12th World AIDS Conference
  
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...bridging the gap

             BRIDGING THE GAP WITH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

 
Hewlett-Packard, Inc.
Hewlett-Packard Company designs, manufactures and services electronic products and systems for measurement, computing and communication used by people in industry, business, engineering, science, medicine and education.

Hewlett-Packard   is the main provider of hardware for the 12th World AIDS Conference, supplying 250 desktop machines, monitors and printers.

Novell, Inc.
Novell defined the networking operating system marketplace, with close to 15 years of experience serving over 79 million users worldwide. Today, as the fifth largest software company in the world and the networking leader, Novell is bringing its knowledge and expertise to the intranet, providing you with the services you need to evolve your network into an intranet.

Novell, Inc.  provided the software for the email system  which serves each of the approximately 12,000 Delegates.

Alcatel, Inc.

Alcatel's Cables and Components sector, the worldwide leader in the field of telecom and energy cables, has the industrial strength to offer products and services that meet the growing needs of the infrastructure, industry and construction markets.  Its 1997 sales represented FF 48.4 billion.

Alcatel provided fibre-optic cables used for networking the vast array of on-site computers at Palexpo.

Iprolink, SA
Internet Prolink, a subsidiary of PSINet Inc., is one of Switzerland's leading Internet service providers offering an extensive selection of high quality Internet services for individuals, small business and corporations. 

Iprolink has provided Web and email access for the Conference and its Secretariat since 1995.

MCAD
m.c. art design communications, LLC is a  fast-growing American advertising firm  providing full range of strategic marketing and advertising design services. With local offices both in the United States and in Europe, MCAD specialises in communicating messages simply and effectively.

MCAD provided the design and maintenance of aids98.ch, the on-line news service of the 12th World AIDS Conference, as well as helped develop the Conference's early image and communications programme.

Note from the Chair

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND. 14 June, 1998.-- In our bid for the 12th World AIDS Conference back in 1994, we promised to make ‘unprecedented use of computers’ to bring Conference information to delegates and to the world at large.

More than four years later, we have fulfilled this promise:


· by making the Programme available on the Internet ahead of the Conference
· by including search engines and software to build individualised programmes (the Itinerary Builder)
· by equipping the Conference site with more than 250 computers;
· by creating an Internet-based message system with separate accounts for each participant that can also be used for E-mail
· by providing abstracts on CDs for easy search capability
· by offering an updated CD with Conference presentations
· and by putting many sessions available on the Internet within hours of presentation (the "Webcast").

On behalf of the Conference, I offer my commendations to the IT staff for a job well done. As a result of two years of inspired efforts of all involved, the 12th World AIDS Conference promises to be one of the largest and most technologically advanced international Conferences ever organised.

 
Bernard Hirschel
Conference Chair


Nine Servers, 17 km of Cable and a Coffee Maker
Geneva, SWITZERLAND. -- In a large bowl (100,000 square metres of space at Palexpo), place 250 computers. Add 17 kilometres of UTP network and fibre optic cable, 10 switches, 60 hubs, 10 live Internet cameras and 70 printers. Mix with 90 staff persons, more than 10,000 Delegates from all over the world. Season with 15,000 Internet mailboxes and stir very, very carefully.

Sound like a recipe for disaster? Not likely.

NO PLACE MORE APPROPRIATE
Switzerland's CERN Research Centre was the birthplace of the World Wide Web and its early development.  Palexpo is also the site for the upcoming Internet Society Meeting, which will make use of the services established the 12th World AIDS Conference.

Victor Gabriel, IT Chair and mastermind behind the IT services, describes local co-operation as the key ingredient to the success of the IT project: "We set out to accomplish a task which has not been attempted before, anywhere. With the help of the Canton de Genève, the University, and Switch, what was a dream two years ago is now very much a reality."

Internet Traffic Reports for those who really love it
The University of Geneva IT team programmed our switches and routers to generate live Internet traffic statistics.

Please also see our feature story from Friday, 3 July on the on-site and on-line communications services

 
Microsoft Corporation
Since its inception in 1975, Microsoft’s mission has been to create software for the personal computer that empowers and enriches people in the workplace, at school and at home. Microsoft products, available in more than 30 languages and sold in more than 50 countries, are available for most PCs, including Intel microprocessor- based computers and Apple computers.

Microsoft donated licenses for all of the software used by the 12th World AIDS Conference, from office applications to  server software.

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco products include routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software. These products, integrated by the Cisco IOS software, link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks.

Cisco supplied all of the active components of the network for the 12th World AIDS Conference, from routers to switches, allowing the Conference to have its Local Area Network (LAN).

AMP
AMP manufactures a vast range of interconnection products as measured by every applicable criterion, including size, complexity, application, bandwidth,  options, characteristics or technology. From the original stamped and formed brass and copper terminal product line we launched in 1941, AMP has grown into the world's leading manufacturer of interconnection products - today offering the most complete and diverse selection available anywhere.

AMP  provided cabling for networking the computers on-site for the 12th World AIDS Conference.

Internet Connection, SA
INTERNET Connection SA, one of the leading consulting companies in Geneva for Internet and networking technology, has been involved since the beginning in the preparation of the 12th World AIDS Conference.

Providing video, multimedia and networking support, as well as the Pre-Conference Online Video Magazine, INTERNET Connection SA has shown to be one of the main resources of the 12th World AIDS Conference for IT technology.

ABC Network
ABC Network  is a Geneva-based service firm specialising in data-processing and Internet services. Using state-of-the-art technologies, ABC Network helps create and disperse both images and information on the web.

ABC Network provided consulting services for networking, LAN services and Delegate services.


THE AIDS98 WEB TEAM
For further information, please contact info@mcartdesign.com


WEB EDITORIAL BOARD
Randy Schmieder, Web Editor
Christopher Park
Anne Vassal

SENIOR ADVISOR ON NORTH-SOUTH ISSUES
W.H. Lindner

SITE DESIGN & PRODUCTION
m.c. art design communications, LLC
http://www.mcart.org

IT SUPPORT

Victor Gabriel, (IT Chair)
Ricardo Machado

CONTENT
Produced in association with:
The Bridge, the official daily newspaper of the 12th World AIDS Conference
The 12th World AIDS Conference Geneva Secretariat
The Tribune de Genève

CONFERENCE WEEK PRODUCTION TEAM
Jonathan Eisenberg Programming, layout, crisis managing
Sarah Gray Assistant to Web Editor, Photographer and Image Editor
Tory Groman Live cameras, filming
Aparna Jaiya Proofreading
Pia Kohler Proofreading
Alfred Manuel Links, document tracking, layout
Christopher Parker Programming
Vanni Sanvincenti Links, reporting
Randy Schmieder Coordinator
Peter Wood Links, troubleshooting

 

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