Aignment Report RP/98-983/5/0./03 Etablihment of cientific and technological information ervice for economic and ocial development FOR INTERNAL UE NOT FOR GENERAL DITRIBUTION FEDERATION OF ARAB CIENTIFIC REEARCH COUNCIL PECIFICATION FOR A FEAIBILITY TUDY FOR THE ETABLIHMENT OF AN ARA3 DATA NETWORK FOR INFORMATION INTERCHANGE by A. E. Negu United Nation Educational, cientific and Cultural Organization Pari, May 983 erial No. FMR/PQl/83/l6
Aignment Report RP/98-983/ 5/0. l/03 FMR/PGl/83/6 (Negu ) 30 May 983
Introduction. At the requet of the Federation of Arab cientific Reearch Council (FARC) Uneco arranged for a conultant to pend approximately one week adviing the official of FARC, during a miion to be carried out from 4 to 7 January 983 in Baghdad, with the following term of reference: 'To develop a plan for a preliminary tudy on an Arab cientific and Technological Information Network which will examine the exiting national, regional and international project of interet to the network, common procedure and modalitie of intitutional co-operation, and poibilitie for uing modern information technology, particularly computer proceing and tele-informatic, for tranfer of information in the region, a well a propoing a detailed chedule and budget for phaed development of the network'. The miion wa financed under Uneco' regular programme for 98-983.. After progreing through everal draft, and agreeing that detailed invetigation of telecommunication facilitie per e would be invetigated a a eparate exercie and in the normal coure of event by the Arab Telecommunication Union, a pecification for a tudy, containing project jutification, methodology (including framework for a quetionnaire to be ued) and cot etimate, wa produced and dicued with the Federation. Background '3. There are many cientific reearch intitute in the Arab countrie, all producing information ueful within and outide of their own region and countrie. However, diemination of thi information, and acce to it from outide the originating intitute, and certainly from outide the country of origin, i often limited. ome countrie and intitute are developing or planning computerized information ytem, which will, in principle, make uch information more readily available than i the cae with exiting manual method which ue printed indexe or card indexe, for example. With batch proceing computer ytem, there i really no difference from manual ytem, a far a the facilitie available to the uer are concerned, but with on-line ytem, which offer far more power and are mot often employed by modern ytem, the poibility of acceing the information directly from remote location become a practical and feaible reality. Indeed, uch ytem have become widepread in Europe and North America during the lat ten or fifteen year. The proviion of an effective computer ytem, and a comprehenive, valuable and well-organized data collection effort i not in itelf enough: telecommunication facilitie are neceary for remote acce. 4. The ituation in the Arab countrie i that pecial facilitie for data communication do not exit on any ignificant cale a far a the general uer i concerned, although private network for airline and bank are in everyday ue, and the telex network i well etablihed. The public witched telephone network (PTN) can be ued, but dialled call are relatively expenive, and are ometime difficult to ue, becaue of congetion on the network, the effect of cro-talk, and the like. Additionally, for international call, there i difficulty in calling from one Arab country to another due to the lack of direct tran-border connection, and the conequent need to route the call, uing two atellite connection, via a European witching centre, ay in Italy. 5. In the future, many of the problem that exit today will be overcome, and will imply diappear, becaue of the introduction of new ervice offered by Pot and Telecommunication Adminitration (PTT), uch a an improvement in the availability of international dialled connection when Arabat become operational in 985.
- - Another development which can be foreeen before the end of the preent decade i the inevitable introduction of national packet witched data network, with ubequent international connection through o-called gateway. 6. For the preent it i tempting to enviage a olution which could offer improvement in the interim or medium term, and a private data network linking important cientific documentation centre could certainly do thi. However, the invetment neceary for uch a development would be coniderable, and it mut therefore be carefully jutified on the bai of the likely demand for remote acce to the ervice; a demand which it i difficult to meaure with any degree of confidence becaue of the lack of ignificant hitorical data on local uage pattern. Additional problem for uch a private network can be foreeen at both the technical and regulatory level. At the technical level there i the fact, already noted, that communication between Arab countrie involve two atellite hop, at leat until 985, and thi applie to leaed line a well a dialled connection. The availability of channel on atellite may alo be a limiting, or even prohibiting factor, and will certainly have a bearing on the cot of leaed circuit. At the regulatory level there are likely to be difficultie over jut who own and operate the network, and who i allowed to ue it. Were it to be a network connecting national cientific documentation centre only, it i likely that acceptable arrangement could be made. However, were acce to be permitted for other uer, ay reearch department in univeritie, it i probable that thi would be regarded a an infringement of the PTT monopoly, under which third party traffic on private network i exprely prohibited. Indeed, jut uch a ituation aroe in the United Kingdom, and ome other European countrie, when acce to information ytem uch a Lockheed Dialog and DC Orbit firt became poible via the private Tymnet network in 973. While public acce to Tymnet' own computer wa perfectly acceptable, in the ame way a many computer ervice bureaux offer low-cot long-ditance acce via concentrator and private circuit leaed from the PTT, ue for third party traffic wa unacceptable. Thi unatifactory tate of affair perited for almot four year, and wa only reolved by the PTT acquiring and operating it own concentrator on the Tymnet network, and billing uer directly. The method of connection to the network remained eentially unchanged, only the body providing the ervice being different. In recent year the ituation ha changed omewhat with the introduction of national packet witched ervice and the introduction of international gateway, but till third party traffic i handled by the PTT, and not private or independent agencie with leaed line. Framework for a tudy 7. Clearly, to enable an informed deciion to be made, it i neceary to make a tudy of the preent and future ue of information, and to ae the likely level of demand, from both preent and planned ource. 8. However, to limit uch a tudy to proviion and ue of information generated in the Arab countrie would be mileading and could incorrectly lead to the deciion that no network could be jutified at preent. The reaon for thi belief i clear. Firt, for reaon indicated earlier that i, that on-line information ytem in the Arab tate are few, and in their infancy the level of ue that can be meaured, rather than potulated, i almot certainly low. econd, it i quite obviou that, for many year to come, the major ource of information for mot Arab reearcher, except thoe working in certain pecialized field, uch a irrigation, for example, will be that originating in other part of the world, partly becaue the major collection and guide to information exit elewhere, and partly becaue there i more cientific reearch carried out.outide the Arab countrie than within the region. Therefore, meauring demand for information from Arab countrie would meaure only a part of the information need of reearcher; a part which i certainly mall and whoe contribution to the overall demand could
- 3 - not be judged. There are other contradictory factor which mut be recognized, of coure. While the information from Arab countrie may only form a mall part of the overall demand, it i a part that i certain to increae in ignificance with time. Moreover, it i more difficult to acce, ince uch information i often not well covered by either conventional printed abtracting and indexing ervice or by online information retrieval ytem available internationally. It follow that the relative increae in availability given by data communication facilitie would be greater in the cae of information from Arab countrie than in the cae of other information, even though the reulting level of ue might be coniderably le in the hort term. 9. The implication of making a tudy to cover all form of computerized information i available on ytem baed in Europe or North America, acce to uch information ytem from Arab countrie i often difficult, unle pecial arrangement have been made, a i the cae with the leaed line from Morocco to the European pace Agency' ytem at Fracati, or the acce point to international network in Bahrain and Dubei. Additionally, the cot of a dialled call to Europe or the United tate of America can be higher than the cot of uing the information ytem itelf! It may well be that the prime demand indicated by a urvey i the need to provide good connection to the international network, uing leaed line and local concentrator operated by the PTT. Thi would not rule out ubequent connection of local information ytem to thoe network via the local concentrator, and they would thu become available in other countrie connected to the international network, ubject to the agreement of the operator of the local ytem. tudy pecification 0. The tudy hould concentrate on, but not be limited to, the ue of cientific and technical information by cientific reearcher in the Arab countrie. The method of invetigation hould be quetionnaire and interview, a appropriate.. pecifically, the expert or conultant choen to carry out the tudy hould, in collaboration with and under the guidance of the Federation of Arab cientific Reearch Council, and taking advice when neceary from the Arab Telecommunication Union: (a) (b) urvey publihed information covering the proviion or ue of cientific or other information in Arab countrie, and extract that which i relevant to thi tudy; prepare a quetionnaire for ditribution to thoe centre identified in tage, and thoe identified by the Federation in previou tudie. The quetionnaire hould cover the following point: (i) (ii) information on the centre ize, date of commencing operation, purpoe and miion, etc; information tored type, ize, ubject field covered, exiting ue, language, condition of acce (contract term, method of payment, other retriction), etc; (iii) etimate of future ue type, method, location of uer, volume of ue, etc; (iv) exiting and planned ue of non-arab information ytem type, method, field covered, level of ue, location, etc;
- 4 - (v) (vi) equipment ued computer ytem (make, model, ize, communication protocol, output character et, retrieval ytem, etc.) and terminal (mode of operation, make, number, communication protocol, etc.); taff level number and expertie for thoe concerned with proviion and ue of computerized information ytem; (c) (d) viit centre providing and uing information centre in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and audi Arabia. The lit of centre to be viited hould be decided in conultation with the Federation, bearing in mind repone to the quetionnaire; prepare a final report to preent the finding of the literature urvey, the quetionnaire, and the interview. The report hould include recommendation on the need for a data network, or data communication facilitie which erve or interlink cientific information and documentation centre; the need and requirement for taff and equipment within the centre, bearing in mind other recommendation; and the need for the adoption and development of tandard and norm (for data repreentation, terminal equipment, command language, etc.) by the provider and uer of computerized information ytem. Time-cale and cot etimate. If an outide conultant were to carry out the tudy with a member of the Federation' taff, thereby combining expertie in proviion and ue of information ytem and the ue of telecommunication network for acceing uch ytem with direct knowledge of centre in Arab countrie and of the Arabic language, the effort needed i etimated a follow: analyi and tudy of literature, preparation of the quetionnaire and covering letter in Englih, review of quetionnaire, tranlation, preparation of the mailing lit, mailing. Five man-day by the conultant (perhap in hi place of reidence), 4-5 day' work by Federation taff, plu 5 day' clerical aitance; preliminary analyi of the quetionnaire repone, final identification of centre to be viited, arrangement for viit. Three man-day each for the conultant and the Federation taff (in Baghdad); viit to centre in Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and audi Arabia. Twenty-one manday (5 working day) each for the conultant and the Federation taff; prepare draft final report in Englih. Fourteen man-day (0 working day) each for the conultant and the Federation.
- 5-3. The cot would be approximately a follow: External conultant 6 man-week at U $75 per week $ 4,350 Travel (if European conultant) from Europe ( return ticket) $,500 Travel within Middle Eat, two round trip about $,000 Per diem for 54 day (38 day for the conultant and 6 day for Federation taff) $ 6,00 $4,050 To thi one hould add the cot for Federation taff alarie, a well a thoe for preparing, printing and mailing the quetionnaire. 4. The time-cale for the tudy i hown in the following bar chart: Thi i the rate in force within Uneco at the time of writing thi report. The cot of an independent conultant could of coure differ from thi figure (the honorarium of the preent conultant would, for example, be about $370 per working day). If the tudy were to be executed by Uneco under a Fund-in-Trut agreement, an overhead charge of 3 per cent would be applicable.
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