Findings BRT 1

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Findings BRT 1-4

BRT1: "e-Learning"; Budapest, Hungary: 26 November 2002

Key Findings

a) Facts and figures

Global & domestic market size

For the CEE countries and here particularly Hungary e-Learning applications are spreading through different community programmes supported by the EU (e-Europe, Socrates, Minerva, FP5). However, the US is seen to have a significant advantage, both technological, pedagogical and otherwise. The market penetration of e-Learning is not extensive. Yet, e-Learning initiatives have become crucial in the internal training of leading companies using one of the known foreign Learning Management Systems (Matáv, banks and other financial organizations etc.).

Number of users in Hungary and beyond

As to estimations, 30.000 – 35.000 people are trained in e-Learning system in Hungary yearly (internal trainings of multinational companies, vocational training: Cisco Academy, IT professions, adult training etc.).

The number of those who are trained in courses applying e-Learning elements is estimated to be about 150.000 – 160.000 (at secondary schools the so called „SchoolNet“ Programme; in vocational training about hundred courses supported by Apertus Foundation for Open Training and Distance Learning; in higher education Dennis Gabor College, St. Stephan University; in adult training: ECDL). Public education is nearly untouched by e-Learning methods: about 4500 primary schools and about 1500 secondary schools with 1.5 million pupils and thousands of teachers have so far not been able to benefit from e-Learning offers.

b) Leading global & domestic players

Multinational companies play a decisive role in e-Learning (IBM, Oracle etc.) globally as well as in Hungary. Medium sized companies which distribute different technologies (e.g. Learning Management Systems: WebCT, Blackboard etc.) are present on the domestic market. The most significant domestic players in e-Learning are:

Developers, service providers: Matáv Training Centre, Synergon Co., Eduweb Ltd., Mimoza Ltd., IBCnet Ltd., Sabedu Ltd., Krea Ltd., Számalk Co., HLC Ltd., National Textbook Publishing Co., Encyclopaedia Humana Association, MCONet, Educatio
„Buyers“: Dennis Gabor College, St. Stephan University; schools and organizations of vocational training (CISCO Academy, ECDL etc.); leading companies and organizations of adult training (Matáv, Hungarian Post Office, Hungarian Airlines, banks etc.)
Supporters: EU community programmes, programmes of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Informatics and Communication, Apertus Foundation for Open Training and Distance Learning, Hungarian Foundation of Distance Learning, National Institute of Vocational Education, National Institute of Adult Training, Joint Committee of the Hungarian Association of Content Industry and the Association of Hungarian IT Companies on e-Learning Standards

c) Actual business state

In Hungary, e-Learning is facing a significant development. This growth is supported by the government strategy: “The Programme of the Hungarian Information Society”. EU forecasts allow the expectation that the number of people trained in will increase adult education yearly increases from 150.000 to 800.000 by 2006. The number of students in public higher education doubled during the last ten years. This trend is likely to continue. e-Learning thus offers a solution for shortages in the traditional infrastructure of higher education.

d) Expectations of future e-Learning business

Significant uptake of e-Learning applications goes hand in hand with observable global tendencies, EU community programmes and the present domestic situation. Courseware development is worthwhile even on international levels, because Hungarian content developers are well trained, creative and low-waged (human resource). Achievements have been significant in particular fields of content, even when using international standards (like music, maths and physics, conductive pedagogy etc.).

Lessons Learned

Hungarian participation in FP5 was not efficiently articulated in the area of ICT based training and education. There were only two e-Learning projects, the CELEBRATE (Context e-LEarning with BRoadband technologies) and the SCALE (Internet-based intelligent tool to Support Collaborative Argumentation-based Learning in secondary schools) which were presented at the BRT held in Budapest. Though technology-based learning is still remaining a very narrow field in Hungary, it has stimulated an intense debate at the roundtable discussions. The wide-spread use of ICT in training must be highly supported by the government and the local administration by creating relevant national programmes as well as initiating the participation in international joint programmes and activities.

One of the most focused areas in Hungary is rich content development. It is of vital importance to develop high standards to ensure good quality and efficient learning content. To achieve this, good examples and best practices must be carefully searched and examined throughout Europe.

In order to get into the mainstream of Europe's relevant activities, it is essential to join existing (FP5) projects and learn from experienced European project partners. For the moment, this seems to be much more effective for the local participants than trying to directly submit EU applications being the main co-ordinator.

Local initiatives must seek strategic long-term partners on the international market. This will also give more opportunities for participation in European programmes.

Higher involvement rate of SMEs is a need in Hungary. This is an important message to the content industry. Big market players can be often too slow to respond to quick changes, whereas innovative ideas coming from young and talented small businesses must be better appreciated and supported.

Aligning national goals with the relevant European priorities will ensure better co-operation on the international market. This role must be taken by non-profit organisations and must be supported by the Hungarian government.

BRT 1

Date:

26 November 2002

Topic:

e-Learning

Location:

Hungarian eContent Programme during "DAT – 2002"; Budapest, Hungary

Organizer:

Dr. Judit Lendvay (lendvay@chello.hu) and Dr. József Mlinarics

Host:

Hungarian Association of Content Industry (MATISZ) - http://www.matisz.hu/

Panelists

•   István Simonics, Dr. (MTA SZTAKI) – as a moderator

•   Judit Lendvay, Dr. (MATISZ)

•   Tünde Kállai (HUNGARICA SPRL. EU Project Office)

•   Edit Halász, Dr. (Budapest Technical and Economic University)

•   János Ivanyos (MEMOLUX Ltd.)

•   Ildikó Balassa (SZÁMALK Co.)

•   Márta Hunya (EDUCATIO Co. – SchoolNet Project Office)

•   István Szakadát (Axelero Co.)

•   Donát Borsódi (Profi-Media Ltd.)

•   Gábor Rácz, Dr. (National Textbook Publishing Co.)

•   Miklós Kriván (Matáv Training Centre)

•   Pál Kaszai, Dr. (Synergon IT Co.)

BRT2: "Mobile Multimedia"; Warsaw, Poland; 21 January 2003

Key Findings

a) a) Facts and figures

Global & domestic number of users

At the end of 2002, there were 13,8 million cellular phone users and 12 million users of traditional telephony in Poland. Only in the last year, the number of cellular phone clients has increased by about 43,7%. Now there are on average 36 cellular phone users per 100 inhabitants in comparison to the average value which in Europe is 80, in Czech Republic 85 and in Hungary about 70.

The list of leading global & domestic players

Nowadays, in Poland there are 3 suppliers of mobile telecommunication services:

PTK Centertel is the first mobile telecommunication services provider in Poland. The company was established in 1991 as a Ltd. and is an operator of two mobile phone networks: Analogue NMT450i and Digital Idea with over 4.448.000 clients
ERA GSM - Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa Sp. z o.o. The company was established in 1996 as a Ltd. It has over 5.000.000 clients
PLUS GSM - POLKOMTEL S.A – The company was established in 1995 by 10 shareholders. Now it has over 4.550.000 clients.

b) Actual business state

In Poland, mobile multimedia & mobile communications industry are in the phase of rapid development. This growth is supported in accordance to the EU directions eEurope 2005 – An Information Society for All and the Action Plan and by the national programme ePoland – The Action Plan for the Information Society Development for the years 2001-2006. Projects among FP5 (Key Action III „Multimedia content and tools”) with Polish participation are the following:

Total submitted proposals in KA III (approx.): 1800
in this with PL (approx.): 80
Total funded proposals in KA III (approx.): 390
in this with PL: 7

Public institutions responsible for decisions related to the mobile communications market are the Office of Telecommunications and Post Regulation (URTiP) and the Department of Communications, Ministry of Infrastructure.

c) Expectations for the future

Probably, this year there will be new "virtual" mobile telecommunication operators. The projects of "virtual" operators are likely to be successful because of the growing number of Polish Internet users. In 2002 5.2 million people have had access to the Internet (an increase of 44% in comparison to the year 2001).

The Polish mobile telecommunication operators want to achieve revenues just like their counterparts in Europe, so they are selling phones under the costs of purchasing, and the difference is being received by requesting higher amounts on connections. The lowering of the costs is being made by offering additional services and special tariffs. There is for example a successor of SMS – MMS. Operators offer new multimedia services (entertainment and information). There are also new phones – providing games on-line, MMS and GPRS functions, browsers of WWW sites. The traditional function of a phone is just an addition to the other functions.

Producers of telecommunication technologies have a lot of problems with forcing operators to start UMTS system. Operators are afraid that they will not find enough clients for these new solutions (videoconference, quick access to the Internet, transmission of music and films). Presently, mobile communication is a channel mostly for communication. 3G technology offers more advanced new services. Thanks to this, the market will be open for media companies, TV stations, games and software producers. In accordance operators in Poland with contracts with the Office of Telecommunications and Post Regulation (URTiP) have to implement this new technology by the end of 2004.

Lessons Learned

Mobile multimedia is a strategic issue needed to be focused in detail within FP6.

Some of the research to be done is:

·          diagnosis on the state of content of mobile multimedia (the content is still very low)

·          research on social acceptance of tools (case studies of positive are negative experience with new devices and services)

·          research on customer health risks (standardisation of magnetic field intensity)

The technological development for mobile multimedia within FP 6 needs to cover the following subjects:

·          high compression rates: compression of video content is still suffering from limitations which in return discourage creativity, reduce not only the artistic value of the content but also whole scope of applicability of mobile multimedia

·          miniaturisation of auxiliary equipment: if real mobility is expected not only main devices but also accessories should be miniaturised

·          transmission capacity: the question which rises is that of capacity versus price

The important needs to be envisaged for future mobile multimedia technology are:

·          personalisation

·          privacy

·          security

·          cost and payment

ost and payments.

BRT 2

Date:

21 January 2003

Topic:

“MOBILE MULTIMEDIA – TECH DAY” with the panel discussion: “QUO VADIS MULTIMEDIA?”

Location:

Computer EXPO'03; Warsaw, Poland

Organizer:

MSc. Anna Zarycka (mailto:azarycka@opi.org.pl), MSc. Marta Siwek and Dr. Leszek Chmielewski

Host:

Information Processing Centre (OPI) - http://www.opi.org.pl/

Panelists

Leszek Chmielewski, Dr. (Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Science, Division of Vision and Measurement Systems)

Mieczysław Muraszkiewicz, Prof. (Institute for Computer and Information Engineering)

Krzysztof Marasek, Dr. (Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology)

Marek Maniecki Dr. (Globema, Sp. z o. o.)

BRT3: "Potentials of Paid Content”; Wiesbaden, Germany; 13 February 2003

Key Findings

a) Importance of Paid Content for the EC

Paid content is an issue needed to be addressed by the European Commission. The strategic objective of the EC-run Information Society Technologies (IST) Programme is to realise the benefits of the information society for Europe. This includes, among others:

to ensure that the needs of individuals and enterprises across Europe are met;
to provide the basis for sustainable growth and high added-value employment;
to confirm Europe as a leading force, realising its full potential.

When projects funded by the European Commission aim at supporting more intelligent and user-friendly provision, access and management of content the business models behind such a provision is a challenge to be addressed by the EC. This holds true in particular when IST activities should reinforce the “access for all” premise within the information society. Thus there is the need to engage seriously in analysing the potentials of paid content for the sake of the European industry as much as for the European citizen. So far there are no more than five projects among EU-funded projects that address this issue, with more or less focus.

b) Crucial questions to tackle

Providing high quality content simply has its price. The craft of content creation has very much changed with the advent of the internet. How does the future of editorial work look like? Are new training courses required, i.e. those for editors targeting in particular the content creation for cross- und multi-media platforms?

An ongoing discussion in the information society is dealing with the argument whether developments are driven by user-demand or technology-push. In this regard positioning users in the debate about paid content seems equally important: do users need to be forced to buy into the paid content model or do they have a say and, in fact shape the content market by consuming in their own ways?

When introducing paid content there is a certain need for a generally excepted value-system. What is the value of a piece of information? How can sensible pricing models look like? How to tag content?

For current studies and statistics on the content industry SMS, flirting and dating ranks high. For the general discussion it is important to develop a way to acknowledge user-generated content without distorting these studies. So what counts as content? What is content in the era of the Internet when user-generated content takes over?

c) Agenda for the content industry

From a business point of view there is demand for the following:

1. Acquire a detailed understanding of the market.

2. Acquire a detailed understanding of the user. Users differ in their readiness to pay for content. Surveys should just be conducted alongside of real existing products.

3. Ensure the quality of content, an exclusivity of content, and a usability of content provision.

4. Select content, not any content is sellable. For example it is recommendable to start first with some very special content.

5. Allow for simple and intuitive use. A lot of the buying procedures are terminated while they are running! A user-friendly shopping process allows for quick access, enough transparency for the user to judge the value of the content on offer, and safe and easy payment.

6. Create a good technical infrastructure. Thus support different modes of payment and digital rights management which is of particular importance for websites which offer content from third parties.

7. Promote paid content - not just on the website but also outside in the offline media or other websites.

Lessons Learned

Paid content is an important issue needed to be addressed more by the European Commission, because the whole content business (and this industry should be considered as important as e.g. the Internet Service Providers, the Telecoms, etc.) depends on intelligent content payment methods.

So far there are no more than five among all EU-funded projects that address this issue, with more or less focus.

For the European Commission the question how the future of editorial work will look like is important to tackle in the near future. Are new training courses required, i.e. those for editors targeting in particular the content creation for cross- und multi-media platforms? This can be a focus of Media and Training programmes.

Some of the issues to be researched in more detail: What is the value of a piece of information? How can sensible pricing models look like? How to tag content?

BRT 3

Date:

13 February 2003

Topic:

“Potentials of Paid Content in Germany”

Location:

E-Content Forum; Wiesbaden, Germany

Organizer:

Dr. Andrea Buchholz (buchholz@mfg.de)

Host: