Developments in European information issues: Networks and relays – Services – Products, April 2000

ONLINE MAGAZINE OF THE EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has produced a new online magazine available on its website at http://agency.osha.eu.int/publications/magazine/. Each edition will focus on a different theme and present a variety of points of view from national and international experts, employers, employees, trade unionists and academics with the aim of stimulating debate on health and safety at work issues. The magazine will be available in English, French, German and Spanish. The first issue is entitled 'Health and safety at work - a question of costs and benefits?' while the second issue examines the 'Changing world of work'.

KEEPING UP TO DATE WITH THE eEUROPE INITIATIVE

Commission President Romano Prodi launched the eEurope initiative in December 1999 to ensure that Europe is in a position to benefit fully from the development of the Information Society. The Commission is to prepare an action plan to be endorsed at the European Council summit in Lisbon in June 2000. Meantime a progress report has been issued and is available on the Information Society Directorate General's website on the eEurope initiative at http://europa.eu.int/comm/information_society/eeurope/index_en.htm. The three key objectives of the initiative are ensuring online access for all EU citizens, and creating a 'digitally literate' and socially inclusive Europe. Priority areas to be addressed are cheaper Internet access, fast access for students and researchers, the acceleration of e-commerce, secure electronic access with smart cards, participation for those with disabilities, health online and government online.

The new interactive eEurope website is intended to show developments after the summit in March and encourage public debate. As well as background material on the project it includes information on its objectives and key developments together with the relevant documentation in the form of legal texts, press releases, speeches and reports. The slide show on eEurope which can be viewed or downloaded is a particularly interesting source of data on the penetration of Internet use and other digital technologies. Graphs illustrate the comparatively high rates of Internet access in North America and the Scandinavian member states relative to the rest of Europe.

More information on the eEurope iniative can be found on the revamped pages of The Information Society Promotion Office (ISPO) which has recently redesigned its website at http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_en.htm to make it more user-friendly. A sitemap makes for easier navigation. It offers an overview of the Information Society; sections on policies, specific topics such as multilingualism or telework, services, games, and promotion; news flashes and archive. Quick buttons link to highlights, what's new, glossary and a search facility. One especially useful feature is the collection of statistical sources - with hyperlinks - on the development of the Information Society, featuring research studies and polls such as the Eurobarometer study Measuring the Information Society.

E-COMMERCE FORUM ONLINE PROMOTES E-BUSINESS DISCUSSION

This new e-mail based discussion forum has been established to encourage the exchange of views and experience on all issues relating to e-business. It will be organised on a similar basis to the Telework Forum which covers teleworking, telecommuting and related matters and will also run on the European Telework Online website. European Telework Online developed out of the European Telework Development Initiative supported by the European Commission under the ACTS programme. Visit the website at http://www.eto.org.uk/ for more information or to join the e-commerce discussion forum , send an e-mail to elecomforum-join@eto.org.uk.

To encourage confidence in electronic commerce the Commission is also proposing the establishment of an e-confidence online forum which will seek to promote 'alternative dispute resolution' (ADR). The aim is to exchange information and experience in ADR to ensure the rapid resolution of problems encountered by consumers and businesses without recourse to legal procedures if at all possible. The results of a study conducted by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre on the legal and technical requirements for online dispute settlement systems were presented at a recent Brussels ADR Workshop and will also be published on the website together with a summary of the Workshop discussion. A proposed Directive on a legal framework for electronic commerce is currently going through its stages and has been the subject of a European Parliament report which is available on the Information Society DG's website.

LAUNCH OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SITE

A renewable energy website managed on behalf of the Directorate General for Energy and Transport has been launched at http://www.agores.org/. AGORES - A Global Overview of Renewable Energy Sources - provides information on policies, areas of activity, sources of renewable energy, who's who, news and events, EU funding programmes, recommended website links, projects and publications. The search facility for the entire site is still under construction but a site map aids navigation and the search engine does work on the database of relevant publications. The site has also been designed to be interactive so it is possible to submit your own information on news and events, publications and useful web sites. As the site develops this will no doubt prove to be a useful source on this specialised area.

CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

The European Parliament has produced a new site on the Charter on Fundamental Human Rights. Currently available only in French, the other languages versions are due to appear shortly. It covers news, background information, press releases, links, on-going developments and discussions, contacts and the relevant texts not just of EU documentation but also of UN, Council of Europe and member states' references.

CORDIS IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PARTNERS SERVICE

CORDIS has upgraded its Partners service to enable users to define more precisely the type of partners sought. Searches can now be limited for example to partners in the applicant countries only. The search is carried out on all the stored profiles - currently more than 12,000 research groups are included - and it is also possible to submit or update research team profiles online. The improved system now allows prospective researchers to look for potential collaborators simply to submit expressions of interest relating to a specific programme and this has led to a number of successful matches which have proved fruitful in winning support. Even wider participation by potential researchers is being encouraged to enhance the service further.