ervice may
'andwidth),
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nd demon-
rvice.
omized in-
must sup-
rovided by
a stored in
a types.
purpose of
rs with up-
and remote
n environ-
aining cen-
is informa-
and remote
| center for
ields. The
information
-T informa-
| the litera-
Iso be one
information
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suppliers,
ation data-
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ironmental
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search re-
The infor-
ide topics
^. medical
ME).
] programs
e European organizations responsible for directives and
recommendations, with respect to MP and BME appli-
cations.
e Planned conferences and events on MP & BME in
Europe.
e Scientific/Professional journals.
3.2.3: Telecommunications Information Data-
base: The information database for telecommunication
engineers will include topics such as:
e Standards reports
e Telecommunication services offered in EU countries
e Planned conferences and events
e Scientific journals (information sources, etc.)
e (Offered training courses
e Job announcements
3.3 Special Interest Group Support
Since the PRONET service intends to support the needs
of various professional groups to exchange information
and requests assistance from each other the following
activities must be examined:
e Electronic bulletin boards,
e Multimedia electronic mail, and
e On-line conferencing (text and/or audio depending on
bandwidth availability).
These items can be supported integrating available soft-
ware packages based-on applications developed using
commercial RDBMS products.
3.4 Service Administration Support
The PRONET service will support the following activities:
e User administration (login/password),
e User access log (activity; timestamp),
e Billing support interface, and
e Security interface (authentication, encryption).
4. PRONET ARCHITECTURE
PRONET users will be able to access the service via a set
of Access Service Points (ASPs). These sub-networks
will in turn be interconnected in order to form a Pan-Euro-
pean network of ASPs. PRONET users may access the
service by either physically visiting an ASP or by remote
login procedures using personal computers and conven-
tional telecommunication services (LAN, Internet, ISDN).
In addition to the above the PRONET service will be able
to operate in the following environments:
e A PRONET service provider must be able to operate
independently of the other providers on the PRONET
network. In other words all CAL packages, information
database, and SIG support services that are sup-
77
ported locally should be available even in the event
that other nodes are down.
e User accounts will be characterized by the triplet
<login;password;access-node>. Users must access
the PRONET service from their respective node.
However, sharing of PRONET user accounts between
ASP nodes could be allowed.
e A PRONET user will be presented with a complete
menu of all CAL packages and databases available at
all ASP nodes. Users may then select a specific
service item from this menu. The item might in fact be
stored at some other service provider on the network.
Appropriate billing considerations support this
activity.
Figure 2 shows the layered architecture of PRONET and
the envisaged software systems used for the develop-
ment and deployment of the services.
PRONET Services
Co uise Co uise Cousse
Management Development AcϾss
& SIGSuppo t & Delivery Interface
Oracle 7, Ingres,
Informix, Syb ass,
MS SQL Server
MM Director Mosaic MBONE Took
Authorware Notsape Colatra LveShae
Toobook CBT ep PrShar, TalkShow
Technologies & Platforms
Operating System Level
Nertwork Level
Intemet
Figure 2: PRONET Components
5. CONCLUSIONS
PRONET is an innovative approach towards integrated
training for professionals. It uses state-of-the-art tele-
matics tools to provide services for its users that allow
them to follow educational and training lessons at their
own pace and from their own working or living environ-
ment. PRONET has economic and social impact through
its on demand training service, promotion of expertise to
highly skilled professionals from all over Europe,
reduction of transportation costs, and creation of new
business opportunities.
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B6. Vienna 1996
