[1] Information services of the European Bioinformatics Institute

The scope of the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) is focused on providing better services to the scientific community. Technological advancements in the hardware area provide EBI with means of producing data much faster than before and with greater accuracy because there is now a better technical ability to produce more exhaustive searches through larger indices. Hand in hand with the technological developments, research and development work is continuing on better indexing systems and more efficient ways of establishing and maintaining the future databases. Building an efficient and friendly interface between the EBI and the user community is the basis for any future development. This aim is achieved by using the most modern server systems while continuously researching newer and better systems and interfaces. This task can never be complete without the involvement of the user community by providing feedback to any of EBI's services. A better bioinformatics community is a necessity for any future development of the biological research aiming at a better society.