ESIS Extension / Poland / IS Promotional Activities / Update Memo 3

During the period October-December 1999 a number of promotional activities took place, at both local and international levels. These activities include, for example, programmes and calls for projects or proposals, communication actions (such as the organization of meetings and conferences), and the publication of promotional materials.

1.1 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, the national coordinator for solving the Y2K problem in Poland, has continued activities of the National Action Plan concerning Y2K, which the Polish Government accepted in April 1999 (http://www.dli.mswia.gov.pl). Information concerning the National Plan includes updated reports on the government's administrative preparations for Y2K, a timetable of deadlines for Y2K preparation in power supply, telecommunications, transport, banks, finances, health and social care sectors and other related issues. Reports were issued in September 1998, April 1999, and July 1999. The Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration announced the last report on 9 November 1999. An updated timetable for Y2K preparation in power supply, telecommunications, transport, banks, finances, health and social care sectors have been included.

1.2 On 6 December 1999, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration information organized a press conference on the preparation of Y2K, which included high representatives of crucial sectors. Mr Jaroslaw Okragly, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, who is responsible for Y2K in the telecommunications sector, states that all the telecommunication systems and services in Poland are under control, and adequate actions will be performed, although a substantial increase of New Year Eve's calls can cause discrepancies on some telecommunication lines. Mr Andrzej Luszczewski, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Economy reported situation in the Polish State Railways in the air transport sub-sector and the car transport sub-sector. According to him, every train will be stopped from 23:45 h on 31 Dec 1999 to 0:30 h on 1 Jan 2000, a common procedure every year when there is a change of summer/winter time. Polish Airports are ready and air transport services are in permanent contact with Brussels Crisis Eurocontrol Centre. Mr Andrzej Rys , Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Health informed that a launch group of experts provides permanent consultancy on electronic medical equipment in hospitals etc. (http://www.mswia.gov.pl/pr2000.htm).

1.3 During the Conference "Telecommunication and the Post in the face of the Year 2000 Problem" organized under auspices of the Ministry of Telecommunications (October 25-26, 1999), preparation for Year 2000 in the most important sectors of economy and public life, questions of potential dangers, and solutions were discussed.

1.4 Awareness campaign in TV and radio stations increased in November. Over 60 local broadcast stations include Y2K information in their programmes. Awareness campaign in public TV (Telewizja Polska Program 1 (TV1) and Telewizja Polska Program 2 (TV2)) includes everyday issues of "STUDIO2000", "INFO2000" or "RAPORT2000". The private TV station Polsat issues "SYNDROM2000" and repeats "RAPORT2000" of TV2.

1.5 The telephone Info-line 0 800 2000 00 information service is available everyday from 9.00 to 24.00.

2.1 The "Information Technology Development in Poland" report of the Second Congress of the Polish Information Technology (Poznan, 30 November – 2 December 1998) is now available in Polish and English on the Internet at http://www.kongres.org.pl/kongres/on-line/2-gi_Kongres/index.html. This Report was prepared by prominent representatives of Polish IT (Waclaw Iszkowski, Agnieszka Boboli, Borys Czerniejewski, Dariusz Kupiecki, Marek Maniecki, Andrzej Marciniak, Jacek Niwicki and Andrzej J. Piotrowski) in cooperation with such experts as Bogdan Dziarnowski, Aleksander Frydrych, Piotr Fuglewicz, Marek Gondzio, Bogdan Michalak, Wieslaw Paluszynski, Zdzislaw Szyjewski, and Jan Weglarz.

2.2 Forum of Internet Services Providers organized by PIIT and CPI (Centre for Promotion of Computer Science) took place in Warsaw on November 24, 1999. The subjects of this event were legal, financial and administrative problems of the Internet exploitation. The forum discussed questions concerning new principles of Internet management, regulations on the Internet market in Poland, legal regulations on the Internet, as well as effective forms of profit making on the Internet.

2.3 The Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications (PIIT) published a draft Report on Internet Services Development in Poland on November 1999 (http://www.piit.org.pl/cgi-bin/komunikaty/list_pr.cgi?act=note&type=0&id=68). The issues of the Report will be discussed during the Conference "E-Economy" organized jointly by PIIT and the Polish Society of Information Science on 24 January 2000 in Warsaw. This conference will include the Meeting of PIIT Members.

2.4 Other samples of events dealing with various aspects of e-business include:

2.5 The First National Conference on Customer Relationship Management presented analytical systems directed to customer, integrated call centers systems, customer communication systems and Internet in Warsaw on 25-26 November, 1999 (http://www.idgexpo.com.pl).

2.6 Other awareness actions, such as conferences, competitions, etc. dealing with the implementation of computer systems and telecommunications in business and administration of national, regional and local level (including Y2K threads) are described in detail in the ESIS database.

3.1 The Polish Academy of Sciences organized The International Seminar on Multimedia, Data Integration, Medical Databases in Warsaw on 18-23 October, 1999. The objectives of the seminar included a discussion of the scientific aspects of modern medical data system development from medical, technological, legal, economical and organizational perspectives and the display of practical results for the last years in this domain (http://www.amwaw.edu.pl/zinf/oglosz6.html).

3.2 The Fourth Conference of Polish Medical Internet was organized under the auspices of the Polish Society of Medical Internet in Torun on 12-13 November, 1999. Topics included medical consultations on the Internet, Internet as a tool for physicians education and health promotion, computer science systems in patient diagnostics, Internet and computer science systems in the newest health care system in Poland, and medical information services on the Internet (http://nike.uck.uni.torun.pl/IV-KONF).

3.3 The Foundation for Helping Physically Disabled Mathematicians and Computer Scientists organized the seminar "Internet for Disabled today and tomorrow" on 15 November 1999 in Warsaw. The seminar was a work meeting of non-governmental organizations working for the disabled community, especially in the field of the Internet access to employment, education and information. The Foundation has announced the first edition of the competition for the best employer of 2000 on the Internet that aimed to promote teleworking for handicapped people.

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.