Introduction

Background

CAPE (Co-ordinated Action for Pan-European Transport and Environment Telematics Implementation Support) is a European Union (EU) funded project that aims to encourage the greater use of telematics or so-called Information Society Technologies (IST) in central and eastern Europe and the EU.

A key objective of CAPE is to survey, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the needs and priorities among central and east European and EU local and regional self-governing authorities for transport and environment telematics solutions.

In this respect, a qualitative examination of the organisational, technical and legal frameworks, related policies and priorities has been undertaken for each of the EU accession countries within central and eastern Europe.  These include: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

Complementing this, two quantitative surveys (based on questionnaire submissions) of the status and priorities for telematics solutions in central and eastern Europe (CEE), and a third for the EU have been prepared:
 

  • Status and Priority for Transport Telematics Applications in CEE;
  • Status and Priority for Environment Telematics Applications in CEE;
  • Status and Priority for Environment Telematics Applications in EU.

    • Country Reports

    For each of the ten country reports undertaken within the qualitative survey, national experts (or a team of experts) examined the following issues, according to a detailed terms of reference and report structure:
     
  • The structure of local government and responsibilities for transport and environment policy;
  • Environment and transport problems and policy priorities;
  • Use of telematics (including specific applications), and the obstacles to their wider use;
  • Possible framework for future solutions;
  • Conclusions and Recommendations;
  • Case studies of telematics applications in use.


    • Studies were completed based on the authors' own desk research and personal interviews. Respective experts surveyed the environment and transport components for each country, and were selected and coordinated by the central Europe-based CAPE consortium partners. Authors were selected on the basis of the following criteria and in a competitive selection process:
     

  • Local government experience;
  • Knowledge of Telematics/IT issues;
  • Strong knowledge of the environment/transport field.


    • The CAPE project's Steering Group (an independent review body) confirmed their selection. All authors are listed in Annex 1, along with the coordinating CAPE partner.

    The resulting country reports were written in English during the period between October and December 1998. First drafts of the country reports were quality-controlled by the respective CAPE partners (see Annex 1) and further revised by national experts during early 1999.  An update of content and final language editing was completed by the report editor in July 1999.

    It has not always been possible to obtain comprehensive information on all aspects requested in the outline structure. Due to significant differences in economic and political development in the ten central and east European countries, the frameworks for the use of information and communication technologies varies considerably. Editing of the country reports was also dependent on the authors’ specific expertise and on the information sources available. As a result, some reports focus more than others on certain critical aspects of the given outline for each country/area.
     

    Report Structure

    Part One of this report summarises the results of the country chapters in the form of a Regional Overview. Part Two offers all ten country reports. Within the Overview, the Background section details the political and economic frameworks in central and east European countries, and outlines the structure of local and regional government and corresponding responsibilities. The environment and transport sectors, presented separately, summarise the data collected within the ten countries and is presented in the same format as the country reports to enable detailed examination of country-specific results. The Conclusions and Recommendations summarise the main issues raised in the Regional Overview for the environment and transport sectors.

    The Regional Overview was drafted during spring 1999 by the respective coordinating partners of the CAPE project, and elaborated, edited, and finalised by Jerome Simpson of the Regional Environmental Center during July 1999.

    Annex One includes a list of all contributing authors by sector, while Annex Two summarises in bullet-point/tabulated form country report data for each sector.  For the transport parts, additional information has been included in a second supplementary table, with answers to multiple-choice questions on the importance of various transport problems, the status of technology implementation and the preparedness for telematics uptake.
    Both environment and transport components of the survey were peer-reviewed by independent experts in the respective fields during spring/summer 1999.  Mr. Nick Hodges of Leicester City Council, Environment and Development reviewed the environment sectors, while Dr. John C. Miles, of Ankerbold International Ltd. reviewed the transport results.  Both surveys were warmly received and their content later approved during the CAPE Annual Project Review.

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    Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe

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