Last update: May 20, 1999

The physical' services at the Observatory were:

	the overall Co-ordination and strategy for the observatory, by Maria Laires
	the Demonstration Site, managed by Jan Stuer
	the Information/knowledge Base, which is the responsibility of Geert Thienpont
	the Help Desk, and
	the secretariat, were undertaken by Marie Fombona.

Maria Laires Project Co-ordinator Maria has responsibility for the overall management of the Observatory and has created the concept of the Central Business Centre (CBC), which co-ordinates EHTO and ensures the delivery of services for which the Observatory has been set up. The tasks, assigned to individual members of the team, contribute specifically to the Observatory's goal of providing a supportive European service to the health sector in the use of telematics. In order to perform EHTO's global work, and to serve the interests of its clients, the Observatory will bring together diverse, but complementary, layers of information where strategic and operational functions interface, constantly.

The CBC will develop activities, such as consensus formation' and the promotion of services' which are essential to the future of the Observatory as an independent European institution, following the end of the three-year period of the project. In taking forward EHTO as an "innovation and marketing" organisation, the CBC will handle not only the tactical issues related to the current work in the Observatory, but also take responsibility for the promotion and implementation of new strategies in the Observatory, to influence a pro-active approach and to define both the global' strategy and 'user-oriented' strategies. The Observatory Consortium believes that the growing importance of the health telematics market demands consensus formation, the success of which will be determined by the committed involvement and practical collaboration of the different actors in health telematics. EHTO has a dual role in assisting with consensus formation and giving its support to the promotion of its results

in the European and world-wide markets. The quality of the results of the Observatory's activities will be a valuable instrument in the process of self-evaluation of its impact in the sector and a key to consolidate its European credibility. Maria describes the EHTO team as one which possesses high technical and organisational competence, and an esprit de corps that reflects the good working relationships that have developed in the very short time since the Office opened in early February. The view from the Observatory is that they are confident they can deliver, but external incentives and the exchange of ideas are fundamental to its success. Together with its clients, the Observatory will find appropriate solutions to their needs. Given this information about the Observatory, don't hesitate to join the team on its exciting trip through the Information Society and be part of the creation of a new scenario in the European health telematics sector.

Jan Stuer Jan is the manager responsible for the Demo Site at EHTO. This demonstration site is envisaged as the cross-roads between the European Health Telematics Programme and the European and World Wide Industry. Professional demonstrations in an excellent environment will enable European projects and developments to bridge the gap that often arises between research and development, and product development. The synergy that EHTO and

the demonstration site in particular, will bring between European development and industry will give additional stimulus to the success of the Health Telematics Programme. Jan Stuer proposes to optimise the location, and the means, to provide the necessary professional settings for the projects, and to ensure that technical requirements and specifications are met. With his own background as an electronics engineer, specialising in medical informatics and telematics and with considerable involvement in medical imaging, he is able to provide the projects with the necessary knowledge about networking infrastructure and information systems, through the participation of European Industry and Research. Technologies such as ISDN and

ATM can thus be exploited in optimal surroundings, with the support of international operators and other technology and service providers. The Demo Site will not only be used to demonstrate project deliverables to the Commission, but also to the user community at large and interested industry. Also, it will be an excellent tool in providing synergy between all parties involved with the ultimate goal of creating a better use and commercial exploitation of research and development results. Close collaboration with EHTO's Knowledge server is envisaged in such a way that local demonstrations will become international through the existence of internet information links and inter-active tools.

Geert Thienpont Geert is the Information Manager; prior to joining EHTO he was involved in the development of CBT applications, network programming and WWW.

He is now responsible for the Information/Knowledge Base which is a collection of all kinds of information about health telematics. In-coming information will be analysed, indexed and stored in such a way that users will be able to access this documentation from anywhere over the Internet and, also, using different utilities, the main one being a WWW browser. Guidance on the dissemination of information related to Health Telematics will be found on the

EHTO Server on the "Guidelines for the Information Providers" which will assist in transporting the data to the Observatory. For those who wish to access the Information/Knowledge Base, a manual "Guidelines for Retrieval" is integrated on the EHTO site. Users who do not have a connection to the Internet can contact the Secretariat who will send them either an electronic version or a hard copy.

Marie Fombona Marie, who speaks French, Spanish, German and English

gives full secretarial support to the EHTO team, in particular to the Observatory co-ordination and CBC. She is able to offer assistance to clients in providing information, sending documentation and acting as EHTO's help desk. Her previous experience includes working at the European Bureau for Action on Smoking Prevention,

which was part of the Europe against Cancer Programme and has worked on the Telematics for the Integration of Disabled and Elderly People (TIDE). She looks forward to assisting you in meeting your information needs from the Observatory.

 

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