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To view virtual universities as an extension of real universities and of distant learning Institutes, new concepts in the area of distributed systems and virtual universities are needed. Mobile agents satisfy many requirements of such a highly dynamic system. Originally, mobile agents were used as a workflow system for a virtual university. These autonomous entities must next generate dynamic workflows. Examining the behaviour of ants in different situations, some conclusions regarding the use of mobile agents can be drawn. This paper presents the new ideas of a joint research project and gives an overview of the problems that confront us.

This paper proposes a new paradigm to overcome many problems in the area of information technology involving communication between humans. The paradigm will be exemplified using the example of knowledge transfer within a company. The solution is not interaction between a user and a highly intelligent system, but communication between people, supported by intelligent systems. The paper's concept of the “knowledge broker” will clarify what the authors mean by man‐man communication. The basic idea of the knowledge broker is that of a hybrid man‐machine system that enables knowledge transfer within companies not only theoretically, but also in practice.

Two main areas of activity can be identified in the field of network security: the local area network and the common point between networks. Presents an overview of two projects concerning the above‐mentioned areas. While the first will concern security architectures based on active firewall components, the second presents a secure intranet solution. The combination of active firewall components with the DMZ concept can translate a security policy into reality and will result in a high level security firewall system. One of the most important security problems in an intranet is to ensure that every user has access only to the information which is relevant for his/her work. In our project this is solved using role‐dependent information access for each user.

The purpose of this paper is to describe new search methods based on semantic information structures to offer a personalised and interactive knowledge retrieval to the user.

A careful look on existing “knowledge management projects” leads to a proposed approach of a “knowledge broker network” where transfer of knowledge is based on communication between humans. To enhance the quality of search results a new search algorithm (“Search Assistance Algorithm (SAA)”) is described in a simplified manner.

The paper provides information on the knowledge broker network and shows the advantages of this concept especially of the automated part.

The paper shows the proposed approach has not formally being tested yet. Some pilot studies have been made and a study especially for the SAA is planned for the near future.

This approach has the potential to change the way of transfer of knowledge using a knowledge broker network based on knowledge management systems, which could be improved by our SAA in practice.

Using knowledge management systems in a “standard way” by feeding in information and using retrieval methods is not optimal for sharing knowledge between humans. To provide and update information is very cost‐intensive. Using “meta‐information” about “who is expert in which area” and bring information‐seeker and experts together could be the optimal method. This knowledge broker network helps to bring this idea into reality.

Atlantis University is an ambitious international project in the area of learning and is currently being developed by a group of universities and companies. It combines three different types of learning and teaching to form a single package offered to Students and people in the workplace alike: face‐to‐face learning, e‐learning and project‐based learning. The paper gives an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the different learning methodologies, and describes the new Atlantis approach. The first practical solutions Atlantis University has developed, namely the Virtual Classroom, ELAT learning environment and Project Service Center, are likewise briefly introduced.

During the dot com era the word “personalisation” was a hot buzzword. With the fall of the dot com companies the topic has lost momentum. As the killer application for UMTS has yet to be identified, the concept of multi‐dimensional‐personalisation (MDP) could be a candidate. Using this approach, a recommendation of online content, as well as offline events, can be offered to the user based on their known interests and current location. Instead of having to request this information, the new service concept would proactively provide the information and services – with the consequence that the right information or service could therefore be offered at the right place, at the right time. Following an overview of the literature, the paper proposes a new approach for MDP, and shows how it extends the existing implementations.