The IAEA on Line: Closer Links for the Global Nuclear Community
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TOPICAL REPORTS The IAEA on line: Closer links for the global nuclear community [email protected] and http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom are two signs of the IAEA's expanding electronic information services by r\ phenomenon without precedent, the world- would aggregate traffic and feed it to the back- Jerry Barton wide computer network called Internet has gone bone networks. Thus the ability to support global and Lothar from a little-known academic and research net- connections through local networks was born. Wedekind work to become the talk of cyberspace. Turn to Over the past 12 years, the number of host any issue of any popular weekly journal. You computers on the Internet has increased from 200 will find an article about international computer to 2.5 million, an annual growth rate of 120%. communications and computers you can reach Nearly 8 million people can use complete In- via the Internet. Vinton G. Cerf, president of the ternet services, and more than 27 million people Internet Society, believes that a fertile mixture of can use it to exchange electronic mail. high-risk ideas, stable research funding, vision- Internet services range from relatively simple ary leadership, extraordinary grass-roots coop- to highly sophisticated. The Agency uses a com- eration, and vigorous entrepreneurship has led to mercial electronic mail package for its in-house an emerging global information infrastructure electronic mail. With the addition of a gateway unlike anything seen before. computer Unking this mail network to the Internet, Expectations run high, and opportunities are IAEA staff can send and receive mail from any exciting. Yet as organizations are learning, read- worldwide location via the Internet. They do not ing about the Internet is easier than using it in a need to learn much more than how to code the concerted, reliable, and professional way. receiver's electronic mail address. The Internet The IAEA started developing its Internet ca- serves as the interchange medium so that messages pabilities in 1993. (IAEA's Internet address: originating in different systems can be understood. [email protected]) Further development is The next stage of Internet services is the direct designed to improve capabilities for meeting in- connection to a remote computer. This connection ternal information needs, and to expand access to can take two forms: either the ability to locate and the Agency's extensive range of databanks and copy files from the remote computer to your com- information systems within its Member States. puter, or the ability to log on to the remote com- Internet's origins. All electronic communi- puter as a local terminal. cations between computers rely on precisely de- The Agency added these services in early 1994. fined structures of signals, called protocols , that Called FTP and TELNET respectively, they re- define the contents of the message, where it came quire special skills and software on each user's from, and where it is going. In the early 1970s, a desktop computer. About 400 people in the Agency protocol was developed at Stanford University in have these services. The IAEA also established an the United States that allows multiple networks FTP computer for public access in early 1994, so to be interconnected in a flexible and dynamic that people worldwide could download publicly way. This protocol, called TCP/IP, together with available Agency files. In some cases, organiza- the USA's research network, was the basis for tions are allowed to deposit data onto the Agency's the Internet. A decision in the early 1980s sup- FTP computer for retrieval by IAEA staff. The ported the creation of regional networks that highest levels of Internet services are the so-called "special servers" , namely Gopher and the World Wide Web, or WWW. These services, developed Mr. Barton is Head of the Computer Users Liaison Section of by the University of Minnesota in the United States the IAEA's Division of Scientific and Technical Information. and the European Centre for Particle Research (E-mail: [email protected]). Mr. Wedekind is Chief (CERN) in Geneva respectively, add descriptive Editor of IAEA Periodicals in the Division of Public Informa- tion. (E-mail: [email protected]) information to the files that are available, making 44 IAEA BULLETIN, 3/1995 TOPICAL REPORTS their access easier for the user. Gopher is a text- links. The WWW requires more communications based interface that does not require sophisticated bandwidth and more powerful desktop computers, computers. The WWW is a full multi-media but it is already the most heavily used Internet graphical interface that includes the ability to service. It is simple to use and the documents you jump between documents automatically by find are displayed immediately on your screen and clicking on highlighted words, i.e. hypertext can be either copied or printed directly. The IAEA and Information Technology: Tools for Efficiency Information technology (IT) — the use of activities towards the decentralized goal. An computers and networks to electronically collect, Agency-wide plan for networking was developed manipulate, and disseminate data in organized ways and implemented between 1991 and 1994. The — is a common thread of IAEA programmes. About central computer network today provides a high- 10% of the IAEA's budget is earmarked for IT way along which each department can develop its activities. Some activities deliver databases services tailored to programmatic needs. directly to Member States, while many others are 1990s: Support and Services. Working with directed towards increasing organizational IT Coordinators, the CCS today provides support for efficiency. The Agency's IT capabilities have a broad portfolio of desktop productivity products. progressed significantly over the years. The support includes providing about 1000 hours of 1970s and 1980s: Process Automation. software training monthly to Agency staff; answering Most early uses of IT were to automate manual technical questions through a central help line; and support processes, such as payroll, bookkeeping, evaluating technologies, new applications, and sys- and project tracking. These activities were charac- tems. Electronic mail and Internet services further are terized by well-defined procedures and reporting provided to the entire Agency. More than 250,000 needs. The IAEA's Central Computer Services messages are exchanged monthly via the in-house (CCS) operated two mainframe computers electronic mail service and about 30,000 messages through a central group of computer professionals. are received from outside the IAEA via the Agency's One computer was used exclusively by the Depart- connection to the Internet. ment of Safeguards to ensure the confidentiality of 1995 and Beyond: Information Manage- inspection and verification data. By the mid- ment. As computer systems move to local net- 1980s, there were more than 100 computer systems works, the need for maintaining a coherent on the two mainframe computers. Agency-wide understanding and treatment of the 1980s: Text Processing and Personal Com- data increases. Data must be shared where appro- puters. By the 1980s, Agency staff needed more priate to avoid needless duplication and promote flexibility in the way data, text, and graphics were efficient operations. The Agency consequently is processed and used, and in responding promptly to looking more closely at the need for managing inquiries. The Agency approved the use of per- information through technology, rather than just sonal computers (PCs) in 1984 to provide this managing the technology. flexibility and speed. Today about 2000 PCs are in Greater transfer of information will require an use throughout the Agency. Purchases and appli- improved technical infrastructure. The network cations are governed by standards and procedures and database computers consequently will be up- to ensure cost effectiveness and compatibility with graded in 1996. Applications also must be revised the Agency's computer network. frequently to meet new programmatic require- 1990s: Move to Decentralize. By 1989, it had ments, requiring evaluation and selection of appro- become obvious that mainframe computers, with priate tools and expertise. Moreover, staff must be central development and support, could not provide properly trained to apply new technologies for sufficient flexibility and local decision-making greater productivity at the workplace. power. The needs of programme managers were The IAEA has been recognized as one of the changing too rapidly for traditional computer sys- leading organizations in the UN family in terms tems. The IAEA decided in 1989 to decentralize IT of its use of technology to implement its pro- operations, giving responsibility for computing to grammes. Its strategy for the turn of the century each department, whose divisions now have IT Co- bridges the established in-house IT partnerships ordinators and, frequently, their own programming with the development of well-established policies staff. The CCS was given the responsibility of overall for information management. The efforts are fun- support, providing a technical infrastructure for damental elements for strengthening the IAEA's common networking, training, problem resolu- capabilities to efficiently apply information tech- tion, and guidance for technical development. nologies for programme effectiveness and organ- In 1991, the IAEA Board authorized US $5.5 izational productivity.—Barbara Paul, Division million in a special allocation to help move IT of Scientific and Technical Information. IAEA BULLETIN, 3/1995 45 TOPICAL REPORTS The IAEA added WWW services to its spec- The security issue is one of providing access trum of Internet services in early 1995, and most to public information without putting the in- of the users of FTP, TELNET, and Gopher have house network at risk. The solution now being now migrated to WWW. In June 1995, the used is based on establishing a special" firewall" Agency announced the worldwide availability of computer between the publicly accessible com- its WWW computer, and the IAEA's World Atom puter and the protected in-house network.