Professional applications of the information society

There are already numerous applications of the information society and telematic technology in the area of administration. With the removal of national frontiers within the Community, Europe is focusing its efforts on the creation of networks linking public administrations to facilitate the exchange of information between regional and/or national administrations and increasing economic and social cohesion in Europe.

Applications

The exchange of administrative data occurs in all areas of public administration, for example:

• taxation and customs
• education
• social affairs, e.g. employment and social security
• statistics,
• health
• companies,
• rural areas and agriculture
• culture and tourism.
• the environment

A trans-European network of public administrations

The trans-European network of public administrations was launched by the Bangemann Report in May 1994. Linking the Member States of the European Union, its initial aim is to connect networks by the end of 1996 so that information can be exchanged between administrations in different fields. These interconnected networks will then be extended to link administrations with the public. This ambitious pilot scheme should help to cut administrative costs and improve relations between administrations and Europe's citizens. The origins of this vast trans-European network lie in the IDA initiative (Interchange of Data between Administrations).

While responsibility for supporting and keeping up the momentum of the project rests with the European Union and the Member States, the private sector must create synergies by working with the national and local authorities to find the most appropriate technological solutions for its practical implementation.

Computerisation of invitations to tender

Another project involving European administrations and suppliers is the European Electronic Network of Invitations to Tender, the aim of which is to introduce electronic procedures for publicising and processing public invitations to tender. Based on the SIMAP project (Information System on Public Contracts), this initiative should maximize the notification of public contracts and, on a general level, improve the dissemination of this information. By providing companies, particularly small businesses, with open telematic access, the network will enable them to respond to trans-European public invitations to tender and to strengthen their position in the single market.

Examples of applications in Europe

• EURES (European Employment Services) is a cooperative network linking the public employment services of the 12 Member States. It provides job-seekers with information about vacancies at regional level in other countries for which they can then apply.
• EIONET (European Information and Observation Network) is a telematics network for exchanging information about the environment in Europe. It is run by the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen.
• TESS/SOSENET (Telematics for Social Security/Social Security Network) is an attempt to simplify and speed up the procedures for acquiring social security rights and benefits for migrant workers in Europe.
• REITOX (European Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addiction) is a project currently being developed to set up a systematic mechanism for the exchange of information between the European Commission and the national authorities about the social and medical aspects of drugs.
• VIES (VAT Information Exchange System) is a network for exchanging information about VAT, linking the tax administrations of the 12 Member States.

Contact point

IDA Central Office, Tel. 32.2.296.39.53, Fax 32.2.299.02.86

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Health applications of the information society

The information society is radically altering the health sector, bringing changes in the administration of healthcare systems, thanks to the computerisation of multimedia patient information combined with advances in medical imaging. The development of telematics applications places an unprecedented volume of medical information at the disposal of all those involved in healthcare.

Applications

• Computerisation, exchange of and shared access to medical records. Clinical and administrative data about patients can now be accessed and shared in real time by authorised parties, such as hospitals, insurance companies and mutual insurance societies, public health and social security institutions, laboratories, practitioners and/or healthcare workers. Administrative and financial procedures are simpler, quicker, safer and cheaper as a result.

• Telematics networks based on common communication standards can ensure the interoperability of multimedia workstations, diagnostic aids, on-line consultation of medical databases and records/archiving systems, i.e. national health systems on an international scale.
• The introduction of mobile telematics services for first aid.
• The development of hospital information and communication systems linking all departments, such as general medicine, surgery, accident and emergency, intensive care, radiology, pathology, etc.
• Medical imaging: the transfer and/or remote visualisation of medical images such as X-rays, scans and electrocardiograms.

Examples of European projects

* The OPADE Project: development of a multilingual computerised system for administering medical prescriptions.

* Creation of a telematics network for the exchange of microscope images between experts and laboratories, as part of the IMPACT Project.

* Regional telematic health networks linking all professionals and institutional partners, for financial management, resource management, the reservation system for healthcare infrastructure, emergency and monitoring services.

* Multi-purpose smartcards used for various types of service: health insurance administration, portable medical records, payment for healthcare and prescriptions.

Advantages of medical telematics

• Tighter cost control and cost savings in healthcare for the professionals and faster reimbursement procedures for patients.
• Greater accessibility and flexibility in healthcare services, particularly in remote regions.
• Improvement in the quality of care and performance of biomedical aids, because of the almost immediate availability of patient data.
• Hospitals in outlying regions will be brought more into the mainstream and health centres will no longer be so compartmentalised.

Contact point

Antonio PERNICE, Healthcare Telematics, DG XIII/C-4

Tel.: +32 2 296.35.08, Fax: +32 2 296 01 81

E-mail: aperne@dg13.cec.be

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Professional applications of the information society

The information society has fundamental contributions to make to industry and small businesses. Giving firms in manufacturing services and traditional sectors access to information knowledge and more efficient tools and techniques as and when required will guarantee their competitiveness and potential for innovation. Information technology can be applied in a wide variety of ways depending on the sector. Access to telematics networks will enable small businesses to carry out commercial transactions and help them to compete with large firms. The involvement of several participants in a multimedia telematic environment will also increase overall efficiency and cut costs.

Examples of technology and its applications

• Electronic data interchange (EDI) combines computerisation and telecommunications networks to replace paper documents and introduce direct correspondence between firms' computer systems or commercial partners. Electronic processing of standardised documents can be used for all business and related activities at national and international level such as the distributive trades industry, finance, insurance, the automobile industry, tourism transport, storers, etc.

• Networking between different industrial partners creates a new type of relationship between small businesses and large ones regardless of location. CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) CIM (computer-integrated manufacturing) and powerful communications network technologies can be integrated to satisfy industry's strategic need for electronic exchange of complex data between plants.

• Digital communications networks will allow immediate access to technical documentation (e.g. manuals running to over 100 000 pages). Several projects based on CD-ROM technology are currently designed to offer shared access to technical documentation from several automobile and aircraft assembly plants in different parts of Europe.

• Broadband communication networks will allow for the development of essential applications for industries operating worldwide. Automobile and aircraft assembly plants will be able to draw on sophisticated technical assistance maintenance and other specialist skills at lower cost.

• Videoconferencing and electronic mail currently used to varying degrees will become day-to-day tools for cooperation between firms. They will bring substantial savings in travel costs and time and increase companies' efficiency.

• Digitalisation of texts images and sounds, desktop publishing scanning and telematic networks open up exciting opportunities for media production. These techniques of production and digital transmission of documents make it possible to supply economic operators and/or the general public with information very rapidly. Numerous European projects have highlighted the potential in the fields of culture training and publishing, for example through the introduction of an integrated publishing system accessible to professionals throughout Europe.

Advantages of EDI

• Removes the need to produce and process multiple transaction documents.
• Improves stock control and reduces order times. An example from the automobile industry: rationalisation of supplies of parts between sub-contractors and assembly line.
• Improves customer service.
• Speeds up sale/invoice/payment cycle.
• The system is permanently accessible and information rapidly updated.

Contact point

Michel Coomans DG III/A-5, Tel. 32.2.296.81.48/296.88.62, fax 32.2.296.88.67

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Professional applications of the information society

Teleworking is a new way of organising work using electronic equipment for processing and exchanging information or documents such as texts, images, graphics or sound. Salaried employees or the self-employed either work at home or are grouped in telecottages or centres. Using fairly basic information-processing equipment (PC, modem, printer), they are linked to their companies, which may be hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away, via the national and international communications networks. Teleworking is already a daily reality for 7 millions people in the United States, 150.000 in Germany, 560.000 in Britain, 215.000 in France and 80.000 in Italy.

Applications

Teleworking has already been used in the United States and Europe (particularly northern Europe) for many years by businesses and public authorities which have tended in rural areas to decentralise value-added services, particularly in the following sectors:

• computer engineering and communications,
• insurance companies,
• commercial services for businesses,
• consultancy (engineering, industrial design),
• graphic design, publishing, media,
• financial services (accounting, debt collection),
• administrative sub-contracting, shared secretarial services, translation.

Advantages of teleworking

For employees:

• flexibility in terms of hours and workplace
• chance to reconcile career and family life, particularly for women who wish to work at home
• greater regional mobility without travel and/or relocation,
• greater responsibility and autonomy,
• access to new qualifications,
• professional integration of disabled workers with restricted mobility.

For businesses:

• greater flexibility and competitiveness,
• savings on premises and salaries,
• savings on transport costs.

For the environment:

• lower energy costs and less urban pollution,
• revitalisation of rural areas thanks to the creation of teleworking centres
• creation of skilled jobs and new professions.

European objectives

• To encourage businesses or regional partners to start up local or cross-border teleworking networks.
• To assess the risks in terms of isolation and reduced employment protection for employees.
• To create teleworking centres in 20 European cities for 20 000 workers by the end of 1995.
• To help create 10 million teleworking jobs by the year 2000.

European projects

• TWIN (Teleworking for the Impaired Networked Centres Evaluation) is developing telework centres for the professionnal integration of disabled workers.

• WORKNET sets up pilot teleworking schemes within large French and Italian firms and small businesses in the manufacturing and service sectors.

• MITRE - Market Implementation of Teleworking in Rural Environments (ORA Programme) - is developing teleworking in terms of new economic markets for rural areas of Britain and Ireland.

• HRM - "Telework centres (Telecottages)" - sets up cross-border teleworking centres linking Belgium, France and Luxembourg.

• RITE - "Regional Infrastructure for Teleworking" - assesses teleworking applications between small businesses in six Member States operating in a network with large local public institutions seeking to decentralise their services.

Contact point:

Peter Johston, DG XIII/B/1,

Tel.: +32 2 296.34.60, Fax: +32 2 296.29.80

Email: apas@postman.dg13.cec.be

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General interest applications of the information society

The information society offers instant solutions to some of the public's traffic problems. So far the focus has been on developing a system of integrated transnational networks. The various telematic services make it possible to use the road network more effectively, to improve road safety, increase the efficiency of public transport and the haulage industry and reduce environmental nuisance and pollution. In addition, these integrated networks can be used to develop new value-added services (e.g. based on computerised tourist information), which will help to create new jobs in the very short term.

Applications and advantages

• Automatic navigation systems for cars. Such systems are based on the automatic exchange of information in real time between the vehicle and a "nerve" centre supplying the data on the one hand and between the vehicle and the driver on the other. Information provided may be about the traffic flow, the state of the roads, accidents or weather conditions. The information is picked up via a network of short and medium-range communications beacons, electromagnetic sensors and cameras and relayed by video or telephone cables to a traffic centre which, in turn, relays it to motorists by radio, digital display on the car radio or on-board computer. On-board information projects can be applied to urban traffic, national and cross-border trunk roads, the interconnection of traffic management centres and the management of public transport systems.

• Freight management. EDI and mobile communications can be used to improve the management of vehicle movements, the trans-shipment and monitoring of goods using combined road-rail transport, the transport of dangerous loads and customs inspections.

• Electronic payment. Electronic toll cards, electronic payment of urban parking charges and electronic ticketing systemsare ways of reducing investment and operating costs for operators, cutting theft and vandalism and promise greater flexibility and convenience for users.

• Travel information is now available before departure, at home or in the office, at bus stops, metro and train stations, or via fixed or movable signs along the route. It has become a factor in attracting people to public transport and prompting drivers to leave their cars in carparks on the edge of town.

Examples of European projects

Two initiatives deserve special mention: TRANSPORT TELEMATICS involves 65 projects with over 600 participant institutions and 31 towns and has created 11 European road corridors; and PROMETHEUS, part of the EUREKA Programme:

• PLEIADES (TRANSPORT TELEMATICS) between Paris, London and Brussels.
• MELYSSA (TRANSPORT TELEMATICS) between Stuttgart and the Mediterranean. Involves traffic management, automatic accident detection and on-board information (CARMINAT).
• METAFORA (TRANSPORT TELEMATICS): a freight management system based on electronic data interchange (EDI).
• PROMETHEUS (EUREKA) is bringing together car manufacturers to develop on-board driving aids (e.g. anti-collision radar).

Teleworking and transport

• TELEURBA - Telework and Urban and Interurban Traffic Decongestion - analyses and assesses the impact of teleworking on urban and interurban traffic decongestion in the major urban centres. Over 2 000 teleworkers are taking part in the scheme, which involves five EU Member States and the United States.

Contact points

John Miles, DG XIII/C-6
Tel. 32.2.296.48.70, Fax 32.2.296.23.91

Patrizio Grillo, DG XIII/C-6
Tel. 32.2.296.09.57, Fax 32.2.296.95.48

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Health applications of the information society

One important application of the information society in the health sector is the possibility of remote medical consultations. The first to benefit from medical telematics will be patients and the general public. There is an increasing trend to provide treatment and care in the patient's home rather than in specialised hospitals for reasons of both improved quality of care and cost reductions.

Telemedicine and the new remote medical services are based on the technology for the storage and mobile communication of digitalised medical information. Telematic links, coupled with the use of microprocessor cards (smartcards) to access the networks and transfer the essential elements of medical records, connect patients, general practitioners, specialists, laboratories and/or hospitals. Numerous initiatives have been launched in Europe and the rest of the world.

Applications of telemedicine

• Remote consultations: using videophones GPs or specialists working at a distance can carry out initial examinations, produce a diagnosis and help doctors in remote regions.

• Systems for administering medical prescriptions make possible remote analysis of the patient's personal records in conjunction with the specific details of prescriptions.

• Routine examination and monitoring at home of patients with restricted mobility, such as pregnant women, newborn babies, the elderly and disabled.

• Interactive monitoring of surgical operations.

• Access to telematics networks for healthcare professionals is essential in the supply of first aid at the scene of accidents or natural disasters in remote regions.

• The establishment of networks of transplant organ and bone marrow banks increases the chances of finding suitable donors (European EMDIS Project).

Advantages of telemedicine

• Considerable savings in the costs of consultation, travel and the management of healthcare systems.
• Reduction in the geographical or physical isolation of certain patients (remote regions, the elderly and disabled).
• Way of avoiding the need to repeat painful medical tests and preventing contradictory prescriptions and errors in treatment.
• Possibility of consulting specialists abroad who have not hitherto been accessible.

Healthcards

The trend in Europe is towards the harmonisation of national healthcard systems to allow their use outside the national territory.

• Health insurance card, containing all relevant personal details and showing entitlement to reimbursement.

• Emergency health card or portable health records for first aid purposes. It records essential medical data about the patient.

• Portable medical records for the treatment of special diseases .

• Professional healthcard, giving healthcare professionals access to patients' medical records via telematics networks (while still protecting confidentiality).

• "EUROCARDS" is the result of a joint European initiative in which Canada also took part. The project seeks to establish rules and joint solutions in matters relating to healthcards.

Contact point

Antonio Pernice, Healthcare Telematics, DG XIII/C-4

Tel. 32.2.296.35.08, Fax 32.2.296.01.81

E-mail: aperne@dg13.cec.be

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