  The DISC project aims to (a) build an in-depth understanding of the
state-of-the-art in spoken language dialogue systems (SLDSs) and components
development and evaluation with the purpose of (b) developing a first best
practice methodology in the field. The methodology will be accompanied by (c) a
series of development and evaluation support tools. To the limited extent
possible within the duration of the project, the draft versions of the
methodology and the tools will be (d) tested by SLDS developers from industry
and research, and will be (e) packaged to best suit their needs. In the first
year of DISC, (a) has been accomplished, and (b) and (c) have started. A
proposal to complete the work proposed above by adding 12 months to the 18
months of the present project, has been submitted to Esprit Long-Term Research
in March 1998.
