This volume results from a meeting that was held in Barcelona, Spain,
April 1993, under the auspices of the DELTA programme of the European
Commission. DELTA (Developing European Learning through Technological
Advance) is the commission's technology R&D programme that concentrates
on "Telematic Systems for Flexible and Distance Learning". The
overarching goal of this programme is to contribute through information
technology to more efficient and effective design, production, and
delivery of learning material. The DELTA programme started its main
phase in 1992 with a total of 22 projects and a total budget of 92. 4
million ECU. In the meanwhile an extension of the programme has resulted
in 8 extensions of existing projects and 8 new projects, bringing the
number of projects to 30, with a corresponding total budget of 99. 9
million ECU. The programme has three main areas: telecommunication,
delivery information systems, and design and production. In the
projects, in total 201 organisations (industrial, commercial, and
universities) from 12 European Union member states and 5 EFTA countries
are represented. The DELTA programme pays much attention to the exchange
of ideas and dissemination of information both between individual DELTA
projects and between DELTA projects and other initiatives in the EU.
Meetings in which DELTA projects are involved are held several times a
year as so-called 'concertation meetings', meetings where also non-DELTA
projects participate are called 'concerted actions'.