There are three clear objectives to be achieved by the survey:
• Before the construction of the pilot service, the requirements of future users must be collected and studied to ensure that any subsequent plans cover their current needs.
• Assistance in the generation of a handbook covering (amongst other things) the installation, maintenance and use of electronic directories inside administrations. This requires a definition of those problems currently faced by the public employee that are to be solved by the use of such technology. The user requirements for the service follow from the problems perceived during the course of the survey.
• The survey is a good way to establish contacts inside a group of potential users, hopefully leading to some promotion of the project and the technology.
As EuroView is a pilot project, the overall aim is not only to develop a directory service but also to analyse carefully the attitudes of administrative users in relation to the service. As well as the basic requirements of the service, information should be sought on the various advantages and disadvantages that a user may perceive from electronic directory technology in general. End-users were therefore confronted with issues such as quality of service, security, integration with existing tools and service evolution and enhancement.
Another important part of the survey was to analyse general levels of end-user technology awareness and usage. Hence feedback was obtained on the use of office automation tools (specifically e-mail), the use of existing directories (and the importance placed on them) and the general attitude towards these relatively new tools.
To summarise, the following information was sought:
• Identification of user organization (activity, number of employees and potential users, number of sites, organization scope).
• Organizational resources (general background information, information technology resources and communication resources).
• Commitment to integrating new communication facilities (namely e-mail) with ordinary work procedures.
• Information on any specific mail and directory systems currently in service and levels of usage.
• User opinion of the new service, specifically about its utility and associated commitments. Advantages and disadvantages .
The public administration is a sector comprising of several thousand organizations and employing several million workers across Europe. Its share of the national product of each country is around 20%.
It is well accepted that the public administration is currently technologically behind many other sectors (namely the Industry and Services sectors).
Information Technology has been recognised as a key factor in the modernisation of public administration and many initiatives have been undertaken in order to promote the use of these new technologies. In some cases a service based on a new technology is initiated from scratch and in other cases advice and redirection on an existing service is given.
A list of these initiatives would include EPHOS (European Procurement Handbook of Open Systems), Euromethod and National Performance Review in the USA.
As stated the administrative sector is a very large one. Advances in IT usage are often driven by umbrella organizations or organizations otherwise acting in a directive role. In this sense the sector does not act as a free market, and follows a hierarchy of power. However, the theoretical authority of some organizations to issue mandatory directives is opposed by the inertia that this sector has and also by economic restrictions.
The economic aspect is also relevant to this survey, as it is one of the first restrictions applied to technology development in administrations. This fact is well known and is supported by the survey results.
The primary aim was to select a diverse and representative set of users from the huge number of public administrations in Europe. The criteria that played some role in the selection are listed together with explanatory text.
1. Interest in use of e-mail for information exchange.
This criterion was important since organizations with an interest in e-mail are more likely to be aware of the problem of people trying to establish contact with unknown recipients.
Answers from such organizations would reveal the real requirements and concerns for the service as they may have considered the relevant issues already.
2. Horizontal organizations used to promote IT within public administration.
In each country there are many organizations used to promote the use of IT within public administration. These are key targets since they should already be aware of the technology and have plans (short or long-term) for its implementation within public administration.
Another benefit of such organizations would be their potential use as a 'gateway' to the many organizations they represent or advise.
3. Familiarity with office automation tools.
This is an important criterion for those administrations not currently using e-mail. If an organization is not familiar with office automation tools, then it might be difficult to determine the advantage they would gain by using a electronic directory.
It has been noticed, however, that the PC revolution has reached public administration and that the use of word processors is commonplace. Advanced use of these tools (such as spreadsheets or document templates) can be seen as an indication of a higher level of integration with such tools.
4. Use of networks
Since electronic directories are accessed through networks and related to e-mail, familiarity with networking issues such as connectivity problems and performance was required.
It was noted that many administrations are managing or launching a Local Area Network, and improving connectivity between sites.
5. Heavy mail traffic, preferably with organizations in other countries.
Organizations with a strong dependence on mail would probably be more able to perceive the advantages of electronic directories.
6. To be currently maintaining some kind of directory.
This would ensure the user's awareness of the advantages of X.500 directories.
Criteria such as size, number of sites and national/local character were not considered essential for the selection process. In fact it was considered beneficial if the coverage included small, medium and large organizations, with scope from local to European.
After identifying the selection criteria, secondary issues were considered. These were areas such as proximity to a project partner, existence of previous contacts with a project partner and the willingness of the organization to dedicate some effort to the interview.
It should be recognized that the project partners are not in a position to demand the effort required to hold the interview and complete the survey form. Some organizations have not answered some questions fully, and have expressed difficulty in obtaining some data (e.g. e-mail traffic statistics), and this has had to be accepted by the project partners.
This section presents some comments about the position and suitability of the target organizations within each country considered. A full description of these organizations is presented in Appendix A.
The Kommunale Gemeinschaftsstelle (KGSt) is an advisory organization, formed by local authorities in Germany and Austria. Its aim is to promote the use of Information Technology inside the public management. In this respect KGSt is a useful and appropriate user to survey (and ask to join the EuroView User Group) in its role of representing several thousand offices of local governments.
Contacts with the Ministerie Binnenlandske Zaken in Netherland were established. They have managed a pilot X.500 service for two years and therefore have real experience in this area. They did not shown enough interest in the survey, however, to be of much use.
The LVA Rheinprovinz (Regional Pension Insurance Institutes) were contacted for the survey. This contact failed, however, due to the unsuitability of the original contact. This has now been solved, and positive co-operation has been established. It is hoped that this organization will join the User Group shortly.
Other organizations contacted with some degree of success are the Innenministerium Baden-Würtemberg (currently managing various X.500 projects), the KoopA and the Verband Deutscher Rentenversicherungsträger. Dialogues are currently in progress with these organizations with a view to further enriching the EuroView User Group.
The ITSMO project, promoting the use of X.400 inside the administration, comprised of 12.000 mailboxes in Nov 95. This project is managed by the Computing Council (Consejo Superior de Informatica, CSI) with MAP as a participant. Hence the CSI itself is participating in EuroView through MAP.
Through the ITSMO project, it was possible to reach the managers of each participating organization. These organizations were considered good targets for the survey as they matched the selection criteria quite well.
Many ministries were represented in this group (Economy, Public Works, Foreign Affairs, Culture) as well as some regional governments (Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Valencia). The ministries gave personal interviews to complete the survey whereas the regional government answered the questionnaire by mail (providing any additional information by telephone).
The Ministry of Social Affairs (now Ministry of Work and Social Affairs) is also a member of the EuroView User Group. They have an efficient e-mail structure where 50% of information is internally interchanged using e-mail and some use is made of proprietary electronic directories.
The CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency) is a soon to be privatised agency that provides "best practise" consultancy on information services and technology to government agencies. It is this aspect that makes the CCTA a very interesting organization to interview.
Initial contacts have been established also with Hampshire County Council. They are a large organization, with about 16000 computer users at present spread across many sites.
Hampshire IT services have evaluated several DSA suppliers and are likely to buy an ISODE-based product in the near future. They plan to have about 16000 entries loaded by mid-December and would like to connect to EuroView. The second stage of the project would cover hundreds of associated organizations working in their part of the country and would probably result in a further 100000 entries.
In the case of a personal interview, the collection of information would proceed as follows:
Prior to the interview:
• A telephone conversation is held with the end-user where a brief introduction to the project is given and an interview is requested.
• A letter is subsequently sent to the end-user proposing an interview and outlining its agenda. The letter would also include a short EuroView introduction (refer to Annex 2). In some cases the questionnaire would be included, enabling the end-user to become familiar with it prior to the interview.
During the interview:
• A short presentation is given on the survey methodology adopted.
• The questionnaire is discussed.
• Any questions the end-user has are answered, stressing any links between their problems and EuroView solutions.
• A discussion is held on the current status and requirements of the organization.
In the case of a posted questionnaire, the collection of information would proceed as follows:
Prior to sending the questionnaire:
• A telephone conversation is held with the end-user where a brief introduction to the project and survey methodology is given and participation in the project is requested.
• A letter is subsequently sent to the end-user containing a short EuroView introduction (refer to Annex 2) and the questionnaire.
Whilst completing questionnaire:
• EuroView consultants are available on the telephone to clarify any confusion the end-user may have on the questionnaire or the project in general .
In each of the scenarios outlined above, a report was produced summarising the conclusions drawn from the contact made with the end-user in question.