ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP (TPT-WG)
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TPT-WG WEB SITE
OCTOBER 1998

Lead Economy: Australia

Background

1. The APEC Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG) agreed at its 13^th meeting in April 1998, that Australia, in conjunction with a small group of other interested economies should develop and trial an APEC TPT-WG web site for the 14^th TPT-WG meeting. In June 1998 Australia signed a contract with Tradegate ECA for the development and maintenance of the APEC TPT-WG web site over a two year period. The web site was designed in consultation with a small group of interested economies consisting of Korea, Canada, US, Chile, and Japan. Access to the APEC TPT-WG web site has been available since 3 September at: http://www.apectptwg.org.au. The web site has been successfully trialed by members of the small group for registration and submission of papers for the 14^th TPT-WG meeting.

Objectives

2. In developing a TPT-WG web site the objectives were to:

• Provide efficient electronic communication
• Minimise costs of TPT-WG meetings
• Promote paperless communication
• Link TPT-WG’s work to other internet sites.
• Promote timely intersessional work on TPT-WG projects

3. These objectives have been advanced through providing facilities on the TPT-WG web site that allows member economies to:

• Distribute papers for meetings
• Access papers from previous meetings
• Advise progress on current projects
• Advise the outcomes of completed projects
• Complete timely intersessional work through the use of the list server

Current features of the web site

4. The web site has been structured to enable those who are unfamiliar with the functions of APEC TPT-WG to navigate the site and access relevant documents quickly and easily. The web site has been designed primarily as a working web site to enable APEC economies to conduct intersessional work. Some of its features include:

• Registration facility where individuals from member economies can register for the next TPT-WG meeting.
• Contacts page, with contact details of the APEC Secretariat, Lead Shepherd and Deputy Lead Shepherd, Steering Committee leaders and heads of delegation.
• Archive facility where papers from previous meetings can be accessed.
• Details of projects currently being undertaken by expert/project groups including project proposals, progress reports and tender documentation.
• List of related sites according to relevant expert/project groups.
• List server facility where APEC expert/project groups may establish a mailing list for use by group members to conduct intersessional work.
• List of APEC TPT-WG publications.

Issues

How to use the web site

5. The structural development of the web site is now complete. However, in order for member economies to fully realise the benefits of the TPT-WG web site, they need to utilise the features described above. All APEC member economies should be informed as to how they might access the site and fully utilise its features.

6. A presentation on the TPT-WG web site will be made during Plenary to explain some of the features of the web site and to encourage APEC economies to access the site. Demonstrations of the web site will be held during lunch and afternoon tea breaks at TPT-WG 14.

Registration

7. Following the development of the web site, member economies had the opportunity to register their attendance electronically at TPT-WG 14. Both Australia and Canada registered their attendance electronically. All economies are encouraged to register their attendance electronically for TPT-WG 15 in Chile. To facilitate this objective, it is proposed that at least four economies in addition to Australia and Canada make a commitment to register their attendance at TPT-WG 15 through the web site.

Intersessional work

8. The list server facility was established to facilitate intersessional work to be carried out by expert/project groups between TPT-WG meetings. This facility operates in a similar way to a prescribed email list. When one member of the list sends an email all members receive it at the same time. This facility allows each member of the list to receive comments on a draft paper from another member simultaneously. The benefit of the list server is that you only have to address your email to one internet address and not several. There are currently two mailing lists in operation, the web site small group list and the electronic commerce small list. This is a useful comunication tool to progress issues before meetings.

9. The web site small group list was established to facilitate the development of the web site prior to TPT-WG 14. Discussions between members of the small group regarding the development of the web site were carried out on the list server. Economies who chair expert/project groups are encouraged to use the list server facility to undertake work between meetings of the TPT-WG. To establish a list, economies which chair an expert/project group need to submit a list of group members containing their email addresses to the list administrator at majordomo@connect.com.au. Economies have not used this facility extensively to date and are encouraged to use this facility to provide timely comments on draft papers and ask questions about the progress of projects.

10. The Experts Group on Maritime Safety is currently establishing a list to conduct intersessional work. Other expert/project groups which may benefit from using this facility would be the Port Experts Group, Intermodal Task Force and Year 2000 Problem: Air Traffic Control and Airport Systems.

11. Member economies may also wish to consider additional mechanisms for promoting and explaining the benefits of using the TPT-WG web site to others.

Responsibility for completing the web site

13. Currently, the web site is partially complete with the basic structure in place. Leaders of project/expert groups and steering committees are now required to complete their respective pages by submitting papers and relevant information to the web site administrator. This may include a short explanation of the purpose/objective of the expert/project group, details of the draft agenda for the next meeting, a report of the last meeting and any papers discussed, draft papers and final papers to be considered at the next TPT-WG meeting. In order to complete the web site, member economies should also submit relevant papers they have completed to the web site administrator.

The web site small group

13. The web site small group should consider making a commitment to place all of their papers on the web site for the next TPT-WG meeting. Members of the small group chair some of the expert/project groups and are encouraged to submit information/papers that complete their respective sites. A list of the project/expert groups and the economies which chair them is provided at Attachment A. This will provide an example to other member economies of how useful the web site can be for accessing and submitting information as well as encouraging other economies to use the web site to submit papers.

Further improvements to the web site

14. In order to make further improvements to the functionality of the web site, the following issues should be considered and discussed by member economies. While it is acknowledged that the development of the web site is a dynamic process, it is necessary in order to maximise the benefits of the web site to determine how the web site should be developed in the future.

15. Member economies might consider some of the following issues, to be discussed at TPT-WG 14 and provide their comments to Australia. Comments through the list server facility are preferred. Economies which are currently not part of the web site small group should subscribe to the list by providing their email addresses to Australia.

16. Issues to be considered by member economies include:

1. Functionality and design

The web site should be easily navigated by both those who are familiar with TPT-WG and by those with no knowledge of the functions of TPT-WG. Although the web site has been designed to meet this objective, member economies may have other suggestions to improve the functionality of the web site. The web site should be conducive to member economies being able to access information quickly and easily to facilitate intersessional work on TPT-WG projects.

2. Registration procedure

Registration forms should be easy to complete and the host economy should be able to obtain all necessary information from the completed forms.

• Did member economies find the registration procedure difficult to understand or follow?

• Were the registration forms appropriate and easy to complete? Were there too many forms to fill in?

• Did the host economy find the electronic registration procedure useful when organising the meeting and are there any suggestions for improvement?

3. Submitting papers to the web site administrator

The procedure for submitting papers to the web site administrator should be able to be completed quickly and easily. Instructions on how to submit papers have been included on the web site. When submitting papers the head of delegation or economy coordinator must send a completed submission form together with the papers to be put on the web site. The submission form tells the web site administrator where to place the papers on the web site. Did member economies experience any difficulty with submitting papers and are they willing to use this process for submitting papers in the future?

4. The use of the list server facility

Although there are currently two lists in operation, these have not been used extensively. The leaders of expert/project groups are responsible for establishing a list server facility for their respective project/expert groups. Australia is interested in receiving comments from existing subscribers on the use of the lists. Do member economies want to restrict subscription to the list to government officials, or should industry representatives also be included where appropriate?

Survey on the use of the web site

17. As part of the continuing development process, Australia in consultation with the web site small group, proposes to develop a survey to determine how the site can be improved in the future. The survey would provide an opportunity for member economies to determine how useful the site is, what features most assist member economies in progressing APEC TPT-WG work, and any possible omissions from the site.

18. There are a number of issues which economies need to consider about the future development of the web site. The survey would be prepared by Australia in consultation with the web site small group and distributed to all APEC member economies by the end of November 1998. Responses from APEC economies would be required by end of January 1999. A draft report of the results would be prepared by Australia in consultation with the web site small group by mid-February 1998 and comments on the draft paper from other member economies would be requested by end of February 1998. A final report will be submitted for consideration at TPT-WG 15.

Recommended action

19. That APEC member economies

1. Consider mechanisms for future development of the web site.
   
2. Undertake to electronically register attendance for TPT-WG 15 (at least four economies).
   
3. Submit papers/information relevant to respective expert/project group pages to the web site administrator prior to TPT-WG 15 as described in Attachment A.
   
4. Make effective use of the list server facility in undertaking intersessional work. Japan (Port Experts Group), USA (Intermodal Task Force, and Singapore (Year 2000 Problem) may consider using the list server to undertake intersessional work for their projects and report progress to TPT-WG 15.
   
5. Discuss the issues raised in this paper at TPT-WG 14 and provide comment to Australia through the list by 27 November 1998.
   
6. Electronic Commerce member economies to subscribe to the web site small group list server.
   
7. Respond to a survey on the effectiveness of the web site to be prepared by Australia in consultation with the web site small group.
   
8. Report the results of the survey to TPT-WG 15.

Attachment A

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