Conference 7.286::digital

    1: Imaging is here big time. If we do not have anything in this space
       we are going to get our bells rung.
    
    2: Interactive video with our computers, I think this is what it is
       called. This is where you press your hand against the screen or use
       a mouse and get more info on what you pressed, via video. Again, if
       we do not have anything in this space, we have missed the boat
       again.
    
    3: Wireless transmission of data from our laptops, notebooks and
       palmtops. This is coming quickly, this is being done in other
       industries. 
    
    More to come:
    Dave
    

    A corporate memory/database accessible by all employees.  From what
    I've seen, the most sophisticated "common-denominator" of information
    dissemination is postscript files or VTX.  To get at major portions of
    corporate information, you need to be a guru at VTX, Notes, VMS
    (user-level), and understand the concepts of file transferall or remote
    login (i.e., TELNET, SET HOST).
    
    Information which can leverage sales or help our professionals in the
    field should be referenced in a common information structure, and be
    accessible from all operating platforms we create or support (ULTRIX,
    OSF/1, VMS, Macintosh, MS-DOS/Windows, OS/2, etc.).  Users should be
    able to create electronic "agents" capable of searching the net for
    information or abstracts relevent to the commands given by the users. 
    For example, a user should, in natural language, be able to create an
    agent and issue a command such as, "Give me a listing of information
    sources and short descriptions on MASSIVELY PARALLEL PROCESSING USED IN
    THE WEATHER FIELD", and have that agent create a precis on the info it
    gathers.
    
    Granted, this level of technology doesn't exist today, and isn't
    present in the "standards" follow, but an easy method information
    retrieval is becoming one of the most important tools of professionals
    today (IMHO).  Technical excellence in important, but with the wealth
    of information out there, sales, projects, or strategies can be won or
    lost.
    
    As .1 stated, the methods in which information is presented is very
    important.  Multimedia, imaging, portable/laptop computing, and
    flexible networking are very important.  For example, I still haven't
    seen the new Open Advantage commercials yet, but I have downloaded the
    full-motion videos from the Macintosh archives and will veiw them
    tomorrow on my Mac at work.  These are the things that will insure we
    stay competitive now and in the future.
    
    --- Gavin
    
    PS - I'm writing a DECUS paper which I'll enter when I'm done.

    Voice I/O, much better than it is today, and computers as 'furniture'
    (e.g. built into the desktop, much more ergonomically acceptable).

    Re. 2
    Great idea. An information based system, ie.data-base where you can
    find anything that you need to do your job, using common sense language
    or should I say keywords that make sense.
    
    Dave
    

    RE all,
    	It's too bad that the people that have the power to make change in
    Digital do not read some of the good notesfiles. And take some of the
    real good ideas and get this company out of the rut it is in. I am
    afraid that the people that have the power to make change are afraid of
    taking risks anymore. It is a sad time at Digital.
    
    
    Dave
    

    I just read this morning in VTX VNS about something that Mitch Kapor
    (sp) is working/looking at, it is called electronic data network. Where
    people could connect into and get any/all information that they need to
    access, in one place.
    
    ,

    
    Amazingly enough, there are several groups in this company working on 
    bringing enterprise wide information retrieval to the market place.
    This includes both nlp and information agent technologies.
    
    See the latest version of VTX for the first instance of such 
    technologies.
    
    		Bob Cohen

    Digital developed interactive video years ago - called IVIS.
    It was and I believe still is, used for training.
    
    KB
    

    Bob,
    
    That's just it!  *Where* in VTX do I go to get this information!? :)
    
    --- Gavin
    
    PS - Some of the most promising work does seem to be coming from the
    EFF and other university/Internet projects.  Some examples are ARCHIE
    (common database for FTP access), MIME (Multimedia Interent Mail
    Extension, i.e., nicely formatted and MM mail messaging), WAIS (Wide
    Area Information Service), and Gopher (an explantion escapes me at the
    moment).
    
    PPS - Bob, do you have any contacts on the agenting services?

Re: .2

>    For example, a user should, in natural language, be able to create an
>    agent and issue a command such as, "Give me a listing of information
>    sources and short descriptions on MASSIVELY PARALLEL PROCESSING USED IN
>    THE WEATHER FIELD", and have that agent create a precis on the info it
>    gathers.

This pretty much exists already within Digital. It's called TIMA and was
developed in Valbonne. The last I heard, it's still around and still being
improved. 

Gavin

Meanwhile, back on our internal systems, we're still yet to become victim to
the delights of DECquery and information systems that add the numbers up
correctly. In the interim, we have a myriad of "customised" solutions that
don't allow managers to get at data they need outside of standard reports.

By the way, there's an excellent software product i've got here that i'd
recommend. Called Monarch from Personics, this PC product is designed to go
through the standard 500-page reports people get and sift the data out into
various spreadsheet, DBF or Ascii files. You just draw a template over the
report, and press go!
								- Ian W.

>By the way, there's an excellent software product i've got here that i'd
>recommend. Called Monarch from Personics, this PC product is designed to go
>through the standard 500-page reports people get and sift the data out into
>various spreadsheet, DBF or Ascii files. You just draw a template over the
>report, and press go!

That tells me more about the usefulness of that report than anything else...

Gavin

... but it's standard and that's what people get today. It's more a reflection
of the quality of information systems around us and the political inertia to
get the data we need in a usable form. And I still can't get the actuals to
match the sum of the segments within 20%...
								- Ian W.

 
re: 9

Well then, what YOU need is VTX/CBR (VTX 5.1).  Information retrieval
on a enterprise wide basis.

Talk to CASEE::EISENBERG (Alf) or CASEE::HAMNQVIST (Per) for details

The AD notes file around information agent technology is at 
ABBOTT::OFFICE_FILTER.

The project leader for the INFORMATION AGENT project is 
Neal Finnegan (VIA::FINNEGAN)

The notes files for the CBRS services toolkit is at VIA::CBR.  
It utilizes a common sense query form among other things.

I'm sure I've missed other similar efforts.

		Bob Cohen

    This is just an adder.
    
    Where will the explosion of data gathering take place?  What industries
    will need to get better control of their information flow?  What role will
    Federal, State and local regulations have on the information business?
    
    How can Digital gain opportunities in supplying the services to
    industries that are still in the "INFORMATION DISCONTINUITY AGE"?
    
    Systems Integration services is an area that can generate new business
    for DEC?  
    
    LIST:
    
    Networks
    Document management
    Paperless operations(Imaging, etc...)
    Operations, work-flow, quality assurance and productivity enhancements
    More......expanded areas are valid
    
    
     

re Note 1814.14 by VIA::SMEGOL::COHEN:

> I'm sure I've missed other similar efforts.
  
        You have -- and this sort of makes the original point:

        Abbott::Content-Retrieval -- general text/information
                                     retrieval, document libraries,
                                     and information services.

        Abbott::CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work) --
                                     groupware and supporting
                                     technologies.

        Quite frankly, I despair of any of the more recent
        developments in information technology becoming widespread
        within Digital in this decade.  Many of them require
        hardware/software systems and connectivity (i.e., network
        bandwidth) that just won't be available to many DECcies given
        current deployment patterns.  Some will not be all that
        usable until refined to the V2 or even V3 level -- if they
        should survive that long!

        Additionally, many of the newer information technologies
        will be unable to reach the "information at your fingertips"
        vision without the support of the corporate culture and
        infrastructure.  Do we have a culture that encourages making
        information available to anyone who seeks it, without first
        asking the permission of the right "gatekeeper" person?  In
        some areas, yes;  in many, no.

        Will we even be able to decide upon and implement a single
        information infrastructure, rather than multiple?  We now
        have, for example, Notes (as an information paradigm) used
        more by one sub-culture and VTX (as an information paradigm)
        used by another.  (Even my own 8-person team suffers from
        a form of this!)

        Similar polarizations will be possible in the future -- they
        may even be exacerbated as one segment of Digital computation
        goes towards laptops and occasional connectivity vs. very
        powerful workstations and high-bandwidth connectivity for the
        other.  The tools that those two communities use will be
        different, and could form the basis for another information
        barrier (psychological if not physical).

        Also, more and more of the information we need to get at is
        outside the corporation, accessible only through external
        networks.  The recent history of gateways to external
        networks is not encouraging -- the window has been closing of
        late, not opening.

        Bob

There's been a superb memo from KO aimed at TNSG on this theme, dated 19th
March. I've asked for permission to post, so stay tuned.
								- Ian W