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This article presents the vision `A Concept and System Architecture for IT-Based Lifelong Learning'. The paper as a whole summarises the results of a project funded by the Ministry of Industrial Development of Sabah, Malaysia. The goal of the project was to develop a concept for IT-based Lifelong Learning including a case study based on a specific curriculum and considerations about potential business opportunities. Within the project experienced international researchers in the area of IT-based learning and training worked together in two preparation workshops and a final workshop about `IT-Based Lifelong Learning Systems' in Sabah, Malaysia, in March, 1997. The paper is based on the experiences of the authors from the International Network of Institutes for Computer Graphics (INI-GraphicsNet 2 ) in several R&D projects and has been reviewed, refined and revised by a group of local experts as well as several well renowned international experts and local/regional experts ( Appendix A ). The editors of the vision paper are J. L. Encarnacao, M. Mengel and P. R. Bono. Section 1 presents first the motivation of the paper, then international trends and the vision of an IT-based learning infrastructure integrating all parts of the society. The resulting goal, advising on how to go forward into the direction of the named vision, finalizes the Introduction. Section 2 discusses the various roles of an IT-based learning environment and identifies user needs and requirements. Section 3 proposes concepts for, and an architecture of, a learning system for IT-based lifelong learning. Section 4 focuses on the Technical Implementation of the proposed system architecture. A generic approach for IT-based lifelong learning based on a conceptual system architecture is presented. This approach distinguishes between the services and environment of such a system. Firstly, the services offered by the system are described in more detail. These services include data management, cooperation and security services that are role- and activity-independent and have to be adapted to the underlying technical resources. Then the environments, including authoring, delivery and administration environments realizing a specific functionality for a specific user role and activity, are presented. The section is completed by addressing issues for a concrete implementation including implementation guidelines and assessment criteria and an implementation strategy to reduce the technological risk is suggested. Section 5 describes a case study which will be initiated cooperatively by leading experts from the fields of visualization, multimedia, interaction and communication. This case study provides a narrow vertical section through the layers of the approach to lifelong learning both to demonstrate its effectiveness and to permit the evaluation of its efficiency. Section 6 outlines a plan for the realization of the project as a whole. A glossary and bibliography complete the main part of the paper. In Appendix B (Recommendations), Appendix C (Project References), and Appendix D (Open Issues), are presented.

The number of facilities across the country "implementing" some "flavor" of the SIGGRAPH/GSPC Core System "strawman standard" ["Status Report of the Graphic Standards Planning Committee of ACM/SIGGRAPH", Computer Graphics, Vol. II, Number 3, Fall 1977] has reached approximately fifteen. To keep the graphics community informed about the reception and usage of the Core System, we have collected descriptions of the status of each facility, as reproduced here. An Implementor's Forum will occur in November '78, which we hope will provide both significant interfacility communication and some concensus among implementors on such topics as FORTRAN '77 compatible calling sequences for Core System routines, the structure of intermediate (neutral, pseudo-, etc.) display files, and techniques and algorithms for viewing, clipping, picking, and echoing.

Several members of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Technical Committee X3H3 on Computer Graphics will present current issues of the standardization effort. The focus of the discussion will be the technical content of these issues. The purpose of the panel discussion is to encourage technical dialogue between X3H3 participants and interested parties outside of X3H3. To that end, the presentations will describe major areas of concern, avenues of attack, and proposed solutions.

Two status reports will be presented. The first report describes the activities of Working Group 2 (Computer Graphics) of the International Standards Organization Subcommittee on Programming Languages (ISO TC97/SC5/WG2). Actions taken in recent WG2 meetings in October, 1979, and June, 1980, will be covered. Significant proposals being examined by WG2 include GKS, a German-designed 2D graphics package derived from the SIGGRAPH GSPC Core System proposals, and Videotex, a Canadian-designed protocol text communication that includes geometrically coded picture images. The second status report describes the recent activities of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Technical Committee X3H3, Computer Graphics. This includes the committee status, international activities, key technical issues, and future plans.

This panel session is intended to present recent technical developments in the efforts to standardize computer graphics. Several alternative approaches to 3-D standards will be presented and contrasted. The Virtual Device Metafile will be presented, as well as a proposed binding of the GKS standard to Fortran. Presentations will be made by the following individuals: Dr. Peter Bono is the chairman of the ANSI X3H3 technical committee developing standards for Computer Graphics Programming Languages, and will present the current status of the effort to adopt 2-D GKS as an International Standard and as an American National Standard. Tom Wright will be available to respond to questions about the Programmer's Minimal Interface to Graphics (PMIG) proposal, and its current status as a new output level of the draft proposed American National Standard (dpANS) GKS. Mark Skall will present a proposed binding of GKS to the Fortran Language. Mr. Skall will also discuss progress in the field of formal specification of graphics standards and developments in the establishment of conformance/certification procedures for implementations of GKS. Theodore Reed will present the technical content of the Virtual Device Metafile (VDM) draft proposed American National Standard. Discussed will be the relationship of the VDM to GKS and to the yet to be proposed Virtual Device Interface. Specific functionality of the VDM will be discussed as will specific bindings of that functionality as a character set extension and as a binary format. David Shuey will present an overview of the Programmer's Hierarchical Interface to Graphics (PHIGS) proposal. The PHIGS proposal is intended to support hierarchical structuring of graphics data, in contrast to the Core System and GKS proposals. This type of structure addresses highly interactive graphics applications which need to modify the presentation and the relationships within graphics data. Richard Ehlers will present the attribute model of the PHIGS proposal and explore the relationship of attribute model to structured graphics data bases. Also, Mr. Ehlers will discuss the viewing and transformation implications of structured graphics data bases using examples. Gunter Enderle is a member of the West German delegation to the International Standards Organization (ISO) Working Group on Computer Graphics. Herr Enderle will be discussing ISO proposals for the extension of the GKS standard from 2-D to 3-D functionality. Several such proposals have been made, including one by DIN (the official standards making body of the German Federal Republic) and a Norwegian proposal called IDIGS. Elaine Sonderegger was a member of the ACM SIGGRAPH Graphics Standards Planning Committee, and is the ACM SIGGRAPH representative to ANSI X3H3. Ms. Sonderegger will contrast the 3-D functionality of the Core System, IDIGS, DIN proposed 3-D extensions, and PHIGS.