e-EIONET 2001

Hannu Saarenmaa

European Environment Agency

Why?

•End users ask: What is the purpose of this network? What will it do for me? Why don’t we just use email and the web?

•Developers ask: How should applications be designed for EIONET? Can’t we just use our own tools?

•EEA asks: Can e-EIONET provide new products and services?

General business requirements for EIONET

•Provide an integrative generic infrastructure–Platform for coordination of initiatives, enable interoperability, creation of new opportunities

•Support the collaboration process of integrated analysis within DPSIR framework–Project coordination, management of information overload, making life easier, achieving savings, other practical benefits...

•Streamline environmental data- and workflows within the wider MDIAR chain–Remove duplication and reporting burden

Infrastructure

e-EIONET is about infrastructure

•The prerequisite of interoperability

•Building on each others work

•There are many aspects to infrastructure

–Physical, network, application, information, harmonisation, support, security, ...

Application infrastructure

Use network infrastructure (Internet)

Adopt generic services from open source (Zope, Apache...)

Select common tools (CIRCA library,

Yihaw, ...)

Build apps

(public,corporate,

group,personal)

Proto-cols

Sup-port

Information interchange infrastructure

Network protocols (TCP/IP)

Server protocols (HTTP, LDAP, SQL, CORBA, ...)

Interoperability protocols (SOAP,

RSS, ...)

Application protocols

(Domain XML Schema)

Harmo-nisat-ion

Appli-cat-ions

Data harmonisation infrastructure

Metadata (ISO11179, UML, XML, ...)

Metainformation (DC, GELOS, ...)

Resource discovery

(UDDI, ...)

Sup-port Proto-

cols

Generic Search (Altavista, ...)

Details of the layered architecture

33 Unix server computers across Europe

Internet and its communication protocols TCP/IP, http, ldap, nntp, smtp, ...

Generic services from open sources www, directory, email, news, search, SQL, ...

Personal workplace

Group collab app

Corporateportal app

Library tool

DataMgmt tools

Portal tools

Other tools ...

e-EIONET decomposition diagram

HW and network decomposition

Generic services decomposition

Common tools decomposition

Application decomposition

Developer API decomposition

Support for collaboration

Portal Tool Kit 2.0

•Some of the following features can be expected by end of 2001

–Calendar and meetings–Expertise exchange–Enterprise knowledge portal –CIRCA integration–Registry of collaborating portals–Personalisation between and within channels

–Search

CIRCA will prevail (currently 2.4)

CIRCA 2.5e

•Roles

•Organisation objects

•Dynamic mailing lists based on roles

•Library enhancements

•”What is new”

•Rich Site Summaries

•Multi-node administration support

CIRCA 3.0

•Database foundation

•Domain access for multiple directories

•Open source engines

•Electronic newspaper (Slashcode)

•Linux platform

–October 2001

•Modules with Java 2 Enterprise Edition

–in 4.0?

New data management tools

•Reporting Obligations Database

•Inland Waters Data Warehouse

•Coastbase (IST project)

•EUNIS Data Warehouse

•Metadata (XML Schema store)

•Content registry (UDDI)

•DEMs with XML interchange

Streamlining

Reporting burden

• Each year, each member state has to provide 37,000 figures to various international environmental reporting systems, essentially answering that many questions.

• Only 17% of these figures are related to evaluating the effectiveness of any particular EU policy.

• There are 57 sectoral committees in the environment sector alone.

• Most of them have developed their own data collection and applications.

Currently: Ad-hoc overlapping dataflows

on email, floppy, fax, letter

EuroStat EC EEA OECD UNEP

NFP and other National Authorities

The Public and Decision-Makers

ETC

DG

DG

NRC

EuroStat EC EEA OECD UNEP

NFP and other National Authorities

The Public and Decision-Makers

ETC

DG

DG

NRC

2001: Report to Data Warehouse on NFP EIONET server

EuroStat EC EEA OECD UNEP

NFP and other National Authorities

The Public and Decision-Makers

ETCDG

NRC

DG

EIONETServer

Reportnet - the real CIRCLE

Opportunities abound

• bring every citizen, school, business and administration on-line - quickly

• create a digitally literate and entrepreneurial Europe

• ensure an inclusive information society

Objectives

11

• address key areas of action at European level can make a difference

• collaborative efforts by Member States, Commission and private sector

• 10 key areas selected for action

How?

12

Action

1. European youth into the digital age

2. Cheaper Internet access

3. Accelerating e-commerce

4. Fast Internet for researchers and students

5. Smart cards for secure electronic access

13

Action

6. Risk capital for high-tech SMEs

7. eParticipation for the disabled

8. Healthcare online

9. Intelligent transport

10. Government online

14

Government Online priorities

•Ensure easy access to at least four essential types of public data in Europe.

–Define the pilot areas

•Ensure consultation and feedback via the Internet on major political initiatives.

•Ensure that citizens have electronic access to basic interactions.

Lessons learnt in e-community building

General success factors in network building

• It is easy to start a network, but difficult to keep alive

• Build the organisation and technology hand in hand: Managers must understand technology and technologists must listen to users

• Understand users' contraints• Respect rights of data custodians• Provide opportunity -- the IS lives by

opportunity• Then, persistence

Building institutions

• Network organisations can not be managed – but they can be led

• Network organisations are normally based on voluntary cooperation – motivated by opportunity

• By nature, network organisations are slow – a top down drive difficult to create

• The traditional approach for defining user needs first and then finding technological solutions does not normally work

• Demonstration, interaction, and iteration works• Spread of best practice: make the best the norm• Providing a political forum works

Building network infrastructure

• Model the organisational network in technological infrastructure – ownership

• Build services that provide opportunity• Learn how to build on each others' work• Build infrastucture – open interfaces• Build gateways – navigate by metainformation• Allow contributions – build dialogue and

platform for opportunity• Personalise and integrate• Don't build applications – build infrastructure

Building content value chains for e-communities

• Information society consists of communities (i.e., networks of people and organisations)

• Content can not be the same for all• We have tried mass personalisation: How to define

Special Interest Groups without excessive fragmentation? What is the critical mass?

• Personalisation via community portals• Involve content publishing expertise in all teams • Avoid information overload• Key in value chain: From information exchange to

information provision• When is information sustainable?