General Objectives
of Telematics Applications

Environmental research under the Fourth Telematics Applications Programme (TAP) (1994- 1998) is the first co-ordinated, systematic and formalised initiative to place environmental considerations into the framework of telecommunication and information technologies. It has a budget of E 22m, a portfolio of 28 projects, attracted more than 200 active ly involved organisations, including industries, research organisations, and local authorities, and covers more than 25 cities and 30 regions. This research supports the development of a series of new and powerful telematics-based tools which will enable citizens, industries and local authorities to have access to information on the quality of the environment, establish the basis for informed decisions, and improve the quality of the environment (Lauture and Boch,1998).

The main issues of the TAP-EN programme are to:

• support EU policies
• be user oriented and cost effective start with market research studies and analysis of user needs
• associate user representatives
• focus on multimedia
• concentrate on interoperability of projects devote resources to technical validation
• maximise wider application of the programme content.

The main action lines of the programme are focussed on local and regional levels for management systems in: environmental support; emergency planning and in information technology as a reporting mechanism between local and higher level authorities.

Different approaches have been investigated to link with other activities of the Research, Technology, Development and Demonstration Programme (RTD&D), to disseminate telematics solutions to other developed countries, to stimulate partnerships, and to link with the Community legislation on the environmental issues. The TAP programme has supported telematics innovation applications and technological demonstrations.

The main topics in the environment sector of the TAP-EN programme include:

• air and water quality and water resources management
• prevention and handling of catastrophes and risk management (e.g. floods, forest fires, earthquakes, industrial accidents, marine pollution)
• public access to environmental information
• a multi-lingual environmental thesaurus
• Liaison with the European Environment Agency (EEA) and the Centre for Earth Observation (CEO).

A detailed description of the contents of individual projects of the TAP-EN programme are given in the publications such as the Project Catalogue, 1997, and the Annual Report 1996-1997, and the Area Reports from the TAP-EN Concertation Meetings, 1996-1998, or at the web sites:

http://www2.echo.lu//telematics/environ/environment.html
http://www.trentel.org/environment
http://www.rec.org/ist/DETERMINE/

---

REC * ENWAP * VIRTUAL GALLERY

The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe