ESIS Extension / Hungary / IS Promotional Activities / Update Memo 5

A previously released booklet was presented on a press conference on 16th March titled ‘Theses on the information society’, which was constructed in the framework of a MeH initiative by a seven-member "interdisciplinary strategic team" working beside the Prime Ministerial Office (MeH) with the aim of making the governmental management of these issues possible. The booklet, printed in 1000 copies so far, contains five main chapters (a new era of labour; knowledge as a value; government and citizens in the age of electronic government; living standard; the new culture of co-operation and regulation) and 51 theses altogether. The descriptions of all the theses are followed by an explanation and the list of the problems to be solved. The 80-page document, also downloadable from MeH’s website (www.meh.hu), puts the social aspects of the information society in the centre. Its most important priorities involve education, employment policy, the improvement of living standard and the creation of trust. The co-ordinator of the arrangement of the document is Judit Talyigás chief government counsellor, its developers are János Farkas, Károly G. Tóth, Károly Megyery, Imre Mojzes, András Szántó, Iván Székely and Tamás Várhelyi.

On a press conference on 27th April, three out of those workgroups reported on their work that make comprehensive analyses during the implementation of the technological development program (tep) carried out on behalf of the National Committee for Technological Development (OMFB): the information technology, the telecommunications and the media workgroups. Tep is a systematic assessment of the scientific and technological development and the expectable market, economic and social trends from the aspect of what kind of influence they have on the sectoral competitiveness and profitability of the nation or region and the living standard of the population. The work, commenced in 1998 in seven workgroups, has by now reached such results due to so-called Delphi surveys that its distribution and implementation is ready for take-off. The information technology-telecommunications-media workgroup led by László Pap, professor and dean of the Technical University, compiled the following important recommendations: active government participation is necessary in the fields of information technology, telecommunications and the media; the development and introduction of an EU conform market regulation framework and the promotion of the conditions of general receptivity is of key importance.

Information technology, telecommunications and the media as high-tech industry can be the catalyst of the whole economy and can interfere with the other sectors. The creation of the future picture of the information society is inconceivable without the appropriate involvement of domestic information technology experts. In the implementation of the information society the real bottleneck is not a lack of financial resources and the insufficiency of technological readiness, but the lack of human receptivity. A new type of literacy is needed, the distribution of which appearing as a government mission. Experience gained in telecommunication can also be utilised in other fields like transportation. It is an urging task to get Hungary prepared for embracing the information society, the management of the related problems and, generally, for making wide layers of society aware of and positively evaluate the anticipated transformations. In order to achieve this, a national information strategy should be developed as soon as possible by involving government agencies, professional organisations, experts and various layers of the society.

140 million forints were spent for the tasks of all the workgroups of the two-year ‘tep’, while the operation of the information technology-telecommunications-media workgroup cost 3,5 million forints. The recommendations and proposals will get in front of administrative forums in the upcoming months.

In the framework of the Írisz-SuliNet (SchoolNet) program this year, an additional 400 Hungarian educational institutions will be provided new computer labs. It is also planned to connect 30 beyond-the-frontier Hungarian schools into the network, and to create 30 public Írisz-SuliNet Labs on spots like hospitals where primary and secondary school students and teachers can have access to the services in addition to schools. The Ministry of Education separated 1 billion forints this year for the procurement of new equipment, and an additional 3 billion forints will be spent on the operation and maintenance of the existing network and content development. The operation of the network and the utilisation of the lines are characterised by the fact that while two years ago 120 out of the 910 wired educational institutions did not take advantage of the opportunity, merely 67 out of the 1526 schools do so today.

In favour of the expansion of training regarding JAVA technology, members of the JAVA Association (Borland Hungary, IBM Hungary Ltd., IQSOFT Co. Ltd., Oracle Hungary Ltd.., Novell Hungary Ltd., SUN Microsystems Ltd. ) and the Info Éra Foundation have launched a basic level JAVA Seminar for secondary school teachers. The basis of the educational material, which is slightly different from the syllabus for educators of higher educational institutions, is a technical book titled JAVA-start! written by Vég Csaba - István Juhász, PhD especially for secondary school information technology teachers. In the framework of its mission to promote secondary school information technology training, the JAVA Association also delivers the book to several schools beyond providing a course for students representing 20 secondary schools. Borland and IBM provide the required equipment while experts from IQSOFT do the practical training. The one-week, free boarding-school seminar was arranged in April during the spring break.

On 12th April, the John von Neumann Information Science Faculty of the Technical College of Budapest (BMF) introduced itself ceremoniously to the invited representatives of the profession and the press. BMF was created through the integration of three colleges: Donát Bánki Technical College, Kálmán Kandó Technical College and the Technical College for Light Industry. Two faculties were permitted at the college, one and the first of which is the information science faculty led by Dezso Sima. By the way, this faculty is the first information science faculty of the nation’s state higher education. The employed staff is 90, the number of first-year students is approx. 450. The primary aim of the faculty is to provide practice-oriented training for theoretically highly qualified engineers and information scientists. Three competence centres are planned to be established (the first one, Cisco competence centre, is already in operation – for further details see below). Following an expanding building the faculty currently operating in three places is expected to move to Óbuda into a planned new educational building. The faculty maintains educational and practical relationship with some leading manufacturers including IBM, Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Microsoft, Compaq, Sun, Sysdata and Debis. The information science faculty caters for the mathematical education of BMF in Budapest, and as a long-range plan it aims to provide teleteaching. The faculty intends to reinforce its industrial relationships: in certain application areas it intends to provide the conditions and content of its training together with major IT companies.

On 2nd March, the Cisco Network Academy Lab at Kálmán Kandó Technical College created for the training of teachers was introduced to the representatives of the press. In addition, they announced that the currently operating five Cisco Network Academies will be expanded by a planned new unit at the University of Pécs. The number of regional academies will expand to 10 by the end of this year from the current 6 (Kandó, University of Economics, KLTE, Zsuzsanna Kossuth and Gábor Bethlen Specialised Secondary Schools besides the one in Pécs), while the number of local academies may expand from three to fifty. The network equipment of the labs including routers, LAN switches, software and cables will be given by Cisco Systems to the academy or the schools themselves will purchase them. Currently 57 students are pursuing studies to acquire the CCNA degree at the English academies, but according to the plans, this number may reach 1000-1200 by the end of the fourth semester of the first round. Although the exams are in English, Cisco makes the curricula of the semesters translated, so the subject matter of instruction for the first semester is already available for the students.

The largest free computer training campaign of the country involving 4000 participators was ended on 3rd May. In the framework of the one-day course of SZÜV’s educational centre, sponsored by Microsoft, employees of small and medium-sized enterprises could acquire knowledge on how to use Microsoft Office 2000. Besides the interest in the product, the unusual popularity of the course can be due to the fact that those interested in computing have never before had the opportunity to acquire the latest skills in such an organised course outside the borders of Budapest. 95 percent of the participators in the current training also involving county seats were employees of companies in provincial towns. With regard to the high number of visitors and the positive feedback, Microsoft Hungary intends to make the free national computing courses regular in the future.

At the beginning of this year the country’s first Internet teleteaching centre has started under the address http://okta.to and http://oktato.hu. Based on the gained experience and the feedback of the more than 400 students and the teachers, the 2.0 version, which is even more comfortable, diverse and informative for the visitors than its predecessor, was completed by May 2000. Owing to the potential of the Internet, the course charges make it affordable for everyone to take part in any of the 20 courses in the five categories from foreign languages, European studies and rules of conduct to programming languages. Further plans involve the launch of PR, marketing, accountancy and ECDL-preparation courses, and the greatest possible satisfaction of the visitors’ needs.

As a result of the collaboration of IQSoft and IBM Hungary, a lab supplied with up-to-date equipment was created at the Computer Science Faculty of ELTE in May. The two firms provide financial and intellectual resources in order to allow ELTE students to get acquainted with modern application development methods and tools as soon as possible. In the course of the support, the companies provide the lab with software, create the professional background for the maintenance of the standard of the education, and with their assistance the computers of the lab will be capable of supporting resource-demanding environments. In the framework of the collaboration IQSoft will provide Ratinal Rose tools and professional assistance, and IBM will provide VisualAge developmental environment and professional documents. They also plan to introduce DB2 UDB and WebSphere later on. The university pledged that it would use the provided equipment as part of the regular education.

Two MultiCentre trucks of MTESZ (Federation of Technical and Scientific Societies) presented itself on the Info 2000 Expo (for further details on the exhibition see below). Mobile MultiCentres demonstrate the new subject assisting and educational programs developed for the 6 to 18 age group in an integrated manner to show how to use the complete multimedia toolkit in such a fully computerised educational and development centre. The mobile multimedia MultiCentres of MTESZ were also made suitable for mobile Internet use according to an agreement between the Írisz-Sulinet Office and MTESZ, therefore these can also be accounted Írisz-Sulinet Internet centres. The mobile MultiCentres installed into the trucks are used for demonstrations in elementary and secondary schools and in professional summer camps.

TV 2 is the first in Europe to undertake the publicity of Internet interactivity and the Internet potential in its early morning program titled ‘Jó reggelt, Magyarország!’ (Good Morning Hungary!) lasting from 6.30 a.m. till 8.30 a.m. Since 10 April following the traditional morning news, Net reporters complement the news with information and opinions found on the Internet, and they also send textual, video and audio messages. All Internet users can join the program to become its constructor and editor. The topics involve culture, politics, economy, sports and fashion, too.

On 1st March a joint game started during which readers and viewers can answer different questions regarding the Internet and information technology in Computer Technika, its website (www.comptech.hu), in Hálóvilág or its online version (www.halovilag.hu), and on Index (www.index.hu). Answers are awarded points. The first round of the game ends on 30 June, the second round finishes on 31 December.

Between 13-15 March in the course of the Garay Days a computer program product competition was arranged for students in the János Garay Secondary Grammar School in Szekszárd. The competition is unparalleled in the world since readymade, even marketable products can be entered. Its organisers were NJSZT (John von Neumann Computer Science Society), János Garay Secondary Grammar School, Quantum Ltd. and Psion Ltd. This competition in 2000 was already the 17th in the series of the Garay competitions. The first was advertised only in the game category by the founders, however, as students’ interest in other applications increased new individual topics appeared: educational programs first, then application programs, and, this year, Internet applications. The competition developed together with school computer science and of course the profession as well. Occasionally the students enter 40 to 150 competition works. There is no lower, just upper age limit: the student mustn’t have his 20th year completed on the launching day of the competition. A pre-jury consisting of computing experts from Szekszárd selected the 4-5 applicants in each category who were invited for the final by the secondary grammar school where the competitors, as though they were in a sales meeting, had to sell their competition works to the second jury in front of a packed crowd. The awards were bestowed by large computer firms. The main supporter of the competition this year was Microsoft; the company bestowed the winners and those placed second and third in all the four categories valuable software prizes.

Intel announced a competition under the title Intel solutions for the Internet economy. The aim of the competition is to enable the development of the Internet economy by advocating electronic commerce related researches and subject matters of instruction at major Eastern European universities. The competition winner will be awarded the essential equipment (PCs, workstations, servers, network equipment) for the establishment of a new Internet Lab up to $75000. The competition announcers are especially interested in projects that would apply new interdisciplinary syllabus in the training of the future experts of the Internet economy. The filled application forms had to be sent the indicated Intel staff member and the university administration until 15 April.

The Írisz-Sulinet Program Office invited students into Petofi Csarnok in Budapest with a public access Internet laboratory consisting of 120 computers and a rich program between 16-19 April during the spring break. The program started with a homepage designing competition on 16th April. Teams of 10 members could enter in the intellectual contest to design the homepages of famous public figures, artists, sportsmen and different media. The best teams were awarded 600,000 forints cash prize altogether.

The Solaria Science-Fiction Internet Magazine (www.solaria.hu) celebrated its fifth birthday on 21st March. The magazine announced a competition on this occasion for science-fiction homepages. The term of entries for the competition was from 21 March until midnight, 5 May. New and existing homepages were also allowed to enter. Only the constructor of a given homepage was allowed to enter. The conditions of entering the competition involved that the homepage should be in the topic of science fiction, in Hungarian language and should not violate copyright laws and other people’s privacy.

The assessment was conducted by the editorial staff of Solaria. The aspects for evaluation included originality, graphical solutions, technical implementation, content and quality of services. 20 entries were registered in the competition. The Solaria Science-Fiction Magazine awarded 4 prizes among website designers on the 4th Sci-Fi Day arranged on 20 May.

Publishing House Magveto, Fókusz Online Bookstore and [origo] announced a competition for writing the first Hungarian online novel. Anyone could enter the competition with the synopsis of a work in hand consisting of at least 200,000 but up to 300,000 characters without any restraints on the theme or the style. The synopses of the novel plans could have been sent by e-mail until 15 May 2000. Based on the received competition works a professional jury selected the seven competitors, who were provided an opportunity for online publication. The list of the qualified people was announced on 2 June during the Book Week. The seven participators hand in the rest of the novel weekly for six weeks, which will be put on the homepage of the First Hungarian Online Novel Competition. Chapters can consist of maximum 7500 characters. Who misses a deadline will automatically fall out of the competition. In the seventh week the audience votes on who will qualify based on the ready novel parts, and the professional jury also selects two contestants. The three qualified appellants will get their own websites with their own post office boxes. The next parts will be put up here. The novels have to be completed by 31 January 2001. The audience can constantly vote in this round, continue one of the novels or describe her opinion for the contestant or the other visitors in the course of a forum. At the end of the novel competition a winner chosen by the audience and a winner selected by the professional jury (the two can be the same) will be awarded a cash prize in the full amount of 500500 forints.

The John von Neumann Computer Science Society (NJSZT) announced a competition for young people under the title "Together in the information society" on the occasion of the 7th National Neumann Congress (21-23 June 2000, Eger). The aim of the competition is to promote the young people’s active participation in shaping and influencing the information society. The competition was connected to the European Commission’s "e-Europe: information society for everyone" initiative. Both individuals and communities were allowed to take part in the competition in the following categories:

The deadline for entry is 20 May. The competition works are assessed by an independent jury. Winning applicants are awarded valuable cash and object prizes. The announcement of the results will be held on the 7th National Neumann Congress with all solemnity, where the best competition works will be displayed.

The Internet exchange gambling called Tozsdecápa (www.tozsdecapa.hu) organised by ConcordeDirect, Figyelo, Népszabadság, Origo, RTL Klub–Pont.hu and Telnet Hungary was launched on 17 May. In the game, like in real life, participants can trade in securities, public bonds and investment trust shares with 10 million forints initial capital. Tozsdecápa simulates real stock exchange and of course it provides the players with the latest capital market news and information. Tozsdecápa consists of two games, a monthly (more precisely a four-week) game and four weekly games. Participants will automatically be involved in the monthly game and the current weekly game subsequent to registration. The main prize is not else than the 1 million-forint stock portfolio bought on 17 May, the current value of which can be followed on the homepage during the whole gambling. The organisers would not only like to popularise the stock market but the Internet as well.

A series of programs titled Internet Fiesta initiated by the European Branch of the Internet Society and sponsored by the European Union was held between 17 and 20 May throughout the world. The program’s Hungarian events started with the conference called ‘The present and the future of the Internet in Hungary’ in the headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA). On the conference the major representatives of scientific, economic and social life gave lectures on the opportunities of the development of the domestic information society and Hungary’s integration in the international information network. This year is the first time the Internet Fiesta has been organically arranged in Hungary. During the Internet holiday several public libraries provided free Internet access nationwide, where visitors could get access to educational materials and get answer from experts to their questions regarding the Net. The Hungarian Internet holiday in March was organically integrated in the ‘2000, the year of the Internet in Hungary’ national campaign lasting throughout the year, which was launched by 20 co-operating information technology and telecommunications organisations in favour of the popularisation of the Internet.

The chief executives of the four leading Hungarian Internet providers signed an intention declaration on 31 March to establish a council for the development of the Internet and the online economy, the information society and the discussion of the related issues as well as to create a more effective representation of their market and the interests of the customers. Euroweb, GTS-Datanet, MATÁVNet and PSINet group member Elender have altogether 75 percent share on the domestic Internet providing market. The aim of the Council is that the major market players could take action in issues beyond their corporate interests by harmonised objectives representing a considerable force. The common work will be primarily organised around corporate communication, telecommunication, legislation and the strategic issues of the development of the information society. The Council wishes to consult with the responsible representatives of the ministries on the harmonisation of government and market tools enabling development. The service providers work out recommendations on the development of the product and tariff structure of the telecommunications market according to the needs of the Hungarian Internet users. The Council creates a work plan for the management of such current professional problems like Internet information privacy or electronic crime arising in connection with network services.

The third EuroCable Hungary international cable communication conference was arranged on 13-14 March with the motto ‘Networks and communication in East and Central Europe’. Organised by EuroCable Communications Ltd. and the two Hungarian cable television associations, the conference combined with a chamber exhibition started in Hotel Hilton, Budapest with 120 participants. Communications minister Kálmán Katona made the opening speech. Sándor Stefler on the part of Matáv PKI-FI provided an overview on the technological issues of the up-to-date two-way cable television networks in his lecture titled ‘Cable TV as multimedia’. Gene Musselmann, chairman of UPC in Central Europe, described the Austrian success of "UPC Telekabel". Seven main lecture and panel discussion groups were created. At the end of the first day they held a panel discussion on the conditions of the fair competition of domestic cable providers, while the most interesting panel discussion of the second day was on the regulatory issues regarding the introduction of cable telephony.

The bank profession met between 3 and 4 April on the Banktech, Money Market Expo organised by Giro Co. Ltd., Metrimpex Co. Ltd. and Congress Ltd. beside InfoPark in the new, modern building of ELTE. Out of the 60 exhibitors, more firms presented electronic banking and business solutions than ever before. Experts and visitors can meet technologies ensuring the safety of data transmission, firewalls that prevent intrusions from outside, effective virus protection solutions and exhibitors displaying computer assisted office technology including paper-based document management and paperless office systems. According to traditions, Banktech is not only an exhibition but also a professional forum, in the course of which the exhibiting companies could also present their products and services in lectures.

The Info Savaria conference was held between 6 and 8 April in Szombathely now for the second time (www.szikszi.hu/info) organised by Info Éra Foundation and Info Plus Foundation, which have been arranging similar information technology conferences for nine years in Békéscsaba. The participants in the three-day professional conference are mainly teachers and experts dealing with information technology education. About 200 educators arrived from each part of the country and even some over-the-frontier areas inhabited by Hungarian population. Among the lectures made in the plenary session and in the five categories the application of information technology in kindergarten education appeared this year for the first time. A separate section dealt with the role of information technology in higher education with special attention to teacher training. On the third day, the participators made a professional discussion in sections on the methodological questions of information technology education and the application of the different operating systems.

The first Hungarian ‘Knowlegde Economy – Knowledge Management’ conference organised by Synergon and Inside Co. Ltd. was held in Hotel Marriott, Budapest on 12 April. The conference made an opportunity for pioneer domestic initiatives to be introduced beyond latest international practices. Patrons were: Michael Lake, leader of EU’s Delegation Committee, István Stumpf chancellery minister, the leader of the Prime Ministerial Office and András Sugár, chairman of the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum. The lectures made on the conference presented the conception of knowledge management in details, and besides this they provided an opportunity to become familiar with international practices (Siemens, Hewlett-Packard Europe) that directly contributed to the enhancement of the given firm’s business value. Out of domestic cases, the knowledge management activities of Mol, Matáv and Synergon were dealt with.

On 13th April in Hotel Thermal, Margitsziget, Budapest, HTE arranged the Telecommunication and Information Project Management Forum for the third time. 30 lectures in the name of 32 firms were made on the forum, and in addition, the invited experts made one-hour round-table discussions in two issues, namely human resources and the legal aspects of projects). This year 20 firms including some leading IT and telecommunications companies sponsored the program. Some interesting lectures out of the program: educational problems of efficient project management; key issues of the management of large-scale telecommunication projects; features of the successful ERP project management; record amount introduction of mobile Internet (WAP) in Hungary; Do large-scale information projects have prospect; management project for network quality monitoring systems; project management for frequency management software system, etc.

Also on 13th April, a newer joint Sun Microsystems/Figyelo conference was held on e-commerce solutions in Hotel Hyatt Regency, Budapest. Besides experts of Sun Hungary, determinant partner companies who are in collaboration with Sun in order to achieve optimal e-commerce solutions also displayed themselves. Out of the partners Oracle, Profitrade 90 Co. Ltd., Capsys Co. Ltd., ICON Co. Ltd., Westel Mobil Co. Ltd. and the representative of the leading e-banking Brokat Infosystems GmbH gave lectures. Some 150 visitors participated in the program.

The ninth National Information Technology Conference was arranged in Szent István University, Gödöllo between 18 and 20 April. Almost 100 lectures were made during the three-day conference. Among them the participants dealt with the situation and plans of the Hungarian Electronic Library, the Internet activity of historical churches, network security, the perils of the Internet and the development phases of the Internet economy.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Education, OKKER Educational Co. Ltd. arranged a national professional and methodological conference titled ‘A window open to the world’ in the course of the Írisz-SuliNet program on 27-28 April. The organisers of the two-day program did not only expected the participation of computer science teachers, professional educators who use computers and the Internet in education, and experts and researchers of computer assisted teaching but also teachers just getting acquainted with the Internet.

On 3rd May, IBM Hungary Co. Ltd., Concorde Securities Co. Ltd. and MATÁV Co. Ltd. organised an all-day conference in Budapest titled Internetkonferencia.hu (www.internetkonferencia.hu). The first two opening lectures were made by András Szántó, PhD, vice manager of the National Arts Journalism Program of Columbia University (Past, present and future - Trends, reality and opportunities in the age of the new media), and sociologist and university lecturer Elemér Hankiss (Casting a spell upon the world – A virtual civilisation). Following the welcome speech of the leaders of the three organising firms, a round-table discussion titled ‘Time passes by not always the same way’ came with the opening speech of a debate by Péter György university assistant professor, leader of BMGE Information Centre Media Lab. In the afternoon, lectures and debates continued in three parallel sections with 3 topics included in all of them. Technology section – Technology or solution, Telecom, Security technology; E-business section - E-finance, Business-to-business, Business-to-consumer; Content section - Portal, Old and new media, Multimedia. The two closing lectures after the section debates were made by György Martin Hajdu, vice president of Concorde Securities Co. Ltd. and Ravi Bulchandani, chief executive of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Investment Banking Division titled ‘The business value of the Internet’.

Hungexpo Co. Ltd. arranged the Info 2000 international information and communication technology exhibition between 9 and 13 May for the second time with the motto ‘The way to the information network of the future’. The 288 exhibitors presented themselves in 12,000 square metres. The themes of the exhibition divided the sights into four major individual categories: information technology including hardware, software, network technologies, accessories, peripheries, computing services and multimedia; data and telecommunication; reproduction and copying technology, and consulting and information. The conference program accompanying with the exhibition included topics like E-commerce, Competition and co-operation in infocommunication, The information society through civil eyes, and a series of lectures related to EU competitions.

The ‘Intelligent Settlement 2000’ regional conference was held in Szentes on 17-18 May organised by the city council and Hadron ’99 Co- Ltd. The two-day conference involved the challenges of the EU accession for information technology in the Hungarian administration. Lecture themes included modern administration and the information society, and the technological implementation of intelligent settlements. Sponsors and lecturers of the conference equally involved representatives of the government (Prime Ministerial Office, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Agriculture and Country Development), local government, scientific research and the telecommunication industry (Cisco Systems, Déltáv, Matáv, Motorola, Vivendi).

The Communication Authority (HIF) held its 12th forum in the National Theatre of Pécs on 19 May. The most important task of the forum was to review HIF’s role in the information society to be built. In some of the lectures the invited leading experts expressed their opinion about Hungary’s way towards the information society, then the leaders of HIF outlined the role of the communication authority in the regulation of infocommunication, network and services, and the development of the electronic signatures act among others.

The theme of the conference held in the Budapest Congressional Centre on 22-23 May was the demonstration of the security issues and problems stemming from the connection of companies, organisations, individual users, WWW, Mail and/or intranet servers to the Internet and the solutions suitable for the prevention of those problems. The program organised by the Hungarian Association of Database Suppliers (MAK) dealt with the above issues according to two main points of view, namely from the aspects of leaders and system administrators.

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.