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.