ETHOS Project Information

The European Telematics Horizontal Observatory Service (ETHOS)
forms part of the EC Telematics Application Programme as project N. 1105

Objectives | Characteristics | Partners | Rationale | TAP

Project Objectives

ETHOS will provide a horizontal observatory service to the Telematics Applications Programme and as such will meet some of the strategic needs of the Programme. The major aim of ETHOS is to monitor and assess:

the deployment of applications of information and / or communication technologies in the areas of common interest covered by the Telematics Applications Programme;
developments in market trends, state of deployment of telematics applications and user needs in Europe and other countries and regions;
developments in both computer and/or telecommunications technologies that present a potential for telematics applications, in Europe and other countries and regions.

ETHOS will work closely with all participants in the Telematics Applications Programme, and will co-ordinate electronic presentation of results from projects and sector level telematic watches. It will also link where relevant, with other international, European and national initiatives to provide programme participants with a comprehensive and coherent view of developments in their sectors, and will provide on-demand help on technological and market issues to projects.

ETHOS will identify sources of strategic market and technology information (including their cost and availability), and make this available (in electronic and paper format). ETHOS will also identify with projects, sectors or clusters of the Telematics Applications Programme studies on strategic issues that need to be examined, and where resources allow undertake this work. In liaison with TeleCities, ETHOS will develop a European brokerage, information and advisory service for projects seeking geographical, organisational or virtual sites for the demonstration of telematic technologies.

ETHOS will develop and make available guidelines on the characteristics required from Telematic Demonstration Areas, and will assess the suitability of the sites which hope to fulfil this function as part of the Telematics Applications Programme.

A quarterly magazine will be published (electronic and paper format) on strategic market and technological issues and this will be made available to decision makers and sector actors, and a daily electronic newsletter on telematic market and technological issues will be made available to projects.

Other Characteristics of the Project

Users Involved: The main users of ETHOS will be participants in the Telematics Applications Programme (at project, sector, cluster and programme level). It is anticipated that a range of other organisations will also make extensive use of the resources developed, and that decision makers particularly at the European and member state level will have an interest in the project.

Technologies and / or Approach Used: The project will make extensive use of LOTUS NOTES for data collection, maintenance and presentation. The main objective of the project is to collect information and make it available, and provide a flexible support service to the Telematics Applications Programme on strategic market and technology issues.

Expected Benefits for the Citizen: ETHOS should allow more effective planning activities to be undertaken which support the development and introduction of telematic applications. It should also allow better targeting of resources by statutory agencies throughout Europe.

Expected Benefits for the Users of the Application: ETHOS will develop an information and advisory service which supports the needs of the Telematics Applications Programme. It is anticipated that use of this service will make a major contribution to the successful implementation of projects.

Expected Benefits for European Industry: Access to strategic market and technological information should allow European industry to become more competitive, and identify market opportunities more easily.

Contribution to EU Policies: Beyond its direct contribution to, and impact on the Telematics Applications Programme, ETHOS will provide some of the resources (information and research activities) needed to allow more informed policy formulation and development (at the European, national, regional and local levels). It also supports social and economic cohesion.

ETHOS Project Rationale

Contribution to the Telematics Applications Programme

ETHOS will promote the competitiveness of European industry and the efficiency of services of public interest by:

making available market and technology information of relevance to telematics applications projects, and undertaking required strategic studies for the Telematics Applications Programme and its sectors;
surveying the deployment of telematics applications in Europe and elsewhere, identifying success stories, and making this information available to decision makers involved in the introduction of telematics applications by services of common interest.

By developing this resource base ETHOS will also develop part of the resource base needed by European industry to identify the market opportunities created by telematics applications. These resources will support promotion of the research activities of the European Union by allowing better targeting of the scarce resources available for development and particularly demonstration of telematics applications.

ETHOS will establish a 'physical' and multimedia telematic resource base to make its strategic resources available to projects participants and to the wider community of the Telematics Applications Programme. These actions should enable telematics applications to become more affordable and cost-effective (particularly by organisations of public interest).

Contribution to Area E of the Telematics Applications Programme (Support Actions)

The main tasks of ETHOS are: Strategic Market and Innovation Watch (SU1.1) and Technology Watch (SU1.2). The project will also contribute to other tasks in the area of Consensus Development and Co-ordination, and Awareness, Dissemination of Results and Promotion of Telematics (preparatory actions which support the integrated large scale demonstration and deployment of telematics applications). The main focus of ETHOS is on Telematics Market (SU1.1) and Technology Watch (SU1.2). It is also undertaking elements of Task SU3.12 (Support and Preparatory Studies) particularly for Task SU3.1 (Demonstration on Telematics Applications Sites) and Task SU3.2 (Experience Exchange between Telematics Applications Sites). ETHOS will act as an information resource base for sector actors from the Telematics Applications Programme. It will undertake strategic market and technology watch activities (tasks SU1.1 and SU1.2) required by projects, sectors and work areas. ETHOS will:

identify the strategic market and technology information requirements of projects and sectors, and will attempt to ensure that relevant sector level support initiatives are co-ordinated to meet the needs of the Telematics Applications Programm;
signpost sources of strategic information (market and technology) required by sector actors in the Telematics Programme, and make this available in an accessible format (electronic and paper). It will focus on technological developments, state of deployment, market trends and user needs in the European Economic Area, Japan, North America, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America;
make available information on strategic market and technological developments of interest to the Telematics Applications Programme (on a regular basis) in electronic and paper formats;
undertake a number of strategic studies following consultation with projects (and sectors) of the Telematics Applications Programme;
provide an on-demand help and information service to projects on technological and market issues which impact on the Telematics Applications Programme. This service will be centrally co-ordinated (by a physical and electronic help desk) - and will undertake work that they are able to demonstrate is not readily available;
provide a brokerage service to telematics applications projects seeking geographical demonstration;
following consultation with projects, sectors and clusters of the Telematics Applications Programme (and other relevant sector actors) identify areas where additional work needs to be undertaken;
demonstrate the potential of virtual reality applications.

ETHOS will provide some of the information needed to identify potential geographic and organisational platforms for the large scale deployment and demonstration of telematic applications. It will also provide a help facility for applications developers, organisations or regions wishing to be considered as potential Telematics Demonstration Areas. In close liaison with Commission Services ETHOS will also make available information on funding sources available from Europe which would facilitate demonstration of Telematics Applications Projects (i.e. Structural and Cohesion Funds), and will make this information available to projects, and allow potential Telematics Demonstration Areas to identify projects in which they might have an interest.

Strategic Approach

ETHOS as a strategic market and technological watch activity needs to take account of the priority tasks identified for the sectors in the Work Programme of the Telematics Applications Programme (particularly those which are cross-sectorial). It will need to ensure that the work undertaken by projects at the sector level is made available (where relevant) to other sectors of the Telematics Applications Programme, and ensure that the required results and information is available in a suitable format. ETHOS will also need to work closely with a number of other organisations outside the Telematics Applications Programme (i.e. TeleCities), and will need to ensure that any collective resources developed best meet the needs of the Telematics Applications Programme. ETHOS will help ensure that best use is made of the information ('knowledge') developed at the sector level by providing the required co-ordination. These activities should allow better use to be made of the resources available to the Telematics Applications Programme.

User Needs & Application Area

User Needs to be Addressed: ETHOS will provide a strategic support service to the Telematics Applications Programme. It will act as a co-ordinating consortium for relevant support actions in all sectors of the Telematics Applications Programme, and will help ensure that the information resources they develop are used to support cross-sectorial projects and initiatives. It will also act as an information brokerage service on strategic market and technological issues of relevance to the Telematics Applications Programme, and will undertake a number of strategic studies identified by sectors and projects. The project will focus on providing information from Europe, North America, Japan, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.

ETHOS will identify the suitability of proposed sites for the deployment and demonstration of telematics applications and where necessary identify possible alternatives. It will develop a telematic system and service that will allow information on the availability of resources for the demonstration of Telematics Applications Projects in all member states of the European Union (Structural and Cohesion Funds) to be made available to application projects. It will develop a telematic system and service that will allow potential Telematics Demonstration Areas to identify application projects of interest throughout the European Union.

Knowledge of Sectors and Technologies to be Used: Partners in ETHOS have an expert knowledge of all the application areas incorporated within the Telematics Applications Programme (market and technological issues), and the competencies of partners in these areas are indicated in Table 1. The project will be making its information resources available electronically, and will use Information Engineering best practice, and assume that relevant sector level support actions will also follow these practices.