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Christof Grossfurtner,email: grossfurtner@pressetext.a
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Vienna (pts001/04.05.2004/09:00) - Over the past weeks, seven project partners from six European countries have come together to begin work on an international news distribution system. The "intelligent NEws DIstribution Network" or NEDINE project, which was initiated by Vienna-based pressetext.europa, aims to develop a technology platform to encourage the exchange of editorial and commercial press information throughout Europe. The project has been allocated 1.45 million euros in funds and will run for 24 months. It is being subsidised by the European Commission as part of its eContent programme.
Pressetext.austria will act as coordinators for the project in cooperation with Vienna Technical University's distributed systems department. NEDINE will be the third time that pressetext.austria (http://www.pressetext.at) takes part in an EU project. It first worked with the European Union on an info 2000 project called "FIRM online" in 1998 and pressetext has been involved in "OmniPaper," which is due to present results at the end of the year, since 2002.
NEDINE aims to provide interested readers with portfolios of editorial and paid news coverage from across the continent tailored specifically to their needs. It should, at the same time, act as an attractive and inexpensive way to spread press information across national borders. The project's technical implementation makes use of modern technology and standards, as well as artificial intelligence techniques.
International cooperation as the key to success
The NEDINE consortium consists of pressetext.europa (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) and the new agencies CIA (Czech Republic) http://www.cianews.cz and SITA (Slovakia) http://www.sita.sk. It also plans to investigate and initiate further partnerships with other agencies across the European Union. Dr Franz Temmel, manager of pressetext.austria, said: "There's a great deal of demand for information exchanges within the EU and from and to the new member states in particular. Although capturing and serving these needs is certainly attractive from a financial perspective, it will only be possible through international cooperation."
Each of the partner agencies will compile contributions of local interest to readers, as well as feeding editorial news into the system. PR and Marketing experts (NewVicom, BRD, HeinrichPR, CH) will support them in this task.
Technical innovation in the news industry
The system's multilingualism is particularly important. Every user will be able to receive news and configure the system in his language. "NEDINE is a real challenge for us. The project will bring together a great number of information sources and consumers, working under vastly different systems and circumstances," explains Dr Markus Schranz, the project's technical head. "We want to create an efficient yet flexible system to satisfy editors, agencies and readers alike."
Experts from Vienna's Technical University (distributed systems department) http://www.infosys.tuwien.ac.at and Madrid Technical University (artificial intelligence) will work together with developers at the new agencies to implement these specifications. The latter will be particularly useful in providing tools to identify links between articles from different sources and avoid sending out duplicated news.
Outward communication
The project will be accompanied by a communication campaign, in the interest of the project and further internationalisation beyond the consortium. Interested parties can keep abreast of current developments online, in regular newsletters and at information events.
About pressetext.austria
Pressetext.austria is an internet-based news agency with affiliates in Switzerland (pressetext Schweiz) and Germany (pressetext.deutschland). The company is financed by paid transmissions of corporate information to more than 70,000 journalists and opinion leaders and the sale of editorial content. The company's portfolio, which serves both businesses and institutions, also includes custom-tailored editorial services, editorial systems and WebTV services.
About SITA
SITA Slovak News Agency is the only independent news agency in Slovakia. It publishes more than 400 news items a day covering all kind of interests and regions. Besides its own news, SITA is also active in media monitoring services that vary from simple news reviews to sophisticated tailor-made intranet applications. SITA publishes in Slovak, English and German language. SITA has its own audio-news service and prepares also photo-news service.
About CIA
Ceská informacní agentura (CIA) provides its customers - especially corporate ones - with a comprehensive information overview of major economic events in the Czech Republic in English, German, and Czech. It uses all information sources available as well as its own independent news service. The added value of CIA products is in the individual selection and professional processing of information required by clients. The basic product portfolio comprises news digests from major economic branches, own economic news, media monitoring, and media analyses.
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