. THE AIMS ARE :
1 . OFFICE SYSTEM SCIENCE AND HUMAN FACTORS
( A ) TO ANALYZE CURRENT AND PREDICTED OFFICE ACTIVITIES TO DETERMINE HOW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MIGHT BE APPLIED TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OFFICE WORK AND ORGANIZATION AND OF THE ENTERPRISE AS A WHOLE . BESIDES AUTOMATION OF VARIOUS FUNCTIONS AND THE USE OF KNOWLEDGE-BASED METHODS , THIS MEANS BETTER SUPPORT PARTICULARLY FOR CLERKS , PROFESSIONAL AND MANAGERIAL STAFF IN EXECUTING THEIR JUDGEMENTAL TASKS .
( B ) TO IMPROVE UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN FACTORS IN THE OFFICE AND TO ENSURE HIGH PERFORMANCE OF USERS WHEN INTERACTING WITH THE SYSTEMS , WHILST AT THE SAME TIME OFFERING OPTIMAL WORKING CONDITIONS AND ENSURING ADEQUATE ORGANIZATION AND INDIVIDUAL ACCEPTANCE .
2 . ADVANCED WORKSTATIONS AND HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACES
TO ESTABLISH MAJOR NEW HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACE TECHNOLOGIES , PERIPHERAL TECHNOLOGIES AND DOCUMENT REPRESENTATION TECHNOLOGIES AND INFORMATION MANIPULATION RELEVANT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED OFFICE WORK-STATIONS FOR USE IN ADVANCED OFFICE SYSTEMS .
3 . COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
TO CREATE THE BASIC TECHNOLOGIES REQUIRED FOR ADVANCED OFFICE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS INCLUDING TECHNICAL FUNDAMENTALS IN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE , OPTICAL TECHNOLOGIES AS A PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT TECHNOLOGY , THE MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES CONNECTED BY NETWORKS , AND SYSTEM ASPECTS OF VALUE ADDED SERVICES .
4 . ADVANCED MULTI-MEDIA STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS
TO ACQUIRE THE SYSTEM AND APPLICATIONS EXPERTISE RELATED TO STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF ALL FORMS OF OFFICE INFORMATION IN ELECTRONIC STORAGE SYSTEMS IN A USER ORGANIZATION IN AN ADEQUATE WAY .
5 . INTEGRATED OFFICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
TO CREATE THE POSSIBILITY TO CHECK THE VALIDITY OF THE TOTAL INFORMATION CONCEPTS THAT ARE ADVOCATED , IN ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE REALISTIC AND ALLOW QUANTITIVE EVALUATION .
INTERDEPENDENCIES WITH OTHER RESEARCH AREAS
MICRO-ELECTRONICS IS A PROVIDER OF BASIC TECHNOLOGIES AND HARDWARE COMPONENTS TO BE USED IN OFFICE SYSTEMS . GENERAL REQUIREMENT CHARACTERISTICS ARE HIGH SPEEDS AND CAPACITIES , VERY HIGH RELIABILITY , AND FLEXIBILITY OF THE DESIGN PROCESSES . THE NEED FOR BASIC TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT IS NOT CONFINED TO PURE MICRO-ELECTRONICS : OPTO-ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES FOR TRANSMISSION , STORAGE AND DISPLAY THAT MAY INCREASE CAPACITY WHILE REDUCING PHYSICAL VOLUME AND PRICE ARE EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT .
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY IS TO PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENT AND THE TOOLS THAT SHOULD IMPROVE CONTROL OF THE OFFICE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS . THIS IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE ENORMOUSLY COMPLEX FUTURE APPLICATIONS , IF FUNCTIONAL , PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY REQUIREMENTS ARE TO BE MET AT ACCEPTABLE COST .
THE ADVANCED INFORMATION PROCESSING AREA EMBRACES RESEARCHES INTO TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCEDURES THAT WILL BE ADOPTED DIRECTLY IN THE SYSTEM INTEGRATION PROCESSES THAT ARE CHARACTERISTIC FOR THE OFFICE SYSTEMS PROGRAMME . OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE ARE THE FIRM ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE OF KNOWLEDGE BASED OR " INTELLIGENT " METHODS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS , AS WELL AS THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPUTERS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF PROCESSING VAST AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION IN REAL TIME , OR FAST ENOUGH TO PLEASE THE HUMAN USER .
IN COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING , CERTAIN TECHNIQUES WILL BE DEVELOPED TO