December 2004

Editor's Farewell Message

By Joan Garcia-Haro, Editor

      

Joan Garcia-Haro
IEEE Global Communications Newsletter (GCN) appeared in 1995 as one of many globalization initiatives of ComSoc. It is devoted to publishing ComSoc-related articles as well as contributions on telecommunications all over the world, in a broad sense. The major significance of GCN articles is thus the dissemination of news about the status of information technology (IT) and its impact on economics, politics, production, research, development, innovation, environment, ..., that is, on society in general. Too many changes are being faced in the sector along with their associated successes and failures. The foreseen bright future of telecommunications is not coming as soon as expected. Nevertheless, although cautious, motion continues. In any case, we have to be optimistic. No modern society is conceivable without some kind of telecommunications. Indeed, we have many signs of the ubiquitous seamless permeability of telecommunications in the value chain and in all of society; it is just a matter of time.
      In this complex and challenging scenario GCN became a popular newsletter among ComSoc members and has been fulfilling its global task of witnessing IT changes since 1995. Of course, this is due to a collective effort, the labor of all GCN correspondents and the collaboration of a considerable number of ComSoc members and professionals. However, some key persons have led the process. I was fortunate to join GCN as Regional Correspondent from its beginning. Therefore, I had the pleasure of working with and learning from the three first GCN Editors, Andrzej Jajszczyk, Byeong Gi Lee, and Nelson L. S. da Fonseca, all of whom made important improvements to GCN, and I received the token from them, thank you very much!
      During my term serving IEEE and ComSoc as GCN Editor, I tried to follow on with the task of my former colleagues toward making GCN an interesting and solid publication. Perhaps my contribution was trying to open GCN with the aim to increase "globality." For that, open calls were issued along with an active policy of looking for contributions with strong personal involvement. Simultaneously, I was concerned with the balance of contribution origins, between countries with a very low presence of IT to highly developed ones. Under this active policy, my Associate Editor and I also invited people we met in conferences and other events, who had something interesting to say and clear messages, as reflected in their speeches, talks, reports of key conferences, description of international projects, key events, relevant opinions, and so on.
      I am grateful to many friends and companions who helped in editing, publishing, and contributing to the Newsletter. I really appreciated the great work done by the Regional Correspondents and the Chapters Corner Editor, especially the most enthusiastic and most frequent contributors: Paulo de Sousa, Silvia Giordano, Henrich S. Lantsberg, Josemaria Malgosa-Sanahuja, Nicolae Oaca, and Giancarlo Pirani. They are gratefully acknowledged.
      I would like to express my deep gratitude to Francisco-Javier González-Castaño, Associate Editor, who has shared the editorial work with me, editing, reviewing, and caring for all GCN issues. I cannot imagine my work without all his assistance, support, advice, and friendship. Thank you very much, Javier!
      Now, after more than two years, I am finishing my responsibilities as Editor of the Global Communications Newsletter. I am pleased to announce Nicolae Oaca as the new GCN Editor, and I want to wish him great success in the development of his future tasks and duties endeavoring to continue this voluntary position for the benefit of the IEEE Communications Society and its members.
      I would like to thank my old friend Andrzej Jajszczyk, Director of Magazines and the founding Editor of GCN; Curtis Siller, President; Doug Zuckerman, Vice President - Membership Services; Roch Glitho, IEEE Communications Magazine Editor in Chief; and Celia Desmond, Past President for their confidence in my work and support; and Joe Milizzo, Sue Lange, and Cathy Kemelmacher, from the IEEE Production Staff, for their patience, careful production, and timely publication of GCN.
      Finally, I also want to express my appreciation to ComSoc members all over the world for submitting their articles, for sharing their ideas, and for reading GCN.

Distributed Newspaper Printing at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games

By Evagelia Avraam and Andreas Pomportsis, Greece

       For many decades newspaper production has taken advantage of digital technologies in order to accelerate production throughput and optimize capital investments. Electronic production is now the established model for successful newspapers worldwide.
      Until 2000, most newspapers worldwide had for several years seen a decline in circulation. In many countries throughout Europe and the rest of the world they continue to do so. Like other established media such as radio and television, newspapers were faced with a variety of new digital content formats. Collectively and individually all forms of media have been competing and continue to compete strenuously for consumers' attention. As consumers' work and leisure patterns have changed, so have their expectations for media and content delivery. Newspaper publishing businesses have consolidated, with the result that there are fewer newspaper publishers responsible for individual titles.

Changing Production Models

      Most newspaper publishing companies produce more than one title and have extensive supplemental interests in regional or local newspapers [1]. This has an effect on circulation patterns and competitiveness as large groups extend their reach into new regions and new media. Publishers have examined many new ways of removing cost from their production and delivery models, largely through effective IT deployment and automation. Production efficiencies have helped to steadily improve the newspaper industry's market responsiveness; this also contributes to changing circulation patterns. The industry is getting closer to readers than ever before, even though readers have access to more content sources. Technology is also widely perceived to have contributed substantially to the overall quality of newspaper products, improving timeliness, supporting diverse output formats, and facilitating almost ubiquitous use of color. However, a number of factors may conspire to undermine the timeliness of some newspapers, such as evening sports events scheduled to suit television broadcasters and restrictions on road transport such as speed limits [2, 3].

Distributed Printing

Figure 1. Distributed newspaper printing originated at the Athens Olympics.
      In general, newspapers with substantial circulation do not print their products in the same location where editorial and advertising content are developed and produced. The use of digital delivery of pages to remote print manufacturing sites has grown steadily over the last few decades. Distributed printing in the newspaper industry is now commonplace, allowing newspapers to get to market more quickly, reduce overheads through the use of secondary and tertiary value premises, and provide optimal support to core functions. Sophisticated page pairing and RIPping technologies plus powerful output management technologies have combined to make remote printing highly efficient and economical. The combination of digital distribution, web offset, and local communications networks including roads, rail, and air his extremely successful and cost effective. It is a model with compelling economics and provides a basis on which to develop new digital printing models, including digital newsprint [1, 2, 4].

Athens 2004

      One of the leading companies in digital document management and delivery solutions (Océ) digitally printed 13 foreign newspapers in Athens for morning delivery throughout the Olympics. This innovative digital printing technology creates a newspaper with the same look and feel as the offset version. The national edition of The New York Times was the only U.S.-based publication to participate in Digital Newspaper Network's (DNN's) digital printing runs during the Olympics [5].
      Océ DNN printed newspapers from several continents: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Financial Times, Aftenposten, De Volkskrant, Sydney Morning Herald, Sing Tao from Hong Kong, the Japanese Asahi Shimbun, the Times of India, Corriere della Sera, and La Gazzetta dello Sport. The Sydney Morning Herald carried special advertisements in the digital version with good luck messages to Australian competitors. Asahi Shimbun produced a special Olympic supplement purely for the Athens edition, and printed additional copies at Océ's London printing site to be supplied to Japanese airlines flying out of Europe to Japan. The Monday–Saturday issues of The New York Times were printed digitally in Athens, and the entire Sunday newspaper was sent to Athens from the United States to be available for sale the following Monday.
      Once editorial and advertising pages were completed, the publishers sent their ready-to-print digital templates in a PDF file to the Océ data center at Poing, Germany. From there the data was routed within minutes via a secure network to Delta Singular Outsourcing Services located in Athens. The service provider produced the newspapers with an Océ Newspaper System 7000 used specifically for production during the Olympic Games. This system delivers 1000 24-page newspapers/hour, all with the same look and feel as the conventional versions. The newspapers were distributed by the Hellenic Distribution Agency, Greece's largest newspaper importer, within minutes of editorial signoff, thereby avoiding costs and delays of flying in newspapers. The company was accredited to deliver straight to the International Broadcasting Centre and International Media Centre in the Olympic Village. With around 11,000 athletes and over 21,500 journalists expected at the games, there was huge demand for up-to-date international newspapers, and journalists could gain an immediate impression of how events were received at home. The circulation per newspaper was between 150 and 2100 copies, with a total volume of approximately 6000 units across all newspapers [5].

Conclusions

      Information technology has a major impact on the way a newspaper organization operates as well as the form of the products it produces. The newspaper is the basic product resulting from the publishing process. The introduction of IT in the publishing process allows newspaper organizations to introduce new production models that enable them to produce editions in various forms andovercome limitations imposed by different geographical locations. Thus, the model of a truly global newspaper organization is fully applicable.

References
[1] J. Bierhoff et al., "The Future of the Printed Press: Challenges in a Digital World," European Journalism Centre, Maastricht, 1999.
[2] L. Brunner and C. Campbell, "Digital Newsprint for Roaming Readers," Digital Dots, 2002, h
[3] A.Veglis and A.Pomportsis, "New Production Models for Newspaper Organizations," WSEAS Trans. Commun., vol. 3, issue 1, Jan. 2004, pp. 218–22.
[4] A.Veglis, A.Pomportsis, and E.Avraam, "Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Newspaper Organizations," WSEAS Trans. Info. Sci. and Apps., vol. 1, issue 1, July 2004, pp. 127–32.
[5] Océ Web site

International Cooperation in the Spirit of the Bologna Declaration

Boris Krouk, Konstantin Lomakin, and Natalia Chupakhina, SibSUTI, Russia

       Nowadadays, an integrated higher education system is developed in a consolidated Europe. The foundation of its development was laid by the Sorbonne declaration of May 25, 1998. Twenty-nine European Ministers of Education signed the joint declaration in Bologna on June 19, 1999. Today, 37 European countries have signed the declaration. The key objectives of the Bologna process are:

Development of a joint European higher education system by 2010

  1. Adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees through the implementation of a diploma supplement in order to promote European citizens' employability and the international competitiveness of the European higher education system.
  2. Adoption of a system essentially based on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate. Access to the second cycle shall require successful completion of the first cycle, lasting a minimum of three years. The degree awarded after the first cycle shall also be relevant to the European labor market as an appropriate level of qualification. The second cycle should lead to a master and/or doctorate degree, as it does in many European countries.
  3. Establishment of a system of credits, such as the ECTS system, as a proper means of promoting student mobility. Credits could also be acquired outside higher education contexts, including lifelong learning, provided they are recognized by the receiving universities concerned.
  4. Promotion of European cooperation in quality assurance with a view to developing comparable criteria and methodologies.
  5. Promotion of mobility by overcoming obstacles to the effective exercise of free movement, with particular attention to:
      The governments of European countries encourage students' migration depending on personal interests and the labor market. The meeting of the Ministries of Education in Prague of May 18–19, 2001 emphasized the creation of a European area of higher education as key to promoting citizens' mobility and employability, and the continent's overall development. The ministries confirmed their obligation to take all measures to overcome obstacles to the effective exercise of free movement for students, teachers, researchers, and administrative staff.
      Russia joined the Bologna process as there was no alternative. Everyone realizes that an underlying cause of European reform is establishment of an international standard for the diploma supplement, which sooner or later may become an insuperable obstacle for Russian graduate students in a global labor market.
      The direction of the Siberian State University of Telecommunications and Information Sciences (SibSUTI) has solved that issue in favor of broadening international cooperation.
      The first program, which provided real conditions for development, modernization, and internationalization of higher education, became a TACIS program. The university has been participating in the project for 10 years. The project aims to establish cooperation with European universities, as well as learning about the diversity of European cultures, languages, and national education systems.
      As the result of competitive selection SibSUTI won the right to take part in one of the TEMPUS projects, the specific project being Increase of Students' Mobility in the Field of Economics. The project was carried out from March 2001 to 2004. The objectives were to establish and develop long-lasting cooperation between Russian and European universities aimed at internationalization of education, bring the level of Russian education in the fields of economics and business to the European level, and integrate the training processes at Russian and European universities.
      SibSUTI's partners in the TEMPUS project were Universita Degli Studi Dell'Aquila, Italy; Deutsche Telekom Fachhochschule, Leipzig, Germany; and Bremen Hochschule, Germany. One hundred ten persons participated in the project, including 60 students from SibSUTI Faculty of Economics, six students from Universita Degli Studi Dell'Aquila, 30 teachers and officials from SibSUTI, and 14 teachers and administrative staff from European universities.
      In the course of the project the following outcomes were achieved:       In the framework of the TEMPUS program, students got the opportunity to learn about the diversity of cultures, languages, and national education systems.
      From 1992 to the present, the university has participated in an international student and teacher exchange project between Russian telecommunication higher education establishments (SibSUTI, St.Petersburg Telecommunication University) and German higher education establishments (Fachhochshuele in Berlin, Leipzig, and Diburg). Deutsche Telecom maintains the project. The project ensures Russian and German students' mobility. The objectives of the project are the following: internalization and integration of education, development of joint curricula and programs, and academic recognition of training results in partner universities.
      In the course of the project, 31 students from SibSUTI were trained in Berlin, Leipzig, and Diburg; 25 German students studied at our university. Two German students obtained Russian diploma certificates at SibSUTI.
      In 1998 Deutsche Telekom Fachhochschule (FHL), Leipzig and Russian partners SibSUTI and St.Petersburg Telecommunication University established cooperation within the Double Diploma program. The program aims at integrated international training. If students follow courses at a foreign university for two semesters at least, they obtain both Russian and German degree certificates. The program is maintained by Deutsche Telecom on the German side. Annually, FHL receives 10 students from Russian universities. Russian students attend lectures and seminars, carry out laboratory work, and take examinations during the seventh semester. The eighth semester provides practical training at Deutsche Telecom premises. During this training, students must find a company to finance their work on their diploma theses and cover scientific advisers' expenses. Then, during the ninth semester, students write diploma theses and defend them in German. Back in Novosibirsk, these students must defend their theses in Russian at their home university.
      International cooperation expansion with foreign universities has caused a number of problems concerning lack of foreign language training at technical faculties. To take advantage of foreign universities, Russian students have to pay for language courses recognized by those foreign universities, and learn specialized vocabulary. These activities take time and money, and not all students can afford them. Another problem is that students traveling abroad do not know the culture of the countries they visit. This has resulted in some offences and caused conflicts to be settled by the International Affairs Office. Preparation of SibSUTI students to takee part in international mobility projects is a complex task comprising professional, linguistic, and educational aspects.

Zero Growth of Internet Users in Greece

By Andreas Veglis, Greece

      The number of Internet users in Greece appears to be stable in the last two years. These are the findings of a survey being conducted every four months by GFK Market Analysis. According to the survey results, the number of Internet users in Athens, Thessaloniki, and in other major urban areas increased dramatically during 2002. But since November 2003, the number of Internet users appears to be constant. This phenomenon is more intense in urban areas where the percentage of Internet users exhibits a marginal increase from 34.5 percent to 34.8 percent. In rural areas we have a marginal decrease.
      The zero growth can be explained to some extent by the fact that Greek Internet users are not satisfied with the content of Greek Web pages, or the speed and cost of Internet connections. Unfortunately, broadband connections are still quite expensive. The only agents that seem to be doing well are companies and the educational community.

The Survey

      GFK Market Analysis has been conducting a survey every four months (from 2000) in order to investigate Internet usage in Greece. The latest survey was conducted July 15–21, 2004, among 1250 people by computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The maximum statistical error was estimated to be ±2.8 percent.

The Profile of Internet Users

      The latest findings indicate that 37 percent of men are Internet users. The 18–24 age group shows the highest rate of Internet use at 49 percent. As expected, Athens and Thessaloniki, Greece's two biggest cities, exhibit the highest percentage of Internet users with 36 and 38 percent, respectively. Based on the above we must note that Thessaloniki and not Athens possesses the highest percentage of Internet users.
      The total percentage of Internet users in Greece was 28 percent in July 2004 compared to 26 percent in July 2003. One interesting finding is that the 18–24 and 30–34 age groups tend to use the Internet more during the summer, in contrast with the 25–29 age group, who exhibit the opposite behavior.
      Sixty-seven percent of Internet users access the Internet from their home, 41 percent have Internet connection at work, 7 percent use a PC with Internet connection in a university, and only 6 percent of Internet users visit Internet cafes. Young people (18–24 years old) prefer to access the Internet from their homes (73 percent).
      The purpose of accessing the Internet varies. Eighty-nine percent of Greek users use the Internet in order to find information, 44 percent for entertainment (especially the 30–34 age group: 64 percent), 36 percent for email, and only 4 percent for business. Buying online is a minuscule minority activity. E-commerce, it appears, is still a distant mirage in Greece.

The Future of Internet Use

      According to the survey, 9 percent of the population intents to obtain an Internet connection in the next year. The percentage is higher in the 18–24 and 25–29 age groups and among people with higher education.
      Only four years ago, experts were predicting 50 percent Internet use by the end of 2004, but that did not happen. The Greek economic situation, the high cost of Internet broadband connections, and the lack of motivation for the average user to access the Internet are to be blamed.
      However, we must mention that the majority of the adult population own mobile phones. The fact that these users are quite advanced in using value-added services for remote information retrieval of cellular networks is a positive indication for increased Internet use in the future. The introduction of 3G mobile phones will give a boost to Internet usage. But the degree of acceptance from mobile users is yet to be seen. Most of them appear to be satisfied with the services offered by GSM networks. The recent introduction of i-mode (by DoCoMo) in the Greek market has also created new expectations for faster diffusion of Internet usage.