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RIPE meeting - the RTC charter


RARE Technical Programme 1992/1993                      COA(92)082

                                                        Tim Dixon
                                                        31-Aug-1992

The attached document briefly lists the main activities of the RARE
Technical Programme for 1992/3. The programme reflects input from the
convenors of the Working Groups and subsequent consideration by the RARE
Technical Committee. For each Working Group, a number of activities are
listed in an order of priority as seen by the RTC.

For a number of activities, funding has been allocated from the 1992 RTC
budget to the extent indicated . For others, funding is recommended from
the 1993 RTC budget. Funding for 1993 activities will be reviewed in
conjunction with the WG convenors at their next joint meeting, paying
attention to the comments of the CoA on the proposed 1993 RTC budget.

The CoA are asked to note that the technical programme is a "living
document" in the sense that the RTC may, in conjunction with the WGs,
alter the priorities of tasks, or add new tasks, as seems to make the
best use of technical resources. Particularly in the case where WG
convenors have been appointed only recently, some adjustments may be
expected when the WGs are more established.

 
WG-CHAR:        Working Group on Character Sets (Borka Jerman-Blazic)
=====================================================================

CHAR-92-1       Definition of Character Repertoire

   Aim:         Define the repertoire of characters required to
                represent the languages of the RARE community and
                the correspondence to existing ISO coding standards.
 
   Deliverable: Report identifying target characters and possible
                encoding methods.

   Funding:     COSINE Funding [1992]

CHAR-92-2       Coding transformations

   Aim:         Define transformations between the various coded
                representations of the characters in the RARE
                repertoire which are currently in use. 

   Deliverable: Specification of recommended coding translations
                between currently-used character sets.

   Funding:     COSINE Funding [1992]

CHAR-92-3       Transliteration to ISO 646

   Aim:         Define rules for the representation of characters
                which are not part of ISO 646 (ASCII) using 
                characters of the ISO 646 set.

   Deliverable: Specification for the representation of characters
                in the RARE repertoire using the ASCII character set.

   Funding:     COSINE Funding [1992]

 WG-IMM:         Working Group on Multi-Media (John Dyer)
========================================================

IMM-92-1        Survey of State of the Art in Multimedia Services

   Aim:         Identify the groups undertaking networked multimedia
                research projects, emerging standards and products and
                techniques currently in use. 

   Deliverable: A report on the current state of the art and likely
                development directions.

   Funding:     10 days editing/compilation [1992]

IMM-92-2        Recommendations on deployment of MultiMedia

   Aim:         Make proposals for the integration of current and 
                emerging standards and products into useful products,
                surveying application areas that might benefit from
                this technology.

   Deliverable: Proposals for applications and pilot projects to
                deploy MultiMedia Servcices.

   Funding:     10 days effort for editing/compilation [1992]

IMM-92-3        Demonstrator Projects 

   Aim:         In co-operation with RARE membership and industry,
                define and develop projects which demonstrate the
                possibile applications of MultiMedia technology
                to enable early experience to be gained.

   Deliverable: Project specifications and selection of development
                partners.

   Funding:     Seed funding from Project Budget [1993]

IMM-92-4        Document Conversion

   Aim:         Report on technology and products available for 
                converting between different common encodings of
                multimedia documents.

   Deliverable: Report on current technology and recommendations
                for authors on maximising convertibility of documents.

   Funding:     [1993]
 
IMM-92-5        ISO-VT monitoring
 
   Aim:         The  RARE  Full  Screen Services Working Group
                (WG5) undertook much valuable work in the area
                of ISO Virtual Terminals. The aim of this Task
                Group  is  to  continue  the maintenance tasks
                associated with these activities.

   Deliverable: There  are no formal deliverables, however the
                task group will make reports to the the RTC on
                matters relating to COSINE sub project P9.2
 
   Funding:     NO funded effort is required - No travel [1992]

IMM-92-6        X Window System liaison
 
   Aim:         RARE  WG5  has provided Technical input to the
                ongoing ANSI and ISO standardisation of the  X
                Window  System.  The  task  group  will form a
                focus in RARE for  the  continuation  of  this
                work.
 
   Deliverable: There  are  no  formal  deliverables. The Task
                Group will however provide advice to  the  RTC
                in this area.

   Funding:     NO funded effort is required - No travel [1992]

 WG-ISUS:        Information Services & User Support (Jill Foster)
=================================================================

ISUS-92-1       Survey of Asynchronous Conferencing Systems
 
   Aim:         To identify the existing user requirement for 
                on-line conferencing systems.
 
   Deliverable: A list of on-line conferencing software in 
                widespread use within the community plus a 
                set of user requirements of such a system.

   Funding:     3 days editing effort [1992]
 
ISUS-92-2       Survey of Automatic Mailing List Servers
 
   Aim:         The aim of this survey is to identify the 
                existing user requirement for automatic 
                mailing list servers and to input to
                the COSINE Sub-Project P4.2
 
   Deliverable: A list of automatic mailing list server 
                software in widespread use within the community 
                plus a set of user requirements of such
                a system. 

   Funding:     3 days editing effort [1992]

ISUS-92-3       Survey of Network Information Retrieval Systems
 
   Aim:         The aim of this survey is to identify the 
                existing applications and tools for Networked 
                Information Retrieval (NIR).  Particular
                attention should be paid to the use of standards 
                by such applications, the ease of use by end 
                users and the information management facilities 
                for service providers. 

   Deliverable: A report on the survey of NIR tools and their 
                usability
 
   Funding:     4 days editing effort [1992]

 
ISUS-92-4       Survey of Information Providers' Tools
 
   Aim:         It is important to enable would-be information 
                providers to provide their information in a 
                manner which is simplest for them. Tools for 
                converting information from various word processing
                packages to a form suitable for display on a 
                computer terminal are required.  
 
   Deliverable: A report on the facilities currently available 
                and a recommendation for further work where necessary.

   Funding:     3 days editing effort [1992]

ISUS-92-5       Documentation
 
   Aim:         To provide a set of articles on various network 
                services which will be put together to form a new 
                User "Guide". 

   Deliverable: New User "Guide"

   Funding:     [1993]

ISUS-92-6       International coordination of NIR services
 
   Aim:         To provide a forum for discussing and resolving the 
                issues related to the operation of WAIS, WWW, gopher 
                and archie on an international scale. Strong liaison 
                with the IETF is required.
 
   Deliverable: A report stating the problems and proposed solutions, 
                and procedures (for example) for the registration 
                of gopher servers.

   Funding:     [1993] 

ISUS-92-7       RARE Technical Report 1
 
   Aim:         To provide a quarterly update to the RARE Technical 
                Report 1 on User Support and Information Services 
                in the RARE community.
 
   Deliverable: Quarterly updates of the on-line version of the 
                document, with annual updates of the printed version.

   Funding:     [1993]
 
ISUS-92-8       Survey of "Total solution" projects
 
   Aim:         To identify projects that are currently working on 
                providing a single user interface to the various 
                networked services (file transfer, information retrieval, 
                mailing lists, directory services etc.).
 
   Deliverable: A report on the survey of "total solution" projects.

   Funding:     [1993]
  
ISUS-92-9       Publicity and Awareness
 
   Aim:         To provide a core set of publicity materials for 
                use and adaption by User Support Staff to promote 
                the use of the network and the various services and 
                applications (Directory etc.)
 
   Deliverable: A collection of publicity materials: Posters, 
                newsletter articles, etc. Recommendations for 
                further work on other items such as videos,
                demos and presentations.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
 
ISUS-92-10      Training
 
   Aim:         To collect together a list of training materials 
                including computer based learning materials for use 
                in the training of network users.
 
   Deliverable: A list of the currently available training 
                materials including CBL.
 

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact

ISUS-92-11      Proposal for additional training materials
 
   Aim:         To identify the gaps in existing training materials 
                on the use of European Networks and to propose a 
                project to produce such material.
 
   Deliverable: A costed proposal for the production of 
                training materials.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
 
ISUS-92-12      Fostering of Electronic Communities
 
   Aim:         To help and support the development of electronic 
                special interest communities.  The COSINE Project P3 
                will be monitored and provided with input and advice.  

   Deliverable: A report on some of the successes and failures of 
                building electronic communities and a set of 
                suggestions to help new communities to set up 
                specific services for themselves.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
 
ISUS-92-13      Study of "total needs" of particular user groups
 
   Aim:         To identify the needs of special subject groups 
                (rather than of networking specialists). 
 
   Deliverable: A set of recommendations for new services or 
                activities. 

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact

ISUS-92-14      Input to IETF Documentation Activities
 
   Aim:         To make use of the work already undertaken 
                by the IETF User Services Working Groups in 
                the production of a glossary and a bibliography 
                of networking documentation.  European input to 
                this work should be given and where necessary 
                a European version of these documents should 
                be produced.
 
   Deliverable: European input to the IETF user glossary and 
                network bibliography working groups.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
 
ISUS-92-15      Maintenance of Information on Networks
 
   Aim:         To maintain the information held about the various 
                European Networks and their contacts, projects and 
                information services. This information is typically 
                held on a central information service such as 
                CONCISE and there needs to be a mechanism for
                keeping that information up to date or to provide 
                pointers to that information held elsewhere.
 
   Deliverable: A report outlining procedures for regularly 
                updating centrally held information concerning the 
                various European Networks.
 
   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact

ISUS-92-16      Collection of "TopNode" Information 
 
   Aim:         To liaise with the NSF/CNI "TopNode" project and 
                to collect information about European Information 
                Resources in a compatible form.
 
   Deliverable: A recommendation on the format for the collection 
                of information on European Information Resources.
 
    Funding:    Internal WG activity - no budget impact

ISUS-92-17      CWIS Forum
 
   Aim:         To provide a forum for the discussion of the issues 
                particular to the setting up and running of a 
                Campus Wide Information Service.
 
   Deliverable: A report outlining the special problems involved 
                and proposing related work items.
  
   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact

ISUS-92-18      Requirements for new networked information resources
 
   Aim:         To identify user requirements for specific data sets 
                or other resources.  To persuade the information 
                providers of the benefits both to them and to the 
                specific user community of making the information 
                available over the network. 
 
   Deliverable: A review of the mechanisms in place in individual 
                networks for identifying the need for particular 
                information resources and for negotiating with the 
                information providers.  A set of recommendations 
                for setting this into operation on a European scale.
 
   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
 
WG-LLT:         Lower-Layers Technology (Piet Bovenga)
======================================================
 
LLT-92-1        CLNS Pilot Project

   Aim:         Plan extensions to the existing CLNS pilot, promoting
                the use of CLNS within national networks as well as
                internationally. Work closely with the IETF in their
                consideration of the possible use of CLNS as a successor
                to IP.

   Deliverable: Plan for continuation of pilot project.

   Funding:     Aim should be to achieve VALUE funding for this project.

 LLT-92-2        New Technologies

   Aim:         Produce study of implications of adoption of ATM, 
                Frame Relay and similar new technologies into 
                existing networks with particular relation to 
                routing and addressing issues.

   Deliverable: Report on possible impact of new technologies and
                recommendations on their adoption.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact.
 
WG-MSG:         Mail & Messaging (Harald Alvestrand)
====================================================

MSG-92-1        MIME to X.400(88) Mapping

   Aim:         Participate in IETF MIME-MHS activity to define
                mapping between MIME mail extensions and X.400(88).

   Deliverable: Specification of mapping rules.

   Funding:     COSINE funding [1992]

MSG-92-2        X.400 Routing using DNS

   Aim:         Explore the use of the Domain Name System to provide
                routing information for X.400 Mail Transfer Agents.

   Deliverable: Specification of information to be stored and its use
                to facilitate routing using DNS.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact

MSG-92-3        X.400 Routing using X.500

   Aim:         Explore the use of the X.500 Directory System to
                provide routing for X.400-based mail networks. Liaise
                with IETF MHS-DS group and ISO activities in this area.

   Deliverable: Recommendations on use of X.500 for mail routing.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact

MSG-92-4        Mapping Table Updating

   Aim:         Provide tools and procedures for the better maintenance
                of the X.400 <-> RFC 822 mapping tables used by the
                COSINE MHS.

   Deliverable: Set of procedures and maintenance tools.

MSG-92-5        X.400(88) Pilot

   Aim:         Operate pilot X.400(88) mail system to gain experience
                of operational problems and interoperation with existing
                mail systems.

   Deliverable: Implementation of pilot network and report on its 
                operation.

   Funding:     CEC funding via SURFnet

 WG-NAP:         Network Applications Support (Paul-Andre Pays)
==============================================================

NAP-92-1        Directory Service Management

   Aim:         Investigate the procedures and tools needed for 
                effective management of distributed directory 
                services, including management of the Schema and 
                management of the data contained.

   Deliverable: Recommendations on operational procedures and 
                proposals for tools

   Funding:     [1993]
    
NAP-92-2        Study Use Of Directory To Record User Preferences

   Aim:         To study the use of directory services to record 
                preferences for document delivery formats and to
                recommend ways in which this information may be 
                used by applications which deliver documents to users.
    
   Deliverable: Recommendations on the encoding of preferences in the
                directory service, usage of this information by 
                applications and management requirements to ensure 
                its correctness.

   Funding:     [1993]
    
NAP-92-3        Service Provision Within The Network
    
   Aim:         Investigate the current provision of network 
                services beyond simple network-layer connectivity 
                (e.g. address and name allocation, directory service 
                management) by existing service-providers. Propose
                minimum levels of service provision within the 
                RARE community.
    
   Deliverable: Recommendation on minimum service provision

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
    
 WG-NOP:         Network Operations (Bernhard Stockman)
======================================================

NOP-92-1        QOS Definitions and Measurement

   Aim:         Examine possible Quality of Service metrics which can
                be used to measure the effectiveness of delivery of 
                services to end users. The scope of this activity 
                includes basic reliability and performance of the 
                network-layer service as well as application performance.

   Deliverable: Specification of QOS metrics to be applied and 
                procedures for their measurement.

   Funding:     Via COSINE Quality Workshop [1992]

NOP-92-2        Resource Allocation & Control

   Aim:         Examine the issue of allocation of network resources
                in the face of dynamically-changing demand, particularly
                with reference to fairness. Consider also the need for
                resource reservation for applications with specific
                bandwidth requirements.

   Deliverable: Models of resource allocation which achieve bandwidth
                and resource-reservation goals.

   Funding:     [1993]

NOP-92-3        Network Layer Policy Routing

   Aim:         Investigate the access and transit policies of major
                European service providers (research and commercial).
                Report on features required in routing protocols to
                support these policies and survey applicability of
                existing technology.

   Deliverable: Report on policy of network suppliers.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact
                
 WG-SEC:         Security Technology (Klaus Truoel)
==================================================

SEC-92-1        Privacy-enhanced Mail Pilot

   Aim:         Conduct a pan-European pilot service providing 
                Privacy-Enhanced Mail.

   Deliverable: Project plan for implementing a pilot service.

   Funding:     [1993]

SEC-92-2        Establish Network of Certification Authorities

   Aim:         Identify institutions within Europe which can 
                undertake to operate as a network of Certification
                Authorities, acting as trusted intermediaries for
                the signing of security certificates.

   Deliverable: List of institutions, plan for their mutual 
                authentication and catalogue of available services.

   Funding:     [1993]

SEC-92-3        Secure log-in service in Multi-Domain Network

   Aim:         Identify the procedures and technology required to
                provide a secure log-in service in a multi-domain
                network.

   Deliverable: Plan for pilot implementation of such a service.

   Funding:     Internal WG activity - no budget impact


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