Minutes of the Council Meeting

5 - 6 March 1997, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

CONTENTS

1. ACTION LIST C 97

2. ATTENDANCE LIST C 97

3. COUNCIL MEETING
3.1 Call Meeting to Order
3.2 Approval of Agenda
3.3 Approval of Minutes, Canberra C 96
3.4 President's Report
3.5 Secretary's Report
3.6 Executive Board Meeting Report
3.7 Telecommunications Project
3.8 Strategic Planning
3.9 Multiple Membership
3.10 Harmonization of Professional Qualifications
3.11 Congresses
3.12 Treasurer's Report
3.13 Technical Assembly
3.14 Activity Management Board
3.15 Technical Committees
3.16 Committee Reports
3.17 Future Meetings
3.18 Closing of Meeting

1. ACTION LIST C 97

IFIP Council , 5-6 March 1997, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

2. ATTENDANCE LIST C 97

Council Members Present

TC Chairs Present

IFIP Officers Present

Observers Present

IFIP Secretariat

P. Nedkov, IFIP-UNESCO Liaison and CO
D. Hayden

Apologies from Council Members

Apologies from TC Chairs

Regrets from P. Bobillier, M. Bullen, M.L. Goyal, C. Gergely, M. Hammond, M.S. Masduki, J. Navez, E. Neuhold, R. Tanaka

3. COUNCIL MEETING

IFIP Council, 5-6 March 1997, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

The President opened the Council Meeting by welcoming all participants and wishing them successful deliberations and a pleasant stay in Bratislava. He conveyed IFIP's warm appreciation and grateful thanks for the local organization and generous hospitality arrangements to Mr. Igor Privara, President of the Slovak Society for Computer Science (SSCS) and to Mr. Branislav Rovan, Vice President of SSCS. Mr. Bauknecht introduced Mr. Stefan Condic, President of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic and a member of the Slovak Government, who accepted the invitation to attend the Opening session of the IFIP Council Meeting.

Mr. S. Condic was delighted to address Council on behalf of the Government and the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. He stressed the importance which Slovakia attaches to IT and encouraged the SSCS to be an active Member of IFIP. Mr. Condic was also happy to note that the IFIP Council meeting has received very good coverage in the Slovakian press.

Mr. I. Privara welcomed all participants on behalf of the Board of SSCS. He expressed his warm thanks to Mr. Rovan and the IFIP Secretariat for assisting the preparations and organization of the Bratislava Council meeting and gave an overview of the activities of SSCS.

The President thanked Mr. Privara for this introduction and mentioned he was impressed by the activities of SSCS. He then introduced the newcomers to an IFIP Council Meeting:

Mr. G. Ausiello, TC 1 Chair
Mr. B. Samways, TC 3 Chair

and the following observers:

Mr. R. Aiken, to succeed Mr. Funk as GA representative of the USA
T. Miura, GA representative of Japan
H. Sakai, Japan
K. Tabata, Japan

The Secretary announced Council attendance and apologies for absence (please refer to the attendance list). Mr. Morris advised that proxies are not allowed for IFIP Council meetings and that the Council in Bratislava meets the quorum and can proceed with its deliberations.

Council unanimously ADOPTED the Agenda.

Council unanimously APPROVED the Minutes of the September 96 Council meeting in Canberra, Australia.

The Secretary requested Council members and TC Chairs to check the GA 96 Action List and to follow-up on any outstanding items.

The President reported that since the last GA meeting in Canberra he had been directly involved in a variety of IFIP activities with positive developments, including further improvement in event management, good sales performance of Chapman & Hall books and overall healthy IFIP financial performance and result. More detailed information will be provided in the course of the Council meetings.

Since GA 96, Messrs. Ausiello, Samways and Laprie, chairs of TC 1, TC 3 and TC 10, had stepped into office. There is a noticeable increase in the percentage of events of which IFIP is a full sponsor. Preparations for Congress 98 are developing very well and the President is also aware of good progress in the preparations for several other major IFIP Conferences such as IFIPSEC 97 and INTERACT 97.

Mr. Bauknecht pointed out that there is an increased interest in IFIP activities which is facilitated by the growing communications capacity of the IFIP Secretariat. Since GA 96, there are new GA representatives from Japan (Mr. T. Miura), Denmark (Mr. P. Bollerslev), France (Mr. G. Doumeingts), the Netherlands (Mr. A. Melief) and Tunisia (Mr. N. Chemam).

The President attended the September 96 GA meeting of ICSU in Washington D.C. and the December 96 UNESCO-IIP meeting in Paris. Some optimism followed the President's participation in the ICSU meeting as he had successfully removed misunderstandings about IFIP's work in theoretical computer science. An ICSU representative was invited to GA 97 in Brazil and a working party of two from each side would be formed. Mr. Bauknecht will consult Mr. Brauer and the relevant TC Chairs.

The President convened two meetings of the Telecommunications Project Steering Committee in October 96 and February 97 at the IFIP Secretariat in Laxenburg.

Mr. G. Morris drew attention to the IFIP membership status and recalled that the period for Belarus to satisfy the membership requirement of paying dues was extended by GA 96 in view of financial difficulties. Formally Belarus will become an IFIP Full member when the first dues payment is made. Armenia, Brazil and the Russian Federation have lost their voting rights as they have outstanding dues from 1996. Albania, Greece, Ireland, Nigeria and Tunisia are in suspension as they have outstanding dues from 1995 onwards. No society faces potential expulsion with outstanding dues for more than 3 years. The Secretary is pleased to report that New Zealand is considering to apply for re-admission as Full Member.

Mr. Reis reported that the Brazilian National Science Foundation is responsible for the payment of dues on behalf of the Brazilian Computer Society. The person responsible for dues payments had left and it has taken a long time for a substitute. Fortunately, the problem is solved and the outstanding dues of Brazil will be paid soon after the Bratislava Council meeting.

Mr. Morris was pleased to report that the IFIP Secretariat is in a good state and deals efficiently with the wide range of duties which fall upon it. There has been a speedy production and distribution of documents including the Minutes of Meetings, the Information Bulletin and the Statutes and Bylaws which are also available on-line. The standing Orders (including the supplements) are currently under revision. Hopefully, they will be ready for EB approval in September 97 and consequently will be printed as a set.

Mr. Funk was pleased to convey to Council the grateful thanks of the Chair of the Focus Board of Directors for the efficiency and responsiveness of the IFIP Secretariat. The President concurred on behalf of EB.

Finally, the Secretary drew attention that during GA 97 there will be a serious change in the top management layer of IFIP with the election of a president -elect, two, or even three, vice-presidents and up to six trustees. Mr. Fairall had announced his resignation as Vice-President and Mr. Funk will be retiring. As a neutral, non-voting Secretary Mr. Morris encouraged all Council members to give careful consideration to this matter and to respond positively to the invitations of the nominations committees.

The President informed that EB met prior to the Council meeting on March 2^nd, 1997 and discussed a variety of matters which broadly correspond to those included in the Council Agenda. Mr. Glasson queried whether it would be possible to distribute the EB Agenda (which was done immediately).

The Secretary informed that the various issues will be discussed under the specific agenda items, however, he wished to single out 3 items:

1. Membership
   EB discussed who should be responsible for recruiting new IFIP Members. Messrs. Fairall and Khakhar had volunteered to explore how to address the issue and which IFIP body should be charged with identifying appropriate, realistic candidates and pursuing their membership.
2. Congresses
   The related contracts for WCC 98 were signed in Bratislava. The President will announce the appointments of the IPC and OC chairs of Congress 2000 in the course of the Bratislava Council meeting. With respect to frequency, the discussion showed a variety of views and the President will seek the advice of Council before putting a recommendation to GA 97.
3. Term of office of a GA representative
   EB sympathized with Mr. Rosenfeld's argument that "there were too many GA representatives who came and went and were never heard" which calls for some consideration with regard to the length of office of a GA representative. EB felt that the choice of a GA representative was for the Member alone. However, it was felt that there could be value in an appointment for a fixed 5 year term and renewable as it would give the opportunity to raise any problems with Members.

Mr. Goldsworthy thought that Council should discuss the issue before proceeding with any recommendation to GA.

Messrs. Johnson and Goldsworthy and Ms. Glenn expressed their unhappiness if IFIP should attempt to impose on its Members to review the activities of their representatives. As a voluntary association, IFIP should attempt to seek ways for maintaining closer relations and communications rather then imposing a structure which creates problems.

Mr. Glasson queried whether a statement of expectations from a GA representative should not be produced and Mr. Morris responded that there is a Job Charter for GA representatives.

Mr. von Solms made a parallel between the suggested 5 year term and the existing 3 year term for TC representatives and argued that there should not be a discrimination in the second case. Mr. Spaniol referred to some problems related to TC membership and the fact that it is often difficult to dismiss inactive members. A major problem is that interaction within different member societies varies greatly. In all cases, statistics should be produced per country. Mr. Rosenfeld wondered why some representatives are maintained since they do not contribute to the liaison between IFIP and their societies.

The President called for a straw vote so as to determine Council's opinion on whether it is advisable to proceed with a recommendation to GA for a renewable 5 year term of office of IFIP GA representatives.

(The majority of Council members and TC Chairs were against such a recommendation).

The President noted Council's RECOMMENDATION not to change the existing practice with respect to this issue.

Mr. P. Nedkov drew attention to his report and recalled that during the TA meeting Mr. Quirchmayr, a member of the project Steering Committee, was invited to make a presentation.

The project work is progressing successfully in the following areas:

• development of a database environment for supporting the administration of IFIP's Secretariat
• support of IFIP's internal and external communication by means of a secure document distribution infrastructure

including:

• event management , including publications;
• development of the software necessary for feeding IFIP's Internet pages;
• development of the infrastructure necessary to support IFIP's internal communication;
• support of remote member organizations, technical committees and working groups;
• development and installation of a fax-on-demand solution to allow for requesting html/ftp documents;
• e-mail over fax distribution of information.

The following results are in place:

• the IFIP Address and Event Databases (incl. Publication) are in operation;
• mail servers are established for GA, Council, EB, IFIP Member Societies, Publications Committee, Activity Management Board, IFIP Member Society Editors and the Project Steering Committee. Access to mail servers of several technical committees and working groups is achieved;
• the IFIP URL is considered by many as a model for an international organization.
• contacts are established with CIE to carry-out an acceptance test for receiving html/ftp documents over facsimile, which will be enlarged and the final installation made;
• the documentation of the results is in progress and will be freely available after the project is terminated.

A Multi-Technology Electronic Conferencing system is also being currently investigated.

Mr. Nedkov recalled that the following list servers are available:

He reminded that these are intended to facilitate IFIP's internal communications as per specific lists. A redundancy in nonspecific information exchange will decrease their value.

Mr. Johnson suggested it would be useful to establish an ID for president@ifip.or.at and also for publications@ifip.or.at

Mr. A. Goldsworthy drew attention to his paper and recalled that the results of the brainstorming sessions in Canberra are recorded in Annex 1 to the Minutes of GA '96. In Canberra, it was agreed that Council 97 will progress the exercise on the basis of a background paper which he was requested to prepare.

He believed that Vision 1 (IFIP being the most desirable, global body for all [national] computer societies) should be pursued. It encapsulates the other visions. If IFIP is seen in that light, this will present a very strong argument for incorporating Vision 2 (the most desirable structure for international working groups) and Vision 4 (an international bridge between science - research - development- production - marketing - selling). He does not support Vision 3 (the leading international conference organizer) as there are so many conference organizers, both nationally and internationally. Vision 5 (being recognized as the pre-eminent international body for IT issues) is a very ambitious one, but probably flows from achieving Vision 1.

The President reminded that strategic planning is an ongoing activity, however, there are time limits and Council should concentrate on Vision 1 in order to come up with some definite results for the GA meeting in Brazil.

Mr. Johnson suggested that Council should start with a set of actions under Vision 1. IFIP should explain the benefits of IFIP membership.

Mr. Goldsworthy considered that it would be important for the President to write to IFIP Members and request them to identify the three most important needs of member societies that could be satisfied by IFIP. The mere fact of asking member societies to identify the three needs which they would like IFIP to satisfy would be a very salutary exercise in itself and would assist in formulating objective 1. Other objectives could be defined as follows:

• ensure we have a range of internationally recognized technical bodies to address the most important and leading edge issues in IT;
• develop and conduct a range of conferences that are seen as leading edge in their specific field;
• establish IFIP as a leading source of IT publications worldwide.

Mr. Doumeingts suggested that objectives 3 and 4 are combined and Mr. Glasson added that they are complementary parts of the process of production and dissemination of information.

Messrs. von Solms, Nedkov and Glasson cautioned that objective 1 could be confusing as it might be interpreted in the sense that IFIP does not have its own agenda. IFIP should be proactive by stressing the several principal things it intends to do. Mr. Guy believed that GA representatives are the ones to promote the needs of their societies within IFIP. IFIP's role would be to draw an action plan.

/A brainstorming session was organized under this agenda item with the purpose of identifying the major stakeholders in IFIP activities and the primary objectives which would assist in achieving Vision 1. With respect to stakeholders and objectives, a broad variety of opinions were expressed. Despite the medley of opinions, there was full consensus that the primary objective for IFIP is to satisfy the needs of its member societies/.

Following the brainstorming session, Council AGREED to the following objectives and Action Plan:

1. Identify the three most important needs of member societies that should be satisfied by IFIP.
   Action: The IFIP President will write to member societies.
2. Ensure that within IFIP there are internationally recognized technical bodies to address the most important and leading edge issues in IT.
   Action: A working group (Messrs. Brauer, Glasson, Guy and Spaniol) will develop a proposal.
3. Develop and conduct a range of conferences that are seen as leading edge in their specific field and establish IFIP as a leading source of IT publications worldwide.
   Action: A working group (Messrs. Bollerslev, Guy, Johnson and von Solms) will develop a proposal.

It was further agreed that deadline for the two working groups to develop proposals how IFIP should satisfy these objectives and to present them to Mr. Goldsworthy is set for 4 weeks after the Council meeting. On the basis of these proposals, the President, assisted by Mr. Goldsworthy, will write to IFIP member societies to invite their input to the strategic planning. Not later than 2 months before GA 97, the proposals of the two working groups should be made available on-line.

Mr. G. Morris recalled the President's luncheon in Canberra and the ensuing discussion with member society presidents who had attended it. As a follow-up, the President had written to member society presidents and a paper on the subject, prepared by the Secretary, was circulated to their GA representatives. 16 responses were received and a paper was prepared and circulated to Council prior to the Bratislava meetings.

The Secretary informed that EB had reviewed the results of the consultations with Members and the general view was not to recommend major changes but to proceed carefully and slowly with the issue. At this point it is probably most useful for IFIP Members to become familiarized and to capitalize on the opportunity for multiple membership of TCs. This possibility should be explained to Members and they should be positively encouraged to seek the appointment to TCs of representatives from other national societies. Apart from that, EB felt that IFIP should strictly follow the principle of one Member per country. Our Members could be encouraged to establish formal or informal relationship with other societies to their mutual benefit.

Mr. Rosenfeld recalled some of the problems that IFIP federated members have, FESI being one of them. Mr. Goldsworthy expressed concern about any encouragement related to this issue. Mr. Johnson thought it wise to drop the issue altogether. If need be, it could be raised again in future.

In the light of the discussion and the fact that the majority of Council attendees were against multiple membership, the President concluded that Council's RECOMMENDATION is to drop the issue.

Mr. Brauer advised that it is a matter of politeness to inform IFIP Full Members of this discussion. Mr. Morris will write to IFIP member societies thanking those who contributed and reminding of the multiple membership of TCs.

Ms. P. Glenn, chair of the Task Force on the Harmonization and Acceptance of International Standards for IT Professionals, reported that the task force currently consists of 25 members.

Following GA 96, the President had written to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Standardization Organization (ISO) informing them of the IFIP initiative in this area and consulting them on the possibility of cooperation in developing qualification requirements. A response was received and on the way to Bratislava Ms. Glenn visited Geneva to meet with representatives of the two organizations. WTO is not a standard setting institution but would pursue work related to standards with respect to trade practices. ISO is a rigid standard setter. Both would be interested in cooperating with IFIP and as a first step a proposal on the side of IFIP would be expected.

Messrs. Goldsworthy, Morris, and Johnson advised that in order to develop a proposal it would be necessary to have an action plan with an estimate of the time and scale of efforts that IFIP and the respective TCs/WGs would have to invest.

Messrs. Glasson, Brauer and Nedkov drew attention that if IFIP was accepted to act as an agent of WTO and ISO in this particular field, a contractual relationship should be developed with an allocation of financial resources.

Council AGREED that the Task Force Chair should continue communications with WTO and ISO in order to clarify the conditions for IFIP's engagement to carry out activities on their behalf. In case of positive feedback, Ms. Glenn should inform Executive Board and then proceed with the elaboration of a concise action plan which should be presented for approval during GA' 97.

3.11.1 WCC 96 Final Report

Mr. A. Goldsworthy informed Council that the Organizing Committee of WCC 96 has not yet produced a Final Report. A brief oral report was delivered to the Executive Board and there is no point in repeating this information to Council. One issue which he would like to share with Council, as part of the learning process, is that future IPCs should keep in mind that 2/3 of the Congress participants come from the local area and 1/3 from the rest of the world.

3.11.2 WCC 98 Organizing Committee

	IFIP member societies, officers and volunteers are kindly requested to assist the dissemination of Congress 98 information. Links to the Congress pages would be greatly appreciated.
LINK NOW!	http://www.ocg.or.at/ifip98.html http://www.njszt.iif.hu/ifip98.html

Mrs. M. Toth and Mr. W. Grafendorfer, COC co-chairs, reported on developments and informed Council that the organization has stepped into an intensive phase of marketing and coordinating activities with IPC and the 7 PCs. Total congress expenses are envisaged to exceed 8 million ATS. Preparations are proceeding according to the following schedule:

Public relations activities envisage wide outreach to newspapers, the computer press, radio and television stations. Press information will be prepared with respect to Call for Papers (June 1997) and Program (May 1998). Two press conference are also planned - in Budapest in September 1997 and in Vienna immediately before or during WCC 98 .The marketing efforts will include mailings to IFIP and CEPIS members, contacts with IEEE CS and ACM, coordination with IFIP members, sponsors, post offices, embassies, etc. An important area is WWW-activities.

The first announcement of WCC 98 (a poster and a folder with information about the conferences, the conference structure and the venues) was printed in 50.000 copies and by now 45.000 copies were distributed around the world. The announcement is also available electronically from the Congress URLs with on-line information request forms. Electronic information has been distributed by OCG, NJSzT and the IFIP Secretariat.

By the end of February 1997, 343 persons from 46 nations have shown interest by returning the completed information request forms. The Call for Papers will be printed in May 1997 and, in parallel, will be announced electronically.

A Sponsorship subcommittee is responsible for coordinating all sponsorship activities in Austria and Hungary. Sponsors will have to provide financial/in-kind support so as to have their names and logo displayed. Another category of sponsors will be instituted for supporting one conference only, especially in the case of ICCHP 98. A special column will be provided in all printed matter (call for papers, program, proceedings, etc.) singling out support from IFIP member societies and other institutions, which have helped by distributing the printed and/or electronic information of WCC 98.

With respect to Congress proceedings, a CD-ROM containing the proceedings of all conferences will be produced and distributed to all congress participants at no extra cost. A printed version of the proceedings of each conference will be produced within the book series of the Austrian Computer Society under IFIP copyright. The only exception is for the SEC 98 Conference for which the proceedings will be published by Chapman & Hall. One copy of the respective conference proceedings will be given to the participants who have registered for that specific conference .

Mr. Grafendorfer assured that each conference will be marketed separately. Mr. von Solms confirmed that this was a TC 11 original requirement and SEC 97 will have its own Program Committee, publication and individual marketing.

The Opening in Vienna will be held in the building of the Musikverein (from where the New Year's concert is aired around the world), right next to the Vienna University of Technology (TU). Rooms and halls have been reserved both at the TU in Vienna and the Budapest University of Economic Sciences. Halls have a seating capacity of 600 - 800 persons in both venues. Keynote Speaker presentations can be accommodated in adjacent conference halls. In Vienna and Budapest, approximately 1500 hotel rooms are reserved in various categories ranging in price from 200 - 300 ATS to 1850 ATS.

Negotiations are in progress with MALEV and AUA for a reduced airfare for WCC '98 participants with the special condition that they arrive in Vienna and depart from Budapest. The two airlines, as official carriers, have been requested to provide free tickets to keynote speakers and committee members. If these negotiations fail, the Congress organizers reserve the right to contact other major airlines in order to negotiate similar conditions.

Originally, it was planned to have a boat trip as an exclusive transfer from Vienna to Budapest. However, due to the lengthy trip, another option for a transfer by train will be provided. The OC will inform of the final details of this arrangement in due time. Mr. Jaervinen recalled that the WG 9.7 Chair is planning a Pioneers' Session during the boat trip.

The COC carries out the financial coordination vis-à-vis strict principles and a continuously updated budget. The final level of registration fees will be set in November 97. The contract between IFIP, NJSzT and OCG was signed on 3 March, 1997.

The President thanked the COC co-chairs for the interesting presentation and hard work.

3.11.3 WCC 98 Int. Program Committee

Mr. W. Grafendorfer reported on behalf of the IPC Chair, Mr. E. Hoerbst who was in Bratislava for the IPC meeting but was obliged to leave prior to Council. WCC' 98 will convene under the general topic The Global Information Society on the way to the Next Millennium and will consist of the following conferences:

• SEC 98 - 14th International Information Security Conference PC co-chairs: G. Papp (H), R. Posch (A)
• ICCHP 98 - Int. Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs PC-chair: A. Edwards (UK), vice-chairs: A. Arató (H), W. Zagler (A)
• KnowRight 98 - Int. Conference on Intellectual Property Rights PC-chair: K. Brunnstein (D) vice-chairs: G. Oberrecht (H), P. Randle (UK), P. P. Sint (A)
• Foundations of Computer Science - PC-chair: K. Mehlhorn (D), Kall (CH), Lovács (H)
• IT & KNOWS - Information Technology and Knowledge Systems PC-chair: J. J. Cuena (E), Markús (H), A. M. Tjoa (A)
• Teleteaching 98 - Distance Learning, Training and Education PC-chair: J. Wibe (N), vice-chairs: T. Lajos (H), E. Riedling (A), A. Szabo (H)
• Telecooperation - Global Office, Teleworking, Communication Tools PC-chair: R. Traunmüller (A), vice-chairs: A. Siegler (H), D. Vogel (USA),
  

The Program Committees, with a few exceptions, are complete and consist of well-known experts from all continents. Guidelines for the PCs are developed and distributed to the PC chairs and vice-chairs. 4 keynote speakers (two from USA, one from Europe and one from China) are scheduled to address selected priority topics at the beginning of each Congress day.

The Call for Papers and Contributions will be printed in May 1997 and will be available separately for all conferences. On Sunday, 30 August and Saturday, 5 September, there will be approximately 10 tutorials. The tutorials themes will be announced soon and the work will be coordinated by the Tutorial chair, Mr. B. Shriver (USA). TCs and PC-chairs are encouraged to offer workshops before, during and after the congress. Guidelines will be distributed.

Mr. Brauer queried the concept of workshops. Mrs. Carlucci-Aiello reminded that IFIP is more known for older researchers rather than young people and considered it useful for the organizers to attempt to provide a forum for Ph.D. students and young practitioners.

Mr. Rosenfeld shared that the Congress serves as an umbrella for IFIP conferences with a long tradition and that Mr. T.W. Olle will hopefully attend Congress 98 and remain the only person who has attended all IFIP Congresses.

Mr. Glasson referred to the relation between participants and paper presentations (estimated at 210) and shared that from the TC 8 conference experience 75% of the attendees present papers. Mr. von Solms referred to the TC 11 experience where only 1 out of 10 attendees is a presenter.

3.11.4 WCC 2000

The President announced the following appointments with respect to IFIP Congress 2000:

Dr. Bruce Shriver Chair, International Program Committee
Prof. Sha Zong Chair, Congress Organizing Committee

Messrs. Shriver and Zong have the mandate to appoint their committee members so as to form good working teams.

Mr. Funk informed that the key people are already available and further contact will be made so as to attract world known scientists and practitioners to take part in the organization of Congress 2000 which hopefully will be one of the best in the history of IFIP.

Mr. Johnson expressed a recommendation that Congress 2000 should have a similar structure to the one in 1998. Mr. Funk recalled that the congress facilities in Beijing can easily accommodate several parallel conferences. Mr. von Solms pointed out that TC 11 has not yet decided to move the IFIPSEC 2000 conference from May to September. TC 11 is in consultation with the Chinese colleagues, however, the final decision to move IFIPSEC 2000 under an eventual Congress umbrella is to be made by TC 11 and not by the IPC of Congress 2000. Mr. Guy drew attention to the fact that there is high likelihood that WCC 2000 will hold a related exhibition.

3.11.5 Frequency of Congresses

Mr. C. Guy reported that the issue of frequency of Congresses is still open and, depending on the decision, bids would have to be invited for the year 2002 or 2003. The organization of bids would require a tight schedule and a decision on this issue should be considered as a matter of urgency. Mr. Nedkov recalled that there is no GA decision for the change of the two-year Congress cycle.

Mr. Brauer pointed out that one of the arguments for a two-year periodicity was to give a chance to more IFIP Members around the world to host an IFIP Congress. On the other hand, Messrs. Glasson and von Solms noted that this cycle makes the TC schedules more dependent. In the case of TC 11, the organization of future congresses cannot indefinitely count on the IFIPSEC element.

Mr. Johnson emphasized on stability and stressed that a change in frequency would be damaging. Mr. Goldsworthy moved that the frequency of Congresses remains unchanged and the IFIP President called for a straw vote on the issue.

Council DECIDED not to propose to GA a change in the two-year frequency of IFIP Congresses.

Mr. D. Khakhar referred to his report and was very pleased to inform Council that 1996 was a satisfactory year for IFIP. The 1996 accounts were finalized and the Auditor's report was submitted to IFIP on 18 February 1997. The 1996 Result, after amortization and depreciation and before Special Funds Provisions, is a surplus of CHF 300,908.

Taking into account the budgeted deficit of CHF 25,000 the Result has a special value and it carries IFIP's funds to a new peak level. Compared to 1995, the 1996 Result shows a 7% increase on the income side while expenses decreased by 23%.

With respect to the 1996 income and expenses, Mr. Khakhar provided the following summary:

In addition, the Treasurer explained that the Investment Portfolio has performed badly, bringing an income of only CHF 29 K which is far below the actual return of CHF 71 K in1995. Dues from Members were slightly below budget and proceeds from TC events have declined from CHF 93 K in 1995 to CHF 41 K. The guaranteed sum of CHF 100 K is still not paid to IFIP by the Congress 96 organizers. On the expense side, the decrease in expenses is greatly due to savings by the IFIP Secretariat and also due to the limited use of funds provided under the President's Reserve and Technical Support. Expenses of the Technical Committees were 15% below the budget and show significant variations. 10 TCs had positive Fund balances available for 1996. 8 TCs increased their Fund balances while 3 TCs decreased them. For 1997, 10 TCs have positive Fund balances, totaling CHF 344 K. Further detailed statistics were provided in the Treasurer's report.

The Treasurer informed that the Final Result, after Special Funds Provision of
CHF 25 K, is an increase in IFIP's General Fund by CHF 275 K, or 24%, to
CHF 1,400 K.

With regard to the 1997 outlook, Mr. Khakhar recalled that the budget adopted by
GA 96 implies a deficit of CHF 21 K. In view of the fact that SG 14 was transformed to TC 1 and SG 15 had ceased to exist, the Treasurer advised Council to consider the following:

• to endorse the institution of respective accounts for TC 1;
• to endorse the transfer of the SG 15 Fund Balance to the General Fund Balance and all royalties from the sale of SG15 back-list publications to be accounted under "Other Royalties"

An agreement was negotiated with the IFIP Auditor and Mr. Khakhar proposed that the budgeted 1997 Auditor's fee is reduced to CHF 7,000.

Messrs. Rosenfeld, Johnson, and Spaniol commended the excellent result of 1996. At the same time, they encouraged more accurate figures to be provided in future budgets so as to avoid the current discrepancy between the 1996 budget and the actual result. The need for a realistic 1997 Budget was stressed and the Treasurer was invited to forecast the 1997 Result. Mr. Khakhar recalled that Council cannot introduce radical changes to the budget voted only 6 months before Council by GA. He further explained that there are many external factors and circumstances which influence the 1997 Result such as the Portfolio performance, proceeds from activities and other as well as expense and currency fluctuations. Nonetheless, he believed the 1997 Result would be positive.

The President agreed that better estimates, whenever possible, should be presented when future budgets are considered and adopted. He asked EB to take note of the requests for year-end forecasts which should be presented to Council and GA.

(Please also refer to the debate under Agenda item 3.16.6)

Mr. W. Brauer drew attention to his report and said that it was better to modify and develop the existing role of TA rather than abandon it and start afresh. With respect to TA, paragraphs 4.1.1 "General" and 4.1.2 "Composition" of the IFIP Bylaws are sufficiently specific and clear to allow TA "to promote the role and work of TCs within IFIP" better than any new structure. In future, the schedule of GA and Council Meetings should allow a half-day meeting of the TC Chairs prior to any other participation in meetings of the PC, MC, TA and other. This would be a useful information and consultation forum and will allow the TC chairs to better prepare for the related to Council/GA meetings.

Mr. Brauer informed that the TC Chairs held their first meeting in Bratislava and a report will be delivered by Mr. Glasson who had moderated the meeting.

With respect to TC Reviews, the TC Chairs will propose a new scheme based on the following guidelines:

• regular monitoring of activities electronically;
• invitation of the GA representative of the country in which the TC meets;
• regular reports to GA on internal review/performance control matching activities versus a 6 year plan and Aims and Scope.

Mr. Brauer informed that TA approved the revised Aims and Scope of WG11.5 which are subject to some language editing. In future, TCs are requested to seek language editing advice from Mr. J. Rosenfeld before submitting the Aims and Scope to TA for approval.

In the TC 2 Report to TA, attention is drawn to a "World Congress on Formal Methods in Computing Systems Development" (FM 99) which is planned for the Fall of 1999 in Toulouse, France. This initiative is launched by D. Bjorner who has already been in touch with a number of IFIP TC/WG Chairs. The TC2 Chair considers IFIP's involvement in FM 99 to be a strategic issue and believes that IFIP should react on a higher level. It was agreed that the IFIP President will write to Mr. Bjorner and express IFIP's intent to take a lead role in the organization of FM 99.

The President confirmed this engagement and announced the appointment of the TC 1 Chair, Mr. Ausiello, as IFIP Liaison to the FM 99 Program Committee and coordinator of IFIP's participation in FM 99. TA should investigate the possibility of IFIP running successor congresses and present this for discussion during GA 97.

The TC 8 Chair, Mr. Glasson, who was requested to convene the inaugural TC Chairs' Forum, reported that the meeting discussed issues relating to membership, agenda, timing, frequency, place and format, as well as TC performance measures.

The first meeting was restricted to the TC Chairs. It was resolved that membership would be limited to TC Chairs and the TA Chair and that the Forum would elect its own moderator in such a way so as to rotate the role on an annual basis. The moderator would chair the Forum and prepare a report for the TA meeting with assistance from the other TC chairs, as required.

The proposed outline agenda for the Brazil meeting is:

• Information exchange (e.g. ideas that worked, ideas that didn't work, alternate event formats, new initiatives),
• Management matters (marketing , publications, activities and other)
• Collaboration (between TCs; with other bodies)
• Strategic issues

The TC Forum requested that the schedule for GA' 97 should envisage a half day meeting of the TC Chairs prior to any other committee meetings. The IFIP Secretary confirmed that a draft schedule for GA'97 and the related meetings will be circulated for approval by the TA Chair and the TC Forum Moderator. On behalf of the TC Chairs, Mr. von Solms voiced a request that in case of clashes due to time constraints, the PC meeting following the TC Forum, should have first priority.

The Forum applauded the IFIP Secretariat's move towards electronic communication and foresaw the need to conduct some future IFIP meetings electronically. It recommends TA to explore electronic meeting support options to enable the TA to be more responsive to new initiatives without requiring additional "face-to-face" meetings.

Finally, the Forum undertook to present to the TA meeting in Brazil a more appropriate mechanism for monitoring the activities of TCs on an ongoing basis which would obviate the need for a periodic review. The mechanism would recognize both the similarities of the TCs and their differences. It would also recognize the need to cover day-to-day management activity (e.g. number of events, extent of participation) and forward planning (e.g. periodic strategic planning exercises). With this obligation, the Forum recommends a freeze of all reviews in progress after the elaboration and presentation of this scheme at GA 97.

Mr. Johnson informed that the TC 13 review would be ready for submission in September 97. Mr. Goldsworthy proposed all reviews that are ready should be submitted while a freeze should apply to those reviews which are not commenced. Mr. Rosenfeld wondered whether TCs benefit from reviews and the TA Chair responded that it is not a matter of carrying-out or abolishing evaluation but rather finding the most appropriate mechanism and procedure for performing this work. The President expressed the importance of agreeing on an acceptable evaluation alternative, otherwise he would feel unhappy to abolish TC reviews. Mr. Goldsworthy stressed that the proposal for ongoing reviews is far better than the current practice and moved that Council adopts Mr. Glasson's report.

Council unanimously APPROVED the report and proposals of the TC Forum.

Mr. Brauer informed that a working group, consisting of Messrs. Johnson, Glasson and Ausiello, was requested to prepare a proposal to Council on how IFIP can be proactive towards new events and initiatives in a "top-down" manner. He also informed Council that the TC 6 Chair, Mr. Spaniol proposed a new type of event - a conference consisting of mini-tutorials given by IFIP people to specific audiences in a certain country or region. MC is requested to make a market study based on a written proposal by Mr. Spaniol.

Mr. Johnson reported on behalf of the working group which felt that there are three potential sources of proposals for new conferences - through TCs and WGs, unsolicited proposals from outside IFIP and proposals received from within IFIP (primarily from IFIP Members).

IFIP should make known its willingness to support high quality new ventures via short announcements in publications, WWW and all conference literature. It should also formally invite member societies to put forward new proposals. Each proposal would have to be evaluated so as to ensure quality and avoid duplication. The evaluation should be carried out by a group of three/four people with access to advice from a panel of approximately 12 experienced IFIP activists, retired TC/WG chairs, for example. It is proposed that the core group consists of the TA chairman, the Moderator of the TC Forum, a New Initiatives Manager, and an Event Innovator (the Event Innovator would be responsible for proactively carrying out market research with member societies on potential opportunities while the New Initiatives Manager would conduct the evaluation of each new proposal, whatever the proposal's source. These two functions could be combined). Each proposal would be circulated by e-mail to all TC chairs and anyone else with relevant expertise.

Important evaluation criteria include having a keen champion for the event and a number of supporters of high standing in the subject area. The group will decide whether the event is approved and whether it should be associated with any particular TC or WG. When approved and not taken up by a TC or WG, a member of the panel of 12 will be appointed to act as IFIP Liaison Manager to the event and will be expected to take a responsible role on the Organizing Committee and act as a mentor. Once approved, an event approval form would be created and the event brought within the normal IFIP event management process. For internal purposes, the New Initiatives Manager would perform the role of a TC.

The main benefits of this proposal to IFIP are expected to be increased level of IFIP activity, innovation and visibility, wider participation in IFIP by individuals and member societies, possible new areas of work for TCs and/or WGs, possible additional income and membership.

Mr. Rosenfeld requested to know whether this proposal requires changes to the Statutes and Bylaws. Messrs. Brauer and Johnson considered that the activity can develop within the existing IFIP structures and the most appropriate home for its operations is TA.

The President thanked the working group for developing the proposal and requested it, in cooperation with the TA Chair, to submit a statement of implementation.

Council CONCURRED.

Mr. W. Grafendorfer drew attention to the AMB report and informed that the trend for 1997 is promising as the percentage of IFIP events in which IFIP acts as a Full Sponsor is increasing. As at February, there are 55 registered events for 1997 and the numbers will increase through the year. In 1996, CHF 67,304 were paid as event proceeds and another CHF 24,582 came in the first two months of 1997. Leaders in generating conference proceeds are TC 6, TC10 and TC 8. Mr. Grafendorfer drew attention to the fact that the IFIP Secretariat has been assiduous in collecting outstanding event proceeds and extended AMB's thanks for these additional efforts. The AMB Chair further recalled the fact that proceeds may vary greatly from year to year depending on the organization of the main TC events and the IFIP Congress cycle.

With respect to the Policy on Loans and Grants, Mr. Grafendorfer reported that AMB recommends that loans are considered as the primary vehicle for IFIP financial support to sponsored events. In case of a loan, a profit share, in addition to the IFIP sponsorship fee, will have to be guaranteed as a percentage equal to the relation between the level of the loan to the general expenses. In special and very limited cases a grant may be allocated to an event. As a principle, grants would be earmarked (to support participants from developing countries, lecturers to events in developing countries, etc.) and would not be given for event administration. A detailed budget would have to be provided. A final financial statement, with original receipts, would have to be submitted after the event in order to allow the transfer of the allocated grant. The Treasurer confirmed that these recommendations are processed on the basis of discussions within EB and with TC Chairs.

The AMB Chair informed Council that AMB intends to introduce improvements to the existing Event Approval Guidelines and Related Forms vis-à-vis the above recommendations. The outdated "Policy on Working Conferences", will be circulated among AMB members for further consideration of its usefulness. AMB also felt that the IFIP Working Group Chairman's Handbook does not fall within the competence of AMB and Mr. Grafendorfer proposed to Council to consider redirecting it for updating to another IFIP body. Given the fact that the document in question was prepared by the former TA Chair, Mr. A. Rolstadas, Mr. Brauer agreed that TA should consider this document.

3.15.1 TC 1 Foundations of Computer Science

Mr. G. Ausiello reported that following the GA 96 decision to transform SG 14 into
TC 1, he was elected TC 1 Chair and entered office on 1 January 1997. The establishment of TC 1 was made possible thanks to the successful activity of Prof. J. Gruska who had promoted the importance of this area within IFIP. No general meeting was held recently and business was conducted by e-mail. A regular meeting will be planned for the summer of 97, possibly in connection with a major theory conference. Membership is essentially the same as the former SG 14. Several countries with significant traditions in the field of theoretical computer science still remain not represented.

The TC 1 Chair will proceed with the appointment of a Vice-Chair and a Secretary in the near future so as to assist him with the management and organization of this new committee. His intention is to involve TC 1 in borderline activities which require the input of several IFIP TCs.

There are 5 working groups within TC 1 which have a number of scheduled meetings and activities including the operation of an electronic newsletter, forthcoming publications, awarding a "best submitted conference paper" prize to students from economically disadvantaged countries, establishing cooperation networks and other. New WGs will be considered in the near future.

Mr. Johnson was interested to know about the publication of the Monograph on Algebraic Complexity Theory. Mr. Brauer responded that during his term of office as PC Chair, he had advised SG 14 to contact Springer Verlag so as to investigate the possibility of publishing this work.

The President thanked Mr. Ausiello for his report, expressed his appreciation of the intentions to bridge computer theory and applications and wished him success as the first Chairman of TC 1.

3.15.2 TC 2 Software: Theory and Practice

A report was submitted by the TC 2 Chair, Mr. R. Kurki-Suonio. On his behalf, Mr. Jaervinen informed Council that the next TC 2 meeting is scheduled for 5-6 June 1997 in Konstanz, Germany. China and Greece have new representatives while Australia, Italy and Switzerland still do not have replacements. Mr. N. Shankar (USA) was proposed as the new WG 2.3 Chair and WG 2.8 has elected J. Hughes (S) as Chair.

In 1996, two titles were published with Chapman & Hall and another two were contracted for publication. TC 2 and its WGs took part in the organization of 4 events and another two events were organized in early 1997. 12 more are currently scheduled for 1997 and 1998. The formal registration of many of these events is pending.

3.15.3 TC 3 Education

Mr. B. Samways reported that the 48^th meeting of TC 3 will be held on 24 August 1997 in Harare, Zimbabwe. There are a number of new TC 3 WG Chairs and Vice-Chairs and new representatives from Finland and Greece. In 1996, most working groups were active in organizing events and publications. All have scheduled events for 1997 and beyond.

As new Chair, Mr. Samways wished to express his thanks to the former chair, Mr. Bollerslev under whose leadership TC 3 has made good progress. On the basis of the existing foundation, TC 3 is moving ahead in reasserting its role in the forefront of the world's informatics education. The TC 3 Journal on Education and Information Technologies is an important endeavor and the TC 3 Chair encouraged all Council members, and indeed all IFIP member societies, to contribute by subscribing to the Journal for which a target of 100 subscriptions is set by the end of this year. The rates for personal subscriptions for members of IFIP member societies are USD 43 for North America and GBP 28 for the rest of the world. Further information may be obtained from Chapman & Hall, e-mail: chsub@itpc.co.uk

Other projects include the cooperation with UNESCO on the Secondary and Higher Education Curricula, continued involvement in the International Olympiads in Informatics and arrangements for the next World Conference on Computers in Education, scheduled for 2001 in Denmark.

3.15.4 TC 5 Computer Applications in Technology

Mr. G. Doumeingts reported that TC 5 has 27 members and its forthcoming meeting is scheduled for November 97 in Detroit, USA. Several WGs are not active enough and as a whole, the registration and event management of TC 5 is not satisfactory. Only c.a. 50% of the events are registered in the IFIP Events database and Calendar of Events. This calls for an improved interaction within TC 5 and the necessity to formally register TC 5 events with the IFIP Secretariat.

As a new TC Chair, Mr. Doumeingts needed some time to observe and experience the organization and management of TC 5. Now he is ready to continue the process of TC 5 restructuring so as to improve administration and management of TC 5 activities and to involve excellent experts. One of the problems of TC 5 is that it is organized by function while industry is looking for transverse activities. Currently TC 5 does not have such topics and there is an urgent need to launch new projects. Another important and close challenge is the successful organization of CAPE 97, 5-7 November, Detroit, USA.

Mr. Nedkov wished to know of an earlier proposal for the establishment of a WG on Informatics and Automation. He believed the long term objective is to create a channel for a closer interaction between TC 5 and IFAC and was also aware that there are plans to organize an event in the field. The TC 5 Chair responded that this proposal of Mr. P. Kopacek (A) was discussed by TC 5. It was felt that the scope is rather general and should be more narrowly specified. Mr. Kopacek is encouraged to proceed with the organization of the event following the IFIP Guidelines. He is also invited as an expert to assist the TC 5 restructuring process which has first priority.

3.15.5 TC 6 Communication Systems

Mr. O. Spaniol reported that the annual TC 6 meetings are scheduled for 2-3 May 97 in White Plains, NY, USA (after High Performance Networks 97) and in conjunction with the conference on Network Information Processing Systems, October 97, Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1998, the first TC 6 meeting will be held in April in Stuttgart, Germany (after Broadband 98).

Letters were sent to IFIP GA representatives of societies currently not on the TC 6 membership list. As a result, Albania, Armenia, Greece, India and Italy nominated new representatives. Singapore and Thailand are considering the matter and a nominations procedure was started by the Netherlands.

The TC 6 Chair pointed out that TC 6 is the major IFIP organizer of events and publications. According to the AMB statistics, in 1996 it has generated a significant part of all event proceeds. Mr. Spaniol explained this by the fact that the TC6 Officers closely follow the IFIP Event Approval Guidelines. He insisted that favorable results can be achieved by all IFIP TCs and invited his colleagues, the TC Chairs, to oversee that the IFIP rules are followed by their TCs.

The President expressed IFIP's appreciation of the TC 6 activities and requested Mr. Spaniol to convey this to the TC 6 management and members. He further pointed to the TC 6 report and inquired about the status of publications. Mr. Johnson responded that a number of criticisms were discussed. As in any other activity, publications require a learning process. Procedures will be simplified. With respect to electronic publishing, Mr. Spaniol informed that experience was gained, however, there is much do be done within TC 6 so as to succeed with the project.

3.15.6 TC 7 System Modelling and Optimization

Mr. P. Kall reported that the main issue within TC 7 is the successful organization of the TC 7 conference on System Modelling and Optimization, 22-25 July 97, Detroit, USA. Most TC 7 WGs will represent their fields of interest in separate conference sections. There are 170 accepted conference papers. A problem is raising funds and offering some travel support to Eastern European participants with accepted papers.

The TC 7 Chair informed that Prof. A. Bagchi (NL) was appointed as new WG 7.1 Chair.

Mr. Rosenfeld cautioned that the TC 7 conference may experience a problem of "No shows" and informed that an article on this is included in the March issue of the Newsletter.

3.15.7 TC 8 Information Systems

Mr. B. Glasson reported that the next TC 8 Business meeting is scheduled for 27-29 May 97 in Ambleside, U.K. Since GA 96, the TC 8 Officers remain unchanged while there are new representatives from Portugal and Greece. Since December 96, WG 8.2 has new officers, with R. Baskerville (USA) as Chair. All WGs lead a satisfactory level of activities. All working conferences have concluded with a publication of proceedings with Chapman & Hall. There were some concerns with the current event request forms which Mr. Glasson had brought to the attention of AMB.

Mr. Rosenfeld inquired about the conference on the International Office of the Future and whether an electronic publication will follow. Mr. Glasson responded that the conference will be organized at three sites in the Netherlands, Australia and the USA and plans are to publish the proceedings electronically with Chapman & Hall.

3.15.8 TC 9 Relationship Between Computers and Society

Mr. P. Jaervinen reported that next annual TC 9 meeting is scheduled for 11-12 May 97 in Corfu, Greece. TC 9 has new members from Greece and China. All IFIP member societies were requested to review their representation and, if necessary, to nominate national representatives.

Working group activities and events include:

• the 6^th Women, Work and Computerization Conference, 24-27 May 97, Bonn, Germany;
• Conference on "Culture and Democracy Revisited in the Global Information Society", 8- 10 May 97, Corfu, Greece;
• launching of a WWW Electronic Journal & Newsletter "OIKOS ELEKTRONIKOS" by WG 9.3;
• the WG 9.4 newsletter, which is an excellent vehicle for the exchange of ideas, and the organization of an IFIP Conference on IT for Competitiveness, 19-21 June, 1997 Florianopolis, Brazil;
• developing guidelines for a curriculum in the history of computing and organizing a Pioneers' Day during WCC 98.

The TC 9 Chair was pleased to report that the publication "Ethics of Computing", with J. Berleur and K. Brunnstein as editors, was very well received with excellent sales.

3.15.9 TC 10 Computer Systems Technology

The TC 10 Chair, Mr. J.-C. Laprie, had sent his apologies for not being able to attend the Bratislava Council meeting. Unfortunately, no one else was commissioned to deliver a report on his behalf.

3.15.10 TC 11 Security and Protection of IP Systems

Mr. B. von Solms referred to his report and pointed out that 1996 was a very good year for TC 11. TC 11 Annual meetings are held in conjunction with the highly successful series of IFIPSEC conferences. These attract good audiences, produce proceedings which are well received by the market and, as a whole, lead a successful financial results.

The TC 11 Chair drew attention to the fact that with the inclusion of IFIPSEC 98 under the WCC 98 umbrella TC 11 would be at a financial disadvantage. The President requested the Treasurer in cooperation with the TC 11 Chair and the AMB Chair to look into the concrete financial arrangement.

Referring to IFIPSEC 96 in Samos, Mr. von Solms pointed out that the local organizers used conference income to pay back IFIP dues, which alternatively would have been contributed as proceeds. The President noted that these are two separate issues as the sponsorship fee, payable to IFIP, is an expense item of the conference budget. Mr. Bauknecht requested that the rules should be followed and the TC 11 Chair confirmed that he will urge the organizers to pay the outstanding sponsorship fee to IFIP.

The TC 11 Chair informed that a draft Statement on Cryptography is prepared and will be endorsed by the Copenhagen TC 11 Meeting in May 97. If endorsed by TC 11, the intention is to further submit it to GA 97 for approval as an official IFIP Statement on Cryptography.

Council AGREED to the suggested procedure. It was also agreed that following GA 97 approval, the Statement will be circulated to all IFIP Members encouraging them to consider the subject and to promote discussion and action locally.

Finally, Mr. von Solms informed that for future IFIP March Council meetings, the TC 11 representation would alternate between the chair and the vice-chair.

Mr. Goldsworthy recalled that until the end of the eighties TC chairs were not eligible to vote and were painfully aware of restrictions to their participation in the IFIP decision making process. Now that they are well integrated in the Council and GA structures in their capacity as TC chairs they should make every effort to personally contribute to the debate.

3.15.11 TC 12 Artificial Intelligence

Mrs. L. Carlucci-Aiello informed that the next meeting is scheduled tentatively for 25 August 97 and will be held in conjunction with IJCAI 97, 23 -29 August 1997 in Nagoya, Japan.

New representatives are appointed from China, Greece and Portugal. The TC 12 Chair also appointed Prof. S. Doshita (Japan) and Dr. J. Glasgow (Canada) as Vice-Chairs aiming to facilitate TC 12 activities and presence in Asia and North America.

TC 12 is involved in the organization of the IT & Knows Conference of WCC 98. Planned activities include an internal discussion on WG composition and the need for more specialized activity and termination of inactive WGs. Another important issue is to create and maintain a TC 12 Web page.

Mrs. Carlucci-Aiello concluded that TC 12 is slowly moving ahead with possibilities for establishing cooperation within IFIP and with external partners. A major problem remains the reactivation of sleeping WGs.

3.15.12 TC 13 Human-Computer Interaction

From Mrs. J. Hammond's report, Council noted that the 11^th meeting of TC 13 was held on 6-7 December, 1996 in London, UK. The 12^th meeting is scheduled to be held on
13 July, 1997 in Sydney, Australia. TC 13 membership has reached 24 representatives of IFIP Full Members with new appointments from Greece, Italy and Portugal and China.

The principal TC13 activity in 1996 was a successful two-day review and planning workshop in conjunction with the London TC13 meeting. The sixth conference in the INTERACT series will be held 14-18 July 1997 in Sydney, Australia hosted by the Australian Computer Society. INTERACT 97 incorporates OZCHI 97 (the Australian annual HCI conference) and APCHI 97 (the annual Asia-Pacific HCI conference) in its program. Planning for INTERACT 97 is progressing very well with the Advance Program due in March. The membership of the INTERACT'97 Committees is now complete with the inclusion of the new Chairman for INTERACT'99, who has joined the International Conference Committee. It is planned that all TC 13 WGs will hold their business meetings during INTERACT 97.

Edinburgh, U.K. was chosen as the site for INTERACT 99.

3.16.1 Publications Committee

Mr. R. Johnson referred to his report and advised that the sales of IFIP publications with Chapman & Hall during 1996 were 9% over budget. Sales of new publications in 1996 were nearly 10% ahead of budget and the total royalties for 1996 are expected to be about CHF 150,000. The PC Chair holds regular meetings with Chapman & Hall.

The PC meeting with the TC Chairs did not identify any major problems related to publications. PC congratulated TC 11 for the publications policy statement it had prepared and further reaffirmed that any written material arising from IFIP TC events should be published under IFIP copyright and first offered to Chapman and Hall.

Mr. Johnson informed that the PC will proceed with the revision of the IFIP Publications Policy. As to reprints with Chapman & Hall, it was agreed that each case will be handled individually (keeping in mind that the publisher suggests a 9% royalty of the net sales receipts). Low volume proceedings have been discussed again and the IFIP Secretariat will investigate the conditions in Austria so as to register IFIP as a publisher and obtain a set of ISBNs for small events proceedings which are normally printed as conference copies only. TCs/WGs will apply to the Secretariat for an ISBN and following publication a copy will be delivered to the Secretariat.

Finally, the PC Chair recalled that our Agreement with Chapman & Hall entered into force on 1 January 1995 for a period of 5 years and thereafter will be automatically renewed for successive periods of 5 years unless either party 18 months before the end of the contractual period expresses its wish in writing to terminate the Agreement. In 1998, both parties have the possibility to review the Agreement and to suggest possible amendments for negotiation for a new contract after 31 December 1999. Messrs. Brauer and Samways stressed that timeliness would be an important negotiations advantage and Mr. Nedkov recalled that IFIP and Chapman & Hall have invested a lot of time and effort in building a "win-win" relationship. During the last three years results have improved progressively and both parties have vested interests to continue.

3.16.2 Statutes and Bylaws

Mr. G. Morris reminded that a new printed edition of the Statutes and Bylaws has been published incorporating all the changes during the last three years.

Mr. Glasson wished to know whether TC chairs could be elected as Officers and Trustees. Mr. Morris responded that TC Chairs cannot stand for election, however, they can nominate Officers and Trustees and vote for their election.

3.16.3 Admissions Committee

The Secretary reported that contacts are under way with New Zealand concerning an application by the NZCS for IFIP Full Membership.

3.16.4 Congress Committee

Mr. C. Guy referred to Council's decision on the issue of frequency of Congresses and noted that the Congress Committee will proceed with sending out invitations for bids and organizing the bidding process.

(Please refer to Agenda item 3.11.5 )

In order to ensure the prompt payment of guaranteed proceeds, Mr. Rosenfeld suggested Congress Committee to consider introducing a requirement for placing the minimum guaranteed payment to IFIP in an escrow account before the actual contract is signed by IFIP.

3.16.5 DCSC

Mr. J. Dolezal, who had chaired the DCSC meeting on behalf of Mr. Gottlieb, reported that several requests for grants were reviewed. DCSC approved two grants of CHF 4, 000 each for CapBit 97, 25-29 August, Harare, Zimbabwe and INTERACT 97, 14-18 July, Sydney, Australia. The approved grants should be used in accordance with the applications. The TC 3 and TC 13 Chairs, Mr. Samways and Mrs. Hammond, are responsible for their appropriate management. The respective chairs are also requested to provide the necessary details for evaluation during the next DCSC meeting.

DCSC decided to assist the participation of IFIP experts in the XVII Congress of the Brazilian Computer Society in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 2-8, 1997 and in the Regional Symposium on the Arab World and the Information Society, Tunis, Tunisia, 4-8 May 1997. Up to CHF 2,000 each will be granted towards the travel expenses of IFIP experts who would be expected to deliver a paper or a lecture at these meetings.

Mr. Dolezal informed Council that free IFIP publications were provided to Bulgaria, China, Egypt and Greece and that DCSC considered several other items for its future work, including DCSC support to Congress'98 participants from developing countries and the possibility of investigating further funding from external organizations.

Mr. Rosenfeld was in favor of distributing grants to support the participation of IFIP speakers at national events. At the same time, he felt that some general guidelines should be developed by DCSC. Mr. Glasson considered it a good idea to involve GA 97 participants in local activities of the Brazilian Computer Society. Mr. Fairall recalled that TC chairs are invited to attend and contribute to the DCSC discussion.

3.16.6 Finance Committee

Mr. J. Dolezal reported on behalf of the FC Chair, Mr. Granado and drew attention to the Treasurer's report and the 1996 audited accounts. A surplus of CHF 300,908 was registered which is well above the budgeted deficit of CHF 25,000. Thus, IFIP's General Fund reaches 1,400 K CHF, i.e. 4 times the expense level of 1996 which significantly exceeds the established target of twice the annual expense level.

FC recommended that Council should support the writing off of CHF 24,665 as dubious dues. This act is intended as a precaution and a financial safeguard for IFIP and in no way implies that the collection of these dues would be waived. FC also drew attention to the fact that the Congress' 96 guaranteed proceeds of CHF 100,000 are recorded in the 1996 accounts as receivable. With these comments, Mr. Dolezal moved that Council accepts the 1996 result for final approval by GA 97.

Motion unanimously CARRIED.

With regard to the 1997 budget, recalling that SG 15 ceased to exist FC proposed that the SG 15 Fund Balance is transferred to the General Fund Balance. Royalties from the sale of SG15 back-list publications will be accounted under "Other Royalties". The Auditor's fee is also adjusted. With these amendments, FC recommended Council to adopt the revisions to Budget 1997.

Following a debate on the necessity of avoiding wide disparities between budgets and actual results, on the one hand, and the procedures which govern the readjustment of IFIP budgets on the other, Council ADOPTED the proposed amendments with 2 Against and 1 Abstention.

With respect to Budget 1998 the Treasurer was encouraged to consult with all budget holders and on the basis of a review by Executive Board, to propose to GA 97 for approval a realistic budget for 1998.

Mr. Dolezal drew attention to the fact that the Portfolio Investment income has reduced from CHF 71,771 in 1995 to CHF 29,611 in 1996. He further informed that FC recommends to Treasurer to take appropriate action with regard to CHF and ATS assets on IFIP current accounts and to consider their investment in appropriate Funds.

Mr. Goldsworthy regretted the bad performance of the IFIP Portfolio Investment and urged that FC, in consultation with EB, should review the Portfolio performance and advise the Treasurer on possible actions. In this respect, Mr. Johnson offered the help of the BCS Finance Director who would be happy to assist with possible advice. IFIP could also solicit advice from financial houses.

Mr. Rosenfeld believed that it might be useful to develop a policy document on the management of IFIP's investments. FC could discuss short term actions but decisions fitting the current economic environment should be taken by GA.

3.16.7 IFIP-UNESCO Liaison

Mr. P. Nedkov drew attention to his report and recalled that since GA 96 he has at regular intervals kept Council members and TC Chairs well aware of all activities with respect to UNESCO. In brief, the President and the IFIP-UNESCO Liaison Officer had attended the IIP-UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee Meeting in December 1996 and met with key UNESCO Officials to discuss joint activities and support for IFIP events. A memorandum on these meetings was circulated.

The IFIP-UNESCO Liaison Officer has worked towards developing further visibility of IFIP and its activities within UNESCO and its Members through the dissemination of the IFIP Newsletter, the organization of exhibits of IFIP books at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and during UNESCO's Info-Ethics Conference in Monaco, the establishment of on-line links, the promotion of IFIP Congress 98 and other activities. A contract for USD 6,000 was signed in support of the IFIP TC 9 Conference on IT for Competitiveness, 19 - 21.June1997 in Florianopolis, Brazil. Hopefully, some other funds will be allocated during this year in support of participants from developing countries to attend IFIP events.

3.16.8 Internal Awards Committee

The Chairman of the Internal Awards Committee informed that the next Silver Core Awards will be made in 1998. It is becoming increasingly difficult to determine who is eligible, therefore a review of the conditions governing the Silver Core Award is necessary. Mr. Morris invited Council members and TC Chairs to consider the continuation of this Award or a possible replacement in future.

3.16.9 Marketing Committee

Mr. C. Guy drew attention to his report and pointed out that MC should be involved in strategic planning , specifically in defining the products that IFIP has available to market such as events, publications and expertise. He stressed the importance of IFIP work in between Council and General Assembly meetings and the important role of electronic communications, including list servers and WWW pages, both as communications media and marketing tools. IFIP Member societies should be encouraged to establish pointers from their URLs to IFIP's Web site.

The MC Chair referred to the "What is IFIP ?" brochure and the need for its update. He mentioned that the Secretariat is looking into substituting the outdated IFIP StoryBoard presentation with a more appealing one in PowerPoint. Mr. Nedkov informed that "What is IFIP?" is updated and available in electronic form from the IFIP ftp server. This could be used by MC for further revision.

Mr. Guy stressed the important role of GA representatives in marketing IFIP to their societies and keeping in touch with TCs and WGs in order to get better value from their association with IFIP. He proposed that the President writes a letter of welcome to all new GA representatives also outlining the expectations for their work as GA representatives. Another marketing target is to make member societies aware of the benefits of IFIP membership.

3.16.9.1 IFIP Newsletter

Mr. J. Rosenfeld reported that everything is going well with the Newsletter. 3,400 copies of each issue are sent to individuals and 1100 copies are sent as bulk mailings to member societies, other organizations and event organizers.

The IFIP Secretariat prepares the last two pages of the Newsletter. The relationship with Chapman & Hall is good and the Newsletter Editor is pleased with the quality of their photographic work. In preparing the quarterly issues, Mr. Rosenfeld aims to achieve a balance between a newsletter function and a marketing function. The TC 7 report is in progress. Reports on TC 11 and TC 12 will be next in the list.

Mr. Morris informed that IFIP has requested Chapman and Hall to reduce the Newsletter print-run to 5,000 copies per issue with the understanding that IFIP reserves the right to increase the print-run to 6,000 copies whenever this is deemed necessary. The IFIP Secretariat is responsible for the Newsletter distribution and any requests for additional copies, within reasonable limits, should be addressed to the Secretariat. For larger quantities mailing charges will be billed. The President recalled that the Newsletter is available on-line.

3.16.10 IFIP History

Mr. H. Zemanek, IFIP Historian and Honorary Member, reported the completion of "36 Years of IFIP", the third book of IFIP history that he has edited. He thanked all contributors and reported that plans are to have the book available on-line soon.

The Secretary advised Council of the forthcoming meetings as follows:

1997  General Assembly      Gramado , Brazil
                            Sunday, August 31 - September 4
1998  Council               Manchester, UK
                            Sunday, March 1 - 5
1998  General Assembly      EB - Vienna or Laxenburg, Austria 
                            Tuesday, September 1
                            GA - Budapest, Hungary
                            Saturday, September 5 - 8
1999  Council               an informal invitation has been made
                            for Italy (Naples or Rome) and will 
                            soon be confirmed for Council decision 
1999  General Assembly      open for invitations
2000  Council               open for invitations
2000  General Assembly      Beijing, China

IFIP member societies are encouraged to consider the possibility of extending invitations for Council and General Assembly meetings with open destinations.

Mr. Reis conveyed that the Brazilian Computer Society is honored to host the GA 97 and related meetings in Gramado and would facilitate participants by providing early information on travel and local arrangements. The Brazilian hosts plan to provide a shuttle bus service from Porto Alegre to Gramado and the schedule will be made available to GA 97 participants. A series of e-mail communications will be made and an IFIP GA 97 Homepage will be operational with the aim to provide information on local arrangements and hotels, travel, social events, pre/post GA visits and suggested sightseeing tours.

The President once again conveyed IFIP's grateful thanks to the Slovak Society for Computer Science and to Messrs. Privara and Rovan for the excellent local arrangements and cordial hospitality. He thanked the Council members and attendees for their contributions and declared the Council 97 Meeting in Bratislava closed.

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