From SI Exco News

Dolphin Main Ideas and Design (draft)

Dolphin is currently at an “alpha” status, and is mainly a collection of ideas and concepts, even if some implementations have already be produced from Italy, and now some countries like India are willing to help.

Main Idea is that it must be as decentrated and flexible as we can have it, letting each country decide how it wants to handle their electronical data (ED). Hostlists can be printed from each system in a physical (paper book, PB) or electronical form (pdf) and detailed data can be exchanged if owning countries decide to do. Some of the applications are local which means do not need to be connected to web and internet while collecting, sorting, printing the data.

Dolphin sees the following possibilities:

1. Local Application, including excel, access or anything able to produce an intermediate format in a standardized format,

2. Dolphin/mini: Local Standardized application provided in Visual Basic (There is already a prototype from Italy),

3. Dolphin/medium: Web-Based Standardized applications in php/mysql that can be installed on various web provider to build up a network of databases each belonging to an individual Country or group of country, thus allowing for different and flexible handling of the data including adequate local juridical protection,

4. Whale: Whale can be possibly adapted to be a part of this network, providing it can handle and generate import/output flows and pdf versions of the list.

What are current already working strong points in Dolphin as implemented in Italy

1. Very rapid editing forms (it works very fast even with difficult internet connections),

2. Host list Editing of the data can be delegated to each individual Host, who can edit only their data. Some strategical data are still reserved to Servas Officers. Whenever a Host modifies her data an email is launched to proper Servas officer so to avoid inconsistent or improper data entered.

3. It has a connection with financial accounting, so that is is clear if and when host has paid her fees and which travels has done.

4. It has a connection with a live news site where Hosts and Travellers can build up a community.

What is currently missing or problematic in Whale

Why people have tried to think on different solutions from Whale? Here are some perceived heavy limitations from Whale:

1. It is monolitic: all the data are in a single place and handled by a unique country (currently Germany). Even if from a technological or juridical point of view this simplify and guarantees uniformity, but this might well be seen as power concentration and imposition.

2. Doesn't allow for local processing. Countries with difficult Internet Access would prefer using a local pc instead of being obliged to connect to expensive internet.

3. Doesn't allow for data federation. Some countries feel more confortable in having their own access policy and having master data under direct and local control,

4. Doesn't allow for customization. Even if in theory Whale programmers can implement any suggestions it is true that requests can be easily forgotten and adapted or compromised in such a way that they are unusable. Also the way data are currently entered in whale is felt quite complex by some countries.

5. It is unclear how to get a pdf version from countries who have their data in Whale. They normally rely on the judgement and policies of whale administrators who in the recent past did not cooperate with Servas International.

What is still missing in Dolphin

Being based on some Italian already working solutions, Dolphin modules are already alive and can be used by other countries, however, there is still something to be finalized before considering them properly completed:

1. Build up an efficient exchange/replication methodology to have data imported / exported from each node of the network and from/to local pcs.

2. Some simplified implementations should be refined and enhanced. For example currently each “Open Door” can refer to a person or a couple.

3. Finalize the current versions of Internationalized modules, which have been drafted