Helpdesk Support for the EU Information Relays, December 2005

There has been no Helpdesk support for the information relays following the ending of the TECIS service earlier in 2005. However on 1st December 2005 the Commission signed contracts with two providers, one of which is an IT company which will provide IT support to construct the website and create interactive tools for online reporting and monitoring. The other is a consortium with the College of Europe in Bruges which will supply content and provide subject support. The Helpdesk will work in English, French and German and will produce a monthly newsletter (11 per year) starting in February 2006. They will also create PowerPoint dossiers on two topics a year with slides and notes. The question and answer service will form the basis for a FAQs database on the website. The EDC exchange programme is to run again next year and will be organised through online submissions to the website. Access to the site will be password controlled and will be for the official relays network in EU Member States only. Notification of the website address will be circulated as soon as it goes live.