Challenges to Comprehension Implied by the Logo of Laetus in Praesens
Laetus in Praesens
18 October 2001

International Organization Information / Research: 2001

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Prepared for Union of International Associations (General Assembly, 20 October 2001)
Report covering the period since the General Assembly, 23-24 October 1998
See also searchable PDF version (original titles, sub-headings, order and typography); also reports 1959-2006
Document also in segmented format in the Kairos indexed database

Organization profiles / networks

Yearbook of International Organizations: Regular editing and publishing of the following editions, currently complete with the exception of Volume 5:

International Organization Bibliography and Resources (Volume 4, 6th edition).

Statistics, Visualizations and Patterns (Volume 5, 450 pages): out in December 2001. This volume is a major effort to recover and reconcile statistics from all past editions of the Yearbook (and statistical studies based on it in Transnational Associations) and to present them with appropriate graphs and other techniques. For this reason the UIA has allocated funds in excess of those provided by SAUR to scan, format and correct the data. Of particular importance is the fact that since the 1950s the statistical base has evolved with new categories of organizations requiring much effort to reconcile apparent inconsistencies. In addition to graphically representing tabular data, the publication will also include an extensive, and unique, range of images of networks of organization, problems and strategies.

World problems / Strategic potential

Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential: Work on the electronic version of some databases in this publication continued under contract, as described below. No paper version was foreseen, although tentative discussions continue.

Biographical profiles of leadership

Who's Who in International Organizations:

Meetings scheduled / Conference organization / Associate Membership

International Congress Calendar (quarterly): Work on this quarterly publication has continued in a regular manner. It is now in its 42nd year. An online version is now operational (see below). The statistics prepared from it annually, were presented for the first time with graphic and colour enhancement in 2001. This was welcomed by the Associate Members for whom this publication is exclusively prepared.

By-products / CD-ROM / Online

CD-ROM:

Online: The main UIA website has been extensively revised and redesigned – although much work remains to be done to unify the presentation and improve navigability.

In addition to the UIA's in-house network server, a distinction should be made between:

It is worth noting the understandable explosion in activity of international organizations on the Web.

Some 19,951 organizations now have websites. 21,762 have e-mail at their main offices, and 2,187 have e-mail at their regional offices. Of those having website, the evolution has been as follows:

Statistics on access to UIA websites are presented in Annex 1. The UIA dynamic site currently has over 25,000 registered users

With respect to the online databases on the dynamic server (at https://www.uia.org/data.htm):

User response from around the world to these facilities is satisfactory. UIA information services are widely indexed by web search engines.

Associations review / journal

Transnational Associations: This is the subject of separate reports by Paul Ghils on editorial issues, as well as by Joel Fischer on further electronic adaptation.

[NB: Versions of the UIA periodical: La Vie Internationale, 1912-21; Bulletin des associations internationals, 1943-44; Bulletin mensuel, 1951-53; International Associations, 1954-76; Transnational Associations, 1977-2001]

Research / Statistics

Documents: A number of documents were produced as the outcome of various projects:

NGO Security This specific theme has been developed by Allan Howard as a result of a Council decision as a follow up to the Bettati survey and report on NGO on hazardous missions. This work will be presented in a separate report. Essentially it has involved the following initiatives:

Other themes and papers: The UIA maintains a unique position in terms of documentary work and research on all organizational forms. It has not become caught in the definitional traps and category game-playing of "NGO", "third sector", "civil society", etc nor has its area of vision been restricted by specialized areas of trade associations, pressure groups, etc In this context it is appropriate to note the relevance of some of the research themes of recent UIA papers. These include questions of:

Some were prepared in response to events of the following:

The Info2000 media-focused contract has permitted significant breakthroughs in the visualization of relationship information offers the possibility of new products. An Atlas of International Relationships was discussed once again with SAUR – but effectively this is now incorporated into the new Volume 5 of the Yearbook.

In response to a call for proposals by InfoDev (World Bank): Challenges and Opportunities of the Networking Revolution (1990-2010), a study proposal in response to the call was prepared but only submitted for information purposes to demonstrate relevance to the INTERCEPT project awaiting funding. The study was subsequently developed and submitted as: Coherent Policymaking beyond the Information Barrier (in response to an invitation from the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development in prepartion for a workshop in San Francisco, December 1999) Under contract from the London School of Economics (through its Centre for Civil Society and Centre for the Study of Global Governance), the UIA prepared an extensive set of statistical tables that appeared in the new annual Global Civil Society report (2001).

In relation to the recent discovery by historians that Paul Otlet was one of the precursor thinkers who envisaged in 1935 what is now the World Wide Web, a paper was prepared on: Union of International Associations -- Virtual Organization: Paul Otlet's 100-year Hypertext Conundrum ? Many new research papers are now accessible on the UIA website (www.uia.org/uiadocs). Older papers, notably from Transnational Associations, are progressively being scanned to make them accessible on the web.

Articles in current issues of Transnational Associations are increasingly made available online.

Consideration is being given to scanning of UIA's historical (1910-1925) publications on civil society to permit web access.

Academic network: Notably in relation to the bibliographical work on Yearbook Vol, Joel Fischer has maintained and developed the (electronic) network of international relations scholars producing studies included therein.

This network also provides valuable leads for articles for publication in Transnational Associations E. Multimedia Developed initially under the Info2000 contract (1997-2000), as a means of increasing access to UIA online information by a wider variety of users, visualization and sound techniques have now been incorporated or are in process of development (see http://db.uia.org/scripts/sweb.dll/examples). Web users have access to these facilities.

Smaller versions of maps have been printed on T-shirts, postcards and other products to give visibility to the online facilities (https://www.uia.org/visuals). These were notably distributed on the occasion of the UN World Conference on Social Development (Geneva, 2000) Approximately 100 images created by this process will appear as pages in the new Yearbook Vol 5. (see Annex 6) 16 The experiments with sound also offer interesting possibilities both from a cognitive perspective and from a marketing perspective – permitting interaction with a new range of user.

Map posters: UIA has been able to solve some challenging technical problems of printing network maps generated through its dynamic web site -- and is now able to produce high-quality, poster-sized (or larger), multicolour maps of networks of problems, organizations or strategies for use in conferences. The UIA's capacity to do this is unique at this time.

These experiments suggest the possibility of a significant new kind of product for the UIA from which new revenue can be generated. They also have the possibility of being valuable, low-key, public relations and marketing tools. One great advantage is that many different network maps can be generated.

Knowledge management: A web summary of UIA's knowledge management work is available (at www.uia.org/uiaprof/posie3.htm) This has been matched to the current EU research programs on the information society (see Annex 5).

Archives A decision was made to reduce the UIA archive holdings of organizational descriptions that were occupying much space, were of relatively low value, and necessitated unjustified staff time. Unlike the previous culling, which was transferred to the Belgian Royal Archives some 10 years ago, on this occasion the selected files were trashed.

Future development strategy / Proposals / Fund-raising

Strategic issues: The long-term strategic issues were discussed in a report to an earlier Council meeting (Reflections on a Possible UIA Information Strategy). This forms part of a series of Secretariat notes since 1998, summarized in a document of May 2001: Dimensions of Current UIA Strategy. A visual presentation has also been prepared.

What follows is a checklist of issues for consideration:

Making these distinctions is itself a challenge to which reference is made in the American adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.". Despite its current success, UIA Secretariat operations remain fragile and vulnerable to inadvertent destabilization (as remarks on personnel indicate).

A particular concern is identifying which external parties should be considered as:

(a) competitors hostile to UIA aims and objectives
(b) competitors seeking to duplicate UIA core activities or deprive it of resources
(c) healthy competition where the UIA has adequate competitive advantage
(d) competitors taking on marginal UIA roles that the UIA might usefully consider abandoning
(e) complementary initiatives to be welcomed by the UIA, but not duplicating any of its programmes
(f) potential partners for new initiatives

Proposals:

Future publishing developments

Publishing / Marketing

Contractual relationships with SAUR: The UIA has had a mutually satisfactory relationship with its publisher K G Saur Verlag (Munich) since the early 1980s (see Annex 4). Klaus Saur remains intimately engaged and recognized by the international reference libraries (eg his relation to IFLA) and therefore continues to be a logical partner. SAUR was acquired by Reed Elsevier some 10 years ago. In November 2000 it was sold to Gale Research (Detroit), part of the Thomson Group. Gale has long been the publisher of a principal competitor of the UIA Yearbook of International Organizations in the USA, namely the Encyclopedia of Associations. However, such is the relationship between competing bodies in this market, there have been occasions in the past when Gale was distributing UIA publications for SAUR.

This major change gave rise to much discussion between SAUR and GALE and SAUR and UIA regarding the intentions of GALE and the probable treatment of the Yearbook as marketed with the GALE Encyclopedia. The following points should be noted:

Given the events of 11th September 2001, it is of course absolutely unclear what will be the effects on the global economy, on the US economy, on library budgets, and on purchase of European books by American libraries (a "loyalty factor"). Consequently it remains unclear what will be the situation for the UIA. According to a preliminary economic assessment issued in October 2001 by the World Bank, the terrorist attacks in the USA will negatively affect the already dim forecast of global economic growth for the next two years, and will severely impact upon the growth of developing countries worldwide.

Sales and marketing through SAUR/GALE: Reported sales levels have been maintained in a difficult market, possibly due to the web marketing effectively undertaken through the UIA static and dynamic pages on the web. SAUR is clearly impressed at the staying power of the Yearbook in particular, and of UIA publications in general.

As indicated above, these are exceptionally uncertain times and how sales will be affected by the combination of the foreseen recession and the GALE marketing strategy are a matter of concern for the coming period.

Internet marketing through UIA: The UIA staff has built up considerable in-house familiarity with internet marketing skills. These have yet to be applied systematically because of the need to implement facilities to make the online system as user friendly as possible and to handle a variety of users with different financial arrangements. Internet marketing represents a considerable advantage over conventional paper-based marketing in terms of cost and distribution – especially for markets thinly distributed worldwide.

A significant issue relating to marketing, given the size, complexity and scope of the UIA web site, has been the allocation of resources to its management, notably from a design and navigability perspective, especially the integration of the static and dynamic sites. Some resources have been allocated to this but much remains to be done.

The work on non-text media (see below) is expected to prove a fruitful form of interaction with a wider audience.

A discussion paper on the issues facing UIA was prepared by William Martin, a Scottish colleague with experience in this area, following his visit to the UIA. and presented to a recent Council meeting.

In response to the many opportunities of the web, the UIA has developed (partially in response to the subscriber needs suggested by SAUR) a range of user categories:

Users of both the UIA's static and dynamic web facility are located in every country of the world ensuring significant visibility of the UIA in ways that were not previously possible.

Web "launch": The UIA has committed to "launching" its website in one form or another. To date this has been done through various gradualist techniques. UIA web exposure is good considering the low level launch activities, with links to our site and resources from a wide range of constituencies – whether on the initiative of the responsible web managers or through prompting by Joel Fischer.

However much of the organization data on the web quickly becomes stale, either due to loss of funding or lack of initiative. Thus UIA does need to "promote" / launch when it is ready to do so in order to make its authoritative presence known and felt in the internet environment. "Start up's" in this area are able to garner attention / success because they promote widely and loudly.

Unsold copies: The pulping by SAUR of the unsold copies of the regular publications continues to be a source of regret. Two initiatives have been undertaken in this respect:

Statutory meetings / Membership

Technical facilities now exist within the UIA to enable a variety of formats of electronic meeting of UIA Full Members. They include:

The principal factors inhibiting such development in practice are:

Secretariat / Administration / Human resources

Office-related issues:

Working methods: Work on publications is increasingly undertaken with much greater reliance on:

These developments are partly in response to budgetary constraints, to the needs of individuals, or to the desire to benefit, or continue to benefit, from known expertise with UIA data and programs. It is expected that the UIA involvement with the Web will further change the balance and nature of secretariat operations.

In response to the electronic environment, UIA staff continues to achieve unusual breakthroughs using in-house tools and resources; support and purchase of such resources are undertaken frugally.

Much useful software can be obtained freely from the web. The electronic environment is causing rapid changes in the: internal modes of work; the way information flows to and from the UIA; as well as between personnel.

Personnel salaries remain a regular concern of staff; due both to the Belgian system in general and the high rate of tax. Staff are now acquiring skill sets (e.g. broader computing and internet specific) which would make them extremely attractive in the commercial sector. Additionally, non-Belgian staff are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to residency, taxation and social security (pension) issues.

UIA continues to face challenges of identifying qualified candidates for open positions, in the light of the above constraints. Additionally, while more continues to be achieved with less, there are 19 concerns about what elements might be lost as the Yearbook operation adjusts to a smaller staff, a larger share of information available through the internet, and increased electronic contact with organizations. The under-staffing situation tends to be severely aggravated by long-term illnesses of key personnel.

Under-staffing: Although considered to be characteristic of many nonprofit bodies, it is useful to recognize its nature in the case of the UIA:

Any assistance of Full Members in directly obtaining additional funds (as exemplified by the actions of James Wellesley-Wesley over the years), rather than recommending that the Secretariat take initiatives to obtain such funds, would therefore be much welcomed.

Computer-related infrastructure

In-house (database management, publication production, accounting, mailing): The extensive UIA computer system continues to give satisfactory service. Although there have been some serious system failures, these have not been unusual for such a system and downtime has been very limited -- thanks above all to the in-house maintenance skills of Joel Fischer as de facto system administrator. Vigilance is however required with regard to security-related issues and back-ups. It is important to recall the degree to which UIA database maintenance, publication production, accounting, marketing, mailings, e-mail, and web research are dependent on this system:

Dynamic server (user access to online databases): The independent server facility has been developed since 1999 and is now reasonably satisfactory, thanks especially to Tomás Fülöpp. The server has been the subject of continuing concern because of technical uncertainties (common to such development), the quality of the hardware and software, the frequent need for upgrades (often freely available on the web) as problems are discovered, back-ups in case of major failure, virus attacks, etc.

The first server has twice been replaced in terms of hardware, and once in terms of database software, in order to improve the quality of service.

The UIA is very fortunate in that the format of the data on its in-house server is identical with that for its dynamic server. However there are continuing concerns about how to maintain communication between the two systems (to ensure users have access to updated information) without increasing the risk of virus and attacks to which such systems are vulnerable on a daily basis.

Now that it may be queried 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – and through holidays – any failure in services has serious consequences for users and for the UIA. Unexplained failures have proved to be especially challenging.

External / Static server (unchanging pages) This facility has proved remarkably successful with an average of approximately 200,000 hits per day.

The UIA web and e-mail facilities survived the bankruptcy (in July-September 1999) of the Agora cooperative (of which the UIA was a founding member). The facility was taken over by XS4ALL (in turn taken over by KPN), and transferred to computers in Amsterdam -- all in a four month period.

Whilst service has been maintained throughout (not without moments of anxiety), there have been problematic technical and commercial issues (some to the UIA's advantage).

In September 2001 the shared 126k leased line from the Secretariat to this service provider was significantly upgraded to 256k UIA-reserved line for the following reasons:

Distance editing: The possibility of enabling people to update database entries from a distance, and even to maintain the system in some instances, continues to be a developmental challenge. Already the UIA has two editors operating at a distance; some system maintenance is also done from a distance. Improved facilities are envisaged to increase the options offered by this approach and to reduce the time wasted in reconciling work done at a distance with that done in-house. These technical developments open up possibilities with respect to a more flexible involvement of UIA staff and collaborators to bypass some of the difficulties associated with requiring the presence of personnel in Brussels.

Again an important feature of this challenge is that of security – but also of managing a network of knowledge workers who do not meet face-to-face (or only rarely).

[See Annexes in PDF format]

Annex 1 Statistics on access to UIA websites Annex 2 Info2000 project Annex 3 Association Forum (Congrex) Annex 4 Historical review of UIA collaboration with SAUR Annex 5 UIA Strategic Match with IST Fifth Framework Programme Annex 6 Selected images from Yearbook Vol 5 2

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