Pilot project

Hosts: Anamarija Sorić, Vlado Pribolšan
Institution ABOUT

To enable information technology users to easily and simply network their office or home without the cost of purchasing corresponding software, CARNET has launched a project offering assistance in creating a computer-communication infrastructure for small and medium-sized offices.

The project tested and described free UNIX/LINUX software for communication (fax, internet access), network server software and tools (mail, web, ftp, ssh), and various user desktop programs. All areas of computer use in offices were covered, from word processing, spreadsheets, and financial software, to image editing and website creation programs. Client descriptions for accessing network services like ftp are also included. All described applications are free to use and available on the internet.

The project's products are recommendations and documentation for installing and configuring its tested software, an online portal, and a CD with recommended software and documentation. The main users are considered to be CARNET member institutions that need complete software equipment for their central offices and remote locations.

Host: Prof. Dr. Vladimir Gašparović
Institution School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Department of Internal Medicine

Information connectivity and collaboration among Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in the Republic of Croatia are prerequisites for improving their operations and for connecting expert medical opinions across the country to exchange experiences, jointly diagnose and select therapies, provide consultations, and collect data on the incidence of specific diagnoses. This project collected this data and published it online, enabling the comparison of domestic data with international data.

This project connects six clinical institutions in the city of Zagreb (KBC Zagreb, KB Sestre Milosrdnice, KB Dubrava, KB Jordanovac, KB for Infectious Diseases Fran Mihaljević) as well as OB Dubrovnik, OB Karlovac, OB Gospić, and OB Požega.

Collaboration between the listed institutions via the internet has enabled:

• development of an information system for documenting and tracking the work of Intensive Care Units accessible via the internet
• determining the frequency of admission for specific diseases in the Intensive Care Unit, the severity of events at the time of admission, treatment methods, survival, and data analysis
• determining the frequency of sepsis as a reason for admission to the Intensive Care Unit and the development of sepsis in Intensive Care Units and data analysis
• determining the possibilities for streamlining diagnostics, treatment, and reducing treatment costs
• comparison of collected data with world data
• joining the global Surviving Sepsis Campaign, whose intention is to reduce global mortality by 25 percent in the next 5 years.

Host: Prof. Dr. Sc. Hrvoje Gold
Institution Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Zagreb

Based on many years of experience in preparing and training pilots at the Pilot School of the Croatian Air Force Training Center and the Faculty of Transport Sciences, training content for the education of future pilots has been developed.

Aircraft operation requires the acquisition of a range of theoretical and practical knowledge in the fields of mechanics, electronics, meteorology, medicine, etc., as well as piloting skills. Therefore, in the preparation of future pilots, it is necessary to ensure continuous access to all necessary knowledge, and to adapt the method of presenting it to individual content. Declarative knowledge should be presented through lectures, textual and graphical representations, and simulations, while procedural knowledge and skills should be demonstrated using flight simulators, animations, and videos, in addition to lectures.

In the project, an interactive manual with exercises on the fundamentals of flight theory and aircraft control was created using distance learning information technologies, multimedia publications, and video on demand. This manual is constantly available on the internet through published websites. This way, future aeronautics students were introduced to basic concepts of flight theory and piloting, students could review and test their acquired knowledge before and during flight training, and the wider interested public became acquainted with the specifics of the (military) pilot profession. The results demonstrated the advantages offered by multimedia in creating online educational materials.

Host: Prof. Dr. Sc. Željko Metelko
Institution Vuk Vrhovac Institute, Zagreb

The objectives of this project were:

• Issuing a multimedia scientific encyclopedia on diabetes with a multimodal access index on CD-ROM and on the CARNET network, in Croatian and English.
• gathering data from world-renowned works published in books and journals, with integrated audio and video recordings, new graphics, animations, and color photographs.

Host: Dr. Sc. Ingeborg Barisic
Institution University Hospital for Children's Diseases, Zagreb

The project was launched with the aim of creating teaching materials that helped medical students master the subject of Fundamentals of Human Genetics more quickly and thoroughly. The teaching material also served professionals from other fields who use concepts from genetics in their work.

Among others, the following educational units were covered:

• Chromosomal disorders
• Multiple Malformation Syndromes
• Monogenic diseases
• multifactorial diseases
• diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive methods in human genetics.

Driverj: Dr. Renata Lokar-Kolbas
Institution University Hospital for Children's Diseases, Zagreb

The journal “Paediatria Croatica” publishes medical professional and scientific papers primarily in the pediatric specialty.

The project's goal was to start publishing a journal online, allowing for faster access to articles. Additionally, through email, communication between authors, editors, and other specialists in the field of pediatrics and medicine was accelerated.

Host: Prof. Dr. Sc. Dario Vretenar
Institution Faculty of Science, Department of Physics, Zagreb

The objectives of this project were:

• enable users diverse access to resources and collaborative computing through high-speed network access on the Center's established parallel and distributed system
• to build the necessary resources and protocols for connecting all computers within CARNET into a unified distributed computing system (MetaComputer).

Host: Manda Knežević
Institution Croatian Association of Paraplegics and Tetraplegics
Address: hupt.hr

The primary goal of the HUPT portal is to provide quality information from various fields to individuals with paraplegia and tetraplegia (information on exercising rights to orthopedic and other aids, achievements in rehabilitation, consultations with specialist doctors, regulations concerning individuals with para/tetraplegia, accessibility of public facilities, peer counseling, etc.).

Secondly, the project's aim was to intensify communication among people with para/tetraplegia and to encourage the dissemination of information on this issue.

Host: Ph.D. Ivan Slapničar
Institution Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split
Address: fesb.hr/mat1

The goal of this project was to create a website with materials for Mathematics 1 classes (lectures, examples, exercises, interactive tests), available online, while improving and facilitating the acquisition of extensive subject matter from Mathematics 1. In addition to the teaching materials, a written version was also created, available in electronic format (PostScript or PDF).

The project was implemented in 4 phases:

1. creating project web pages with sample lecture and exercise chapters (“Linear Algebra” and “Analytical Geometry”)
2. Publishing (HTML, PDF) of lectures and exercises from the chapters “Elements of Mathematics” and “Function Analysis”
3. publication (HTML, PDF) of lectures and exercises from the chapters “Sequences,” “Series,” “Sequences of Functions,” “Series of Functions,” and “Power Series Expansion of Functions.”
4. creation of interactive exercises for all chapters, a glossary, and a CD-ROM.

Host: Prof. Dr. Sc. Krunoslav Tomić
Institution University Hospital for Children's Diseases, Zagreb

The goal of the “Child Accident Prevention” project was to describe, in a simple, fast, and accessible way, situations in which a child may find themselves and from which an accident could result, and to warn in a timely manner about measures by which such a case can be avoided.

The project was intended for everyone who comes into contact with children and is directly responsible for their safety, from parents to teachers, coaches, and doctors.

Host: Jozo Ivanović
Institution Croatian State Archives, Zagreb
Address: zagreb.arhiv.hr

The project was initiated to create a multimedia representation of the Croatian State Archives and the Croatian Cinematheque using web technology on the internet.

Host: Sanda Starešina
Institution ABOUT

The Učilica project aimed to enhance regular curricula with a new interactive process that ensures didactic-methodological monitoring and evaluation of learned material, and enables teamwork among students.

During the project, an authentic Croatian product, CD Učilica, was created. It is an educational knowledge game designed for elementary school students, which, as a teaching aid, allows them to test their knowledge in an instructive and fun way. CD Učilica covers the entire school curriculum in accordance with the curriculum of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport.

By choosing a subject or teaching area, students can respond to current questions from the material they are covering in school at that time. In addition to individual application outside of class for self-assessment of knowledge, there is also the possibility for parents to indirectly monitor the child's mastery of teaching content.

This project also examined the possibility of using the Učilica in the regular educational process.

Host: Dr. Vlado Sruk, Ph.D.
Institution Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Zagreb

The purpose of this project was to establish a reference center for system-on-chip design, organize user support and training, exchange experiences in working with software packages, and test the effectiveness of remote work. The application possibilities were primarily examined on concrete experimental tasks, including their application in teaching.

Host: Dr. Deni Karelović
Institution Faculty of Medicine, University of Split
Address: kbsplit.hr/rak

The goal of this project was to develop a multimedia presentation on breast cancer, accessible online to both doctors and patients. The website provides information about the disease and its treatment, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

The project enabled patients to join the breast cancer patient club via email and to communicate with each other and with specialists whose advice they need (oncologist, gynecologist, psychologist, psychiatrist).

Host: Dr. Sc. Iskra Petković
Institution University Hospital for Children's Diseases, Zagreb

The goal of this project was to explain basic concepts of cytogenetics in a quick and simple way, with a special focus on the cytogenetics of malignant diseases.

The dictionary is intended for medical students, as teaching material and a handbook, and for professionals of various profiles who encounter cytogenetic terminology in their work and need a quick explanation of terms.

Host: Ana Holjevac-Tuković
Institution Croatian Remembrance and Documentation Centre of the Homeland War

The primary goal of the project was the protection and presentation of archival material from the Homeland War in video and digital records to the domestic and world public, as well as to cultural and scientific institutions, and for pedagogical purposes.

Project deliverables included:

Organized thematic units that address the issues of the Croatian War of Independence, or specific events and processes from that period of Croatian history.
2. Multimedia presentation of events from the Croatian War of Independence in schools and scientific and cultural institutions
3. Website where project results are available
4. Storing Homeland War content on DVD media for easier use in school lessons, as well as in lectures or exhibitions about the Homeland War in scientific and museum institutions.

The protection of video footage from the Homeland War has enabled the presentation of contemporary Croatian history to be based on authentic recordings.

Host: Dipl.-Ing. Mario Stipčević
Institution Ruđer Bošković Institute

The project's objective was to enable a unconditionally secure way of transmitting information over the internet by creating an easy-to-use computer program for sending email messages and documents via the internet, such that the transmitted data and the sender's identity would be secret to everyone except the recipient, even in situations where the sender and recipient do not possess a pre-arranged secret (key).
Project deliverables are:

• software package that implements a cryptographic protocol in an email agent;
• network random bit server using an Orion deterministic hardware generator;
• User interface created using CGI, HTML, FORMS, and JavaScript technologies.

Hosts: Vedran Škrnjug and Veljko Kukulj
Institution 32bita LLC.

This project envisages the realization of a “network kindergarten” with entertaining, educational, and interactive content for preschool children and first-grade elementary school students, with the aim of creating an educational environment that encourages children to express themselves creatively through multiple media and utilize computer technologies.

Host: Dario Odobašić
Institution Nikola Tesla Elementary School, Zagreb

Radio 5+ acted as a successor to journalism clubs at Nikola Tesla Elementary School starting in 1997. It gathered children attending classes at the main school as well as high school students, former students of the school. The goal of this project was to introduce the concept of internet radio, radio program creation, and the use of new technologies in processing and broadcasting audio recordings via the internet to school youth through practical work and research.

During the two-year collaboration between CARNET and Nikola Tesla Elementary School in Zagreb on the "School Radio 5+ Live on the Internet" project, new radio shows were broadcast and recorded daily. These shows were intended for students of this and other schools, as well as anyone interested, who could listen to the program via the school's website and the school radio. Seminars were held for students from other schools and presentations for teachers.

With this project, CARNET aimed to provide support to an educational institution that showed initiative in introducing modern information technologies into teaching and extracurricular activities.

Host: Dr. Sc. Goran Hudec
Institution Faculty of Textile Technology

Textile Technology Faculty students, under the professional guidance of Dr. Goran Hudec, went through the entire production process of a clothing item (knee-high socks), from product design, material procurement, production of a pilot run of products, to final product marketing, using internet technology.

The goal of the project itself was to demonstrate the use of the internet in branches not closely related to computer science, and to guide students in project-based work.

Host: Prof. Dr. Sc. Ivo Čikeš
Institution School of Medicine, Zagreb

The project's goal was to build a functional model of a system for remote verification and adjustment of pacemakers.

Host: Nenad Maljković
Institution Middle

The project was launched at the end of 2000, conceived as a competition for elementary and secondary school students and their teachers in creating educational websites. In 2001, it was implemented for the first time in Croatia. A total of 1586 students in 528 teams from all over the world participated in this international competition, and the Croatian team from III Gymnasium in Split placed among the top hundred.

Their work was on the topic “J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings,” and their success was reported by most daily newspapers.

CARNET was the national partner for ThinkQuest Inc. in Croatia.

Host: Edin Zvizdić
Institution Museum Documentation Centre, Zagreb
Address: mdc.hr

The Croatian Art Online project was implemented to:

• Devised and began work on the presentation of Croatian museum material on the internet.
• Initially, nine museums from six Croatian cities were included, with each being presented with exhibits of zero or “A” category.
• collected data, digitized and published online in a standard format
• employees of the covered museums were maximally involved in the project development
• Information service created on the Internet published on CD-ROM.

Host: Daria Mateljak Bartulin
Institution Government of the Republic of Croatia, Office for Communication, Zagreb
Address: vlada.hr

The Government of the Republic of Croatia's Office for Communication launched this project with the aim of:

• development of public online information services available to all internet users with information that the Government of the Republic of Croatia will make available to the public
• creation of a private network information service accessible only to authorized persons.  

This project established a multimedia laboratory at the Institute of Physics, a new reference point for the application and creation of multimedia content for teaching purposes, primarily in the field of physics, and indirectly for all other scientific disciplines and the entire Croatian academic community.
The following five sub-projects for the creation of multimedia materials for physics teaching were realized during the project:

• Spectroscopy in School;
• Magnetism – multimedia modules;
• Microscopy of materials and tissues via the Internet;
• Spheres within spheres - a popular science film in the making;
• Coherent and incoherent light sources.

Besides establishing a multimedia center as a place for professional support, an important output of this project is also the popularization of science through popular science lectures.