BECH Building

For information and discussion

1. Introduction

The Chairman, Mr. Wolfgang Knüppel opened the meeting and welcomed the participants.

Short reference to three meetings that took place on 29-30/1/2002 was made.

Mr Luc Drappier will take over tasks of Mr Didier Hardy with regard to the local co-ordinator meetings and the update of EDIFLOW.

2. Adoption of the Agenda

Mr Knüppel provided an outline of the objectives of the current meeting. The first day is devoted to STADIUM, the second day to EDIFLOW and other issues.

3. Adoption of the Minutes of the 7^th Local Co- ordinator Meeting

Minutes of the 7^th GLC meeting were accepted without comments.

Effort will be made to keep long minutes shorter and up to the point.

4. Review of the Action list

The action list (as in document LC/08/004) was reviewed. Most of the actions have been properly addressed. Refer to the action list for the actual status of previous actions and description of new actions agreed during this meeting.

5. STADIUM (from Visual Basic to Java and the web client)

The features of the new web client and advantages over the VB version were presented.

Problems that were identified during the discussion that followed are the lack of stability of the new version, the confusion created by the multitude of terms used.

6. Experience sharing (STADIUM web-client installation)

This item has been merged with the item below.

7. STADIUM web-client (latest installer release)

The web client installation procedure was demonstrated and precautions with configuration of third-party components were explained.

Lack of stability of the product and inadequate testing prior to installation at Member States were the main points raised during the discussion. Questions on the necessity of a dedicated server have no general answer and remedy of abnormal behaviour during installation was covered by the next point.

8. Web-client installation – live demonstration

Some post-installation steps related to system configuration were explained. Also, the structure of log and configuration files was explained and troubleshooting hints were given.

9. Experience sharing (STADIUM web-client installation)

Current installation of the new web client on a Windows 2000 server at the INS (Belgium) was presented. Comprehensive information on the tool and its usage is provided through the intranet web site of the organisation

Several issues were touched during discussion rounds between presentations:

• Handling of more than one files for the same consignment.
• Procedure for removing an already installed user
• Processing of files containing viruses
• Tracking of files through various stages of the data exchange process
• Recommended MS-Explorer version
• Interpretation of terms used in various contexts (EDIFLOW, STADIUM, GESMES)
• Grouping of data flows other than default.
• Effect of ‘confidential’ data fields
• Interaction between STADIUM web client and EDIFLOW
• Unix version of the web client

Refer to the long version of the minutes for detailed answers to the above.

1. Web-client improvements and future requirements

Future developments comprise improvement of the code, development of a stand-alone web client, support of compression and encryption, improvement of reporting facilities, provision of a Unix version, integration with CIRCA

It was recommended to concentrate on delivering a stable product before starting with new developments. Immediate Eurostat priority is improvement of the code. Priorities of new developments will be agreed with MSs after a thorough effort assessment.

2. STADIUM (web-client deployment plan)

A precondition is to have a stable version so as to minimise installation problems. As soon as this version is available, a plan will be prepared (see also previous point).

3. GESMES

Version 1.2.1 of the GENEDI tool was demonstrated. The tool allows transformation of flat files to GESMES format as well as mapping and validation of codes. Sending of generated GESMES files to Eurostat is possible.

During the discussion following issues were identified:

• The interface for code transformation is different from the one used for message creation
• Suppression of data sending facility is desirable to avoid competition with STADIUM web client
• A network version should be provided
• An explanation of terms used within the GENEDI should be provided
• The importance of coupling STADIUM with GENEDI was stressed.

1. EDIFLOW Update status – encountered problems

The presentation focused on the procedure for updating the EDIFLOW database through data obtained from Eurostat officials and LCs.

Some Member States reported that the database still contained wrong data and some data are missing, although already provided. A dataflow-centric extraction of the entire database contents would be more useful. The contents of the ‘role’ field should be carefully revised. Some data flows are either non-existing or outside the scope of LC influence.

2. EDIFLOW inventory update policy for 2002

Update of EDIFLOW will involve three groups the LCs, Eurostat officials and statistical working groups. All the above groups will be addressed during this year.

Correction of the current databases contents will be done before the next update round. Ownership of every data item within EDIFLOW should be clarified to avoid confusion. Several actions have been proposed to remedy the situation. Refer to the action list for details.

3. Working Group centred promotion activities

The methodology for approaching statistical working groups was presented. Also, data on STADIUM utilisation were given.

A detailed plan for contacting WGs will be drawn as soon as consent of group leaders is obtained.

4. Future EDIFLOW development

Envisaged development work on EDIFLOW for this year was presented. To better address current and future needs, task forces for the definition of the user interface for MS usage and for definition of core functionality were set up with participation of delegates from France, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal.

5. Other business

The questionnaire on the impact of data collection projects will be finalised and distributed after obtaining feedback from LCs.

A monthly newsletter will be distributed with short news, mainly of LC interest.