Êðàòêèé îò÷åò î ðàáîòå ïðîåêòà çà 2004 ãîä (eng)
1. The results achieved:
In 2004, the Internet project included the following main lines of activities:
Organization of a comprehensive information environment for basic education schools;
Help in the development of the ICT strategy and organization of the information portal for the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus;
Help in the organization of the electronic community based on public and university libraries;
Help in the organization of the electronic community based on nongovernmental organizations;
Training in information and communication technologies, and distance learning;
Application of ICT in the environmental protection field.
I. Organization of a comprehensive
information environment for basic education schools
In 2002, this line of project activities included a series of activities:
Regular update of information and technical support of the search server on educational issues of the Chief Information and Analytical Centre of the Ministry of Education, Republic of Belarus http://ris.unibel.by.
Over the period of reporting, main emphasis has been placed on the development and improvement of methods used to select optimum technology for connection of basic education schools giving access to global information resources. Practical activities were aimed at ensuring a certain level of quality of services (QoS) based on algorithms ensuring a guaranteed pass band for computer networks. It also included a comparative characterization of two main technologies: using satellite communication channels and land digital communication channels. It ensured the collection of statistical data on the work of basic education schools connected through allocated communication channels.
Stable operation of connected basic education schools has been ensured; their representatives have been given consultation and methodological support on technical issues of connection and adjustment of equipment, as well as on diagnostics of technical problems related to territorial remoteness of schools in the Minsk District and, as a result, bad quality of connection, etc.
The work plan has been used together with the Chief Information and Analytical Centre of the Ministry of Education, Republic of Belarus, the National Internet Education Centre, the Club of Graduates of the Federation of Internet Education (FIE) and participants of the iEARN programme to organize 30 seminars, training events and teleconferences for basic education schools, gymnasium schools and colleges.
II. Help in the development of the ICT
strategy and organization of the information portal for the House of
Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus
The project included the UNDP mission to the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States to get expert support and to develop the joint project on the Internet portal of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It substantiated the need for the implementation of the project, analyzed the structure and the content of the existing web site, established the procedures for management of its content and updater of information, evaluated the organizational resources and provided recommendations for further actions to organize the information portal. The general concept of the project development was presented during a seminar involving representatives of all stakeholders held on 5 October 2004. The general analysis made by the mission has allowed a conclusion that there is a need and broad prospects for the implementation of the subproject on the establishment of the Internet portal for the Executive Committee of the CIS. This project has been approved, quite recently, by the senior administration officials of the CIS, while introduction of the online support will facilitate more efficient performance of multiple organizational activities.
The subproject called “Support of the Parliament” aimed at more active use of modern information technologies by the members of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus (2nd and 3rd convocations) included a number of activities performed over the reporting period.
To use an effective pass band in the Internet for the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, they established fibre–optic communication lines for the Computer Centre of the Parliament and the Internet provider. Procurement of 3 specialized computers for the organization of Intranet and Internet servers, a mailing server and other technologies and equipment has made it possible to make efficient exchange of information by the deputies, rapidly place information on the web servers and rapidly send and receive mailing messages.
300 brochures have been developed and made for the Parliament members, as well as ads on how to inform communities about the Parliament site and other hand–out materials for training of deputies; also, staff members of the Secretariat have their refreshment training courses. The project helped 62 deputies of the 2nd convocation (56:) and 43 deputies of the 3rd convocation (39:) to have training courses on the use of modern information technologies in their professional activities as members of Parliament. As a result, these members of Parliament have been actively using Internet and e–mail to receive and exchange information.
The project also involved specialists of the Secretariat of the House of Representatives and of the unitarian enterprise called the Scientific and technical Centre “Atlas” of the Office of the President of the Republic of Belarus, who established the web site of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belaruswww.house.gov.by. This web site includes official information on the regulation of the House of Representatives, as well as documents regulating its activities, structure and composition. Special attention on the site is paid to law–making activities of the House of Representatives: information on the law–making plan, schedules of plenary sessions, materials on parliamentarian hearings, resolutions and decisions taken on the results of the House of Representatives work. This project also included the organization of the English version of the site which helps inform world public about activities of the Parliament.
Roundtables have been organized devoted to ICT issues. This line of project activities included the fulfilment of the main task, i.e. to assist the dialogue between members of Parliament, representatives of executive authorities and business community, as well as other persons concerned to discuss issues related to development of ICT and development of the components of an efficient informatisation strategy. A series of roundtables have been organized involving Belarusian members of Parliament, representatives of executive authorities, the education system, business community, civil organizations, etc. these roundtables have been attended by foreign experts from Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Five roundtables have been organized: on 21 January 2004 called “Informatisation and information society in the Republic of Belarus”; on 3 March 2004 called “Information and communication technologies and state governance. E–government”; on 24 May 2004 called “The telecommunication market: competition, investment and regulation mechanisms”; on 28 May 2004 called “Use of ICT in the education system”; and on 21 December 2004 called “Belarus entering the information society: problems and prospects”. The roundtables organized within the project have made a significant input into activation of the dialogue between the State, private businesses, civil society organizations on issues of informatisation, distance learning, e–government, and started the dialogue at the inter–parliamentarian level with members of Parliament from Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania.
III. Help in the organization of the
electronic community based on public and university libraries
Two international conferences have been organized, as well as over 20 international, national and regional seminars and 5 roundtables devoted, among other, to such lines of activities of libraries as establishment of online corporate librarian services ands resources, integration of librarian and information resources at the level of the region and of the country, and providing access to them, establishment of librarian consortiums, information culture of children, adolescents and adults, and involvement of libraries into the process of sustainable development of society.
Support is provided to the BelLibNet consortium, which brings together 12 scientific and university libraries and gives access to 7,500 electronic magazines (of them, over 4 000 are full–text magazines) on social, economic, humanities, natural, technical and medical sciences. The agreement between BelLibNet and the PERI (Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information) has allowed 5 leading scientific libraries of Belarus to give their clients opportunities to order electronic versions of articles published in scientific magazines, stored in 27 libraries in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, using the international librarian document delivery service Subito. Online full–text and information resources, databases and publications have been tested, as provided by such well–known scientific publishers, international consortiums and agencies as Elsevier, ProQuest, Synergy Blackwell Publishing, Cambridge University Press, American Chemical Society, Institute of Physics, Integrum è EastView, as well as scientific journals, the database of the Russian patent agency, Russian central and regional periodicals, and news tapes.
The Belarusian librarian consortium has been established (including 5 university libraries), which is part of the international consortium ÌÀÐÑ (including 64 libraries from Russian and Belarus), for corporate subscription to magazine articles and organization of a joint reference base including information about articles published in 634 (including over 300 scientific magazines) Russian and Belarusian magazines. Electronic copies of articles can be received by users through e–mail system.
The subproject "VirLib" is under way to set up in Belarus a virtual library based on Internet resource catalogues on natural, humanities, social, technical sciences, giving a unified access to them for the users. Permanent work is done to update and supplement the web site of the BLA (www.bla.by) and to maintain electronic mailing lists for professional communications of the country's librarians.
A number of activities have been organized to develop cooperation between libraries and their relations with the regions, as well as series of roundtables and seminars devoted to relevant and important problems of development of libraries' activities and information and librarian services for population, for example:
The Belarusian State University and the “Civil Education” Programme have organized a winter school called “Relevant problems of contemporary librarian activities and librarian education” (City of Minsk, Belarusian State University, 11–13 February 2004), which involved 33 persons representing: the Mogilev Librarian College, the Grodno State Arts College, leading specialists from the National Library of Belarus, the Fundamental Library of the Belarusian State University, the National Educational Centre of the Belarusian National Technical University, and the library of the Vitebsk State University.
On 27 April 2004, an international scientific and practical conference was held in the City of Minsk called “Children's library: joint traditions, new technologies and new forms of cooperation”, which was attended by specialists from Lithuania, Russia and Belarus.
On 25–27 May 2004, an international conference was organized in the Olympic sport centre “Stayki” called “Management of libraries in educational institutions: development of corporate forms of work”, which was attended by 87 managers and leading specialists of the libraries belonging to the educational institutions. Presentations were made devoted to international, national and regional projects involving Belarusian libraries.
The programme of training and access to Internet based in the regional and municipal libraries in Brest, Minsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Molodechno, Polotsk and Vitebsk including 77741 visits of Internet class attendees over the reporting period. The number of new attendees in 2004 was 7040. The rate of visits by different categories of attendees was as follows: 46% of university, college and school students, 12% of teachers, 7% of librarians, 6% of governmental officers and 1.5% of NGOs.
The activities included 978 training events using Internet technologies and the establishment of web sites, in particular: 171 training events devoted to the topic “Principles knowledge of computers”, 95 training events devoted to the topic “How to organize a web site”, over 300 specialized and training tours devoted to issues of information retrieval and work with e–mail, PhotoShop, etc. The training activities involved 8263 persons, including: 31.5% of university students and schoolchildren, 16.5% of teachers, 12.5% of librarians, 7.5% of governmental officers, and 2.5% of representatives of nongovernmental organizations. These training activities help organize 203 web sites.
It also included 39 Internet conferences, such as: a conference devoted to the day of fight against drugs; a conference devoted to the Day of Belarusian Literacy and Culture; Information technologies for teachers; school libraries and their tasks, problems and development; a conference devoted to the Day of human rights; a conference devoted to the World day of the child; an international Internet conference devoted to the Day of the Earth involving ecologists from Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.
The subproject “E–library of texts for sight–impaired people who are users of computers in Belarus”, implemented by the United Institute of Information Problems of the NAS of Belarus, included giving technical support to the laboratory “Speaking computers for blind people” of the United Institute of Information Problems of the NAS of Belarus (ten computers and one printer), which made it possible to organize in this centre a library of electronic literature and a park of “speaking” computers with speech synthesizers and electronic magnifying glasses for sight–impaired people.
VI. Help in the organization of the
electronic community based on nongovernmental organizations
Consultations have been provided to set up a number of web sites for the following nongovernmental organizations:
The Association of children and young people (ACYP), NGO "Child Diabetes", the Association of disabled children suffering from cerebral paralysis and spinal–cerebral pathologies, the Mogilev City centre for correctional and developmental education and rehabilitation.
The Youth centre “Gart” (Gomel) represents an interesting, regularly updated NGO resource whose activities are aimed at supporting youth creative, cultural and educational initiatives.
Five web sites have been set for women's NGOs: the nongovernmental charity organization “Saving of Babies”, the nongovernmental association “Union of Women of the BSU”, the project of the Centre of Gender Research of the EHU “Women. Memory. War”, the nongovernmental association “Belarusian Union of Entrepreneurs” and the Belarusian organization of working women.
The Association of support to disabled children and young people, the NGO “Sem–Ya”.
The NGO “Partnership of Belarusian School”, the Belarusian Association of Journalists and the Society of the Belarusian Language (SBL) have organized training and provided follow–up support to find and study Internet resources on the following topics: activities of international and national NGOs; fund–raising, charity and philanthropy issues, volunteers' issues, issues of conflict resolution and negotiations, youth organizations; drafting of projects; search of funds and organizations for project drafting; search of information on environmental projects, social cooperation and inter–sectoral cooperation, etc.
Together with the National Center named after F. Skorina work has been done to create and place in Internet an electronic body of Belarusian texts; consultations are provided to support and update the web sites for other nongovernmental organizations taking part in the project. To set content sites in the Belarusian segment of Internet devoted to historic and cultural topics, the Belarusian language association together with the National Museum of History and Culture of Belarus and the Lithuanian National Museum have developed a subproject “Establishment of a virtual museum named after Ivan Lutskevich”.
V. Training in information and
communication technologies, and distance learning
Higher educational institutions and, in particular, the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, the State Institute of Management and Social Technologies of the Belarusian State University and other institutions have developed three courses of distance learning, including in particular Principles of informatics and computer technologies for economic and humanities specialties, the Principles of medical knowledge and the Principles of web designing.
Besides, the following distance learning courses have been developed: WinZip and WinRar: principles of working with electronic spreadsheets; creation of integrated electronic documents by merging and use of OLE technologies; Principles of Internet; Principles of Internet for librarians; Internet for medical professionals; analysis of statistics using AWStats and promotion of the site in Internet; etc.
VI. Application of ICT in the
environmental protection field
The Internet project document included perspective lines of the project development which was used to develop a subproject “Support of local environmental Internet initiatives in Belarus” to take part in the contest of project funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands (Matra programme). Besides, together with the ISEU named after A.D. Sakharov, a subproject is being drafted, called “Environmental open education using new ICT”.
2. Factors hindering or facilitating the achievement of the targets of the international technical cooperation programme (project):
A substantial input has been provided by the special International Advisory Council of the project which has allowed a more efficient coordination and organization of the project activities. This Council includes representatives of implementing ministries and departments as well as people of science, education, and members of foreign and civil organizations.
A restraining factor is the delay in the project funding by the Ministry of Education and the Open Society Institute, which has prevented a series of [project activities.
The project progress has also been substantially affected by the following major factors:
A permanent increase of the needs related to the use of resources of the global Internet on the part of governmental organizations, educational institutions, science and culture institutions, nongovernmental organizations, etc.;
Difficulties in involvement of foreign investors and charity foundations to help develop ICT in Belarus;
Rather preferential taxation conditions
provided to the UN Office in the Republic of Belarus and, at the same time, a
rather complex mechanism for project implementation. |
