Development of the infrastructure for Information Technology in Poland - a Strategic Project

Warszawa, 20-10 -1996 The State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) is the body responsible for steering the development of scientific research in Poland and for financing research projects. Development of the infrastructure for information technology and computing facilities within the scientific communities ranks very high among the KBN's priorities and is constantly receiving much attention from the Committee. This includes means of information exchange, accessibility of information resources and specialized software, as well as powerful computers. Through such a policy the quality of scientific research can be improved in the fields considered important for the state economy.

The project Development of the Infrastructure for Information Technology is being carried out in stages. During the turn of the decade KBN initiated investments in the development of nation-wide Research and Academic Network in Poland (NASK). Next stage consisted of funding metropolitan networks intended to serve local scientific communities. Simultaneously, several sites were chosen to host large high performance computers accessible to all potential users in Poland. Subsequent stages included purchases of software licenses (mainly tools and utilities), subsidising local area networks, as well as creation and expansion of databases accessible through the network.

During the years 1991-1995 an equivalent of 55 million US$ was spent on elements of the project Development of the Infrastructure for Information Technology. Not only did the State Committee for Scientific Research put up substantial funds for the project, but also supported it with expertise.

The story would have never been a success without the support of numerous influential representatives of academic and research communities who put much heart in carrying out the project and who used their authority to help overcome many difficulties.

As a rule, KBN allocates funds to the winners of a number of competing proposals, acting on scientific merit. In the case of the discussed project, this principle of competitiveness was specially toughened. In addition to standard procedures, a given project should have received approval from the local Users' Council before it could be passed for further evaluation to the KBN's Information Technology Infrastructure Team. The final decision was taken by the appropriate body of KBN upon the opinion of the above Team and referees' reports. Such scheme assured that each case was assessed on its merits, the funds were allocated wisely, and general nation-wide guidelines were observed.

Reached goals

We are proud to announce the following achievements:

Unification of local communities resulting in creation of Users' Councils which are informal structures acting as regular advisory and decisive bodies regarding development of computer networks and their equipment.
Equipping academic and research communities with powerful modern computers from Convex, Cray, IBM, Silicon Graphics. As far as accessibility and use of computing facilities are concerned, Poland ranks among the most developed countries. In this respect scientific research in Poland is far ahead the state economy.
Purchases by KBN of computer equipment and software licenses according to scientific communities' proposals. Such centralised action made it possible to conclude better contracts with providers, to obtain substantial academic and educational discounts, to negotiate advantageous guarantee and maintenance conditions. It is worth pointing out that many companies noticed the consistence of the KBN's strategy and responded with great willingness, proposing attractive offers for the rapidly expanding needs of scientific communities.
A rapid growth of both WAN and MAN computer networks. Internet is becoming more and more popular, and is quickly penetrating commercial and other non-scientific communities (schools, government agencies etc.). For example, in 1995 Internet traffic grew by a factor of 12 as compared with 1994. On the other hand Internet users became unaware of the growing costs of the network management and maintenance, since most expenses were covered by KBN. Meanwhile NASK having a status of a licensed public Internet operator, introduced a pricing system for network services. Now the main task for this year is to propose an acceptable solution for the new pricing policy, as well as sources of financing expanding Internet traffic (the latter mostly created by non-profit institutions).

Promotion initiatives

KBN supports and promotes:

Scientific conferences organised jointly with commercial exhibitions like Infofestival in Kraków or Polman (within Infosystem) in Poznan. Such conferences receive assistance and financial support from KBN.
Databases containing information necessary for the development of scientific research, education, culture, as well as the state economy. KBN supports creating such databases and making them accessible over the network. Unfortunately, the present needs significantly outgrow available funds in this field.

In my opinion particular solutions regarding organisation and technology that proved good in scientific research should be adopted in other branches of the state economy. In this way much time can be saved and many mistakes avoided. Needless to say, this would be also profitable from the financial point of view.

Further development

In 1995 KBN accepted the Programme for Development of Information Technology Infrastructure for Polish Scientific Communities. Here is a list of priorities promoted in this Programme:

To expand NASK network so that major sites that still remain beyond it may be connected to Internet. To improve international network connectivity. NASK has been obliged to present a detailed programme of development of the frame network with the co-operation of local communities. It has been decided that by the end of 1996 the network should cover all compact areas with scientific and research establishments, and by the end of the century all remaining research sites. It is proposed that Internet services to users other than academic and research staff can be provided on terms defined in the separate agreements.
To provide connections of at least 2 Mb/s to all sites that house high performance computers, and to upgrade those connections to at least 34 Mb/s by the end of the year 2000.
To continue development of Metropolitan Academic Networks (MAN), especially in new regions. At present, such projects are under way in 11 regions. These should be completed by the end of 1997. The deadline for the completion of new MANs is the year 2000. Setting up Metropolitan Academic Networks should be given especially high priority so that basic services can be available to large number of users from local academic and research communities. In particular, it is essential that:
- optical fibre connections be installed wherever possible and justified,
- network services be accessible through switched telephone connections,
- network services be accessible through leased lines,
- modern high-speed data transmission technologies be employed,
- advanced management systems be provided to Metropolitan Academic Networks.
To equip metropolitan networks with servers of sufficient performance capable of providing multimedia services (in 1995/1997).
To continue development of large computing centres which are currently equipped with high performance computers: Gdansk, Kraków, Poznan, Warszawa and Wroclaw. Limited financial resources make it impossible to create more such centres, hence it is necessary to provide fast and convenient access to the existing ones. In this way all Polish scientific communities can benefit from the computing facilities installed in the above centres.
Assistance and support of the development of Local Area Networks.
To set up scientific databases, especially libraries, as well as local software repositories. Each Metropolitan Academic Network should maintain such databases, reflecting the needs of local communities and local specialisation. This equally applies to software tools and applications. Details as to the contents of such resources should be solved by the Users' Councils. Typically, library databases are integrated with metropolitan computer networks upon agreement between the scientific information officers and the MAN Users' Councils. It is responsibility of KBN to co-ordinate such initiatives and to ensure that resources kept at one of the big centres are properly maintained and available to the rest of scientists in Poland.
To unify the users from the scientific communities, state economy establishments and civil administration. It is very important that proper guidelines be worked out for such unification. Experts' reports serve this purpose as well as specialised conferences, such as: Computer Systems in the Urban Administration and in the Modelling of the Metropolitan Budget (Szczecin, December 1995).
It is suggested that expert systems be installed in scientific and research institutions that would aid their management. Although this task is beyond the scope of scientific projects, its importance cannot be underestimated. What is proposed here, is a model system of management supporting that would serve the needs of KBN, the Ministry of Education, as well as universities and research institutions. For example, such expert systems would facilitate central purchases of software tools. The first steps towards this goal have already been taken.

Concluding remarks

What I have briefly listed, is in fact ambitious and complicated project. Whether it becomes a reality or remains yet another example of wishful thinking depends on a number of factors. As usual, the first one is availability of sufficient funds. Equally important is the understanding and acceptance on the part of the users' communities, whose active collaboration is especially demanded. There are other than NASK or MAN operators of public networks. I believe that all of them should cooperate rather than compete as far as the development of infrastructure for information technology is concerned. At present, scientific networks constitute a substantial part of this infrastructure. Possibilities of mutual use of networks belonging to different operators and co-ordination of development plans are outlined in a document entitled Policies for Telecommunication. Moreover, KBN and the Ministry of Telecommunication have agreed to prepare a report on the proposed idea of the Global Information Society.

The current situation changes as various operators put forward more and more proposals and applications. What does this mean to the investment programme outlined in the above list of priorities? This problem is now open for discussion.

More information on the project can be found on the KBN information server.

Magorzata Kozlowska
Under-secretary of State, State Committee for Scientific Research, Warzawa, Poland

This article was reprinted with permission from the Conference proceedings of the Sup'Eur '96 Conference in Kraków, September 8-11, 1996, ISBN 83-902363-2-5. edited by Marian Bubak and Jazek Moscinski.