| Millennium
trends: Moore's law extended, convergence will
accelerate -- The prediction formula of
Gordon Moore, Intel's founder, is expected to
remain valid at least another 15 years, thanks
to new innovations in semiconductor and chip
industries. Moore predicted in 1965 that the
density that can be packed on a computer chip
would double approximately every 18 months,
which converts into equivalent increases in
computer processing speed.
Hardware and software manufacturers understand
the business dynamics of Moore's law very well.
For the past 15 years, the suppliers' successful
strategy has persuaded millions of PC users
to upgrade their systems and applications to
new versions every 2-3 years, a very short life
span for a consumer product. In return, they
have been able to enjoy innovations like the
graphical user interface, multitasking or local
and global networking. All are features that
we would surely miss if they were taken away.
There is, however, a paradox in the midst of
the ever accelerating technology evolution.
Why has the industry not been able to overcome
some basic shortcomings of computer systems?
Why is little attention paid to the efficiency
of applications and operating systems? Most
off-the-shelf software is essentially 'bloatware',
loaded with features that few users need in
practice. Had user requirements really been
directing software development, access to key
productivity applications, word processors,
spreadsheets and databases would be considerably
cheaper, faster and more stable than offered
today.
In the field of telecommunications, mobile
phone manufacturers and service providers have
also been 'successful' in keeping their product
life span short. New phones have new features
and provide access to new services that users
believe that they need. International fixed
line charges continue to be exorbitant compared
to the cost of providing the service.
The technological inheritance from the 20th
century is great, making a truly global information
society possible. However, many pieces still
need to be put in place to enable people in
developing countries to benefit from the progress
made. Technology optimists believe that the
next decade will see more user friendly and
inexpensive computing and global connectivity
that benefits everyone. The recent moves by
Intel and Microsoft to start supporting lighter,
mobile and networked computing indicate that
the convergence of computing, telecommunications,
public media and services is unstoppable. Hopefully,
a trend towards simpler and cheaper computing
and communications has been started.
In this issue, we take a look at some of the
latest initiatives that are likely to accelerate
the convergence of information and communication
technologies. One challenge in the early 2000s
is to find a solution to produce services for
mobile and fixed line networks, which continue
to have polarized band widths, at least until
the third generation mobile phone standard becomes
a reality.
The convergence of technologies challenges
governments to revise legislation, licensing
policies, and of course, to consider how to
make best use of the opportunities that IT offers.
Another theme in this issue are the latest developments
in handling large volumes of corporate data
and paper forms.
The next Newsletter is scheduled for June 2000,
and it will include, among other issues, a report
on the Commission's mandated deliberations on
the Y2K problems encountered in the region.
The annual session of the Commission will be
convened in Bangkok, from 1 to 7 June, later
in the year than usually.
Converging
ICTs change legislation
Online computer services, telephony and broadcasting
were developed in isolation, but the innovations
in related technologies, especially the digitization
of data formats and signals, are bringing those
media together. As different networks are able
to carry similar kinds of services, technology
convergence inevitably requires modernization
and harmonization of laws that were originally
drafted for those sectors.
A 'classic' example of the convergence of technologies
that many countries find difficult to handle
is Internet telephony. The difficulty arises
from licence agreements that grant special status
to telephone operators as voice carriers. When
voice is digitized and sent in packets through
the Internet, it becomes data, and its transfer
is governed by agreements with Internet providers.
Electronic commerce, digital audio and television
broadcasting, access to interactive services
through mobile phones, data services over digital
broadcasting platforms are further examples
of technological convergence.
The issues arising from such convergence are
complex because the networked global information
society does not respect national borders. Where
and how to handle disputes on international
electronic transactions? What about taxation?
Should countries control citizens' access to
international satellite broadcasting and services?
In Europe, the debate on technology convergence
and its impact was started in 1997, when the
European Commission published the Green Paper
on the Convergence of Telecommunications, Media
and Information Technology Sectors, and the
Implications for Regulation. The document, subsequent
discussions and the outcome of public consultations
can be found on the Commission's Information
Society Promotion Office's web site, http://www.ispo.cec.be/convergencegp/
The public consultations were held in three
key areas:
- Access to networks and
gateway facilities
- Investment, innovation
and content production
- Balancing regulation
between public interest and competition considerations.
With regard to the access to networks and gateway
facilities, the consulted stakeholders recognized
openness as a long-term goal and one that should
be a market-led process. Most commentators saw
a continued, albeit transitional role for regulation
as the convergence of technologies and markets
leads to increased competition. Many respondents
feared that vertically-integrated operators
might abuse their market power and control of
access to one or more elements of the value
chain in order to foreclose market entry by
others.
On the question of how to encourage investment
and innovation in the new environment, the respondents
highlighted the need to adapt current measures
to the new environment. Adherence to open interoperable
standards was viewed as essential to foster
the growth of a wide range of content services
over a similarly wide range of delivery media.
The stakeholders were also asked how to ensure
a balanced approach to regulation between the
public interest and competition. The respondents
saw no particular contradiction between the
public interest and market considerations. Market
forces were rather viewed as a necessary but
not sufficient condition for satisfying some
areas of public interest. Self-regulation was
seen as a useful mechanism for most content-related
matters and for developing open standards, but
not particularly for dealing with problems of
market dominance.
WAP
delivers interactive services to mobile phones
The spread of the Internet and of mobile phones
have been phenomenal during the past few years,
first in advanced countries but recently also
in developing countries. Both success stories
are payoffs from development work aiming at
converging different base technologies. Today
key players in hardware and software industries
agree that the next inevitable change is to
combine the two aggregate technologies in order
to bring services to users where and when they
are needed.
Responding to the challenge
of mobile band width
Full mobility continues to be a challenge for
data transmission. Many innovations will be
required before wireless mobile technologies
are suitable for broadband Internet connections.
Even the technologies entering the markets in
2000 will have relatively narrow band widths
for data transfer. GSM's new GPRS packet switched
data transmission technology promises 114 kbps
data access, while HSCSD technology in standard
circuit switched GSM networks offer the theoretical
maximum rate of 3x14.4 Kbps if three of the
four simultaneous time slots are used for downloading
data.
The industry realized in the mid-1990s that
it had to create a new standard that handled
information more efficiently than the Internet.
The establishment of the Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP) Forum (http://www.wapforum.org/)
in 1997 was a landmark for key manufacturers
of mobile devices in moving towards a common
standard for enabling sophisticated telephone
and information services on hand-held wireless
devices. The Forum's standardization work led
to the WAP standard, the first version of which
was released in 1999.
WAP is an open global specification that empowers
users of mobile wireless devices to access and
interact with information and services easily
and instantly. For mobile phones,
WAP means roughly the same as the web for the
Internet; a vehicle for providing and accessing
information and services globally.
WAP protocols are based on Internet standards,
such as HTTP, but they have been optimized for
the unique constraints of the wireless environment.
This means that WAP services must be produced
separately, although standard off-the-shelf
Internet servers can be used to host them. Standard
HTML pages containing a large text overhead
cannot be displayed properly on a small mobile
phone screen. WAP utilizes a binary transmission
mode that allows greater compression of data.
WAP is also optimized for long latency (waiting
time) and for low to medium band width. The
Wireless Markup Language (WML) is the WAP equivalent
of HTML. It makes optimum use of small screens
and allows easy navigation with one hand without
a full keyboard, and has built-in scalability
from two-line text displays through to the full
graphic screens that are available on personal
digital assistants, smart phones and communicators.
WAP expected to break
through in 2000
The first WAP-capable handsets and services
have become available in Europe in 1999, and
they are expected to spread fairly rapidly to
other parts of the world. As with all new technologies
involving many players, the first services are
experiencing some hiccups. For instance, customers
have been charged for the telephone connections
that were initiated even if the ultimate WAP
service provider was not reached.
A WAP - capable mobile phone has a micro browser
(client software) that enables wireless access
to services that are designed for WAP devices.
Those potentially include an attractive range
of services, such as banking, personalized news
feeds, traffic and timetable information and
e-commerce transactions. For secure transactions,
WAP includes a specification optimized for mobile
authentication and encryption.
Since the release of WAP Specification Suite
1.0 in April 1998, the WAP Forum has been joined
by major manufacturers of digital mobile devices,
carriers, subscribers, infrastructure providers,
software developers and other organizations
providing solutions to the wireless industry.
Bluetooth
more versatile than infrared
Bluetooth is another technology that promises
to make society wireless. It is the codename
for a technology specification for short range
radio links between mobile PCs, mobile phones
and other portable devices. It is driven by
the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (http://www.bluetooth.com/),
consisting of leaders in the telecommunications
and computing industries. The five founding
companies (Ericsson, IBM Corporation, Intel
Corporation, Nokia and Toshiba) of Bluetooth
were joined in December 1999 by 3Com Corporation,
Lucent Technologies, Microsoft Corporation and
Motorola to form a Promoter group for Bluetooth
SIG. Another 1,400 companies have joined as
SIG members (adopters of the standard). The
standard is very new and only a couple of products
have been announced so far, but more are expected
later in the year 2000.
Bluetooth has a broader range of applications
than infrared communication. Infrared has an
installation base of 50 million units which
is still growing rapidly. (See http://www.countersys.com/tech/bluetooth.html
for a comparison between Bluetooth and the Infrared
Data Association's IrDA standard). The IrDA
connection is designed for point-to-point cable
replacement, and can achieve today 4 Mbps speed,
with 16 Mbps under development. Its service
range and angle are limited, which make it easy
to use in practice (face the devices and communicate).
Bluetooth has a narrower planned bandwidth,
1 Mbps, but it has a longer service range, omni-directional
characteristics and the ability to penetrate
solid objects. Those features allow its use,
for instance, for synchronizing a personal digital
assistant or a mobile phone in a briefcase and
a PC on the desk when the two are brought into
each other's reach. Another example of Bluetooth
application is wireless connection from a (portable)
device to a LAN. Infrared is also suitable for
this but it requires close proximity and stationary
positioning.
If a Bluetooth device discovers several other
Bluetooth devices within its range, the user
is prompted to choose the name of a device with
which to communicate. For previously undefined
connections, the communicating devices would
execute security measures (authentication and
encryption) to prevent unauthorized access.
Key
players change strategies
The fact that major hardware and software
manufacturers have joined the WAP and Bluetooth
proponent groups is evidence of the potential
and viability of those technologies.
The mobility requirement will result in the
development of many different sizes of personal
computers, some dedicated to particular purposes,
but many with the capability to with other devices
at home, in offices and on the move. One of
the immediate challenges for information and
service providers is to deliver services for
both narrow band mobile customers and for broadband
stationary office and home users.
Users will no doubt appreciate the independence
of location for many services and information
feeds. Wireless technologies are, however, unlikely
to remove personal computers from office desks.
They will still be required for handling large
graphics files and video streams, and complex
processing.
The demand for broadband interactive network
services, such as video conferencing and interactive
home entertainment, will also increase. Homes
and offices will need very large capacity storage
devices for digital pictures and video.
Easier
to use computers -- yes, please Another
positive development for users at the turn of
the century is the promise of easier-to-use
PCs. Intel and Microsoft have launched a common
EasyPC initiative, which aims at removing legacy
features from computers and moving expansion
options outside the system casing. In practice
this means moving to new BIOS design, slotless
motherboards and USB-only peripheral connections.
In terms of faster use, Intel published in mid-1999
targets for the following activities:
- From removing a PC from
the box to first powering it up: 5 minutes,
which is 4 times faster than with currently
available PCs
- From powering it up for
the first time to being able to use the PC:
10 minutes, or 4 times faster than now
- From powering it up for
the first time to running the first application
: 10 seconds, or 4 times faster
- From powering it up for
the first time to viewing a web page: 30 seconds,
or 4 times faster
- Safe shutting down of
an application: 10 seconds, or 3 times faster
than at present
The initiative is certain to increase the cost
of computing in the short term as users wishing
to benefit from the improvements would need
to upgrade the whole range of their computer
equipment. However, for users who are annoyed
by the difficult installation and long start-up
and shutdown times, the EasyPC will offer yet
another pretext to upgrade their equipment and
software.
Character recognition becoming flexible and
intelligent
Intelligent character recognition (ICR) engines
have improved significantly over the past few
years with the best recognition rates now well
above 90%. Image processing and recognition
have become highly flexible and capable of learning
hand writing patterns from previously recognized
images. Consequently, governments are opting
for ICR technology when they need to process
a large number of hard copy forms within a short
period of time. The most typical appreciations
are census and election forms, which involve
the total population. Character recognition
is popular also in the private sector, in processing
transaction slips.
This article is based on the material
and presentations at a workshop organized
by the ESCAP Statistics Division from
12 to 20 October 1999, details at http://www.unescap.org/stat/pop-it/pop-wit/pop-wit.asp.
The workshop was an activity under the
UNFPA-funded project, Application of
New Technology in Population Data Collection,
Processing, Dissemination and Presentation
(RAS/96/P12).
Optical character recognition (OCR)
comprises technologies aimed at the
analysis and recognition of characters
from electronic images.
Intelligent character recognition (ICR)
is a preferred term for recognizing
handwritten characters through ICR algorithms.
|
Scanning is no bottleneck
An OCR/ICR system involves three main steps,
namely scanning, recognition and verification.
Industry strength scanners today are robust,
but they also cost tens of thousands of dollars.
They can digitize up to 160 A4-size landscape
pages per minute, which in practice works out
at 12,000 to 20,000 pages per 8-hour shift (see
the Kodak web site, page http://www.kodak.com/US/en/business/scanners/scanner9500.shtml).
Top-end scanners have automatic feeders, jam
detectors and many other productivity enhancing
features that are lacking in the standard home
and office scanners. In high-end character recognition
applications, scanners send the images to high
speed recognition engines which are usually
networked with verification stations and file
servers. The work flow is automated between
the various stages of recognition and several
parallel workstations are used in data verification.
Scanners convert binary images to pixels, each
assigned a value of either 0 or 1. For grey
level images, pixels receive values between
0 and 255 depending on the intensity in the
grey scale. If the scanning takes place in colour,
each pixel receives three values, each in the
range of 0 to 255. While it is not possible
to enhance binary images (since all pixels are
either 0 or 1), grey level and colour
imaging offer opportunities for image enhancement
with separate software. Algorithms can be written
to adjust the pixel values to enhance the differences
between pixels and to bring out image patterns
that would have a better chance of being recognized.
Verification challenge
The verification stage is usually by far the
most time-consuming part, and can easily be
also the costliest, depending on labour charges
and the number of documents processed. In large
projects, even seemingly marginal improvements
in the rate of correctly recognized characters
can lead to significant savings at the data
verification stage.
To improve the recognition rate, some top-end
applications use more than one optical recognition
engine, the results of which are passed to voting
algorithms for judgement. The algorithm can,
for instance, compare the results of three different
recognition engines; if two of them agree with
the result, that recognition is accepted as
the final result. To obtain the best recognition
results, the individual engines as well as the
voting algorithm must have been tested and tuned
carefully for a particular form, image type
and handwriting pattern.
The new generation recognition software applications
are highly flexible and adaptable. The best
technical solutions employ advanced techniques
such as image enhancement, form identification
and removal, trainable recognition algorithms,
customizable validation functions and rules,
which all improve the real recognition rate.
They can split a digital image into any number
of sections which can be sorted, recognized,
processed and displayed on the screen in any
order. AFPSPRO, for instance, allows individual
characters to be investigated next to each other
(e.g. all "a"s, all "8"s, etc). This convenient
mass verification method can reveal problem
characters and systematic recognition errors.
The recently awarded census 2000 project in
Brazil gives an idea about the cost of conducting
a large turnkey recognition project. The requirement
was to process hand written census forms totalling
330 million form pages in 100 working days (population:
164 million). The contract was awarded at $3.3
million, of which $1.5 million was for the recognition
software (information from http://www.topimagesystems.com/html/news/in-news/Press%20Release/press.htm)
and the rest, presumably, for hardware, other
software and labour. The recognition systems
are normally organized in clusters around a
scanner, which has an optimal number of recognition
and verification stations linked to it so that
the throughput of the system is maximized. If
the results are required quickly, the number
of clusters will be increased to obtain the
necessary throughput.
Although character recognition is possible
from any document, the best recognition results
are achieved from forms that are specifically
designed for OCR. Training of data entry personnel
will also improve the recognition rates. These
two aspects are particularly emphasized in data
collection for population and housing censuses.
However, it is normally not possible to make
a large population use uniform hand writing
styles. Hand writing varies of course individually,
but also countries and regions have special
hand writing characteristics, depending on how
the schools instruct writing alphanumerics.
The literacy rate, which correlates with experience
in writing, also affects hand writing. It is
normally possible to improve intelligent character
recognition results by developing a tailor-made
character map based on a few thousand samples
of national hand writing.
Imaging from hard-copy and character recognition
technologies have improved to the level where
developing countries can benefit from them.
Technologically advanced solutions should of
course not be a self-serving goal; due consideration
must always be given to local circumstances,
and financial, technical and personnel resources.
Optical mark recognition (OMR), which has been
widely used in census operations for the past
two decades, is still an alternative for processing
brief forms and questionnaires. It places, however,
high requirements on the paper and ink and requires
more carefully designed forms, precoding, and
great care of the forms during the data collection
and transport stages. On balance, OMR processes
results very quickly and the equipment costs
are much smaller. The latest OMR equipment offers
the possibility of capturing images of the forms
for later digital processing (character recognition).
Forms processing
Forms processing systems identify forms and
the written information they contain. The best
applications allow different kind of forms to
be fed in random order and to get the results
neatly compiled by type of form. The software
classifies and recognizes the forms by preprinted
anchors and patterns of logos and other distinct
marks. Then it recognizes the content by the
appropriate technology, which is generally ICR
(for hand written text), OCR (printed characters)
or OMR. Any unrecognized forms would be passed
on for manual entry.
Data
warehouses have potential
..but are not easy to set up. Many managers
and employees are depending on the Internet
for news and factual information. When the reach
from the desktop no longer has technical limits,
it seems perfectly reasonable to ask that internal
information be made available with the same
convenience. Various technologies can help in
organizing and making data holdings available
organization-wide. Data warehousing is the most
comprehensive of them. Although more than 10
years old now, data warehousing is getting a
new boost from the emerging web interfaces.
Data warehouses combine
non-volatile enterprise data
Data warehouses offer in principle an attractive
basis for on-line analytical processing and
decision support systems. Some caution is, however,
warranted as the results of data warehouse development
projects are mixed. A large proportion of initiated
projects fail, usually because of technical
difficulties and the lack of long-term commitment.
Another major hurdle is getting the whole organization
to participate in data standardization, data
cleaning and metadata development, which is
often a very labourious undertaking.
A data warehouse is a physically separate collection
of information from multiple operational databases
implemented in different platforms. It is hosted
either in a specifically designed data warehouse
environment or on a standard relational database
system which is accessed through specialized
analytical tools that are running on top of
it. Data warehouses are constructed to allow
comprehensive business analysis across the functions,
products, and departments of an enterprise or
an organization. They usually contain several
years' worth of non-volatile information, which
are coming from operational business databases.
Data warehouses contain typically summarized
and highly summarized views of enterprise-wide
information along with the detailed information
that is used by various levels of management.
The information in a data warehouse does not
normally change, and any transaction-based records
that might be brought into it represent a snapshot
at a particular point of time.
While traditional (relational) database systems
are good at recording and reporting what happened,
their longitudinal scope and global subject
matter coverage make data warehouses suitable
for analysing why that something happened.
Data marts are set up
to solve particular business problems
The implementation processes of data marts
are similar to data warehouses, but they have
a narrower scope. They are sometimes called
as local data warehouses. Data marts cater to
departmental information needs or service a
particular function, such as finance. Data marts
are created to solve a particular business problem,
such as analysing customer information or product
profitability. Their development involves less
data extraction and cleaning work and they are
therefore cheaper to deploy and operate than
data warehouses. Opinions differ between data
mart vendors and data warehouse vendors on whether
data marts are a way to proceed towards data
warehousing. Warehousing purists argue that
it is very difficult, if not impossible, to
create consistent organization-wide data warehouses
by linking several data marts that are bound
to have redundant and unintegrated data and
definitions. They accept the concept of data
marts but only if they are established within
a data warehouse or by extracting departmental
information from it. Data mart vendors, on the
other hand, point out that too many data warehouse
projects fail and that data marts can be established
independently, without linking them to data
warehouse development. Both camps are of course
pushing their own products.
A commitment of resources
and a proliferation of products
The views of the data warehouse and data mart
vendor groups may or may not be reconcilable,
but in any event, their clients need to do their
homework before rushing into warehouse development.
Government departments and enterprises need
to assess their needs and resources carefully
before they proceed. Development cost and span,
user friendliness and performance speed are
key factors to consider. A warehousing decision
means long term commitment, ties up resources
and affects directly or indirectly all IT development
in the organization. The average cost of an
enterprise warehouse is said to be $3 million,
so they are
clearly not for small data holdings. The organization's
continued commitment is important because most
of the costs occur long before there are any
returns. The development may be modular, but
it is important that the data warehouse is carefully
designed with the scope to grow in years to
come.
The data warehousing process involves so many
technologies that no single product in the marketplace
offers an all-inclusive solution. This has generated
a thriving business for system integrators,
some sticking to certain clusters of products,
others choosing the most suitable products in
the market after discussing with the client.
Operational databases, which are the main source
of data, run typically on heterogeneous platforms
and have independently defined data definitions
and data formats. Another difficulty is that
they often contain incomplete, erroneous and
missing data. For a data warehouse, data need
to be extracted from the sources, cleaned and
missing values imputed. Then all source data
are converted to the common data warehouse format.
Despite the availability of a number of tools,
the data cleaning and transformation is the
most time consuming part of a data warehousing
project.
Development process
A vision about what could be accomplished through
creating an organization-wide repository is
a start for a data warehouse, but the development
must be preceded by a realistic analysis of
the potential of data warehousing in given circumstances.
The existing legacy systems should be examined
to see whether it is feasible to use them as
a data source. It is also necessary to study
what information is needed by users; interviews
are normally conducted for this. The analysis
would lead to recommendations on the hardware,
the database management system, the data extraction
tools, and the business intelligence tools,
and would allow the realistic estimation of
the development cost. The support required by
various departments in data preparation and
maintenance should also be estimated.
Even if the preliminary investigation finds
data warehousing technologically feasible, the
ultimate decision to proceed to actual data
warehouse development should always be based
on business needs. The development normally
goes through a prototyping phase. The prototype
is carefully evaluated by users, particularly
from the perspective of testing the feasibility
of the data model, a crucial technical success
factor in a data warehouse.
When a data warehouse, or typically the first
module of it, is initially put into operation,
users need to be trained to run queries and
do online analytical processing. The maintenance
tasks include keeping track of scheduled data
replication, system usage, and query performance.
As experience is gathered and new possibilities
discovered, the data warehouse system will almost
inevitably be modified. Another obvious reason
for modification are changes in the data sources
which take place from time to time. When the
first module is running relatively smoothly,
the next ones can be developed, hopefully within
a shorter time.
ESCAP Workshop triggers
interest
Data warehouses are certainly not common in
developing countries. While some large private
sector companies in the finance sector, for
instance, have started data warehousing projects,
public sector organizations have hardly given
a thought to comprehensive data management systems.
At least for most participants of a recent Workshop
on Application of New Information Technology
to Population Data (http://www.unescap.org/stat/pop-it/pop-wit/pop-wit.asp-- see also page 5), the concept and terminology
of data warehousing were unheard of. However,
the host organizations of the participants,
statistical and census offices, are in principle
suitable candidates for data warehousing. Data
warehousing carries a great potential for integrating
data from administrative records, from various
censuses and surveys, and from different points
of time.
The representatives of private sector vendors
also introduced the Workshop participants to
the related downstream technologies. Data mining
tools are used to extract underlying relationships
without an exact test hypothesis. They involve
mathematical algorithms that can reveal hidden
interdependencies in the data, and sometimes
produce unexpected results and insights. Online
analytical processing (OLAP) tools use a more
traditional analytical approach with a specified
advance hypothesis. Data mining and OLAP are
applicable also to databases in general.
Data warehousing evolves
Most of the leading analytical applications
have become web-enabled, making it much easier
to share the results of multidimensional analysis
with everyone than in a conventional stand alone
client-server environment. The web-enabling
is normally arranged so that a remote user connects
with a standard web browser to a web server
hosting HTML templates. Those templates will
be populated from a separate OLAP server and
sent back to the browser.
In the ESCAP Workshop, the representative of
Unisys drew an analogy between the evolution
of database technology and data warehousing
technology. There had not been any significant
changes in database modelling and SQL for several
decades. However, the improvements to the hardware
had allowed the development of user-friendly
design tools for databases to the extent that
knowledge of SQL was no longer needed in order
to develop and run simple database systems.
He pointed out that data modelling for data
warehouses was still very challenging and laborious
and that design tools had much room for improvement.
Also, the query times and other performance
factors were not always satisfactory. Nevertheless,
he expected that data warehousing technology
would go though a similar evolution as database
systems, and would eventually become much easier
to implement. That is certainly a welcome scenario
for all public and private sector organizations
that are struggling to manage their ever mushrooming
corporate data.
Related web links:
Glossaries:
Working
Group requests scenarios for the future programme
The Working Group of Statistical Experts, a
subsidiary body of the ESCAP Committee on Statistics,
reviewed recently the proposed work programme
on statistics for 2000-2001 and endorsed the
1993 SNA, poverty statistics, gender statistics,
statistics on the informal sector, and environment
statistics as the priorities for the subprogramme.
(The report of the meeting is available at http://www.unescap.org/stat/cos11/wgse11/wgse11re.asp)
In reviewing the draft medium term plan for
2002-2005, the Working Group recalled the historical
development which led to the inclusion of government
computerization as a subject matter under the
purview of the Committee on Statistics, and
its specification in its terms of reference.
It acknowledged that information technology
had assumed greater importance in every sphere
of human endeavour, and considered it useful
to review whether public sector computerization
should continue to fall under the Committee's
responsibility. However, it was not prepared
to recommend a definite course of action before
a thorough review by the Committee on Statistics.
It requested the secretariat to prepare a paper
for the Committee in November 2000 on possible
longer-term scenarios.
In the meantime, the Working Group recommended
keeping the specific objective on public sector
computerization in the medium-term plan of the
statistics subprogramme and agreed that special
and dedicated activities to promote information
technology in the public sector should be carried
out by the secretariat to the extent that resources
permitted. In practice, this means that the
sole Professional staff member working on public
sector computerization activities will continue
to spend substantial amounts of time supporting
statistical IT activities as well.
END OF NEWSLETTER
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