactAssessment Indicators are correlated and coher-ently defined, and the effectiveness of the projectat large can be monitored and assessed in anobjective manner.

In accordance with the specificities of the pro-gramme, we have worked out the appropriate pro-cedures for the Calls for Proposals, the Applicationprocess, as well as the Templates to be filled in bythe Applicants from each Target-group in order tocomplete the Proposal Application package.

Projects Portofolio

GFP

www.contact-net.ro

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GFP - Project Meeting, November 2005

www.contact-net.ro

Projects Portofolio

GFP

Further, the "Eligibility and AdministrativeCompliance" Report Guidelines we propose coversthe general and specific rules for Eligibility andAdministrative Compliance, as well as the EligibilityCriteria for the Grant Facility Programme. TheTarget-groups were defined based on the GrantFacility Programme requirements and the generalstrategy set for the programme procedures.

We have drawn up the "Guidelines for Evaluationand Selection", covering the Selection Mechanism,Selection Criteria and Selection Committee, as wellas the Supervision Mechanism for the selection ofbeneficiaries.

The guidelines provide the necessary indicationsfor the general principles to be followed in theevaluation of proposals, the evaluation processand the procedures in practical detail, the eligibilityand administrative compliance criteria, the evalua-tion and selection criteria, and the evaluation formsneeded to be completed at each step of the evalu-ation of proposals.

The Monitoring and Impact Assessment Processeswere further outlined so that to cover the specificfunction of Monitoring the projects and activitieswithin the framework of the Matching GrantFacility Programme, as well as the function ofAssessing the Impact of the projects results and thelevel of achievement of the objectives set.

We have worked out the Monitoring Methodologyand Uniform Reporting Guidelines, providing therequired specific details for the preparation ofProject Reports with the main purpose to allow themonitoring of the progress of the contracts againstthe stated objectives.

The specific requirements for Impact Assessment,the Impact Assessment Methodology, as well asthe appropriate set of Indicators that should be cal-culated and tracked, in direct correlation with theObjectives set for the Programme and for the spe-cific Target-groups.

The Impact Assessment Plan - providing the exante, intermediate and ex post evaluation aspects -offered the guidelines for Individual & Aggregateimpact studies and analyses, periodical assessmentsteps and POSSIBLE OUTLINE INDICATORS,based on the most appropriate programme-related& project specific sets of indicators proposed andthe principles of EFFICIENT and EFFECTIVE pro-gramme implementation.

"Knowledge Economy" and The Libraries Automation

A new synergy was recently extablished between

the national cultural programme in the field of

Public Libraries Automation and the national

Knowledge Economy Programme coordinated by

the Ministry of IT and Communications. In these

circumstances, the successful finalization of the

IOSSPL project was highly welcomed as valuable

support for both national programmes under way.

CONTACT NET being a consultant to the

Knowledge Economy Programme, for the compo-

nent Grant Facility Programme (GFP), we ensure a

point of convergence and we are prepared to par-

ticipate further to the extension of the IOSSPL area

of application and the synergy with national pro-

grammes, within the wider goals to promote the

Information Society development in Romania.

As a first step, we have provided the open-source

library system developed under the IOSSPL project

(IBLA Soft) to the public libraries from the local

communities involved as initial pilot communities in

the Knowledge Economy Programme. Training

and professional formation support will be provid-

ed further, as the system becomes operable and

integrated within the libraries activity and informa-

tional flows.

Educational and ONG Libraries:

We further assessed that there was also high poten-

tial for approaching the Educational Libraries envi-

ronment, under a specialized educational develop-

ment project. Therefore, the usage of the library

software is currently extended to support the

Educational Libraries environment.

Our analysts are currently conducting the require-

ments analysis activities for providing the new system

specifications to meeting the specific needs of the

educational libraries.

Since the finalisation of the IOSSPL pilot project, the

solicitations to implement the open-source library sys-

tem came from a large number of libraries of differ-

ent types - new public libraries, educational libraries,

ONG libraries and religious organizations libraries.

R&D activities are therefore under way for meeting

their specific needs and requirements.

21

Parapsychology Research andEnergetic-Informational Actions

Our extensive Parapsychology research activitiescover a wide range of PSI phenomena andEnergetic-Informational Actions, which we approachin a synergistic way involving knowledge andexpertise from both scientific fields and traditionalfields, as well as practical experience. Our studiesand experiments go in-depth into Parapsychologicalconcepts and phenomena, but also attempt to iden-tify inter-connections and provide a holisticapproach to our research.

Moreover, by integrating scientific knowledge andobjective measurements into our studies as well, weaim to support Life Sciences to make a new stepahead and approach the living systems "beyondthe physical body" in direct synergy with the physio-logic studies. We aim to deepen the synergy withdisciplines such as Neurosciences and BiomedicalInformatics that promote the vertical nano-micro-macro data integration and the reconstruction ofthe Virtual Physiological Human by multilevel mod-elling and simulation of the human anatomy andphysiology.

The main topics of our Parapsychology researchactivity involve:

n ESP - Extrasensory perceptions, including theentire spectrum of phenomena that fall into thecategory of ESP (telepathy, clairvoyance andprecognition), which basically imply the acquisi-tion of information about, or response to, anexternal event, object or influence (mental orphysical; past, present or future) otherwise thanthrough any of the known sensory channels(sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste).

n DMILS - Direct Mental Interaction with LivingSystems, at both cognitive and physiological lev-els, with a major research interest on the emo-tional (empathic) level. While DMILS experi-ments usually attempt to find out if one personcan influence the physiology of another distantindividual through mental intention, we are fur-ther concerned with the DMILS processes thattake place without involving the "intention" fac-tor, which leads to the discussion on how weaffect people around with our thoughts, emo-tions, desires, and intentions, in a conscious orunconscious way. Our studies and experimentson DMILS are also concerned with the integra-

tion of the cognitive, emotional, and physiologi-cal levels during the DMILS experimentation,with all the facilities and environmental factorsinvolved, which implies the monitoring and theanalysis of physiological measurements as wellas cognitive and emotional perceptions duringthe DMILS process.

n OBE - Out-of-Body Experiences, a phenomenonwe have researched on extensively - from boththe practical experimentation and the theoreti-cal study points of view. In our OBE studies andexperiments we attempt to provide a scientificexplanation of the OBE phenomenon, as wellas to provide an explanation on the factors thatlead to spontaneous (involuntary) OBE, the fac-tors that make certain individuals more inclinedtowards spontaneous (involuntary) OBE, andthe methods that can lead to voluntary con-trolled OBE.

n Local vs. Non-local Consciousness, studying theconcepts in relation to the paranormal phenom-ena in which they occur - such as "remote view-ing" vs. "out-of-body experiences".

n Superior states of consciousness, includingresearch on super-mental activity and ESP per-ceptions, and the study of super-conscious per-sons that are believed to have a "higher level ofconsciousness" and to be "more evolved" at themental and consciousness level.

n Psychosomatic influences, the influence of themental on the physiologic body functions andthe consideration of the duality mind-brain.

Projects Portofolio

PARAPSYCHOLOGY

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n Brain activity in relation to ESP, which involvesthe brain hemispheres activity (left/right) andthe effects of the brain hemispheresbalancing/synchronisation, the effects of thealternative brain stimulation, the brain wavesand the brain frequencies modifications duringthe experiments and during persistent long-runtraining in meditation and relaxation techniques.We are closely collaborating with the AIMgroup in these studies, involving the utilization oftheir devises such as the Mind Synergy brain-machine.

n Endocrinal system in relation to ESP, whichinvolves the study of the Ayurvedic teachingsthat affirm that chakras act as bridges betweenthe physical body and the psychic, influencingthe endocrine glands as well as certain bodyorgans, namely that the mental and the spirit ofa person directly influence the chakras, and fur-ther the chakras influence the endocrine glands.We are mainly concerned with the study of thepituitary gland (hypophyse) in relation with themental activity and ESP perceptions such astelepathy and clairvoyance (mental ESP), andthe thymus gland in relation with the affectivestates and ESP perceptions such as empathy(emotional ESP).

n Alternative Therapies and the processesinvolved, in a Holistic approach, as well as theAyurvedic traditional medicine concepts. Ourstudies also aim to create a synergy with themodern medicine concepts and integrate theinformation within a larger framework thatextends research on the physical body to anapproach "beyond the physical body", as well.

n Traditional Yoga & Tao concepts, such as theSubtle Bodies (etheric, astral, mental, causal),Chakras (subtle energy centres), Nadi /Meridians (subtle invisible energetic channels),Prana (subtle energy), Bioenergetic Aura visuali-zation/simulation and the traditional interpreta-tions, in relation to the modern medicine andthe scientific concepts involved.

n Energy remote transfer, with itstransmission/reception pair-factor and theaspects regarding the characteristics of thereceptor/transmitter pair-sides, the traditionalteachings regarding Yin(-)/Yang(+) polarity andthe relation with the brain activity.

n Kundalini psycho-mental energy, and the psychi-cal and physiological effects that occur whenthis energy is "awakened" and ascendedtowards the upper levels of the body, as well asthe Paranormal phenomena and extrasensoryperceptions that are considered to be directlyrelated to the awakening and ascending of theKundalini energy.

Participation in Parapsychology InternationalConferences and Workshops:

In order to keep up-to-date with the latest results inParapsychology research and to present our ownstudies, experimentation results and research inter-ests, we attend and give presentations in internationalworkshops and conferences in the field.

We have actively participated in the discussions ofthe international Parapsychological Association (PA)on the occasion of the Annual Conventions of theParapsychological Association, and we keep perma-nent communication - for exchange of ideas and com-munication of research results - with Parapsychologyresearchers from several European and Americanuniversities.

Moreover, we are actively involved in consultationworkshops and international conferences in the fieldof Energetic-Informational Actions organized by TheNational Defense University "CAROL I" and TheMinistry of Defense in Romania, creating a commonfield for close collaboration in present and futureresearch. We have presented our studies on DMILS -Direct Mental Interaction with Living Systems - dis-cussing the concept, providing a new approach onthe DMILS process, and communicating the results ofour experiments. We have finally brought up thetopic of DMILS as a Parapsychological phenomenonin a view to better understand how we affect peoplearound with our thoughts, emotions, desires, andintentions.

We are also participating in workshops and trainingsin traditional disciplines and teachings such as Tao,Yoga, Ayurveda, and various types of meditation,workshops in Transpersonal Psychology, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and Eneagrama (HumanTypologies and Archetypes), as well as internationalcongresses where such traditional knowledge is pro-moted, communicated and interpreted in such way asto fit the requirements and understanding of a mod-ern society.

www.contact-net.ro

Projects Portofolio

PARAPSYCHOLOGY

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Biomedical Data Discovery andMultimodal Workflows

In collaboration with Cardiff University - School ofComputer Science, we have researched into theapplication of Triana Workflow Environment andthe Alchemist P2P infrastructure (which are projectsat Cardiff University) in the field of Biomedicalresearch, in support for the composition of complexdata workflows, biomedical image and spectraldata discovery. The initial use-case is the utilizationof the Triana/Alchemist infrastructure in DiabeticRetinopathy research and clinical trials, for the earlydetection and prevention of retinal disease andinvestigational drug discovery.

In the Biomedical research field, the Alchemist infra-structure provides an innovative mechanism for bio-medical image data search and spectral data dis-covery, where metadata generated from user andautomatic annotations is fused and semantics canbe included as part of the query. Biomedical audio-visual content and associated metadata can be dis-covered and retrieved, allowing also the visualiza-tion of particular regions of interest within theimages, or anomalies in the patterns of spectraldata. While content-based retrieval is an active fieldof research, multiple modality search (using datafrom multiple sources and media, and data from dif-ferent levels of biological organisation) can givedeeper insights into the nature of biological entitiesand the processes they are involved in.

Triana Workflow environment is used for problemsolving and orchestrating flows of operations/ser-vices, both in fine-grained dataflow applicationsand as a course-grained distributed workflow sys-tem. Workflow is implicit in scientific algorithms thatspecify a series of inter-dependent operations to beexecuted, to connecting such algorithms in a seriesof derivations, which when aggregated performsome higher-level task. Triana - as a scientific work-flow environment - has been previously used inBioinformatics projects as a Grid-based problem-solving environment for collaborative explorationand analysis of global biodiversity patterns.

Within the context of Biomedical sciences, theAlchemist has a significant potential to support (i)distributed biomedical communities focused on aspecific disease process (ii) disease-oriented collab-orative studies which share large datasets (iii) inte-grative biology projects that need to analyze inter-related information at different levels (e.g. clinical,

cellular, molecular and genomic) (iv) population-based studies (e.g. clinical trials in diabetes or can-cer). For biomedical images, current practice usual-ly involves searching databases containing (i)patient data repositories (ii) case-oriented referenceatlases (i.e. dynamic information across spatial andtemporal scales of abstraction) or (iii) training col-lections (documented biomedical images, eitheranonymised individual or averaged data and train-ing datasets).

By using the Alchemist for disease-oriented studies,P2P caching could support the search, selection andaggregation of similar biomedical and spectraldatasets. Caching, using rendezvous peers (as inWSPeer), can be adapted to cache similar requestsfor resources and thus store hits on nodes which arewithin closer proximity to the particular group ofresearchers interested in the file.

Mobile Grid and P2P Scenarios for

Biomedical Imaging

We have conducted research activities for identi-fying scenarios where mobile devices might beappropriate for use in the Biomedical imagingfield. We discuss the requirements for connectingmobile nodes with static Grids, which incorpo-rate support for their transient nature anddiverse communication protocols and environ-ments, such as peer-to-peer.

We assessed the potential use of workflow man-agement from mobile devices in medical imagesregistration, data management and analysis andthe role of mobile devices for the discovery,retrieval of digital images and their interactivevisualization.

Mobile support is also provided for theAlchemist infrastructure. Clinicians can benefitgreatly from the possibility of using a mobiledevice to initiate search operations, retrieve med-ical audio/visual data and associated records, oroperate data transfer between different staticrepositories, in a controlled and secure way.

We also addressed the possibility of usingmobile devices for workflow management by theremote control of the enactment engine from amobile user interface, for the data fusion of dif-ferent kinds of data and metadata and the inte-gration of algorithms designed under a commonproblem-solving environment.

Projects Portofolio

BIOMEDICALINFORMATICS

www.contact-net.ro

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www.contact-net.ro

Projects Portofolio

BIOMEDICALINFORMATICS

25

Diabetic Retinopathy Research,Disease Prevention and

Investigational Drug Discovery

The initial use-case in the field of biomedicalresearch is the utilization of the Alchemist infrastruc-ture in Diabetic Retinopathy research and clinical tri-als, for the early detection and prevention of retinaldisease and investigational drug discovery.

We use the Alchemist to create multimodal diabeticretinopathy workflows, in order to combine datafrom several distributed resources (horizontal inte-gration) and different biomedical levels (verticalintegration) for advanced retinopathy detection andprevention. The development of Alchemist applica-tions relevant to diabetic retinopathy is being guid-ed by expertise within the Diabetic RetinopathyScreening Service for Wales (DRSSW), and theDiabetes Research Unit (DRU, Llandough Hospital)with the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences(SOVS), Cardiff University.

We proposed the study of diabetic retinopathy as afocus for customised utilisation of the Alchemist mul-timodal search/workflow system - one that spansboth fundamental biomedical research and routineclinical (screening) practices. From very large (multi-terabyte) clinical datasets, image and spectral datacan be searched to discover biomarkers for disease- in particular markers that are intrinsic to the dis-ease process. Identification of such markers holdimmense value for large-scale disease preventionand early detection services.

Disease-intrinsic biomarkers (particularly at themolecular level) also have potential for improveddiagnosis and stratification of diseaserisk at the level of the individual. Inconsequence, screening systems cantrigger earlier interventions and moni-tor disease progression in a more con-sistent, quantitative manner. Alchemisthas therefore potential to synergisewith large-scale screening pro-grammes, and can help explain theinteraction of factors that underlie initi-ation of the disease process. Diseaseprogression data discovery and dis-tributed pattern matching acrosswhole populations has the potential toradically improve efficiency in patientselection, intervention effect evalua-tion, optimal frequency/cost of screen-

ing. However, significant work for applying focusedontologies needs to be done.

Development of workflows that integrate sensitivemethods of measuring retinal function (as well asgross pathology) can improve detection of retinallesions (or better, pre-disease markers) that areassociated with retinopathy or vision loss. In an effi-cient screening service, appearance of such validat-ed markers would constitute important evidence totrigger therapeutic intervention choice(s) while mon-itoring/recording the outcome(s). Alchemist canalso have a key role in assessing (through a novellongitudinal search paradigm) the quantitativeimpact of a treatment or treatments.

This benefits of the vertical data integration areshown by the data representation at multiple levelsthat might in combination explain origins of patholo-gy (e.g. clinical, functional, morphological, molecu-lar, cellular, genomic). These explanatory combina-tions may be represented in workflows by analyticalalgorithms within data discovery workflows or indecision support tools that allow users to apply dis-covered knowledge. Patterns and signals from com-binations of observational modalities (spectral, elec-trophysiological, retinopathy gradings and annota-tions/metadata from expert assessments) can helppredict what is commonly observed - at the macro-scopic level - as a pathological outcome.

The high dimensional searches enabled byAlchemist also have clear potential here for novelbiomarker discovery - i.e. identification of signals,technical effects, risk factors or combinations thatdirectly underlie any observation (either in non-exceptional - i.e. normal - functions or in exceptional- i.e. pathological - functions).

Projects Portofolio

BIOMEDICALINFORMATICS

www.contact-net.ro

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Mobile P2G Architecture forParamedical Emergency Operations

In collaboration with Cardiff University - School ofComputer Science, we have conducted research forthe design of a hybrid framework of Grid and P2Ptechnologies, which we called P2G (Peer-to-Grid),and assessed how such framework could be used toaddress the issues of a real Paramedical EmergencyScenario, involving complex rescue operations overlarge geographic areas and high-risk locations.

For meeting the requirements of the ParamedicalEmergency Operations, we proposed a distributedarchitecture that could be used to link emergencymedical centres, hospitals, telephone operators, andambulances into a hybrid Peer-to-Peer (P2P) andGrid system for the sharing of information and trans-port of data. Distributed computing techniques areused to connect static and mobile systems, bringingthe different tools, expertise and databases togetherto aggregate patient data "on-the-fly" and integrateit into a situation and context-specific patient-centredvirtual environment. This scenario encapsulates con-necting mobile tools and medical devices from ambu-lances, enabling data transfer to medical centres, andaggregating patient data from numerous sources.

By combining Grid and P2P systems, an intelligentand context-aware distributed architecture woulddramatically increase the amount of informationavailable to paramedical teams as they respond toemergencies, as well as improve informationexchange with hospitals, emergency dispatch cen-tres, and doctors. This information would rangefrom patient data such as vital data during the res-cue operation, allergies and current medical condi-tions, to infrastructure related decisions such as traf-fic advisories and the relative proximity of hospitalswith adequate medical facilities. By forming aneffective and well-administered ambulance andfleet-management system that interconnects withmedical centres, an emergency institution's capacityto respond to crisis in a timely manner is greatlyenhanced. In addition, once such a system is inplace, it facilitates interoperation and communica-tion with other government entities such as the firebrigade, police force, and public defense institutions.

The proposed P2G (Peer-to-Grid) framework consoli-dates P2P and Grid computing research by addressingthe mobility of transiently connected devices while sup-porting interactive configurability of components fordynamic data-driven distributed paramedical scenarios.

ACGTAdvancing Clinico-Genomic Trials on Cancer:

Open Grid Services for Improving Medical Knowledge Discovery

IST-4-2005 Strategic objective addressed:2.4.11 Integrated biomedical information for betterhealth

ACGT is an European project launched underCORDIS 6th Framework Programme, Call 4,Priority IST, in the E-Health domain, approachingthe challenging field of Health Grids.

CONTACT NET participated in the proposalpreparation for the European IST ACGT project bythe identification of some necessary and optimaldevelopment directions, research and integrationrequirements, user-requirements analysis, the defi-nition of the Project Scenarios, and by assuring thecommunication with the European Commissionduring the consultations timeframe, as well as con-sulting for the finalization of the project writing.

CONTACT NET ensured also the acceptance andparticipation of a Romanian company in theACGT consortium.

ACGT Project Objectives:

The ACGT proposal focuses on the StrategicObjective of Integrated biomedical information forbetter health whose fundamental objective is "Research and development on innovative ICT sys-tems and services that process, integrate and use allrelevant biomedical data for improving health knowl-edge and processes related to prevention, diagnosis,treatment, and personalisation of health care."

ACGT's vision is to become a pan-European vol-untary biomedical grid connecting individualsand institutions to enable the sharing of data andtools, creating a European Wide Web of cancerclinical research.

The ultimate goal being to speed the delivery ofinnovative approaches for the prevention andtreatment of cancer. The infrastructure and toolscreated by ACGT also have broad utility outsidethe cancer community. Ultimately, the mostimportant beneficiaries of ACGT will be the can-cer patients themselves and the public at large.

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Projects Portofolio

BIOMEDICALINFORMATICS

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PACS Market Survey

The Market Survey aimed to identify and assess thedegree of awareness, as well as the existing andpotential market, for the implementation and utiliza-tion of the Picture Achieving and CommunicationSystems in Hospital and Medical Institutes. Thepotential for development and the interest in scientif-ic research activities using medical imaging tech-niques were further assessed. The PACS Marketstudy was performed in Romania, being planned tocontinue in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary.

The Market Survey was performed in the medicalenvironment, gathering a complex panel of respon-dents (IT specialists, medical specialists and adminis-trative decision makers) from a representative sam-ple of hospitals and other medical institutions, inorder to investigate the PACS (Picture Archiving andCommunication Systems) market from both theDEMAND and OFFER perspectives.

From the DEMAND point of view (customer-relatedinformation), the survey analyzed the degree ofawareness, implementation and utilisation of thePACS and PACS-related systems in the medical andresearch institutes in Romania. Further on, the surveyprospected the potential of the market developmentin the field, present and future opportunities, maindrawbacks and barriers signalling areas of potentialintervention, reasons and preferences that couldreveal tendencies and perspectives in the long run. The survey also attempted to assess the interest inScientific Research activities involving medicalimages and the capacity to perform such activitiesby means of the imaging technologies currently usedin the hospitals. The interest in the internationalresearch projects was also ascertained, as well as

the respondents` motivation and the possibility tojoin the networked international research programsbased on digital medical imaging techniques.

Another objective of the survey was to prospect thePACS market from the OFFER perspective (vendor-related information), by identifying the key producers,vendors and/or distributors of such system alreadypresent on the Romanian market, either local or for-eign companies, as well as the main market trendsand potential changes in the short/medium run.

The survey revealed some strengths and weaknessesof companies from the Romanian perspective, ten-dencies and preferences of the potential customersfor local / foreign PACS vendors, or for the tradition-al partners with regard to software developmentand implementation. The report also presents someinformation about the development initiatives andefforts conducted in the Health environment andinfrastructure, at the regional and national level. Thefollowing pages outline the key information outputsthat resulted from this survey.

PACS Market study consisted of both Quantitativeanalysis and Qualitative analysis. The Interviewingperiod was August - September 2004.

Generally, the respondents were in the range of: n Radiology doctors (usually the Chief of the

Radiology department) n IT specialists (usually IT managers) n System engineers n Administrative decision factors.

The sample of interviewed medical units includedmajor hospitals and medical institutes from urbanareas, which would be most likely to use a PACS sys-tem - either at present or in the short / medium run.

Projects Portofolio

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IQPACS InfoWorld

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ATTR - Romanian Technical Foundrymen Association http://www.foundry-attr.ro/

Long-run Partnership for: n Web integration n Consulting for B2B integration

The integration of the Romanian TechnicalFoundrymen Association (ATTR) within theInternet space has been achieved in 2002 withthe support and direct assistance of CONTACTNET company. The http://www.foundry-attr.ro/web site outlines the profile, activity and per-formances of our national association within thedigital media, as well as the connection to theWorld Foundrymen Association (WFO) -http://www.thewfo.com/.

Based on this initial project, ATTR and CON-TACT NET have established a long run partner-ship for continuing the upgrading and develop-ment of the ATTR web presence, project man-agement and business development performedby CONTACT NET in the view to extend theinternational operations, and the attempt toenter the B2B international frame.

E-Inclusion - PHARE Project for Disabled

n Business Plan for the set up of protected pri-vate companies - 30% disabled employees

Ordered by ISTPH - The State TerritorialInstitute for Disabled People n Project for the ISTPH web integration

INTERNETICS Festival - Romanian National Web & Multimedia Festival http://www.internetics.ro/

Organized by Millenium-Image &Communication Group

Consulting for the initiation of the Festival:CONTACT NET has co-operated with MilleniumCommunications in the initiation and organiza-tion of the festival - first edition, as SpecialistConsultant, in charge with business development,funds raising, business & communication relation-ships establishment, negotiation and contracting.

INTERNETICS is the first Festival of DigitalCommunication in Romania. At the 4th edition this year, the INTERNETICScontest and the digital gallery address all thedigital art creators: web design agencies, com-panies, institutions and freelancers.

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Projects Portofolio

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“The initiation of the Romanian Web Sites contest INTERNETICS Festivalwww.internetics.ro, in 2001, has been the event that occasioned the first partner-ship with CONTACT NET Consulting company, which later proved to be one mutu-al rewarding long-run collaboration opportunity. CONTACT NET has co-operated with Millenium Communications in the initiationand organization of the INTERNETICS Festival - first edition - as SpecialistConsultant, in charge with business development, funds raising, business & commu-nication relationships establishment, negotiation and contracting. We hereby rec-ommend CONTACT NET to any company interested in developing VISIONARYand CHALLENGING projects, and look for a partner for developing and manag-ing the business process.”

Andrei BortunPresident, Millenium Communications

PUBLISHING

e&m Global Perspectivehttp://www.contact-net.ro/index.php

Since December 2000, CONTACT NET has beenthe editor of the on-line magazine e&mGlobalPerspective (Rom & Engl versions), which by its inte-grated content was meant to provide a link of trans-parency and accuracy to updated information.

The Magazine offers to all those interested in E-Busi ness, IT & Communications a broad range ofinformation presented in an objective manner,challenging but still realistic, designed to form,inform and educate the target in an area whereany decision could prove financially vital.

The on-line magazine e&mGlobal Perspective hasbeen designed to get at corners of the audiencewithin the business and INTERNAUTS' media, pro-viding topical interest subjects to a representativetarget - the influential business scene, opinionleaders, decision-makers and persons in chargefor investments, as well as high academic environ-ment and specialist commenters.

A wide range of topical subjects are presentedand commented, revealing business opportuni-ties, beforehand strategic details, information ofeducational value and professional implementa-tion guidance. Beside informing in depth about IT

markets, competing products and services, com-ments on major events are also present, marketstudies and latest news on legislation and fiscalissues, proving of high impact on the consideredareas.

"xxi Solutions - Competitive Management for the Informational Society"http://www.solutiixxi.ro/

One year after the launch of the on-line maga-zine, CONTACT NET extended its publishingactivity in December 2001 by putting on the mar-ket, together with ARIES (The RomanianAssociation for Electronic and Software

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Projects Portofolio “Our partnership started December 2000,

when CONTACT NET launched the onlinemagazine e&mGlobal Perspective […] Themagazine was a pioneer on the Romanianonline publishing market, offering a broadrange of information presented in an objectivemanner, challenging and realistic, designed toform, inform and educate the Romanian ITbusiness community. The very good collaboration was extendedafter the launching of the «xxi Solutions -Competitive Management for theInformational Society». Further on, Oracle'sperformances in the Internet field were veryeffectively promoted by CONTACT NET atINTERNETICS 2001 - the first Internet festivalin Romania…”

Radu CrahmaliucMarketing Representative,

ORACLE ROMANIA

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Industries), the periodical magazine "xxi Solutions - Competitive Management for theInformational Society".

The new magazine was worked out in printedformat (Rom version), and distributed free ofcharge on a monthly basis. Moreover, since itsvery launching, the magazine was also presenton the Internet, in both English and Romanianlanguages, at http://www.solutiixxi.ro/.

The Mission set for the new publication was tomeet some requirements which were not fullycovered on the Romanian market, namely to pro-vide the Top Management segment in Romaniawith a clearer view on the series of benefits thatthe new Internet and IT&C solutions could bringto the development of management systems with-in all fields of activity (Financial, Commercial,Education, Human Resources), in the context ofthe new Information Society.

E-SOFT Project - "XXI Solutions" Magazine

The Resources and Information Centre for theTechnologic Park Development PHARE Programme, co-ordinated by the RegionalDevelopment Agency Bucuresti-Ilfov

n Concept, plan and editing of the print & on-line magazine (engl/rom) "XXI Solutions - CompetitiveManagement for the Informational Society"

n Ordered by ARIES-Romanian Associationfor the Electronic & Software Industry

One year after the launch of the initial on-linemagazine, ARIES entered the partnership withCONTACT NET in December 2001, in the editorial and publishing field, by putting on the market the periodical Magazine"xxi Solutions - Competitive Management for theInformational Society".

The new Magazine was worked out in printed for-mat, Romanian Language, and distributed free ofcharge on a monthly basis. Moreover, since itsvery launching, the Magazine was also presenton the Internet, in both English and RomanianLanguages.

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Projects Portofolio“Our collaboration started based on CON-

TACT NET experience in business develop-ment, media and communication field, as wellas the early success of the e&mGlobalPerspective on-line magazine, which CON-TACT NET has been edited since December2000 in both Romanian and English lan-guages… We hereby acknowledge our longand rewarding collaboration with CONTACTNET to which we have been partners in devel-oping the communication project «xxiSolutions - Competitive Management for theInformational Society» .”

Alexandru BORCEAPresident, ARIES - Romanian Association

for Electronic and Software Industries

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Contact Coordinates:Phone: +40-744 310 280; +40-744 623 209

E-mail: adina.riposan@contactnet.rowww.contact-net.ro