MANAGEMENT OF THE APEC TPT-WG WEB SITES
APEC TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP WEB SITE
http://www.apectptwg.org.au

Development

Following agreement that Australia should develop the APEC TPT-WG web site at the 13^th TPT-WG meeting in Mexico, the basic structure of the web site was discussed in consultation with the electronic commerce group. The structure of the web site follows the APEC reporting structure and consists of a Shepherds' Page, Steering Committee pages, and Expert/Project Group pages as well as Next Meeting, Contacts, Publications and Archives pages.

Structure

All documentation submitted by economies for discussion at the Transportation Working Group meetings are placed on the web site. If the documents relate to work completed intersessionally and are for discussion between members of an expert/project group they are placed under the relevant Expert/Project Group page under the heading "Intersessional Papers".

Any papers that are placed on the web site for discussion at the next Transportation Working Group meeting are placed under "Final Papers for the next meeting". Papers discussed at the last Transportation Working Group Meeting are found under "Papers discussed at the last meeting." The same structure applies for papers discussed by the Steering Committees. It is the responsibility of the Chair of each expert/project group to ensure that papers are placed on the web site. Any documents from the meeting before last are placed in the archives. Originally, it was planned that these documents would be stored in the archives for five years and then deleted, however the growth of the web site might be such that this may need to be revised.

Personnel

All technical aspects of the web site are outsourced to a consultant. The cost for this service is ca A$12,000 per year. This includes staff time of the web site administrator (Odile L Feuille, odilelf@tradegate.org.au) and a contract programmer who writes the program for the interactive registration page for each meeting. The web site administrator is the computer expert and creates the html documents, puts them on the web site and is responsible for all technicalities. The actual server is provided by AT&T free of charge in exchange for allowing their logo on the web site. This sponsorship relationship was organised by Tradegate. The contract with Tradegate expires on 30 September 2000.

In addition to the web site administrator there is a web site manager. The web site manager is a policy officer (Dr Frank K Mueller, frank.mueller@dotrs.gov.au), employed by the Department of Transport and Regional Services. The web site manager has to identify possible changes in the design of the web site in order for it to better suit the needs of the TPT-WG. She or he has to provide the web site administrator with all necessary information to update the web site after TPT-WG meetings. Sometimes it is necessary to advise the web site manager where documents should be placed on the web site if this is not clear from submission forms. The web site manager needs very little computer skills but has to have a good understanding of the structure of the TPT-WG (the structure of the web site mirrors the structure of the Working Group).

Updating

Prior to TPT-WG meetings, economies which produce documents (ie papers, reports, agendas, etc.) email the documents to the web site administrator. The web site administrator converts the documents to html format and loads them on the server. Very long documents will be put on the web site as downloadable Word documents (or Excel and Power Point files, respectively).

Following TPT-WG meetings the web site administrator and manager have to shift documents from their relevant headings as soon as possible. As the web site administrator is not entirely familiar with the APEC TPT-WG structure it is necessary for the web site manager to ensure that all papers are placed under their correct headings, before, during and after TPT-WG meetings.

This provides both the web site administrator and manager with a significant workload prior to and just after TPT-WG meetings. However, at other times the workload is minimal, perhaps requiring at a maximum, 5 hours per week by both the web site administrator and the web site manager.

One of the measures suggested in the Future Development of the TPT-WG Web Site paper was that the host economy should assume responsibility for placing all documents from the TPT-WG meeting on the TPT-WG web site by submitting them electronically to the web site administrator. So far no host economy has done this but Hong Kong provided a set of disks with all meeting documents in the order in which they will appear on the web site. This practice greatly facilitates the update of the web site after the TPT-WG meeting. The goal for the Singapore meeting is to fully implement the suggestions in the Future Development of the TPT-WG Web Site paper.

List Servers

The contract with Tradegate also includes the provision of a number of list servers. 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 sends an email to the list 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 an email to all list members only has to be addressed to one Internet address and not several. There are several mailing lists in operation, including the Web Site Small Group list, the Electronic Commerce list and the Expert Group on Maritime Safety list.

Future Development

It is anticipated that the TPT-WG web site will continue to grow as APEC members become increasingly aware of its benefits. A record number of total hits per month of 26,553 was reached prior to the 16th meeting of the TPT-WG in October 1999. The corresponding number for the 15th meeting in April was 21,901. The TPT-WG web site has been designed to cater for expansion, however the web site manager will need to continue to consult with members regularly on the future development of the web site.

Timing of Transfer

The web site provider has advised that the transfer by file transfer protocol (ftp) should pose no problems. A good time for the transfer would be around the end of May 2000. This would leave Australia enough time to complete the updating of the web site following the 17th meeting of the TPT-WG in March. At the same time the new host economy would have approximately 4.5 months to prepare the site for the 18th meeting in Japan.

Contact: Frank Mueller
Telephone: 61 2 6274 6235
Fax: 61 2 6274 7744
Email: frank.mueller@dotrs.gov.au

APEC VIRTUAL CENTRE FOR TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION

http://www.dotrs.gov.au/apec

Overview

Australia is managing the web site 'APEC Virtual Centre for Transportation Research, Development and Education' at http://www.dotrs.gov.au/apec

Australia is inviting economies to take over the management and further development of the web site from the beginning of 2000.

Background

Australia launched the site at the TPT-WG meeting in Santiago, Chile, April 1999. The site was established by Australia, building on developmental work carried out by Indonesia.

Objectives

The Virtual Centre is aimed at:

• providing information on research and development work and courses offered by universities and training institutions;

• promoting the sharing and exchange of on-line information on transport research, development and education between APEC member economies;

• enhancing productivity, skills, entrepreneurship, and efficiency of labour and management in the transport sector;

• facilitating international transport technology transfer between APEC member economies; and

• minimising gaps in technology, human resources development and competitiveness among APEC member economies.

These aims address objectives stated by APEC Transportation Ministers in 1995.

Features of the web site

The site includes information received from institutions and agencies from a number of economies ie Australia; Canada; Chile; Chinese Taipei; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Mexico; Singapore; the United States. The site has recently been expanded to include information on Australian aviation and maritime training providers.

The site is principally designed to be straightforward and user-friendly; it provides a contact point for institutions and researchers working in transport research and development and education. E-mail addresses allow ease of access to individual researchers and hyperlinks to institution home pages which will guide users to a range of transport-related sites. Through these hyperlinks, users will be able to access papers, course information, details of conferences etc.

The site also provides access to other related web site links such as the TPT-WG web site, universities and training institutions.

The site is progressively expanded upon receipt of information from institutions and agencies.

Timing of Transfer

The web site provider has advised that the transfer by file transfer protocol (ftp) should pose no problems. The transfer could be arranged whenever it is convenient for the new host economy.

Contact: Peter Siripol
Phone: 61 2 6274 7960
Fax: 61 2 6274 7744
Email: peter.siripol@dotrs.gov.au

This page was last updated on 12 March, 2008