Germany

[DE] A Multimedia Pilot Project

IRIS 1995-4:1/5

Volker Kreutzer

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

During the summer of 1995 in Stuttgart it is planned to undertake a pilot project named "Baden-Wurttemberg Multimedia". 4000 households within the Stuttgart area will take part in this large scale test organised by the Ministry of Economics. The test area was chosen not only because of the representative population cross-section but also because it possesses one of the best cable network installations.

The test will cover both private and business needs. For private use it is planned to test, amongst others, video on demand, telelearning, teleshopping and also publisher information services. For the business field the project will look primarily at the use of video communication, teleworking and learning and educational programs. In addition, the project should also enable the organisers to make a quick assessment of the use of data banks.

It is also hoped to evaluate users' acceptance level of these new services. As this often depends whether the system is easy to use or not a man/ machine interface task force will be set up to study how the system can be made more user friendly. In two years time it is expected to extend the project to the whole of the Baden-Wurttemberg region. The aim is to turn Baden-Wurttemberg into an information region.

Currently, a similar project is also underway in Hamburg. This project, based on an initiative by the Chamber of Commerce, is co-ordinated by DiTV GmbH and Co. KG. The content is oriented towards private users and offers video on demand and teleshopping and also training and further education programs. It is also planned to link up with public sector organisations to provide counselling and other such services. This will also eventually lead to the planned "direct access citizens information system".