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COM (84) 307 
 
 
 
Vol. 1984/0 141 
  
 
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concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique 
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 
concerning the openi ng to the public of the historical archives of the European Econom ic 
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file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.  
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom  1. 
Februar 198 3 über die Freigabe der historischen Archive der Europäischen  
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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
C O M (84) 307 final  
Brussels, 16 July 1984
A N N U A L  R E P O R T
O F  T H E  D A T A  P R O C E S S I N G  D E P A R T M E N T S  O F  T H E
C O M M I S S I O N
1 9  8  3
(Com m ission Report to the Council a n d  the European Parliament)
7>S.
C 0 M (8 4 ) 307 final

ANNUAL REPOST
OP THE DATA PROCESSING DEPARTMENTS OF THE COMMISSION
1983

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART A: Data processing in the Commission’s departments
INTRODUCTION
1. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
2. ORGANIZATION, STAFF AND TRAINING
3. GENERAL GUIDELINES
4. COMPUTER CENTRES
5. INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS
6. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
7. APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT
8. INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION AND INSIS
9. QUALITY AND AUDIT
10. DATA PROCESSING BUDGET
11. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
PART B: Data processing in the Joint Research Centre
INTRODUCTION
1. INSTALLATIONS, DEVELOPMENT, SHORT AND LONG-TERM FORECASTS
2. EQUIPMENT CURRENTLY IN THE COMPUTING CENTRE
3. STAFF, BASIC SOFTWARE AND OPERATION
4. SERVICES PROVIDED
5. THE BUDGET
6. CONCLUSIONS
TABLE A: DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICES
TABLE B: APPORTIONMENT OF COSTS
TABLE C: COMPUTER CENTRE CONFIGURATION
ANNEXES: ANNEX I Organization
ANNEX II Architecture of distributed data processing  
ANNEX III Data-base administration  
ANNEX IV List of abbreviations

PART A
DATA PROCESSING IN THE COMMISSION' S
DEPARTMENTS

PART A
DATA PROCESSING IN THE COMMISSION'S DEPARTMENTS
INTRODUCTION
The Commission's Steering Committee for Data Processing (CDIC) decided last  
year to change the content of the annual reports by including the short-term  
and medium-term plans, which also indicate the resources required.
The structure of this report for 1983 is identical with that of the preceding  
year. The statistical data given in last year's report have been updated and  
show the actual position for 1983 and the forecasts for the coming years.
The expenditure forecasts in this document are, of course, given merely as a  
guide and are therefore not binding on the Commission as regards any proposals  
it may make to the budgetary authorities.
The main subjects dealt with in this report can be summarized as follows:
The budget for 1984 amounts to only 86% of that requested and the aims and  
objectives for the year have consequently had to be cut back (Chapter 1).
Progress in office automation and distributed data processing will be  
slower, and gains in productivity smaller.
The first phases of the inter-institutional electronic mail service will  
become operational only in 1985-1986, rather than in 1984 as originally  
planned.
The introduction in the Commission of software packages available on the  
open market will have to be accelerated in order to shorten the  
development period for applications. This policy will require significant  
improvements in support activities for software installed on shared and  
distributed hardware. At the same time a massive training programme will  
be required.
For the immediate future the waiting time for the development of new  
projects can be estimated at approximately four years, provided that the  
budget resources requested are granted. If they are not, the waiting  
period is likely to be about a year longer.

-  2 -
Increasing use of new technologies in administration will mean that the work  
of a growing number of officials will change. The Informatics Directorate is  
the first to be affected and pilot projects are currently under way in direct  
association with the staff concerned. The lessons drawn from this project  
will be used to ease the process of change in the Directorates-General; a  
major training effort will be needed in this area, too.
An agreement has been signed with the Belgian and Luxembourg postal and  
telecommunications authorities for the use of their public packet-switching  
data transmission networks.
The computing power of the centres was raised by 60% during 1983. This  
increase will allow the transfer of applications currently performed by  
outside organizations, and will lead to substantial savings.
Two invitations to tender were launched in 1983, which should permit a  
coherent hardware policy to be implemented for the next three years.
The first relates to the renewal of configurations shared by all users,  
and the new contracts should cover 48 Mips and 205 gigabytes in 1987.
The second relates to distributed hardware to be installed close to the  
end-user.
A new policy for data bases is being drawn up and is planned to begin in 1984.
Like last year's, this plan shows that the expansion of the Commission's  
data-processing activities could be managed on stable budgetary resources on  
condition that a minimum increase of 5 500 000 ECU is allowed. In the light  
of the present financial difficulties this target could be achieved in two  
stages. Moreover, the budget appropriations requested could be more than 
proportionately reduced if the Informatics Directorate was given a large  
number of budget posts, which would reduce its dependence on external services.

- 1 -
I AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1983 saw an average increase of 32% in data-processing services 1 to 
users, at the cost of a budget increase of only 4% in constant ECUs (1982 
value). This growth exceeds the initial target rate of 25 - 30% annually, 
and as a result much of the shortfall of earlier years has been made up.
The specific objectives for 1983, as set out in last year’s report, 2 
were largely achieved, and this report deals with them in the following 
chapters:
Installation of a new data communications network meeting the 
requirements of the years 1984-1990 (Chapter 6)
A start made on a large number of applications (Chapter 7)
Negotiations with staff on the integration of new technologies in the 
working environment (Chapter 2)
Improvements in computing performance - quality, security, cost / 
benefit analysis, productivity of development work (Chapter 9)
Definition of a new policy for data base management (Chapter 5)
"Data processing" denotes all information handling activities 
including office equipment (electronic office equipment) and 
telecommunications (telematics), which are moving progressively 
towards the integration of data, text, image and voice
2Document COM ( 83)  240 final of 30 May 1983

-  1 -2  -
On the other hand, the objectives for 1984 and subsequent years will have  
to be revised since the budget appropriations of 35 500 000 ECU requested  
under Chapter 21 for 1984 were not granted in full but cut to 30 500 000  
ECU.
This decision will have the following main consequences:
progress in office automation and distributed data processing will be  
slower than originally planned, with consequently lower gains in  
productivity;
the first phases of the inter-institutional electronic mail service  
will become operational only in 1985, rather than in 1984 as  
originally planned.
This year’s plan differs from last year’s in the accelerated use of  
commercially available software packages for applications. This should  
lead to a significant fall in development costs, and in particular should  
reduce the Commission’s excessive and sometimes dangerous dependence on  
outside staff
This priority effort will mean an increase in support activities for users  
of these software packages, together with the organization of appropriate  
training. A massive training programme will also be needed to back up the  
introduction of the software and to ensure optimum conditions for the  
changes in jobs and tasks caused by the introduction of the new  
information technology into the working environment.
In addition, the rapid extension and growth in use of internal and  
external data bases by Commission departments means that present  
management of data bases must be modernized.
Ibid.,  Chapter 2

These new factors have made it necessary to redefine the annual targets  
for 1984 and 1985-86 as follows:
1984 Creation of a software package library, and implementation of a
programme of training and support for the central development  
teams and for users (Chapters 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7)
Selection of the first hardware installations and software for  
the integration of office information services and remote  
processing facilities for users (Chapters 3, 5 and 6)
Support programme for job mutations as new technologies take  
their place in the working environment (Chapter 2)
Modernization of data base management (Chapter 6)
Gradual installation of the communications infrastructure for  
the years 1986-1990 (Chapter 8)
1985-86 First phases of the introduction of electronic mail (Chapter 6)
Construction of a large number of new applications with selected  
software packages (Chapter 7)
Construction of remote processing and applications services in  
collaboration with the other Institutions and the  
administrations of Member States (Chapter 8 - INSIS and CADDIA)
Continued installation of the communications infrastructure for  
the years 1986-1990 (Chapter 8)
Ibid., Table 9

-  2-1  -
2. ORGANIZATION, STAFF AND TRAINING  
ORGANIZATION
The computing services organization described in the 1982 report has not  
changed. It is presented in Annex I.
STAFF
The following table shows the changes in the Commission's data processing  
staff from 1982 to 1983:
TABLE 1: Staff 1982 and 1983 1 LX BXL TOT
DI/IPA/QA 1982 7 21 28
1983 7 24 31
CC 1982 88 88
1983 81 - 81
SII 1982 27 194 221
1983 32 195 2 227 2
II 1982 28 4 32
1983 29 5 34
DA 1982 41 2 43
1983 42 2 44
Total for Informatics 1982 191 221 412
Directorate 1983 191 226 417
Directorates-General 1982 60 71 131
1983 72 86 158
Staff under contract 1982 80 45 125
1983 108 76 184
For abbreviations see Annex IV
Does not include 3 local staff and 6 telex and telephone switchboard  
temporaries whose administrative status was upgraded during 1983

-  2 - 2  -
Comparison of the figures for 1982 and 1983 reveals a slight growth in  
in-house staff in non-technical areas, the result of transfers of  
officials from user departments, principally DG IX. There was at the same  
time a marked growth in services supplied by outside staff (+47%). This  
was mainly due to difficulty in obtaining new posts at a time when  
services provided by the Informatics Directorate are expanding rapidly as  
a result of pressure from consumers. This large-scale recourse to outside  
staff has serious disadvantages. First, is is expensive - 40% on average  
more than the cost of the equivalent official. It also introduces a  
dangerous level of dependence and is in addition increasingly at variance  
with modern trends in employment legislation.
The Directorates-General have increased their in-house computing resources  
by 20% 1, generally by using posts which have fallen vacant in order to  
recruit computer staff. This is an indication of their interest in the  
use of the possibilities offered by the new technologies. It also shows  
the progress which has been achieved in the Commission's policy of  
decentralizing data processing.
MOVES TOWARDS A PROFOUND CHANGE IN MANY SPHERES
The increase in computer personnel in the Directorates-General heralds  
ongoing movement on an altogether grander scale, as well as profound  
changes in administrative tasks arising from increasing use of computer  
applications. The changes taking place in the user services will  
necessitate increased assistance from the central data processing  
departments.
The Informatics Directorate will therefore have to redeploy its staff to  
cope with these new needs for user support and training. This will  
inevitably be at the expense of the resources devoted to infrastructure  
and applications development work, the aim being gradually to fill the  
sensitive posts which have hitherto been occupied by outside staff.
This total does not include data or text input staff, since these  
tasks are progressively becoming routine administrative jobs; nor  
does it include users who manage the contents of bases, or officials  
using computers for individual administrative calculations  
(statistics, econometrics, etc.).

- 2-3 -
In applications, the uncertain situation with outside staff and the 
inadequate executive staffing will also necessitate their redeployment; 
this will result in a fall in the number of outside staff working on 
development of applications and an increase in their number in;
the user support teams responsible for user assistance and training 
in use of software, whether installed on distributed or on central 
hardware;
specialized activities for which in-house staff are not sufficiently 
expert.
While permitting new working methods the technical changes have also 
influenced certain traditional tasks of centralized data processing. The 
coding pools are on the way out, and operating staff requirements are 
diminishing. This process has in fact already begun; the permanent staff 
of the Computer Centre fell by 7 over 12 months.
Movements in two directions can thus be perceived; the disappearance of 
certain tasks, and the appearance of new requirements in user support and 
training. A pilot project aimed at dealing with this problem is currently 
under way in the Informatics Directorate and should result during 1984 in 
the implementation of a conversion programme which will include ad hoc 
training work in particular.
CONSULTATION WITH THE STAFF
Implementing a programme of changes in the operation of the Informatics 
Directorate could not have been contemplated without consultation with the 
staff concerned, at various levels, including that of the individual.
The lessons gained from this experience can be used to facilitate changes 
in the Directorates-General, where computerization of certain tasks will 
mean changes in the content of many jobs.
In addition, regular meetings are held with staff representatives to deal 
with the problems of computerization, particularly those of an 
environmental or social nature. These meetings have resulted in changes 
to a text on ergonomic aspects of working on screen.

TRAINING
The total figure for training in data processing for 1983 may be estimated  
at 3 500 trainee days, an increase of 17% over 1982.
This training was partly made possible by the appropriations provided for  
the purpose, approximately Bfrs 6 million, from the training budget.  
Internal resources were also needed, however, particularly for training in  
data-base interrogation, which totalled 940 trainee-days in 1983.
As regards word-processing, a number of officials selected by their  
Directorates-General were trained as instructors, in order to pass their  
knowledge on to colleagues. This policy has proved successful, and it is  
planned to continue it in 1984.
The use of outside staff in support and training activities will  
furthermore add greatly to the training potential. The second half of  
1984 should see the doubling of computer training activities. This trend  
should be confirmed in 1985, with the additional resources allocated to  
training - 15 man-years in 1984; 36 man-years in 1985.
Because of the scale of the training programme which is needed, and in  
view, moreover, of the success of the 1NSIS Computer Workshop (see Chapter  
6) a training infrastructure is proposed in which sets of hardware  
(microcomputers, word-processors, etc.) and training material  
(self-tuition software, video facilities, etc.) will be made available at  
specific places. This investment in staff and equipment is essential if  
the computerization of the Commission's activities is to be successful.

GENERAL GUIDELINES
In the main the general guidelines set out in last year's report remain  
valid. Those guidelines have given rise to a document defining the  
architecture of distributed data processing, which is annexed to this  
report.
The acquisition policy for computer hardware and services drawn up in  
1982 was put into effect in 1983 with the launching of two invitations  
to tender,  which will be processed during 1984
— a standard invitation to tender, intended to select suppliers of  
distributed equipment for the next three years, including micro- and  
minicomputers, stand-alone and network word processors, and suppliers  
of software suited to the specific needs of the various user groups  
in the Commission.
- one invitation to tender for the renewal of the central config­
urations in the light of the Commission's computer hardware, software  
and services requirements during the period 1985-1987 (see Chapter 4).
From the technical point of view these invitations to tender constitute a  
golden opportunity to introduce the standards available with the newest  
equipment on the market.
This document follows the lines of
See Annex II to last year's report  
30 May 1983Annex I to last year’s report  
- Document COM (83) 240 final,

- 3-2 -
The Commission’s policy as regards standards is to respect those agreed  
internationally. An agreement has been signed with the Belgian and  
Luxembourg postal and telecommunications administrations for the use of  
their public packet-switching data transmission networks, which respect  
the CCITT X.25 standard.1 The Commission hopes to avoid having to  
introduce network access points which do not comply with the international  
standards, and in order to meet the Commission's requirements  
manufacturers will have to adopt a convergent strategy.
Although it is possible to draw up rules for the architecture of the  
future it is also true that the infrastructure and the international  
standards for its implementation will not be available for some years. In  
the medium term, transitional arrangements will have to be made which  
reconcile the immediate needs with predicted trends and thus ’ ’intercept"  
future standards.
The Annex presents the guidelines which have been selected for distributed  
architecture, including organization and services, hosts, work-stations,  
networks and telecommunications standards.
To deal with the problem of standards, a project is planned under the  
INSIS programme, with the assistance of DG III (Task Force - New  
Information Technologies) and the JRC Ispra, which will
identify requirements for standards;
lay down interim rules for areas not at present covered by standards;
introduce means of monitoring and verifying conformity in operational  
conditions.
Synchronization with the INSIS programme is also a feature of the few  
infrastructure projects which have been approved, which include the INSEM  
electronic mail project, a number of experimental projects in electronic  
archiving for computing purposes, and the Computer Workshop (see Chapter  
6). These projects are subject to inter-institutional coordination (see  
Chapter 8).
An experimental multilingual keyboard covering all the Latin alphabet  
languages plus Greek has been constructed on a microcomputer. An  
interface allowing simultaneous access to a number of computer aids to  
translation (Eurodicautom computer dictionary, documentation data-bases,  
advanced word-processing, and Systran machine translation) will also be’  
constructed in 1984, likewise experimentally. Finally, Systran will  
become operational.
See Annex IV

-  3-3 -
A critical element in the general guidelines, aimed at keeping local  
conirersion costs to a minimum, is the establishment of strict criteria  
which keep software as independent as possible of the hardware selected  
(portability). Whereas in the past the basic software was chosen to match  
the computer, the software must henceforth increasingly be selected on its  
own merits, and steps taken to ensure that the hardware can accept it.
A particular effort will be made to encourage the use of software  
packages, particularly by drawing up special specifications aimed at  
widening the choice available, and by developing a library of software  
packages available on the various computers.
Proposals have been drawn up for a new policy for the management of dat  
bases, which are the largest application within the Commission (see  
Chapter 5).

COMPUTER CENTRES
1983 saw a large number of changes in equipment and in operations. A 
steady improvement in the price/performance ratio offered by the equipment 
has allowed a significant increase in the computing output provided by the 
computer centres.
The computing output is the sum of the computing power of the computers 
themselves, the information storage capacity of the peripherals on disk: 
and tape, the availability of programs, direct user support, and variou 
ancillary services - laser printers, microform, etc.
In all, instant power in Mips (millions of instructions per second) 
increased from 10.5 Mips at the beginning of 1983 to 17 Mips at the end of 
the year (including power acquired at outside service bureaux) - see Table 
2, line 1. Meanwhile, disk storage in gigabytes (thousand million 
characters stored) increased during the same period from AO gb to 60 eb 
(Table 2, line 2).
The details of the changes are as follows:
The ICL 2976 (l.A Mips) was replaced by an ICL 2966D (1.8 Mips) which 
was subsequently uprated on site to 2988 Super Dual (3.8 Mips 
available from January 1984);
- The Siemens 7551 and 7760 (each of 1.25 Mips) were replaced bv one 
7571 of A.5 Mips;
An IBM-compatible configuration (Amdahl, IBM, ITT) offering 3.8 Mips 
was installed and started up immediately in November 1983. This will 
allow significant reductions in expense on outside computers from 
1984, following the transfer of applications to Commission computers, 
which has already begun.

- 4-2 -
It should be noted that the systems availability target of 97% was not 
achieved in 1983 (Table 2, line 4). This was partly due to the large 
number of changes made, but principally to the inadequacy of the 
air-conditioning system, which had first to be completely shut down 
(February 1983), and then repaired, uprated and adjusted (air intake).
The modifications necessitated the total shutdown of the Luxembourg 
Computer Centre in late October 1983, although emergency measures had 
avoided total closure in February.
Users were kept well informed of the problems and the first months of 
operation since the system was modified indicate that it is now stable.
Despite the significant increase in total computing output provided by the 
computer centres and the introduction of the additional (IBM-compatible) 
operating system, the total staff of the Luxembourg Computer Centre, 
including both officials and outside staff, has fallen steadily, from 138 
in December 1982 to as few as 113 in January 1984 (see Table 2, lines 6 
and 7) (after introduction of the third shift in "unattended" mode) owing 
to the considerable reduction in the number of contract staff.
Negotiations with Bull during 1983 led to improved terms for the EUR1S 
service bureau. From now until the end of the contract (31 December 1984) 
they will yield a saving of 30% on the standing charge. At the same time, 
1983 saw a 30% increase in 'on line’  use of the data banks under the 
contract.
Management and coding work, which do not need to be centralized under a 
distributed system, were reorganized as far as possible with a view to 
improving direct user service.
The Computer Centre Division can thus now turn its attention to the areas 
where it can best serve the interests of the majority of users, 
particularly software support, information and training, technical 
assistance, monitoring of product operation and performance, allocation 
and control of resource utilization, installation and maintenance of new 
software, preparation and publication of manuals and user notes, 
introduction of data protection equipment and procedures, etc. These 
guidelines will be broadened and given substance in 1984.

- 4-3 -
The critical review of information storage and archiving methods began on 
schedule in late 1983, and the first conclusions will be given effect from 
1984. In the medium term (1985-1986) more important changes will probably 
be made after a review (to be carried out in 1984) of the technology 
available for the improved management of the increasing number of media - 
approximately 75 000 volumes of magnetic tape in late 1983. In view of 
the heterogeneous nature of the Commission's computer hardware, such 
solutions, which include hyper-chennel,  mass memory and optical disks, 
will have to be the subject of a special study.
It is also expected that 1984 will see final decisions and procedures for 
the replacement of (COM) microfiche production equipment, currently under 
study, and for additions to the current laser printing equipment, which is 
rapidly reaching saturation point.
The contracts relating to an ICL computer (2982) and the EURIS service 
bureau on a Bull computer will expire shortly, and an important feature of 
1984 will be the analysis of the replies to the invitations to tender 
published in January 1984, the specifications for which set out the 
Commission’s hardware, software and service requirements for the period 
1985-1987. Since all the current contracts will have expired by 1987, and 
in view of the additional computing and storage power required by new 
applications, the new contracts will be for a total of 48 Mips and 205 gb 
by 1987.

TABLE 2
r
1
1COMPUTER CENTRESr _ _  
|  Unit 
1j  82 83848586r ~..- 1
87
 |  
I
1
1  !· 
IComputing capacity1
!  MIPS(b) |  10.5 172026361
48 |
1  2·  
!Storage volume1
1  Gb (c)  
1|  4060751101501
205 |
1  3. 
|Simultaneous users1
|  Number  
1|  247 2973524385551
700 |
1  i >· 
lComputer availability1
1  * 
11  97 95979797.51
98 |
1  5.
IExpenditure on equipment1
1  MECU(d)  
1j  10.519.969.8810.1810.181
10.18 |
|  6. 
|Commission staff1
|  Number  
1|  88 818181811
81 |
1  7· 
IStaff under contractI
[  Number  
1|  50433330301
30 j
|  8. 
IExpenditure on staff under contract1
1  HECU(d)I|  3.05 2.001.601.401.401
1.40 |
|  9.
IExpenditure on service bureaux1
!  MECU(d) 
1j  4.29 4.243.382.672.67!
2.67 |
I i o .
1Total expenditure (a)1
|  MECU(d)
Ij  17.85 16.2014.8614.2514.251
14.25 |  
1
(a) Total of lines 5, 8 et 9
(b) MIPS = million instructions per second. For the service bureaux, machine time purchased is expressed in  
equivalent computing capacity.
(c) Gb = Gigabyte = one thousand million characters
(d) Constant 1984 prices.

TABLE 3
1 ”"[.......
1 IN
TERACTIVE LOAD STORAGE VOLUME,
USE OF THE COMPUTER CENTRES
11
1(GINS/yr) (a) (Mb-years ) (b)
1
1
11
1  83 
184851
86878384Γ
85 186 87
BY APPLICATION1
1
1  1. Administrative systems j  1419 120920841749 1110434944038287 9795 11215
1  2. Financial systems j  2192 309037824472 4363 532693786 938 1028
1  3. Statistical systems 1  3140 50337027873311088 96602129130926 34628 40614
1  A. Documentation systems j  2974 38036164 7712945884141036113913 17455 20970
1  5. Monitoring systems j  1447 1931307742364943 113717402390 3132 3620
j  6. Models j  1467 182222092682 3391203925002973 3733 4335
1  7. Other applications j  279 324367411 472 324395457 521 543
j  8. Development and maintenance 1  1671 172215771688 1940268632143462 3731 3947
1  9. Computer operation (c) j  1701 195922052547 2678109391272614063 15570 16728
110. Future applications (d) 1 -1805968320771 - -10200 35900 69000
111. Reserve capacity (e) 1  8860 17117180032118727986 1992017677 2543 2597 4000
j  12. Total net capacity (f) j  25150 3801048300 851008820060000 7500090000128000 176000
BY USER (g)1
1
j  l. jcis 1  595 2327 33 36535648770 913 972
|  2. SOEC 1  3140 50337027873311079 96602129130926 34628 40587
j  3. CUS 1  44 47 5154 62115122127 132 143
|  4. DG II 1  965 1216156419922595 190323312784 3519 4119
j  5. DG III j  1303 150418872189 2260 300409541 675 743
!  6. DG IV 1  19 5183145 185 75110205 320 379
!  7. DG VI !  245 239342482 60681910971270 1566 1793
j  8. DG IX 1  959 174043344770 501440044473986912472 14583
|  9. DG XI 1  104 119137177205 117 139160 192 200
j10. DG XII j  472 566595625 712 86104104 104 114
|ll. DG XIII 1  92 101111 128105 8092101 116 122
j  12. DG XIV I  7 860912101600 2734239 344 423
|13. DG XVII i  9 110112163224 27134139 244 301
j  14. DG XVIII 1  1388 218826202959 2380 360447459 500 525
j  15. Other DGs 1  841 1112142417912309 247402 558 705 838
116. Use by all DGs !  2735 315537874544 54448100955011480 13772 16522
|17. Development and maintenance 1  1671 1722 15771588 1949268632143462 3731 3947
j  18. Computer operation j  1701 19592205 2547 2678109391272614063 15570 16689
119. Future applications (d) 1 -1805968320771 - -10200 35900 69000
!  20. Reserve capacity (e) 1  8860 171171800321187 27986 1992017677 2543 2597 4000
!  21. Total net capacity (f)  
11  25150
13801048300 65100 8820060000 7500090000128000 176000
1
11 Batch load (GTNS/yr)(h )
1 1  83 84 851  86 87
|  Existing applications j  52204 61143653501  66399 72834
|  Planned new applications 1 699525845j  36686 46490
|  Future applications 1 -69951  32840 69546
|  Reserve capacity 1  8996 24172 19110j  22175 25330
|  Total net capacity (i)
J_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _1  
61200 
192310117300j158100 
1214200
(a) Giga instructions per year in interactive operation.
(b) Mb-years = 1 million characters stored for one year.
(c) Public space (general user space for temporary files, e.g. sorting) has been included under this heading,  
which was not the case last year.
(d) Estimate of the load for applications not yet determined but which will be operating before 1987.
(e) Reserve capacity resulting from batch treatment on certain computers.
(f) The method of calculating gins/year was changed in 1983.
(g) For abbreviations, see Annex IV.
(hj Giga instructions per year in batch operation.
i) Calculated on the basis of two manned shifts + one unmannned shift (22h00 to 07h00).

- 5-1 -
5. INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS
The wide variety of activities of the Integrated Information Systems 
Division merits attention: at present the Division is responsible not
only for user support, particularly in respect of data bases, but also for 
the management of the technical infrastructure of telecommunications and 
distributed data processing. ^
The statistics given in Chapters 2 and 7 show the continuing effort being 
made by the Directorates-General to develop their computing 
organizations. This is no longer true merely of the minority of 
Directorates-General whose tasks and staff qualifications have long 
allowed them to computerize their activities (SOEC, DG II, etc.), but also 
of other DGs, some of which already possess a solid nucleus of computer 
know-how - DG III, DG VI, DG IX, DG XIV, DG XVI, DG XVII, CUS,
Publications Office, shortly the JCIS, etc. Advances in distributed data 
processing are also reflected in the growth in equipment installed in the 
Directorates-General, even though the budget resources available have not 
allowed the programme proposed in 1982 to be implemented in full.
DISTRIBUTED EQUIPMENT
Table 4 shows predicted trends in distributed equipment, including both 
computing hardware and more conventional equipment.
The demand for hardware was heavy during 1983. Available funds and 
manufacturers* delivery times meant that not every request for every type 
of machine could be met. This was particularly the case with word 
processors, which nevertheless increased in number by 41% (see Table 4 
line 5).
1Including the telephone switchboards and telex service, which in 
Brussels and Luxembourg account for just over half the Division’s 
personnel

A number of growth rates are worthy of attention:
non-intelligent terminals (up 49% - see Table 4, line 3) 
telecopiers (up 71% - see Table 4, line 10)
- office printers (up 84% - see Table 4, line 12)
On the other hand, all the minicomputers planned in 1982 were installed, 
although additional demand requires further additions in 1984 and beyond.
The 1983 purchasing programme for microcomputers could not be implemented, 
however, and was deferred for one year. Table 4 shows the effort 
necessary to catch up with the original target of 120 microcomputers by 
the end of 1985 (Table 4, line 4).
These changes, which are reflected in strong growth rates in the most 
modern types of equipment, mean extra work for the central organization, 
which is faced with serious resource-allocation problems. However, the 
users* own use of the software available on this hardware should result in 
productivity gains in the Directorates-General,  and improved working 
facilities for many officials.
Use of the standard invitation to tender for distributed equipment should 
lead to a coherent policy for equipment within the DGs, and, as has 
already been stressed, the support service is to be strengthened in order 
to provide training and assistance for the software installed on the 
distributed equipment - word processing, graphics displays, tables, 
electronic message-switching, etc.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The primary objective for a data communications network was to a great 
extent achieved with the signature of an agreement on the use of the 
Belgian and Luxembourg public packet switching data transmission networks, 
DCS and LUXPAC, between the Commission (representing the European Instit­
utions) and the Belgian and Luxembourg telecommunications administrations.
It should be stressed that this option avoids the major investment which 
would have been necessary to provide the Commission with a private data 
transmission network. Moreover, in economic terms, the concessions made 
during the negotiations by the host countries justify the choice made by 
the European Institutions.

TABLE 4
r _ r
T
BUDG. Quantity Expenditure 84 (a) Expenditure 83(a) 1 
1DISTRIBUTED HARDWARE ART.1 1 1 11
831  84 85 1 
!86PR 1
!MTP1  R
IM 1
!T j
i
1.Typewriter 22050601  50601
5100 151002511
11804313661
1 172 11
538 1
2.Office calculator 22022901  2350 2410 12460 31 14071261 42 168 j
3.Non-intelligent terminal 2116851  825 930 11100493623 146015765351  724 475 11734 I
222261  26 28 128 17721 6 18 1
4.Microcomputer workstation 211 71  40 120 1200218 150268721 24 196 1
5.Word processor workstati on2222811  411 511 1600800390 130014907541  379 244 11377 j
6.Telex 231881  88 75 170 210 I 210 1  204 1204 j
7.T eletext 211 1  io 30 14080 120100 111
8.Coding workstation 21135!  35 28 125 260 1 260 1  256 1256 j
9.Microfiche reader 2201741  201 226 123050 11060401 5 145 1
10.Telecopier 222961  116 146 1160 215 1 215 1  185 1185 1
11.Photocopier 222278!  290 300 1310 750 112087060720103 1883 j
12.Desk top printer 2113811  450 520 15909642 15319195[  43 52 1190 1
2221101  110 120 1130 13535 1 30 130 j
13.High speed printer 211 71  9 11 113 63 1 63 49 149 I
222 11  1 1 11 28 1 28 1  25 !25 j
14.Teleconference studios 231 21  4 6 18322 1 25 1  20 20 j
It.RJE terminal 211211  23 25 12744322 1 366 1  406 1406 j
16.Minicomputer 211201  23 25 128 2100 1 2100 1  1616 11616 j
222 81  à 11 113 650 1170820471  644 '  i691 j
17.Software 2111 600 1 6003171 1317 1
18.Supplies and removals 211\1 113 1 1132201 220 j
19.Special equipment 222 1 12002003001  350 146 !796 j
2111 900 1 900 1  566 1566
20.Other 2201 52 11668771 40 1117
2111 44 11660441 18 162 j
21 .Price indexation 2111
1150 1
11501001
1100 1
111
1
E >  peni  ture....." I
Budg.Expenditure 84 (e) Expendiure 83(a) I
Art.831  841
85 1 
186P1
R i 
1MTP1------
1  
R 
1M 1
11
t 1
1
Expenditure ('000 ECU)(a) 2221158981  67471
8170 1830044331
1715 1599674714531
1  3847 598 1!
5898 1
232208071  630 790 1900384 12466305351 272 1807 j
2422241981  3665 5380 154508002033 1832366512221  2420 556 j4198 j
252312351  235 200 1
I170 3232 1 
1235 1  235 
1235 j 
1
1984 programme not completed 222Wordprocessor work- 6001
1 600!
1
inthe absence of appropri- stations1 1
ations 222Special equipment 300250 1 5501
...... . .  . 1 1 1
(3  ' Expenditure in '000 ECU, constant 1984.  
R Purchase
R = Renta], including maintenance.
M = Maintenance  
1 = Total

TABLE 5
1
1TELECOMMUNICATIONS1  1 
|  Unit |
1  183^...
84 85"......1
86 
|
1
1
|  TELEPHONE NETHORK
11  1
1  1 I  I1
1
1
1  l.Internal 1ines1  1
1  Number | 13000 14000 150001
16000 1
1  2.External lines 1  Number | 1012 1072 1112 1200 I
|  3.Internal telephone calls/year j  Millionj 20 24 30 36
1  4. incoming calls/year |  Millionj 8 10 14 16 j
1  5. 
!outgoing calls/year j  Millionj
I  I13 15 18 20 |
1
|  TELEX NETWORK
11  1 
1  11
1
i  6. 
|Lines1  1 
!  Number | 194 207 1981
198 | »1
|  DATA
INETWORK1  1
1  1 |  |1
1
!
1  7.External lines1  1 
|  Number | 18 20(  a )  171
(  a ) 12 I
1  8.External traffic (b) 1  Kb/s | 240 288 317 350 |
1  9·Internal lines 1 200 b/s !  Number | 268 350 440 540 j
j  10. 2 400 b/s |  Number | 90 100 110 120 |
1  ii· 4 800 b/s !  Number | 70 85 100 115 j
|  12. 9 600 b/s |  Number |150 180 210 200 j
!  13. 48 000 b/s1  1 |
!  14. 
IInternal traffic (b) 1  Kb/s |  
|  12340 2796 3252 3600 j
|  15.Total expenditure (c) Art. 2111  1 
|  mECU | 1427 1853 20001
2150 |
j  16. Art. 222 j  mECU | 352 285 300 315 j
i  17.
1Art. 231 j  mECU | 
1  17225 8158 7890 8930 j 
1
(a) Mainly Brussels traffic. The planned reduction in the number of lines is a result of the  
installation of the X25 network which is gradually replacing them.
(b) Expressed in thousands of bits, one bit being equal to the basic unit of information (0 or 1)
(c) Expenditure in '000 ECU, constant 198k.

- 5-3 -
Technically, the Commission will transmit data using two public network 
switching centres installed on its own premises, one in Brussels and one 
in Luxembourg, and connected by the international public network. This 
choice will be supplemented by the acquisition of concentrators to which 
the terminals in the various buildings will be linked.
The telephone network continues to expand, as shown in Table 5; this is 
partially due to the expansion of data-transmission activities 
(telecopying, etc.). Some 8 million calls were metered in 1983; 10
are expected in 1984 (Table 5, line 4). The new 20 000-extension 
PABX in Brussels is proving very satisfactory, and the new facilities it 
olfers are greatly appreciated in the Commission.
The increase in traffic on the telex network (Table 5, line 6) was smaller 
than in previous years. Improvements provided by the SACHEM system mean 
that the telex also offers users more and more facilities. In addition, 
telephone, telex and telecopy have since July 1983 been operating round 
the clock, including weekends and public holidays.
DATA BASES
There has been a great surge in demand in this area, and as is shown by 
Table 6 (lines 21 and 23) an increase in volume of 50% is expected between 
1983 and 1984. For this reason it was necessary to lay down the
principles of data-base administration, 1 and from 1984 onwards the 
principles will be applied to new bases as they are established and to the 
reworking of existing bases whose management reveals defects.
A double trend may be noted:
first, growing interest in Commission data bases amongst Member States
secondly, an increased level of consultation of external data bases 
by Commission staff.
These two developments are not contradictory, but simply demonstrate the 
growing information requirement in public and private organizations in our 
industrialized society.
See Annex III

-  5 - 4  -
For this reason efforts need to be made in two directions:
first, improving the administration of in-house data-bases with a 
view to facilitating access to them in Member States
secondly, within the Commission, developing the activities of the 
Data Information Service, which was established in early 1983, as 
announced in the previous report.
Notwithstanding its limited resources the Data Information Service tries 
to make the information on data bases more accessible by giving systematic 
demonstrations and training courses covering interrogation techniques and 
the detailed contents of the bases. A user assistance service has been 
set up. Requests by departments have led to connection to additional 
external bases, bringing the total number of external bases available for 
consultation to approximately 360, spread over 20 hosts.
As regards the management of data bases, significant progress was made in 
1983:
CELEX, the data base on Community legislation, contained almost 60 
000 documents for consultation at the end of 1983. The input of the 
full texts of all legislative acts was begun during the year. There 
are external subscribers to CELEX in 13 European countries, and in 
1983 their number almost doubled. This welcome trend is partly 
explained by the commercial launching of the English language version 
of CELEX; the German version also became operational and is shortly 
to be made available commercially. The initial plan to increase the 
number of languages offered is, however, subject to some delays, and 
efforts are being made to make up for lost time and respect the 
undertakings given.
ACTU, the current internal news, data base, which contain?; approximately 90 010  
documentary units, was regenerated in September and now offers the 
user higher quality and easier consultation. The base has also been 
broadened, initially as a pilot project, to include documents of the 
Council Secretariat.
ECO 1 is the Commission's largest internal documentation data base 
with 220 000 documentary units at the end of 1983. The critical 
reappraisal of ECO 1 begun late in 1982 continued during the year. 
Significant progress was achieved, but data input is not yet fully 
centralized, which does present problems in the completeness and 
quality of the information. In order to deal with these difficulties 
the management team itself has undertaken the processing of many 
documents and improved the reliability of checking at the input stage.

- 5-5 -
A major effort was made in 1983 to consolidate the statistical base, 
CRONOS. This involved improving systems reliability, and a preliminary 
rationalization of the data, which reduced the number of series (from 1.4 
million to 1.3). Some 30 external 'clients' have access to CRONOS, and to 
its documentary base CADOS, via the national networks. In addition, the 
SIENA data base on external trade has developed spectacularly within the 
Commission, and now meets a large number of needs which were previously 
satisfied by consulting external bases - COMEXT, etc. The Brussels Data 
Shop is becoming increasingly valuable in its dual role of assistance to 
the Directorates-General and rapid provision of data to users.
Other data bases have been established for the Commission's own internal 
purposes, in personnel (SYSPER, Table 6, line 1), financial and accounting 
management (CRIMSON, Table 6, line 3) and monitoring (Textiles, Table 6, 
line 14). These applications are referred to again in Chapter 7, 
('Development of applications'), and no further comment is made on them in 
this Chapter.

TABLE 6
r
1
1
1PRINCIPAL INTERNAL DATA BASES~ T " ....
1
1
1  1 
1
 83 I 
1  1Volume
1
84 | 
1(MB) (b) 
85_ _ T
1
1
1
86 1 
1
1
1  î.Personnel management system (SVSPER)1  1 
|  560 I1
560 | 56011
560 |
I 2.Automatic address and publications management |  230 I240 | 250 260 j
1system (SAGAP)1  1 | |
1  3·Credit and investments accounting 1  65 I95 j 150 200 |
1(CRIMSON)1  1 1 |
!  4.Chronological statistical series (CRONOS) | 2400 I2400 j 2400 2400 |
1  5.External trade (SIENA) j 1500 12500 j 3000 3300 |
j 6.Access system for the European nomenclatures |  940 j 1100 j 1420 1700 |
1data bank (SABINE)1  | | |
!  7.Institutions legal documentation (CELEX) I 1180 j1300 j 1450 1650 j
1  8.Commission internal documentation (EC01) |  655 1750 j 850 950 j
1  9.Terminology data bank (EURODICAÜTOM) j  200 j 240 280 330 j
j 10.Community financial instruments (IFC) 1  51 j95 | 105 120 j
1  ii·Application of directives monitoring (ASMODEE) 1  50 j60 j 65 70 1
1  12.Automatic library catalogue 1  70 j 80 j 90 95 | 
|1(ECLAS)1  1 |
|  13.Micro-economic documentation (DOME) j  39 I 51 j 66 82 |
j 14.Textiles monitoring i  400 j 400 j 450 450 jj  15.internal current news (ACTU) j  100 j 115 | 130 145 jj 16.Proposals, Recommendations and Communications j  70 j 80 | 90 100 ! 
I 1to the Council (PERSEE)1  I |
1  17.Research contracts management (CERES) i  35 j 5472 90 |
|  18.DG III research contracts management 1  20 j 25 |3035 i 
I1(Persephone )1  | |
1  19.Commission documentation service 1  50 I 90 j 
|120 150 |
I 1(SCAD)1  |
|  20.Energy research and demonstration project1  40 j 60 j 80 n o  |  
11
I(SESAME)1  1 j  I1
1
ITOTAL :1  1 
|  8.846 j1
10.645 | 12.0681
13.247 |
|  22. 
|Data bases under development1  1
1  1I  I1
3.135 |
I4.260 5.300 |
1
|GRAND TOTAL :1  1
1  1 I 11
13.780 | 16.3281
18.547 |
j  24.Appropriations for external bases (a)1  1 
|  0.386 I1
0.230 | 0.4501
0.450 |1  25. 
1 
1Appropriations for document analysis (a) |  0.767 1  
1  1 
1  10.920 j 
1 
10.920 0.920 j
1
!
a) Appropriations in million ECU, constant 1984.
b) MB = Megabyte = one million characters.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Signature of the agreement on data transmission with the Belgian and 
Luxembourg postal and telecommunications administrations (see Chapter 5) 
marks the end of the design and selection stages (Table 7, line 1).
The possibility of using 'local network* technology as an everyday 
infrastructure for all local data and text transmissions will be tried out 
in 1984.
With a view to encouraging the transfer of large volumes of data between 
different makes of computer the Commission is financing the construction 
and implementation of a common function file transfer software system at a 
total cost of 1 500 000 ECU. The protocol selected is in accordance with 
the OSI seven-layer architecture (levels 5, 6 and 7), as an intercept 
standard until such time as an international standard can be adopted. The 
Commission has concluded contracts with each manufacturer to develop the 
software, and a committee on which the manufacturers are represented deals 
with any problems of interpretation which may arise.
Some work has been done on standardization and certification, particularly 
as regards connection of terminals in 'teletype' mode, the European 
alphabet and magnetic tapes. This work will be continued and broadened in 
1984, covering in particular the installation of teletex connections and 
the development of a protocol for terminals in 'screen' mode.
An inter-institutional system of electronic mail is to be developed under 
INSIS (see Chapter 8). This project will begin in 1984 with pilot 
projects and feasibility studies for the first operational phase, to be 
effected in 1985 and 1986. As is shown in Table 7, line 4, a significant 
investment in staff is called for in 1985. If the necessary budget 
resources are not forthcoming, the future of the project will be 
endangered.

Lines 5 and 6 of Table 7 show the resources given over to the drafting, 
launching, and analysis of the replies to the invitations to tender 
relating to distributed hardware for local users (see Chapter 3). An 
invitation to tender, offers for which are currently being examined, will 
allow the equipment policy for the period up to the end of 1986 to be 
settled. In 1985, however, a start must be made on preparations for the 
period 1987 and beyond.
The Computer Workshop (Table 7, line 7) installed in 1983 will serve as a 
focal point for testing of new distributed hardware, study of the most 
appropriate interfaces for access to information, and the various 
experiments carried out under the INSIS programme.
The work on consolidating statistical software begun in 1983 will be 
completed in 1984, after which a more limited level of maintenance 
activity will be applied.
In accordance with the new guidelines described in the objectives of the 
Report (Chapter 1), increased weight will be accorded to software packages 
as the most promising tool for increasing productivity. The 
infrastructure works planned for this purpose include the preparation of 
specifications whose purpose will be to select the packages which are the 
most efficient on the full range of hardware available, and the 
preparation of technical directives for the development of applications, 
including the use of software packages.
New products are now planned which will help improve quality and security 
management, i.e. the development of data bases on the hardware and 
software available, a system for the management of applications 
environments, and a system to control access to computer resources.

TABLE 7
DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Data network
2. Local networks
3. Equipment compatibility
A. Interinstitutiona! electronic mail,  
and electronic archiving (a)
5. Local configurations 1984
6. Local configurations 1987
7. Computer Workshop and experimental  
projects (a)
8. Data access interface (a)  
Consolidation of statistics software  
Operations software  
Development software  
Quality and security management aids  
INSIS management and coordination  
studies and plans (a)
GRAND TOTAL :
15. including in-house staff
16. staff on contract  
(man/years)MAN/YEARS
83i  84 85—
8687
2.01  0.2
-j  0.7 0.50.50.5
1.31  4.2 5.04.04.0
2.7|  7.6 16.515.514.5
5.8|  5.3 5.0 -0.7I 5.010.010.0
5.8j  3.0 2.02.02.0
-|  i.o 1.55.58.5
16.3j  10.3 7.07.07.0
5.81  4.1 5.54.53.0
4.51  2.7 4.03.03.0
-1  1-7 5.05.03.0
7.8j  6.2 5.05.05.5
1
52.7|  47.0 62.062.0!
61.0 |
34.0j  30.0 30.030.029.0 j
18.7!  17.0 32.032.032.0 j
i
[a i Contributions to INSIS programme

-  7 - 1  -
7 APPLICATIONS DEVELOPMENT
In applications development the primary concern should be to satisfy the 
increasing demand from users, while ensuring that the waiting list for the 
development of new applications does not become unacceptably long.
To achieve this in the context of the resources described in Chapter 2 
requires increased productivity in development. This was the theme of a 
specific project, and two types of priority action were identified: 
promoting software packages already on the market, and the methodology of 
constructing applications programs.
The work of setting up these programs will nonetheless require a heavy 
investment in training and user support (Table 8, line 1) which must come 
from the budget funds granted under Article 214 for development of 
applications. This is why the budget requested must be granted.
This policy will produce tangible results from 1985 onwards, but it was 
clear even in 1983 that all the projects due for development in the 
Informatics Directorate would be operationally based on software packages 
which already existed or were in the process of being acquired.
Item 2 in Table 8, 'Improvement and Maintenance of Applications’,  
describes for each broad field of applications the human resources devoted 
to the tasks in question.^ The data in Table 8 of this report now 
include the contribution of the Directorates-General and cannot therefore 
be compared with those in the corresponding table of last year's report. 
This also applies to all the other items in Table 8 except Item No 3 
(Productivity).
1The planning 
full details 
only a broaddata were not sufficiently accurate in 1982 to provide 
of the contribution of the Directorates-General, and 
estimate (55 man-years) could be given

- 7-2 -
It can be seen that the resources devoted to maintenance and improvement 
were very considerable, representing 43% of all staff (see Total 2 in 
Table 8). Old applications must therefore be brought up to date and into 
line, particularly by the use of software packages, in order to reduce 
this part of the budget. This is the intention behind the forecasts in 
Table 8, where an overall fall of more than 25% is expected by the end of 
1986.
It is also important to improve development methods and to supply to the 
units responsible for development the computer aids they need for their 
tasks. This is the purpose of Item 3, 'Productivity of Applications 
Development’;  the investments made in 1984 and 1985 should have been 
largely recovered by 1986. The figures quoted relate only to the 
Informatics Directorate, but the effect on the Directorates-General should 
be felt next year.
'Projects under way' (Table 8, Item 4) lists the projects currently under 
development, i.e. those which have passed the stages of preliminary 
analysis and feasibility study. It is unnecessary to comment line by 
line on this item, but it does demonstrate that computing is playing a 
major role in many areas of activity. It is a means of rationalizing 
internal administration and financial management, and the size of 
computers' memories allows vast statistical and documentary data bases to 
be created.
In addition the computer is becoming essential to the Commission in its 
role as guardian of the Treaties. Applications of the 'monitoring' type 
are now essential instruments in the implementation of the Commission's 
policy in a number of fields: industrial and agricultural policies,
detection of contraventions of Community regulations, and commercial 
relations with third countries.
Item 5, 'Projects ready for development’  lists those projects in respect 
of which the feasibility study has been or is being completed and whose 
development can start in 1984. These projects will involve 20 man-years 
in 1984 (total 5). Thereafter there will be virtually no resources (1 
man-year) for any new developments. This difficulty arises from the fact 
that the budget resources requested for 1984 were not granted.
Table 9 is a list of new projects to be developed in the future. Some of 
these are of great importance either politically or to the functioning of 
the Commission. They include management of state aids, consolidation of 
CEL.EX, the new accounting system SINCOM, CEDIN, standardized payments, 
management of mail and archiving, etc.
In all, the required manpower totals 257.85 man-years, whereas the 
resources available up to the end of 1986 total 160.09 man-years. The 
lost time cannot therefore be made up before the end of 1987, even on the 
extremely unlikely assumption that no further requests will be added to 
the list. It is therefore essential that the budget resources requested be 
granted, failing which the waiting times for users are likely to become 
intolerably long.

TABLE B
DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATIONS
83MAN/YEARS 
84 !  85I  86
1  1·PROGRAM PACKAGE TRAINING AND SUPPORT 5.00I
15.00 iI36.00I  I
I  37.00 |I  1
I  2.SUPPORT, IMPROVEMENTS AND MAINTENANCE OF APPLICATIONS Ì I  I
2.1 Administrative systems 29.6915.96 | 9.02I  5.17 |
2.2 Financial systems 13.8716.A4 I 14.45I  14.47 |
2.3 Statistical systems 25.1922.51 I 22.48I  23.91 |
2.A Documentation systems 10.1411.24 I 10.94I  10.8A I
2.5 Monitoring systems 25.8925.AO | 22.98I  21.19 |j
TOTAL 2 104.78 91.55 | 79.87I  75.58 |
i  3.PRODUCTIVITY OF DEVELOPMENT OF APPLICATIONS 1.52 |I1.41|  -8.16 |
I  4.PROJECTS UNDER DEVELOPMENT II  I
I  I
Parliamentary questions (ROGER) (Interinstitutional) 0.911.28 | I  I
Directives data base (ASMODEE II) (All DGs) 1.360.46 | I  I
Publicly available legal documentation (CELEX) 4.900.10 | I  I
Statistical surveys (SOEC, DG VII, XI, XVIII) 4.554.44 I 0.30I  0.30 I
External trade statistics (OSCE) 6.194.76 I 3.88I  2.19 I
GATT négociations (SOEC, DG I, CUS) 5.74 | 4.37I  2.74 I
0.55(a) I  I
Statistical data bases including SIENA (SOEC) 3.423.57 |7.65I  3.29 |
Customs tariff management (TARIC II) (CUS, DG VI) 1.430.15 | 0.15I  0.20 |
2.0(a)| I  I
Interpreters management (SAFIR) (JCIS) 11.0411.79 | 4.86I  1.27 I
Steel monitoring (DG III) 7.105.35 | 5.31I  IjTextile monitoring (DG III) 5.500.22 | I  I
Social fund (Phase 1) (DG V) 1.290.26 | 0.14I  0.14 |
EAGGF - guidance + FEOPAY (DG VI) 1.522.32 | 0.48I  0.21 |
0.40(a) I  I
Third countries development fund management (PICS + FINPICS) (DG VIII) 2.902.95 | 1.37I  0.70 |
Food aid programme management (DG VIII) 1.110.72 |0.20I  0.20 j
Design offices (DG VIII) 1.08 | I  I
Personnel and administration management (SYSPER, MINISYSPER, AFL) (DG IX) 8.9811.93 1 4.97|  0.49 |
Contract management (DIODON II, DG XII) 1.151.50 j 0.50I  I
Regional Development Fund (FEDER)C DG XVI) 2.670.30 | 0.14I  I
Energy research and documentation (SESAME) (DG XVII) 0.330.26 I I  I
Credit and investments accounting (CRIMSON) (DG XVIII) 3.812.26 j1.95I  1.95 1
Budget library (DG XIX) 2.001.31 | 0.501  i
Monitoring and detection of irregularities (DG III, VI, XIX, XX, CUS) 0.402.07 | 0.781  1
3.00(a) !  1
Infringements (SG, DG III, DG VI) 0.841.44 | 0.221  1
Periodic instruments (DG VI) 11.66(a) 1  1
Terminology data bank EURODICAUTOM (DG IX) 1.08 | 1  1
Energy data base SIRENE (DG XVII, SOEC) 2.50 | 2.501  1
Health inspection (DG VI) 0.94 I 1  1
Interinst. base on information by and about the Institutions (SCAD, CEDIN) 1.180.57 | 1  I
Agricultural accounting (RICA) (DG VI) 5.55 | 1  I
Other sundry developments all DGs 6.40 8.63 | 12.321  15.56 I
1.90(a) I  ITOTAL A 81.92 84.59 |52.59I  29.24 |
I  5.PROJECTS READY FOR DEVELOPHENT(preliminary and feasibility studies completedI
II  I  
I  I
External trade pre-processing base (SOEC)I
5.67 | 2.10I  I  
I  I
Energy data base (SIRENE) (DG XVII, SOEC) 6.11 j 2.71I  |
Social fund (Phase 2) (DG V) 0.76 | 0.76I  0.76 I
EAGGF fisheries (DG XIV) 2.42 | 2.01I  |
Bank funds management (CRIMSON-TRESORERIE) (DG XVIII) 1.09 | I  ISteel prices management and publication (DG III, OPOCE) 3.71 | I  I
TOTAL 5I
19.76 | 7.58I  I  
I  0.76 |
I  6.RESOURCES FOR NEU PROJECTS (cuaulative total 84/86 : 160.09)I
1.06 |
I45.75I  I  
I  113.28 |
I  |
I  7.GRAND TOTAL : 191.70I
213.48 |223.20I  I 
I  247.70 |
incl :  7.1 - Informatics Directorate staff 49.6050.15 I 47.70I  47.70 I
7.2 - Directorate-Generals1  staff 54.1058.33 I 65.00I  75.00 I
7.3 - Outside staff (man-years) 88.00105.00 |
1110.50 |  125.00 I
I  I
(a) CAODIA budget.

TABLE 9
{  n e w projects
11Approximate estimate |  
of development |  
investment required |  
in man-years |j  —  -  —
|  Management of state aids (SAMIS) (DG IV, VI, VII, XIV, SG)1
11.40 |
|  New accounting system SINCOM (DG XIX, XX, All DGs) 8.40 |
|  Consolidation of community law data base (CELEX) 1.50 j
|  Data base on information published by the Institutions (CEDIN }(Interinst,  ) 2.00 j
|  CEDIN satellites (including EPOS and EURYDICE ) 8.80 j
|  Integrated planning and administration system (SIPA) (DG IX) 5.50 |
1  Standard payments - Pay-Missions-Sickness (DG IX + Interinstitutional ) 7.65 j
|  Administration of property and equipment (SYSBIEN) (DG IX) 3.50 |)  Staff regulations reference library2.00 j|  Personnel management (SYSPER) Phase II3.50 ||  Management of translations5.00 j|  In-service trainees l.oo 1|  Public availability of bases1.00
|  Electronic office equipment for Secretariat-General 3.00 j!  Registry/Notifications (DG IV)3.00 ||  Budget planning (DG X)0.50 j!  Infrastructure evaluation system DG VII5.25 j|  Bases base5.00 |
1 Mail and archiving management10.00 |
!  SOEC :  Surveys :  Cost of Construction1
6.00 |
1  Transport 9.50 j
I  Steel consumption 5.00 j
I  Wine production 3.00 j
!  Social 8.00 j
|  Data bases :  Purchasing Power Parity 3.00 j
1  Price levels3.00 j
1  Meta-data 6.00 j
|  Thesaurus of statistical nomenclatures 7.00 |
|  Analysis and management of statistical tables 5.00 |
|  Integrated system of activity and product nomenclature8.00 j
!  User file management 2.00 j
|  Ad hoc analysis  
15.00 j
j  Applications to be developed by the DGs themselves :1
j
|  DG I3.00 j
|  DG II6.00 j
1  DG 1113.80 j
|  DG VI22.00 j
i  DG VII2.30 j
i  DG VIII7.90 |
|  DG IX0.95 j
|  DG X7.00 j
j  DG XI2.00 j
j  DG XIII9.30 |
|  DG XIV7.00 j
j  DG XVI4.95 j
|  DG XVII4.00 j
|  (DG XX)6.15 j
!  SJ2.40 ji  JCIS0.40 j|  CUS0.20 j
|  Other DGs
i10.00 I  
|
1TOTAL :1
257.85 |
|  RESOURCES AVAILABLE UP TO DECEMBER 1986 (see Table 8)- 160.09 ||  DEFICIT 1984-86
■L-97.76 j  
1

-  8 - 1  -
8 INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION AND INSIS
The aim of the INSIS project is to prepare for the introduction of an 
inter-institutional system of integrated information communication 
services throughout the Community. The system will facilitate exchanges 
of information between Community institutions and administrations of 
Member States, by the use of appropriate new technologies.
The introduction of such new technologies can only be fully effective if 
timely measures are taken by future INSIS users to ensure that the systems 
used for the exchange of information are thoroughly compatible. To 
achieve this is is essential in particular that users draw up and abide by 
agreements which ensure information exchange irrespective of the computer 
hardware used, and which respect international standards.
In addition the INSIS programme should have a beneficial effect, through 
the development of a coherent series of pilot projects, on two of the 
protagonists in the electronic revolution - the postal and 
telecommunications administrations, and industry.
The form of the projects has now reached an advanced stage, and is being 
negotiatea in a consultative committee consisting of representatives of 
the Member States and of the Community Institutions and bodies.
The four projects being developed under INSIS are:
INSEM,·*· aimed at the gradual implementation of a general electronic 
mail service within the Institutions, the facilities of which will 
also be available for exchanges with Member States. Proven message­
switching systems should also subsequently be integrated into the 
system.
STRADA,1 aimed at replacing the daily dispatch of hundreds of 
thousands of pages from the Institutions to the Member States, via 
the permanent representatives, by an electronic rapid transmission 
system. In due course (1987) the services offered by STRADA will be 
integrated into INSEM.
- The video-conference project launched by the Commission in
conjunction with the ECPTA ^ 'EVE' ^ project, which in its pilot 
phase will result in an experimental link between the Community 
Institutions in Brussels and in Luxembourg. This project should 
allow investigation of the operational, ergonomic and psychological 
aspects of video-conferencing.
The Computer Workshop described in Chapter 6.
1See Annex IV

-  8 -2  -
Development of these projects should allow international standards to be 
used and encouraged by INSIS. In the absence of such standards, intercept 
standards will be used as described in Chapter 3-
As far as resources are concerned, the main INSIS budget remains fairly 
modest: approximately 3*25 million ECU in 1984. The balance of its
financing comes from users.
The Inter-Institutional Committee for Informatics (CII) is directly 
involved in the INSIS programme through its responsibility for monitoring 
the establishment of the system in its inter-institutional dimension. It 
has set up user sub-committees, chaired by the European Parliament, for 
the electronic mail and video-conference projects.
The CII has also encouraged the development of other initiatives 
coordinated inter-institutionaily.  In particular the Institutions have 
adopted a common policy for equipment acquisition, in order to guarantee 
maximum hardware compatibility. The invitation to tender for distributed 
equipment mentioned in Chapters 3 and b is a good example of this 
cooperation. Similarly, it was on behalf of all the Institutions that the 
Commission signed the agreement on the use of the public data transmission 
networks with the Belgian and Luxembourg postal and telecommunications 
administrations.
This fruitful cooperation in the field of infrastructure must now be 
extended to cover applications.
With this in mind a committee has been set up to support the CII. It has 
been decided to coordinate several shared applications in various spheres 
of activity to ensure their compatibility. These include personnel 
management, officials' pay,  publishing systems, etc.
Other common initiatives have been undertaken and should develop, 
particularly as regards training.
Lastly, the Commission has· this year established an inter-institutional 
documentation office, which collects all documentation likely to be of 
interest to all the Institutions. Specific rules have been laid down 
regarding user categories and rights of access to the information.
broadly, it can be said that following its start-up year (1982), inter- 
institutional cooperation has produced its first positive results in 1983. 
It is clear that such cooperation will henceforth be an essential element 
in data processing within the Community Institutions.

-  9 - 1  -
9 QUALITY AND AUDIT
Improving computing performance was one of the goals set for 1983 in the 
Commission’s data-processing services. Projects begun and successfully 
completed in 1983 allowed:
- a ’quality plan* to be drawn up defining quality targets (in terms of 
computer availability, response time on terminal, etc.)
a diagnostic study of computer security to be carried out, a document 
to be drawn up setting out the principles of a computer security 
policy, and a head of security to be nominated
a document entitled "Computing ergonomics", to be produced in 
association with the staff representatives, approved by the Safety 
and Health Committee and published for gradual implementation within 
the Commission’s departments
one-off audits of specific applications and projects to be carried 
out.
The framework thus created for quality and audit management will allow 
rapid development of these activities during the coming years along the 
following lines:
- implementation of quality plans in the services, and monitoring and 
follow-up of numerical quality indicators;
inclusion of ergonomic aspects in the selection of equipment and 
furniture and in the development of applications;
responsibility for and development of major projects dealing with 
control of access to computer resources and with configuration 
management ;
risk analysis and establishment and testing of contingency plans for 
the most critical applications;
appointing of correspondents responsible for computer security, in 
order to ensure that the computer security policy is properly 
introduced in the Directorates-General.
Development of the management of quality and security will increasingly 
involve operational aspects, but should not be allowed to hamper 
development of 'audit' activities. For the future these activities will 
include the establishment of a three-year plan, together with one off 
activities relating in particular to major projects and data bases.

I
T A B L E  1 0
r
1DATA PROCESSING EXPENDITURE in million constant 1984 ECU1
i
87 !
i!  1 
1  Rpf-I 
1  (») !T1
Art.  j
1D E S C R I P T I O N1  i
1  8 3  1
1  I8 48 58 6
1  1 
1  2  ·  5  1
|  !!1
2 1 0  |Operation of Computer Centre1  1 
j  9.96 1  
I  I9.8810.1810.18i
10.18 ! 
I  I!  i 
1  1211 |Data processing networks1  1 I  1  
1  1
14.2? 1 |Distriouted equipment j  5.90 1 6.758.178.30|  8.30 1
(5.15 | 1Telecommunications equipment 1  1-43 | 1.852.002.15j  2.15 !
1  1 
I  1 !Total |  7.33 
I8.6010.1710.45(10.45 I  
I  11  1 1
212 !Data processing operating staff costs1
11  1  
1  !
12.8 i Staff from outside the computer centre |  2.00 1.601.401.40|  1.40 1
Operating staff, distributed equipment |  0.65 1.080.870.87!  0.87 j
!
ITotal |  2.65 
I2.682.272.27I  2.27 i
1
1213Data processing effected by outside contractors!
1i  ' ·  
1  !
|  2.9 Service bureaux |  4.24 3.382.672.677.67 !
|6.24 External bases |  0.38 0.230.450.45|  0.45 1
11T ot al |  4.62 
13.613.123.121  3.12 |  
|  I1
1214Analysis and programming, pre-analysis and special1
11  1  
!  1
! projects effected by outside contractors I 1  !
|  7.16 |  Infrastructure (e) |  1.19 1.102.112.11!  2.11 |
i  8.3 Development of applications (e) i  5.35 6.787.298.22|  8.22 |
11(i  Total j  6.54 
|7.889.4010.33j10,33 j  
I  !1
i  6.2h
It  215 
|j  Document analysis effected by outside contractors
I1
|  0.77 
|0.920.920.921  ) 
1  0.92 i  
|  i1
1I1
1  21 
I1
|  Total Chapter 21
I1
|  31.87
I33.5736.0637.271  1  
|  37.27 I  
I  !1
(4.23
I1
|  220
I1
1 Office machinery (b)  
11
|  0.81 
I0.630.790.90!  o . 9 o  ! 
j  i1
11
|  2221
]  Technical equipment and installations (b+d)1
1 ! !  1
14.241J  Distributed equipment |  4.20 3.67|  5.38 5.45|  5.45 j
j5. Ifi||  Telecommunications |  0.35 0.28|  0.30 0.31|  0.31 j
11I|  Total
lj  4.553.95j  5.68 
I5.761  h ■76 !  
|  11
11
|  231|  Services and telecommunications (b+c) '  11
11  i  I  11  i
14.25||  Equipment |  0.23 0.23|  0.20|  0.17|  0.17 [
|  5.1 71(  Telecommunications |  7.238.16j  7.89j  8.93|  8.93 1
11|  Total j  7.468.39|  8.09|  9.10!  9-10 |
!
!Î1
1j  Total Chapters 21, 22, 23
!|  44.69
146.54|50.62
1j53.03 
1j  53.03 !  
1  !
(a) References relate to previous tables. The first figure indicates the table number and any subsequent  
figures the line numbers within the table.
(b) Figures do not include non-data processing appropriations included in the same Article.
(c) Figures relate only to telecommunications standing charges.
(d) Ignoring reimbursement from the telephone switchboard in 1983.
(e) These figures correspond to the number of man-years given in Tables 7 and 8; the cost of one man-year is  
estimated at 66000 ECU for the perioc 1985-87, 65000 ECU for 1984 (because of the carry-forwarc from  
1983), 61300 ECU for 1983 (true value plus inflation rate to give constant 1984 ECUs).

TABLE 1 0 a
r ~
1
1APPROPRIATIONS FOR DATA PROCESSING inmillion current ECU (f)1
1
111
|  Art., C ^ Commitments  DESCRI PTI ONF = Expenditurea)
a)1
|  83 
11
84 | 
185861
87 | 
1
1  210Operation of Computer Centre C1
|  7.931
9.43 |10.1710.721
11.25 |
1
IE j  9.48
I9.88 | 
I10.7011.2711.83 j
11
i  ? uData processing networks C1
|  6.771
7.75 |10.1611.011
11.56 |
1
1E j 6.97 
18.60 j
I10.6911.5612.14 |
1
|  212Data processing operating staff costs C1
|  2.301
2.65 |2.382.511
2.64 |
i
jEj  2.52 
I2.68 |2.382.512.64 | 
1
|  213Data processing operations effected by C1
|  4.221
3.61 |3.273.451
3.63 j
1|outside contractors Ej  4.40 |3.61 j  |3.273.453.63 j ]
j  214Analysis and programming, pre-analysis and spe- C1
|  6.001
6.22 |9.5611.431
12.00 |
1cial projects effected by outside contractors E|  6.22 
I7.88 |
I9.8811.4312.0C | 
I
!  215Document analysis effected by outside C1
|  0.781
0.84 |0.96 1.02I
1.07 |
1contractors E j  0.73
I0.92 jI0.96 1.021.07 |  
I
i  21Total Chapter 21 (b) C1
[  28.001
30.50 |36.5040.141
42.15 |
1E|  30.32 
I33.57 j  
I37.8841.2443.31 |
I1
I  220Office machinery (c) C1
|  0.771
0.63 |0.83 1.0C1
1.05 |!11Ej  0.77 
I0.63 |  
10.83 1.001.05 jI
j 2 2 2Technical equipment and installations (c+e) C1
| 5.101
3.15 |5.976.371
6.69 |
IE | 4.33 
13.95 j  
I5.976.376.69 j
1i
i  231Services and telecommunications (c+d) C1
|  7.401
8.09 |8.5010.071
10.57 |
1i!E | 7.10 
I8.39 j  
I8.5010.0710.57 |
I1
!Total Chapters 21, 22, 23 C1
| 4 1 . 2 71
42.37 |51.8057.581
60.46 |
!
iE |  42.52
146.54 | 
153.1858.6861.62 j  
Î
fa) The difference corresponds to appropriations brought forward and re-used (see text).
For the years 1983 and 1984 appropriations are shown as apportioned after transfer of funds  
required for the completion of programmes.
(b) Requests for appropriations (commitments) totalled 30.50 MECU for 1982 ,  32.50 MECU for 1983 and  
35.52 MECU for 1984.
(c) These figures do not include the ncn-data processing appropriations included in the same Article.  
^  d )  Figures relate only to telecommunications standing charges.
1e)  Ignoring reimbursement from the telephone switchboard in 1983.
if) Conversion from constant 1984 ECUs to current ECUs has been effected using the following rates :  
1984/83 :  + 5,1%, 1985/84 :  + 5,1%, 1986/85 :  + 5,3%, 1987/86 :  + 5 %

-  10-1  -
DATA. PROCESSING BUDGET
The planning methods implemented in 1982 have allowed better understanding 
of the allocation of resources to projects within the Directorates- 
General, and better forecasting of future needs. The data shown in last 
year’s Table 10 have this year been recast into two tables:
the first shows total expenditure in constant ECU (1984 value) and in 
current ECU, article by article and, within each article, heading by 
heading as they appear in other Tables, to which reference is made;
the second shows, article by article, the commitments which relate to 
one financial year only, as opposed to expenditure which takes 
account of appropriations carried forward and appropriations re-used.
It had been intended to introduce analytical accounting of data-processing 
activities gradually during 1983. Lack of resources has prevented 
progress being made as quickly as had been expected, and the first results 
cannot therefore be included in this report.
A high rate of growth (32%) was achieved in the services rendered to users 
in 1983. However, it will not be possible to maintain this level in 1984 
because of the inadequate level of budget appropriations granted. It 
should be remembered that the critical threshold for the whole of Chapter 
21 was 33 200 000 ECU (1983 value) 1,  whereas the budget only made 
available 30 500 000 ECU.
Overall, expenditure for 1984 will show an increase of only 9.4% over 
1983, i.e hardly 2.4% at constant rates. As has been shown, this increase 
is not sufficient to meet the targets originally set for 1984.
1 See last year's report, Chapter 10 (Doc COM (83) 240 final)

-  10-2  -
Table 10 shows that the growth in budget demand from 1984 to 1985 arises 
from only a few budget headings: Articles 211, 214, 220 and 222. 
Expenditure on computer operations, on the other hand, (210, 212, 213) 
remains stable overall.
In order to stabilize expenditure on applications development and 
acquisition of distributed equipment considerable investments will first 
be necessary to achieve a threshold beyond which expenditure can remain 
stable. Table 10 demonstrates this clearly.
The minimum level of increase required in the appropriations under Chapter 
21, using the basis of updated figures from last year, is 5 500 000 ECU 
(1984 value). In view of the difficult financial situation obtaining at 
the time of drafting the proposals for 1985, it is proposed that the 
target be achieved in two stages.
If this cannot be done, essential investments will not be possible:
the waiting time for new applications will reach dangerous 
proportions, since a further deficit of 50 man/years will be added .
installation of distributed equipment - electronic office equipment 
and microcomputers - will be delayed and Commission departments will 
not show the hoped-for increase in productivity;
the initial stages of the implantation of the inter-institutional 
system for electronic mail will again be deferred, and the future of 
the system endangered.
It should also be stressed that significant savings can be achieved by 
obtaining a larger number of posts in the budget. Permanent tasks 
performed by outside staff may be evaluated at 93 man/years, and a saving 
of 1 700 000 ECU could be achieved if these tasks were performed by 
officials.
Finally, it is worthwhile recalling that the structure of the budget 
nomenclature has still not been modified to allow for the integration 
which has already been achieved in the various sectors of the automatic 
processing of information. This incompatibility is not conducive to good 
management, and undoubtedly hampers the administrative departments.

-  11-1  -
11 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
A high rate of growth (32%) was maintained in the computer services 
rendered to users in 1983, while budgetary resources increased by 
only 4%. This success must be stressed, since the development of computing 
activities within the Commission results in gains in productivity which 
enable more to be done with virtually unchanged resources.
This rate of growth is also evidence of the progress which has been 
achieved. More importantly, though, 1983 and 1984 will be remembered as 
the years in which decisions were taken which committed us to the network 
infrastructure and to central and distributed equipment.
These efforts have enabled us to make up some of the time lost in previous 
years. Nevertheless, if the Commission wishes to achieve the goals which 
it has set in data-processing,  decisive investments must be made in 1985 
in distributed hardware (electronic office equipment and micro-computers) 
and the development of new applications.
It should also be recalled that the operation of the Commission's 
data-processing services depends to a not insignificant extent on the 
services of outside staff, evaluated in 1983 at 184 man/years. This 
situation is all the more worrying since the dependence can be at critical 
points in the organization. The granting of new budget posts would lead 
to a more than proportional fall in expenditure and considerable 
strengthening of our organization at its most sensitive points.

PART B
DATA PROCESSING IN THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
INTRODUCTION
The main requirements of the Ispra Establishment in respect of the processing 
of scientific, technical and administrative data are met by the the hardware 
and software of the Computing Centre.
In addition, a number of laboratories possess dedicated minicomputers which 
are used either in the capture or pre-processing of experimental data or in 
the processing of highly specialized data such as images, or sometimes, using 
the Computing Centre data transmission networks for communication amongst 
themselves, for local processing of data.
The developments in data processing are in line with a plan established during 
1979-80 for the JRC's 1980-83 programme.
In addition to its activities relating to data processing projects, the 
Informatics Division of Department A is responsible for management of the 
Computing Centre, and the Head of Division is Head of the Computing Centre.
A Users’  Committee, whose members are designated by the Director of the 
Establishment, and which comprises mainly the heads of Departments and 
Directorates, together with any advisers they consider appropriate, meets from 
time to time at the request of the Director of Department A and under his 
chairmanship to draw up general guidelines for the head of the Computing 
Centre which will ensure that users’  requests are optimally met.
Moreover, each Head of Division has appointed a data-processing assistant 
whose role is to maintain contact between the staff of the division and the 
head of the Computing Centre.
The budget of the Computing Centre consists of an Appropriation Account 
(1.30.2) funded from the various programmes in proportion to the services 
rendered to each programme. This implies invoicing of services to each user.

-  2 -
The activity of the Computing Centre covers:
operation of the computers, including the internal data transmission 
network;
the establishment and maintenance of the basic software;
the establishment and maintenance of technical and scientific libraries, 
including very large general utility programs, relating in particular to 
engineering ;
user support consisting of
direct oral information; 
organization of courses and seminars;
written distribution of detailed information (10 annual publications); 
drafting of concise manuals on technical subjects.
The need for data processing hardware and software is determined periodically 
by user surveys supplementing the information available from Computing Centre 
development experience and from actual trends in the use of the data 
processing facilities.
The Computing Centre obtains its equipment by invitation to tender, following 
approval by the Management Committee for Data Processing in the Commission and 
the ACPC-JRC (Advisory Committee on Procurement and Contracts).
Supplies to the Computing Centre have to meet the requirements of the Standard 
Implementation Committee (SIC) recommendations.

- 3 -
1. INSTALLATIONS, DEVELOPMENT, SHORT AND LONG-TERM FORECASTS
The current equipment was selected following invitations to tender in 1979 
and 1980.
Installation began in August 1980 and continued during 1981 and 1982 as 
need arose.
However, the installed computing capacity is becoming inadequate for 
users' needs, and a long-term development plan for computing facilities at 
the JRC should be drawn up. The outlines of such a plan are given in 
Appendix II. Such an undertaking will require financial and staff 
resources which are not currently available.
Two invitations to tender were authorized by the competent authorities and 
launched during the final months of 1983.
They relate to a short-term programme aimed only at filling the most 
urgent requirements of the forthcoming four-year plan, which was approved 
on 13 December last, whilst remaining within the strict budget limits 
which have been set.
The programme provides for augmented computing power and diversification 
of the resources offered to users.
Users have been asking for a diversification of computing facilities to 
allow them to run their scientific and technical programs on the type of 
computer for which they were designed, thus avoiding conversion problems 
which can in certain cases be tricky.
As regards the augmented computing power, it should be noted that the 
statistics covering a period of more than 10 years show that every year 
the demand for processing on the CPU has increased by practically 30% over 
the previous year. An annual increase of 25 to 35% is normal in research 
centres.
With regard to the need for peripheral memory, the available statistics 
also give a growth rate of 1.3 per annum.
In view of the time which suppliers must be allowed for submission of 
their offers, the results of the invitations to tender will not be 
available until the first quarter of 1984.

- 4 -
2 EQUIPMENT CURRENTLY IN THE COMPUTING CENTRE
The Computing Centre hardware consists principally of one Amdahl 470/V8 
mainframe computer supplying 6.5 Mips, a wide range of peripherals and a 
network of seven Solar 16 computers.
Some 160 VDUs and about 20 minicomputers provide RJE facilities around the 
Ispra establishment.
Details of the current configuration are given in Table C.
Access to the computer is further facilitated by an internal network of 
seven French-manufactured Solar 16/65 computers (SEMS) which, in addition 
to being used in the Teleinformatics project, allow access to the central 
computer via Euronet.
One of these minicomputers was installed in DG XII at the end of 1982 and 
has greatly encouraged co-operation between the Commission departments and 
those of the JRC.
This project was carried out with the aid of DG IX and DG XII Brussels.
No major changes were effected in the Computing Centre hardware in 1983. 
It was decided that four obsolete disk units, one fixed-head disk unit, 
one card punch and one punched tape reader were of no further use, and 
they were taken out of service and returned to their suppliers. The only 
additions to the facilities related to safety: a new fire detection
system and an extinguishing system using the gas Halon were installed and 
tested.

- 5 -
3. STAFF, BASIC SOFTWARE AND OPERATION
3.1 STAFF
In January 1983 the staff of the Computing Centre was 30 units but 
fell to 29 units in November 1983. It remained consistently below 
the envisaged budget complement of 36.
The staff is made up as follows:
JANUARY DECEMBER
General management 2 2
Operation 10 10
Data capture 3 3
Basic software 8 7
Networks 2 2
User support 5 5
30 29
During the course of the year the staff took part in a series of 
specialization courses and seminars, partly with the aim of preparing 
for new developments. Internal seminars using audio-visual 
techniques were also organized for the operating staff, for whom it 
is difficult to arrange outside courses.
3.2 BASIC SOFTWARE
Until December 1982 the computer was operated using a totally 
obsolete system (MVT).
It became possible to move up to another system only when a more 
recent generation of computer was installed in 1980.
The need to prepare carefully for the changeover to the new system 
when the new computer became available, without inconveniencing users 
either during the installation or during the changeover itself, 
required a long period of organization and preparation.

-  6 -
The new operating system (MVS) came into service on 1 January 1983 
and the two systems were available to all users for a period of six 
months so as to allow them to convert their applications gradually 
and painlessly.
MVT, the old system, was kept available for a further three months 
for the sole benefit of the administrative departments, in order to 
provide them with a maximum of continuity and security for their 
applications.
While MVS was being run in, and until MVT was taken out of service, 
the two systems were run under the control of a third, VM, which 
ensured an equitable apportionment of resources between the two 
operating systems, and enabled the transition to be made economically 
without recourse to supplementary hardware.
Virtually all installation and maintenance of the operating systems 
is carried out by Computing Centre staff.
3.3 OPERATION
The computer is operated in three shifts:
2 shifts with operator control from 07.00 h to 24.00 h 
1 unattended shift from 24.00 h to 07.00 h
In addition, Saturday mornings are devoted to the maintenance of 
files recorded on disk. This work is done in overtime.
Unattended operation (without operators) allows sequences of very 
long programs to be executed without the need for additional posts 
which are in any event not available.

- 7 -
4.SERVICES PROVIDED
4.1 DATA PROCESSING
During 1983, use of the Computing Centre was as follows:
CPU hours in problem mode: 2700
including
andbatch processing: 
conversational mode (TSO):2272
428
covering
and129 600 batch operations
119 800 time sharing operations.
The increase in CPU use as compared to 1982 is only some 12%; this 
can be attributed largely to the greater efficiency of the software 
products in the new operating system. The number of jobs executed 
increased as follows:
These services are allocated between the various programmes and 
Appropriation Accounts (Administration) as shown in Table A.
It can clearly be seen that some 88.5% of the activity of the 
Computing Centre is directed towards service to research programmes, 
10% is support to General Services and a little less than 1.5% 
results from external contracts, some of which benefit other 
departments of the Commission.
4.2 USER SUPPORT
Following the installation of the new operating system, user support 
activities concentrated on assistance in conversion of applications 
used by Computing Centre users.
With the same aim, a course was held on the principal differences 
between Fortran IV, the old language, and Fortran 77, the new.31% for batch mode
56% for time sharing

-  8 -
In addition to the 10 numbers of "Computing Centre Newsletter" a 
special number was published in September 1983, entitled ’Using the 
IMSL and NAG libraries',  as well as an introductory bulletin on the 
Computing Centre facilities for Commission departments.
A presentation of the Computing Centre and its facilities was made at 
a meeting attended by representatives of a number of Directorates- 
General held by DG XII in April.
A 15-day introduction to computing was organized during the school 
holidays for pupils from the European School.
A seminar on information and computing was specially organized during 
a working weekend for line administrators - Directors, Heads of 
Division and Section - and staff administrators (programme and 
project leaders).
At the end of the year a course on the use of the new facilities 
available under time sharing was held six times in all, with a total 
attendance of 72. The course included practical work.

- 9 -
5. THE BUDGET
5.1 COST
In addition to the secondary budget relating to staff salaries, the 
Computing Centre has a primary budget covering all other expenditure 
such as hardware rental, software, purchases, maintenance, expendable 
items, etc.
In 1982, Computing Centre appropriations were as follows (in '000 
ECU) :
Primary 2 580
Secondary 1 430
TOTAL 4 038
The principal areas of expenditure are broadly analysed in Table B.
5.2 PRICE AND PERFORMANCE
The Computing Centre is attentive to the price/performance ratio of 
its equipment.
Most contracts are at fixed prices or expressed in Italian Lire. ECU 
conversion rates for the costs of these contracts are fairly stable, 
which explains why the figures are largely unchanged or even down 
from 1982 to 1983.
For 1983 the figures are:
central processing unit performance: 6.5 Mips
annual cost: 810 000 ECU
1 annual Mips = 129 200 ECU
disk capacity: 10.8 Gigabytes
annual cost: 370 000 ECU
1 annual Gigabyte = 34 400 ECU
It should be noted in passing that the installation has approximately 
2 Gigabytes of peripheral memory per Mips of central processing unit.

-  10 -
Taking the total cost of the Computing Centre, we can say that:
6.5 Mips + 10.8 Gigabytes cost 4 010 000 ECU in total
The annual cost of 1 Mips + 1.7 Gigabytes is about 617 000 ECU or 
Bfrs 28 400 000, i.e. 2 370 000 Bfrs/month.
In addition, the total CPU time produced (2 700 hours) cost 4 010 000 
ECU, amounting to 0.0635 ECU or approximately Bfrs 2.92 per million 
instructions produced.
This price represents a slight fall (10%) in comparison with 1982, 
and is very favourable in comparison with the cost of services 
offered by service bureaux and others.

-  11 -
6. CONCLUSIONS
For the Computing Centre the year 1983 was marked by a high degree of 
hardware and software reliability, and a significant increase in the 
efficiency of the operating software.
An increase of 12% in use of the equipment led to an increase of more than 
30% in output.
The central unit and its peripheral memories are reaching saturation 
point, but planning of augmentation and diversification of facilities has 
already begun.

TABLE A
DISTRIBUTION OF SERVICES
OVER THE VARIOUS PROGRAMMES AND APPROPRIATION ACCOUNTS
73001 Reactor safety 41.94$
73003 Safety of nuclear materials 2.21$
73004 Fissile materials control and management 1.06$
73005 Super-SARA Test Programme SSTP 18.17$
Total 63.38$
73011 Solar energy 2.21$
73012 Hydrogen production, energy storage
and transport 0.02$
73013 Thermonuclear fusion technology 2.75$
73014 High temperature materials 0.37$
Total 4.35$
73021 Protection of the environment 5.09$
73022 Remote sensing from space 1.48$
Total 6.57$
73t‘ 4l Informatics 3-04$
73046 Training and education 0.78$
Total 3.82$
1.20 General administrative and Technical
Services - Ispra 9.40$
1.-.0.3 Central workshop - Ispra 0.25$
1.20.2 ESSOR 0.36$
l.GO.l Scientific divisions - 9.47$
management of data bases
Total 19.48$
1.94.0 Services to external users 1.40$
100 .00$

TABLE B
APPORTIONMENT OF COSTS
Leasing and maintenance of the main computer 810 000 ECU 
Leasing and maintenance of random access peripherals 370 000 ECU 
Other hardware leasing and maintenance 570 000 ECU 
Leasing of software 255 000 ECU 
Electricity 170 000 ECU 
Maintenance of premises (fire protection, etc) 20 000 ECU 
Expendable items 120 000 ECU 
Minor expenditure (modems, racks, etc) 125 000 ECU 
Sundry contracts 140 000 ECU
2 580 000 ECU

TABLE C
COMPUTING CENTRE CONFIGURATION
1 Amdahl 470/V8 providing
14 moving arm interchangeable
disk units providing
24 moving arm fixed disk units prov
1 random access peripheral providi
6 high-density magnetic tape units
3 medium-density magnetic tape uni
(1600/800 bpi)6.5 Mips
3.2 Gigabytes 
iding 7.6 Gigabytes
ng 23 Megabytes
(6250/1600 bpi)
1 card reader and punch
3 impact printers with total print capacity of 4000 
lines per minute
2 telecommunication control units each handling 96 
communication lines and connecting directly more 
than 160 conversational terminals and about ten RJE 
terminals (some RJE terminals can then connect to 
further conversational terminals or RJEs).

APPENDIX I
Minicomputers at the JRC, Ispra
The statement of computer hardware as the Ispra Establishment mentions some 
250 mini- and microcomputers. Many of them nevertheless form an integral part 
of heavy laboratory equipment, and are not available or even accessible for 
data processing as such.
A survey carried out amongst the various Divisions of the Ispra Establishment 
in 1983 concentrated on existing minicomputers capable of operating as 
computers, i.e. capable of being programmed and used in the laboratory for the 
capture and processing of data.
A marked preference could be observed for DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) 
PDP11 and various types of VAX computers, though manufacturers such as Bull, 
Hewlett Packard and Wang were also widely represented.
The survey revealed a total of 51 minicomputers (see Table I-a).
In order to increase the availability of connection facilities between these 
computers, the Computing Centre has undertaken a systematic network 
interconnection of the computers, using the internal network (INET) of the 
seven Solar 16/65s in the Computing Centre and the main Amdahl computer.
INET is, of course, itself connected to Euronet and the minicomputers 
connected to INET can consequently reach all the computer facilities available 
throughout the Community.

TABLE I-a
Minicomputer manufacturers 
represented in the Ispra Establishment
Digital Equipment Corporation Hewlett Packard
PDP11 
PDP11 
PDP11 
PDP11 
PDP1] 
PDP11 
PDP11 
PDP11 
VAX 1/03
/05
/23
734
/34A
/44
/60
/70
1/7508
3
8
5
1
1
1
1
1HP 1000 F 
HP 1000 L 
HP 3000/30 
HP 85 F 
HP 9845.B2
1
1
1
2
29 Bull
IBM
4331Solar 16/40 
Solar 16/65
Wang
Wang 2200 VP 3 
Wang 2200 MVP 2 
Wang 2200 T 1
6

APPENDIX II
The Data-Processing Environment in 1990
By 1990 computers will be used increasingly in an even wider range of 
applications; it will no longer be imaginable for a single type of computer 
to handle all the applications.
For certain types of problem-solving the calculation speeds of the largest 
computers currently in service are still inadequate, whilst for other 
applications local processing with the possibility of occasional access to 
more powerful resources is all that is needed. At the Ispra Establishment 
computing is founded on the simultaneous existence of the mainframe in the 
Computing Centre and the minicomputers in the laboratories; in the short term 
the mainframe computing power is to be doubled and perhaps even trebled, with 
access being made available to external resources, including the very biggest 
computers and particularly the latest arrivals, the vector processors 
developed over the last decade.
Access to hardware of this type is indispensable to successful completion of 
the programmes entrusted to the JRC, and to continued collaboration with 
research establishments which already possess these powerful but expensive 
resources.
Although the need for conventional computing power is increasing very rapidly 
it is highly likely that use will be made of vector processors and parallel 
processors, capable of handling problems such as those encountered in the 
simulation of complex systems.
The need for on-site availability of such computing power will undoubtedly 
become imperative by about 1987.
A new building will be required to house the new hardware and the conventional 
computers which will act as front-end processors to the supercomputers.
Provision must be made for the cost of the purchase or leasing of the new 
hardware, and also for the staff required to run it, including both 
programming and hardware maintenance.
Some evaluation must also be made of mini- and particularly microcomputer 
computer requirements, particularly for word processing, pre-processing and 
local processing facilities meeting the requirements of distributed 
architecture and of office automation.

APPENDIX III
COMMITTEE OF NORMS AND STANDARDS IN THE  
FIELD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
see original English text

A N N E X E S
ANNEX I: Organization
ANNEX II: Architecture of distributed data processi
ANNEX III: Data-base administration
ANNEX IV: List of abbreviations 
List of Directorates-General

ANNEX I
ORGANIZATION
Since the restructuring of the data processing organization at the end of 
1981, the committee structure for data processing management has been as 
follows1:
the Commission’s Steering Committee for Data Processing (CDIC) chaired 
by the Director-General for Personnel and Administration (DG IX), and 
comprising the Directors-General of DG XIII, the SOEC, DG XVII, a 
representative of the Secretariat-General, the Deputy Director-General of 
DG III and the Director of Department A of the JRC, Ispra.
This committee decides, under the authority of the Commission, the 
strategy, major policy lines, organization, plans and budgets on the basis 
of proposals submitted to it by the Director for Informatics.
The CDIC is assisted by two main committees chaired by the Director for 
Informatics:
the Users’  Committee (CU), comprising representatives from Directorates- 
General which use the services of the Directorate for Informatics, deals 
with users' problems, in particular plans, priorities, budgets and 
projects;
the Informatics Technology Committee (CTI),  is a consultative body which 
reports to the CDIC and to the standing group for industrial innovation 
and which consists of the Directors of Department A of the JCR in Ispra,
DG III/B and DG XIII/B, and is responsible for making recommendations on 
technological questions affecting distributed data processing policy.
the CTI is assisted by the Standard Implementation Committee (SIC),  
chaired by the Director of Department A of the JRC in Ispra, the role of 
which is to ensure that norms and standards are properly implemented.
the Staff Committee has set up its own Informatics Sub-committee,  
which regularly meets the Director for Informatics and his colleagues in 
order to examine staff problems arising from computerization within the 
departments.
1 For the list of abbreviations, see Annex IV

- 2 -
In addition to these Commission committees mention may be made of the 
Inter-Institutional Committee for Informatics (CII) chaired by the 
Commission’s Director for Informatics, which includes representatives from 
each institution. This committee has drawn up an inter-institutional 
cooperation programme and has extended its field of interest to the INSIS 
programme (see Chapter 8).
The Directorate for Informatics (DI) is the pivot of the new data processing 
orgnization. It has the following divisions and departments:
Informatics Planning and Administration (IPA) is responsible for 
coordination of plans and budgets, fund management, administrative and 
contractual aspects of procurement, and secretariat services to the Users’  
Committee.
Quality Management and Internal Audit (QA) makes, on the basis of 
analyses, recommendations aimed at improving the level of data processing 
services as regards quality, reliability, performance and ergonomics.
Computer Centre (CC) makes machine time on the central computers 
available to users and also provides associated services in the field of 
systems engineering, user support, data management and capture - the 
latter two activities being gradually decentralized.
Integrated Information Systems (SII) is responsible for telecom­
munications, distributed data processing equipment and electronic office 
equipment, as well as access to internal and external data bases. It also 
provides user support facilities for users in these areas, including the 
design and management of projects.
Informatics Engineering (II): is responsible for the design and
implementation of the infrastructure of the data processing services.
It plans for the future and ensures that new technical methods and 
facilities are introduced.
Applications Development (DA): is responsible for designing,
implementing and maintaining applications developed centrally.
Within the Directorates-General local data processing organization structures 
have been set up. Their size and tasks vary depending on the degree of 
computerization within the units of a particular Directorate-General. The 
Directorates General have each appointed a director responsible for the 
organization of data processing, in addition to an Information System Manager 
(ISM) who is responsible for the day-to-day management of data processing 
activities within the DG.
These officials form the links at management and operational level between the 
central organization and the users; they are also members of the users’  
committee, which deals with the Directorate-General’s data processing 
problems. The Directorate for Informatics exercises professional control over 
staff in the DGs, in particular via directives published in the Informatics 
Guide.

ANNEX II
ARCHITECTURE OF DISTRIBUTED DATA PROCESSING
The main guidelines of the Commission’s policy for distributed data processing 
have already been outlined; the following is a more technical description of 
the distributed data processing architecture which is the objective of the 
policy.
1. GENERAL GUIDELINES
Distributed data processing
In 1980 the Commission decided to install distributed data processing with 
a view, for economic reasons, to the gradual integration of data 
processing, text processing, image and voice processing services at the 
level of user access (multi-function work stations). The decreasing cost 
(approximately 20% per annum) of mini and microcomputers is making it 
possible to install them close to users. Large-scale computers serving 
all users are increasingly being used to manage large data bases. 
Telecommunications networks linking computers and work-stations and 
providing remote access to host computers are becoming the essential 
factor in data processing architecture. An essential condition is the 
compatibility of all hardware and software irrespective of its origin.
Compatibility of equipment
In order to avoid dependence on a single supplier for all its data 
processing requirements, the Commission has to insist that hardware from 
different manufacturers is mutually compatible. Here the Commission faces 
the same problem as other customers in Europe for whom it wishes to set an 
example by defining a policy for the acquisition of data processing 
equipment. This problem will be solved only by means of internationally 
respected standards.

Technical feasibility
Owing to the lack of standards and to economic difficulties, new products 
are entering the market more slowly than technological progress would lead 
one to expect.
For the years 1984 86 efforts should be limited to the integration of 
texts and data, the setting-up of a digital network in parallel with the 
analogue telephone network, the implementation of electronic mail (based 
on Teletex, and on rapid growth and improved quality of telecopying) and 
the improvement and expansion of present services. Minicomputers will 
still play an important role, but the advent of microcomputer work 
stations will reduce their value. In the period 1984-86 these overall 
trends will particularly favour the development of the electronic office.
The years 1986-90 will see the introduction, following pilot schemes in 
1984-86, of local applications occupying a wide bandwidth and permitting 
the integration of a static image and voice messages, i.e. local networks 
and optical disc archiving with complete message transfer facilities. It 
is worth pointing out that the success of new local configurations for 
1986 will depend to a large extent on the existence at that date of 
international standards still under discussion today.
In the meantime teleconference services will be continued - by parallel 
(telephone, cable, satellite) and modernized (telecopying, fixed image) 
communications - until such time as it is economically justifiable to 
introduce video-conference facilities.
The complete integration of communications by an integrated services 
digital network (ISDN) is not expected in the Commission before 1990.
Multilinguism
The Commission’s requirements as regards multilinguism will be met only at 
the cost of great technical and economic effort, but the resultant 
benefits are likely to have broad application.

ANNEX III
DATA-BASE ADMINISTRATION
INTRODUCTION
Whatever the nature of the information policy pursued, its success depends 
on sound administration of the data·*·. The following paragraphs set out 
the essential characteristics of a successful data base. These principles 
will in future be adapted to the administration of documents and records 
for filing and for correspondence, with particular account being taken of 
trends in electronic office equipment.
The principles apply equally to new data bases and to those which already 
exist and whose - sometimes fairly dated - design is no longer adequate. 
The principles may be applied with degrees of strictness varying not only 
with the importance, the size and the complexity of the base, but also 
with the profile of consumers consulting the base, and the role of the 
producers who are responsible for data input.
A number of different types of base can therefore be distinguished, which 
present demands of increasing strictness as regards management:
Local bases 
Inter-service bases 
Inter-institutional bases 
Public bases
Data is taken to mean the characters, numerals, symbols, words, sentences, 
etc. which contain information
Information is the meaning which can be ascribed to a sequence of data in 
its context

-  2 -
In the case of local bases the consumers and the producers are members of 
the same organizational unit. In inter-service bases, operation remains 
within the confines of the Commission. The characteristic feature of 
inter-institutional and public bases is the availability of the service to 
other Community or national institutions, government departments in Member 
States, other public or private organizations, and even the general public
2. RESPONSIBILITIES
It is essential that ,the roles of the various parties be clearly set out.
2.1 The Data Base Owner
While the information belongs to the organization, its management is 
delegated in accordance with the responsibilities defined in the 
organigram. Each data base is therefore the responsibility of its 
owner, who may be an official or a committee chaired by an 
individual. The owner's responsibilities are:
to define the purpose and content of the base, and select the 
consumer population
to establish the strategies for production and publication, and 
the levels of security and quality required
- to obtain the necessary resources, by reference to a cost / 
benefit analysis.
2.2 The Data Base Administrator
His role is that of organizer, viz.
specifying the contents of the base and its logical structure, 
with a view to meeting the consumers’  requirements and with an 
eye to rational production
- laying down explicit rules for the base's administration
acting as project leader for the setting-up of the base
providing economic management for the base’s production and 
operation, at optimal levels of quality and security.

- 3 -
2.3 Data producers
When the base is bulky or complex, it must be subdivided into 
’fields’  - i.e. sub-sets which are homogeneous from the points of 
view of both content and input.
The Field Manager ■ * ·  supervises production, applies the rules laid 
down by the Data Base Administrator - validating new data, 
authorising publication, granting rights of access, copying and 
distribution, deleting stale data.
The Producers input data to the base in accordance with the 
instructions of the Field Manager.
2.4 Consumers
Consumers must ensure that their needs are reasonably satisfied by 
discussing them with the Data Base Administrator. For this purpose 
they may call upon the services of the Information Officers and the 
Data Information Services (See para. 2.6).
2.5 Data Base System Administrator
Is responsible for managing the software used for the operation of 
the base. He is a member of the Data Processing department, and 
provides technical assistance and support to the Data Base 
Administrator - the physical structure of the data, implementation of 
management systems, monitoring of performance and use of computer 
resources, establishment of security measures.
2.6 Information Officers and Data Information Services
Each Directorate-General has one or more Information Officers to 
assist consumers in their data research. The Information Officers 
know which bases are available and how to use them. The Informatics 
Directorate also has a Data Information Service, which acts as a 
focal point for all information on data available internally and 
externally, and provides operational coordination for the activities 
of the Information Officers.
This task should not be confused with that of the Applications 
Manager, which is not covered by this report

- 4 -
3. QUALITY AND SECURITY
3.1 Quality of the information system
This covers:
the suitability and comprehensibility of the contents, including 
multilingual aspects
ease of access and research, including ergonomic aspects 
- availability of the base
Many bases start life as local bases, conceived to meet the needs of 
the producers, who are also the first consumers. They then develop 
by being made available to other classes of consumer outside the 
oranizational unit to which the producers belong. It is frequently 
forgotten that such new consumers have a different profile. This is 
one of the reasons why insufficient account is taken of consumer 
needs and why they find that access to bases is excessively 
complicated.
It should also be remembered that consumers prefer a single interface 
with all the bases they need to consult, which implies standardized 
command languages.
One such language, the Common Command Language (CCL),  has been 
recommended for the documentary data bases accessible via Euronet- 
DIANE. It is essential that all the Commission’s documentary data 
bases gradually adopt this language.
In addition, self-explanatory or user-friendly interfaces and simpler 
languages must be designed, standardized, and supported on suitable 
software packages, even if they are more restrictive. The Videotex 
type of data base is a good example.
3.2 Quality of the data
This covers
correctness and consistency of data 
extent of cover
up-to dateness of the information held.

- 5 -
It is all too easy to underestimate the resources, the executive 
staff, the method and the technical skills needed to provide an 
adequate standard of input. The production of data for an invisible 
clientèle outside the producer department is not always given the 
recognition it deserves, and this is a disincentive to staff, 
particularly when, in the absence of systematic monitoring, any 
fall-off in quality only becomes apparent after some delay. The 
consequence is that customers lose confidence in the base's value and 
seek their information from other sources. Clearly, twice as much 
work is needed if parallel information circuits have to be 
maintained, although, paradoxically, it is usually a lack of 
resources which is blamed for a shortfall in quality. The 
duplication involved in producing competing independent sources of 
information must therefore be eliminated. This can be achieved only 
by ensuring that the information is so correct, so wide-ranging and 
so up to date that the consumer cannot hope to obtain better 
elsewhere.
3.3 Security
Security has to be considered from two main angles, the 
confidentiality of the information, i.e. its sensitivity to 
divulgation, and its integrity, i.e. its sensitivity to loss or 
damage.
The principles to be observed consist essentially in allowing access 
only to those who need it, being able to tell "who had access to 
what, and when", and being able to reconstitute the data in their 
entirety in the event of their being lost or damaged. This will 
require precise instructions to be given regarding the storage and 
archiving of the data requiring protection, consonant with their 
value (classification), and the preparation of emergency plans.
A.  METHODS
A.l Information required to manage the base
A first category covers the description of the content of the base: 
terms, synonyms, definitions and data format. This means that a 
prior study must be made of the precise meaning of the data. A new 
data base cannot be established successfully unless the data have 
been given stable definitions. Certain data are common to more than 
one base, and coordination is therefore needed at a higher level if 
incompatible definitions and diversification of data format are to be 
avoided.

-  6 -
In the absence of a central authority (which might lead to excessive 
bureaucracy) such coordination must be provided according to area of 
competence; e.g. SOEC for statistical bases, DG IX for bases 
relating to personnel matters, the Secretariat-General for all bases 
in which it is concerned, the Caddia group for common SOEC, DG VI and 
Customs Union bases, and so on. Naturally, where worldwide, European 
or institutional standards exist they should be used, in that order 
of preference.
A second category of information covers that needed for the 
management of the data base. The tendency to construct the base's 
primary functions first (data capture, input, updating, and access) 
and add the management dimension only once the base is operational 
should be avoided. No base can be managed without information and 
the means of handling it, and this aspect, which is dependent on the 
prior selection of moans and methods, must be determined at the same 
time as the contents of the base.
With a view to harmonization the Data Information Service (see para. 
2.6) will be establishing a base of bases, which will give for each 
base the minimum of information needed by consumers and required for 
the management of all the bases.
4.2 Separation of working data from official data
So as to avoid all risk of loss or untimely publication, official 
data must be kept separately and protected by formal procedures.
Such data make up the content of bases which are under the direct 
supervision of the Data Base Administrator or the Field Managers.
Working data, on the other hand, are the sole responsibility of their 
producers, and no-one may consult or access them independently. They 
have no official value and may not be published except in very limited 
fashion as draft data. Some degree of flexibility may be tolerated 
in their administration, provided that their confidentiality is not 
jeopardized.
4.3 Division of responsibility for the preparation and publication of data
As is the case with financial transactions, where the authorizing 
body and the paying body are not one and the same, it is unsound 
practice for individuals preparing data (the producers) also to 
authorize their publication (the Field Managers). A formal procedure 
has to be established for the Field Manager to decide on the various 
stages in the 'life' of an item of data. These are:

In preparation: the identification and format have been 
defined, and the data are undergoing 
preparation by the producer
In validation:
Released:the data are ’frozen* during the authorization 
/ validation phase carried out under the 
responsibility of the Field Manager
the Field Manager has authorized publication 
of the data, which are available to consumers
Cancelled: the data still exist but can no longer be 
accessed by consumers
Deleted: the data have been physically destroyed.
For practical reasons it is advisable to group the data into 
successive versions which are identified as such and dated, and in 
accordance with the rules for preparation and publication.
If may also be advisable to keep a record of any formal act requiring 
data to be amended.
The distinction between primary and secondary data
In order to meet the requirements of data consistency (see para. 3.2) 
a distinction must also be made in respect of official data between 
primary data and secondary data derived by compilation from the 
primary data.
Compilation affecting only the form, and not the sense of the data, 
e.g. copying, reformatting, photocomposition, reprinting, etc. ,  
should not introduce any error, and the following does not concern 
such formal compilation.
Strict precautions must on the other hand be taken to avoid losing 
the consistency of data in the passage from primary to secondary 
status. When the compilation is carried out by computer the 
precautions are a matter of proper professional design of the data 
base management system. However, such compilation can also depend on 
the performance of manual operations, and maintaining consistency 
under such circumstances becomes a matter of the human management of 
the base and of appropriate organization.
It is particularly advisable to be sure before introducing fresh 
primary data that the compilation rules being applied maintain the 
consistency of the two sets of data with respect to each other, and 
to validate the primary data as strictly as possible before deriving 
the secondary data.

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Inevitably some inconsistency arises during the period between the 
introduction of the first primary data and the completion of the 
secondary data derived from them. If it is not possible to prevent 
consultation of official data during this period, users must be 
clearly warned of this possible lack, of consistency.
Certain ethical principles must be observed when users effect 
compilations outside the fields managed by the owner of the data:
sources must be acknowledged and the owner’s agreement sought if 
the meaning of the data remains unchanged
- in other cases, a clear statement must be made of the operations 
effected and of the value added to the information
responsibility must be accepted for the risk of error arising as 
a result of the compilation.
5. THE TOOLS
The key functions which should be included in such computer systems for 
the benefit of the various individuals involved are described briefly 
below, without reference to the technical choices to be made.
The data base administrator must have the means of analysing and 
modelling his data. He must have access to information for the 
management of his base.
The Field Manager must have the means of controlling rights of 
access, and of automatically recording each access. Analysis 
facilities are also necessary for subsequent controls and the 
production of statistical and/or accounting data. The Field Manager 
must have available the basic functions which allow him to carry out 
quality controls.
the Data Base System Administrator is principally concerned with 
preserving the integrity of the data (i.e. with reliable means of 
protection, safeguarding and secure reconstitution), with 
optimization of resources (and consequently with statistical 
surveying and data compaction facilities) and finally with 
confidentiality (hence his interest in ciphering techniques).
The Producer must be able to prepare, document and maximize monitor­
ing of his documents interactively, and therefore have appropriate 
tools available. In addition, insofar as the production of data is 
an arduous task, the ergonomic characteristics of the tools, 
including computer hardware, must receive the greatest attention.

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The Consumer is concerned principally with the consultation of data, 
particularly with the search for data of interest to him. The same 
goes for the Information Officer. They must therefore have the means 
of interactive search by keywords, by menus, by context, etc., using 
the "fourth generation" languages which allow easy access, via the 
known data, to the data required.
Such requirements mean choosing a set of standard software packages, 
generally known as Data Base Management Systems (DBMS) with their 
associated data dictionaries, interrogation languages and tools.
The choice of this software is discussed in a separate document (ref.).
The onus is on the system supplier working together with the the Data Base 
Administrator in his role as project leader, to construct the full range 
of tools required for the management and operation of the base,1 using 
the most suitable standard software packages available.
NEW PROPOSALS FOR DATA BASES
New proposals for data bases must be managed in the same way as any other 
project,1 not only as regards establishing a new base, but also when an 
existing base is opened to a new category of consumers (see para. 3.1). 
This is particularly the case for inter-institutional and public bases, 
where the Commission’s public image is at stake. The project feasibility 
study must confirm that the rules for sound data base administration 
outlined in this document have been respected.
Selecting proposals for data bases comes down to the management of 
priorities and of the resources needed for their implementation, viz:
The manpower needed for input to the base, and for consumer promotion 
and support. Obtaining these resources is the responsibility of the 
data base owner, who must ensure the necessary recruitment.
Computer resources, which are managed by the CDIC (Commission 
Steering Committee for Data Processing) in accordance with the rules 
it has laid down
See Management of Informatics Projects - Informatics Guide, ref. 003
See Priorities and Informatics Resource Management - Informatics 
Guide, ref. 008

ANNEX IV
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CC Computer centre
CCITT International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee
CDIC Commission Steering Committee for Data Processing
CII Inter-Institutional Committee for Informatics
CTI Informatics Technology Committee
CU Users' Committee
CUS Customs Union Service
DA Applications Development service
DI Informatics Directorate
ECPTA European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications 
Administrations
EVE European Video-Conference Experiment
II Informatics Engineering Division
INSEH Inter-Institutional Service for Electronic Mail 
INSIS Inter-Institutional System of Integrated Services 
IPA Informatics Planning and Administration Service
JCIS Joint Conference and Interpretation Service
JRC Joint Research Centre
QA Quality Management and Internal Audit Service
SG Secretariat-General
SIC Standard Implementation Committee
SII Integrated Information Systems Division
SJ Legal Service
SOEC Statistical Office of the European Community
STRADA Système de Transmission Rapide de Documents Administratifs

DIRECTORATES-GENERAL
DG I External relations
DG II Economie and Financial Affairs
DG III Internai Market and Industrial Affairs
DG IV Competition
DG V Employment, Social Affairs and Education
DG VI Agriculture
DG VII Transport
DG VIII Development
DG IX Personnel and Administration
DG X Information
DG XI Environment, Consumer Protection and Nuclear Safety
DG XII Science, Research and Development
DG XIII Information Market and Innovation
DG XIV Fisheries
DG XV Financial Institutions and Taxation
DG XVI Regional Policy
DG XVII Energy
DG XVIII Credit and investments
DG XIX Budgets
DG XX Financial control