Dr. Dalit Naor, researcher of storage technologies, R&D laboratory, IBM in Haifa: "The solution to the problem: a new storage concept, 'information storage for generations' - a technology based on object storage systems, which uses open standards"
Yossi the Tony, DailyMaily system, people and computers
Dr. Dalit Naor, storage technology researcher, R&D lab, IBM in Haifa
Anyone who has ever tried to open a document, which was created in a word processor on a computer ten years ago, is well aware of the problem: accessing information stored in previous generations of software and in formats that were and are not - is a difficult task. Increasing amounts of digital information created and stored all over the world may become - within a few years - inaccessible. Therefore, the world of technology is looking for ways to understand and use this information, in an environment that will rely on software, systems and knowledge - different from those we are familiar with today.
Researchers at the IBM Research Laboratory in Haifa are partners in a pan-European project, funded by the "Sixth Framework Program for Research and Development of the European Community". The project is designed to develop means and ways to preserve heritage and cultural and scientific resources. The CASPAR project, English acronym for "preservation, access and retrieval of cultural, artistic and scientific knowledge", handles information related to cultural content of the countries of the European Community, scientific studies and contemporary art.
Advanced technologies in storage management
The project focuses on the implementation of the OAIS model - an open specification for archiving systems - which is currently accepted as an international standard for preserving digital information. CASPAR will develop components and an overall framework for presenting and preserving information, within a virtual storage framework, which are based on advanced technologies in the field of storage management, and using copyright management systems in a digital environment and full control over the presentation of the stored knowledge.
The researchers at the IBM research laboratory in Haifa are contributing to the new project a new storage concept, which has been named Preservation DataStore - "storage of information for generations". The technology is based on object storage systems, and uses open standards and especially OAIS, in order to offer a uniform storage interface for knowledge preservation environments. The information is packaged together with large amounts of metadata (that is, metadata), about the stored data, such as the context in which the content was created and stored, its formats and presentation methods - all in order to ensure long-term stability of all the information that will be required, in order to access the data and display them accurately - even hundreds of years after their storage.
Dr. Dalit Naor, a researcher in the field of storage technologies at the IBM research laboratory in Haifa, said that the Israeli team has already developed a driver in an open source environment, to handle object-oriented storage.
Dr. Yaron Wolfstal, director of the system reliability department at the research laboratory, and who is responsible for the activity in the field, told DailyMaily that "preserving digital information is becoming a key requirement in future storage systems, and the development of such systems - requires cooperation and innovation of the information producers, storage technology providers and research bodies. IBM is in an excellent starting position in this field, which allows it to provide storage systems, technologies and knowledge, which will help promote the CASPAR project in the field of storage technology and devices, as well as in the field of information management and data preservation."
In an interview with DailyMaily, Dr. Naor said that CASPAR is a special challenge, due to the wide variety of user communities and types of digital information, whose storage will be tested on the developed systems. "These user communities include the scientific world, performing arts and cultural heritage, each of which contributes large amounts of data of various types - which must be processed and stored, as well as various types of documents whose availability must also be ensured in the future."
According to Naor, "this great difference in the nature of the materials requires CASPAR to develop innovative and flexible techniques, which can be applied in a wide variety of ways." She stated that the project began in April 2006, and is expected to be completed at the end of the decade. According to her, together with IBM's research laboratories in Haifa, bodies such as UNESCO, the European Space Agency, universities from around Europe, and technological and business bodies are partners in the project. "The project will provide a comprehensive solution for preserving stored information over time. The R&D at IBM Haifa provides a storage solution, based on objects".
The problem of preserving information
According to Dr. Naor, "The idea is that today in the world there is a growing process of storing information of various types in digital format - scientific information, cultural information - movies, books, songs and musical performances. The world is moving towards digital storage of information." Rather, she said, "the danger is increasing, because it is easy to create something digital, but the chance that it will be possible to read it over the years - is a chance that tends to zero." Thus, she explained, the problem of preserving digital information arises.
The problem, she explained, has two aspects: a physical aspect - how to read bits of the same hardware, in a few years; And a logical aspect - "If I was able to read the bits, but I don't have the software with which I entered the stored information, because I lost it, then I am in a problem, as far as handling the stored information is concerned." According to her, "This is the painful problem, how to preserve the semantics of the information. This is the problem that more and more organizations and scientists are paying attention to, because it is a very complicated problem, and requires extensive international cooperation. Today - there is no good solution".
Thus, she said, the goal of the project is to build a working framework for a solution to the problem - "a working framework that is based on a standard for the preservation of information, which gives instructions and methods on how to preserve digital information". IBM's research and development laboratory in Haifa, she noted, is one of the partners who are supposed to provide a solution for one of the project's components - a storage solution. "The information preservation solution requires as much simplicity and standards in preservation as possible, along with as much information as possible about how to use it," she said, "so for example - if you saved a document in Word, make sure to also place word processing software in the version in which the content was saved, and an appropriate operating system next to it. This is so that in the future you will be able to understand the stored content in a standard and easy way as possible. Along with the information, a lot of metadata must be preserved, which will allow a reinterpretation of the information."
Published in the Daily Mail on 6/9/2006
A new development by IBM Laboratories allows the hearing impaired to receive messages from announcement systems via SMS
When hearing impaired people enter a site that operates the services of the new system - such as a train station or an airport - their mobile devices recognize this and display a series of message services available there
The DailyMaily system, people and computers
IBM's software labs in Great Britain announced yesterday (Thursday) that they have developed a new system that allows the hearing impaired to receive messages from announcement systems operating at the site where they are staying as a text message (SMS) to their cell phone. The system, developed by students specializing in IBM laboratories, was named LAMA - English acronym for "location-based notification system to improve accessibility". The system can send to the mobile device a wide variety of information, specific to the location where the user is. This information can be received in the format of text messages, images or vibration alerts of the device.
When hard of hearing people enter a site that operates LAMA services - such as a train station or an airport - their mobile devices recognize the system installed at that site and display a series of message services available there. After a short registration, the user can receive written notifications about messages delivered in the announcement system, which are immediately converted to his preferred format.
The system developed at IBM is particularly useful for the hard of hearing who, as mentioned, can use it to receive important messages such as security alerts, safety instructions and information they need on the site where they are staying, but LAMA can also be used to direct crowds at sports fields, and as a means of sales promotion in department stores.
The establishment of the IBM system is carried out through a simple combination of the hardware and software components of LAMA and the existing communication systems in the organization. Communication in the current generation of the system is carried out using the Bluetooth and GPRS standard, and can also be adapted to a WiFi and GSM environment. A first test of the system will be carried out in the coming months in Great Britain, and in the future it is expected that it will be possible to download the client software necessary to operate it to any cell phone, from the Internet.
Published in the Daily Mail on 15/9/06
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