MTA SZTAKI - Department of Distributed Systems

Mission statement

Established in 1994, MTA SZTAKI DSD (Department of Distributed Systems) played a pioneering role in the introduction and application of the Internet and WWW technologies in Hungary. Since the mid-90s DSD has specialized in the research and development of distributed computer systems, applications and middleware including World Wide Web-based software systems, groupware applications and services, digital library and archive systems, digital art projects and mobile computing.

MTA SZTAKI DSD is also involved in large projects concerning usability and accessibility evaluation of websites, web-based services and mobile phones.

Facing today’s challenges regarding the load and diversity of information and content, DSD is actively involved in the research and development (methods, technologies, applications) of digital library services, which aim at ensuring usability, accessibility, scalability and long-term preservation.

Building upon the usage of the OAI (Open Archives Initiative) protocols, the department has significantly contributed to the promotion of sophisticated digital archive solutions in Hungary and has participated in the EU-funded DELOS NoE projects (Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries).

DSD has also implemented and conducted research in the architectural, functional and user interface aspects of group calendar/agenda applications, group based project management systems, workflow systems, meeting support systems, distributed whiteboards, discussion forums, voting, rating, annotation and collaborative filtering facilities.

Current activities of DSD involve the development of virtualization tools, middleware systems, including Grid- and P2P-based systems, semantic webservice architectures, platforms, methods and tools that enable context awareness, personalization and dynamic composition of services. It may support flexible business models, notably collaboration in the networked enterprise, as they provide platform-independent access and sharing of knowledge, processing, communication, storage and content. Furthermore, it may enable the definition and execution of tasks and workflows for collaboration and operation.

DSD has professional experiences with JAVA, CORBA, RDF, OWL, HTML, PHP and XML technologies.

A table summarizing the Department's technical expertise shown through related projects is available in PDF, JPG and PNG (the last two contains only the competence matrix).

Actual keywords of the Department

self-aware, pervasive system, pervasive adaptation, context-awareness, mobile application, collaborative knowledge technology, RDF, RDFS, OWL, LLD (Library Linked Data), LOD (Linked Open Data), vocabulary, SKOS, social computing, CSCW, groupware application, bio-inspired system, smart space, cloud computing, semantic web and semantic web service, ontology, distributed system, P2P, peer-to-peer, overlay networking, SOA, service oriented architecture, SLA, digital library, digital archive, Dublin core, metadata extraction, metadata registry, long-term preservation, proactive project management, web 2.0, rich application interface, AJAX, plagiarism, accessiblity, usability

On-going R&D projects

The Department of Distributed Systems (DSD) has been participating in the following EC funded and other projects as research and development partner:

• S-CUBE: European Network of Excellence in Software Services and Systems
• Nuance: Nuance-SZTAKI cooperation
• CrossMedia: ASP solution for advanced distributed event processing
• SZOTAR2.0: SZTAKI Dictionary 2.0
• KOPI-Trans: Translational plagiarism
• W3C-HU: World Wide Web Consortium Hungarian Office
• CHAOSTER: Context-aware collaboration platform for crisis/chaos management based on the concept of emergent interoperability
• MunkaPad: Integrated eScience platform based on LOD/LOS

Past projects

• DONAU: RICOH-SZTAKI collaboration
• BREIN: Business objective driven reliable and intelligent Grids for real business
• ILI: Intelligent Visitor Guidance
• MIK: MIK 3.1.2. Service and Application Development for Mobile systems
• T-ONE: Automatic Metadata Extraction and User Modeling in Web Portals
• ABILITIES: Application Bus for InteroperabiLITy In enlarged Europe SMEs
• DELOS NoE: DELOS Network of Excellence on Digital Libraries
• INFRAWEBS: Intelligent Framework for Generating Open (Adaptable) Development Platforms for Web-Service Enabled Applications Using Semantic Web Technologies, Distributed Decision Support Units and Multi-Agent-Systems
• ORG: National Cancer Registry GRID
• T-SOA: Transaction and Handling of Concurrence in Service Oriented Architectures
• GeneSyS: Generic Systems Supervision
• MOVOT: Modernization Of Electronic Voting Procedures
• EUTIST-AMI: European Take-Up of Essential Information Society Technologies
• StreamOnTheFly: Personalized Community Radio Program with Collaborative Filtering Agents and Bandwidth Sensitive Streaming
• PublicVoiceXML: VoiceXML Trial for an Open Source Reference Implementation
• Kaposvar: Demand Driven Information Tools for E-Administration
• HEKTAR: Applying open digital library recommandations to Hungarian electronic libraries.
• KOPI: KOPI Online Plagiarism Search and Information Portal
• PROMOCIO: Proactive Multimodal Collaboration and Monitoring Platform for Independent Organizations
• Cogitatio: Decision Support based on Argument Mapping
• Web4Groups: Transfer of Knowledge between Research, Education, Business and Public Administration through the World Wide Web
• DELOS NoE FP5: DELOS Network of Excellence
• DELOS: DELOS
• SELECT: Metadata Architecture for Rating, Filtering & Recommender Services
• CORES: A Forum on Shared Metadata Vocabularies
• AQUA: Advanced Query User Interface Architecture
• KNIXMAS: Knowledge Shared XPS-based Research Network Using Multi-Agent Systems
• VASIE: Value Added Software Information for Europe

DSD develops and maintains Web services and home pages

• DSD used to develop and maintain World Wide Web home pages and other interactive Web services for a wide variety of institutions, offices. DSD created several websites of the Prime Minister's Office, the site of the Hungarian Government and many others, and the portal of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
• DSD has developed and runs the most popular on-line dictionaries.

Scientific Conferences

• DSD organized ECDL2007: the 11th European Conference on Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries (16-21 Sep 2007)
• MTA SZTAKI with major DSD involvement organized WWW2003: The Twelfth International World Wide Web Conference (20-24 May 2003)
• DSD organized the EUTIST-AMI Workshop on Public Administration (27 May 2004)
• DSD organized the Open Archives, National Digital Archive, Ontologies (26 February 2004)
• DSD organized the EUTIST-AMI International Workshop (9 February 2004)
• DSD organized the Content and Information Infrastructure Workshop (2 October 2003)
• DSD hosted the DELOS Workshop on Evaluation of digital libraries: Testbeds, measurements, and metrics (6-7 June 2002)
• DSD hosted the CORES Schema Creation Registration Workshop (6-7 March 2003)

Other Activities

• DSD runs the W3C Hungarian Office.

MTA SZTAKI DSD, the Department of Distributed Systems was one of the very first professional groups that ignited the World Wide Web revolution in Hungary including the invention of the Hungarian terminologies of this area. Have a look at the significant steps of this history presented as a timeline (in Hungarian):