Theme: Liberating the Learner
by Mr. Brian Samways (GB)*
The Sixth World Conference on Computers in Education took place in Birmingham, England 23-28 July 1995, twenty-five years after the first WCCE, held in Amsterdam in 1970. It was organized under the chairmanship of Mr. Brian Samways, the U.K. representative to the IFIP Technical Committee on Education (TC3). The event, which was hosted by Aston University, attracted over 1500 participants from 65 different countries. Although this is a significant number (by comparison, IFIP Congress '94 in Hamburg had 1150 participants), it is far less than the 2500 that attended the prior WCCE in Sydney, Australia, in 1990. Quite surprising was the delegation of over 20 from Iceland and the large numbers from Southeast Asia, especially Australia, New- Zealand, and Malaysia.
There were over 400 different presentations, including lectures, posters, demonstrations, and panels. The Call for Papers attracted over 600 submissions, each of which was reviewed by three independent reviewers in different countries. A cross-section of 100 papers was published in the Conference proceedings.
In addition to the presentations, the International Programme Committee provided opportunities for delegates to discuss, to talk, to exchange ideas -- in other words, for this to be an active conference. Two aspects that worked well were the Theme Breakfasts, at which delegates created their own groups, and the Barge Breakfasts, where delegates signed up with an expert and traveled along the canals of Birmingham in the early morning.
Introductory Tours and Professional Groups
One new feature was the "Introductory Guided Tour," designed for the first-time WCCE delegate. With the help of an IFIP expert, each group of nine delegates met at the opening reception and planned its attendance at the various parallel sessions on the first morning, discussed the program over lunch, and continued as a group during the rest of the day. About 150 people participated. This activity was a major success -- in fact, many of the groups continued together throughout the week.
Another innovation was the creation of IFIP Professional Groups. These 16 small groups of delegates, set up under the six TC3 Working Groups (WGs), met throughout the week and, in addition to reporting back to the conference on the last day, contributed to a "Post-Conference Report." The ideas may well help set future plans for TC3 and its WGs, and may lead to the creation of new WGs. Some of these groups were so successful that delegates devoted all their time to them and didn't attend the other Conference activities. The groups met in the mornings, during the days, and in the evenings.
Of course, no conference on education would be complete without the learner. Classrooms with real teachers and learners were observed and discussed by delegates. Some delegates had been contacted prior to the conference, through the Internet, by school children in the classroom program, and were able to discuss at first-hand the differences and similarities between countries. The contacts made during the week will surely continue for many years to come, and studies will no doubt appear at many future IFIP conferences.
The exhibition, held within the conference centre, was well attended and provided a venue for meeting fellow delegates over coffee.
The early-bird fee for this six-day conference, including
the welcome reception, a symphony hall concert, coffees
throughout, and entrance to the exhibition, was just
150 pounds (U.K.). This low fee was possible only with the sizable
financial contributions made by the five major sponsors:
Apple U.K., British Telecom, Intel, Microsoft, and Research
Machines.
For further information or to order copies of the publications (proceedings <1100 pages>, compete
abstracts of all papers <430 pages>, post-conference reports and keynote speeches
Note that the next WCCE will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2001.
* secretary of TC3
by Prof. Basie von Solms (ZA)*
IFIP/Sec 95, organized by the IFIP Technical Committee on Security and Protection in Information
Processing (TC11), took place 8-12 May 1995 in Cape Town, South Africa, and was attended by
more than 250 delegates. About 120 delegates, representing 22 different countries, came from
outside South Africa.
IFIP/Sec 95 was preceded by a day of workshops and tutorials organized by four Working Groups
(WGs) of TC11. The conference itself, which started 9 May, consisted of morning and afternoon
plenary sessions each day, in which two invited speakers gave presentations, followed by 2 tracks
of refereed papers. In total, 40 refereed papers were scheduled, the majority of which were very
well received. The good balance between commercial and academic papers was especially
noted by the delegates. (Unfortunately, 3 papers had to be canceled because the authors did not attend.)
The six invited speakers were Mr. Bill Murray (USA), Mr. Don Parker (USA), Prof. Sead Muftic (S),
Prof. Kurt Bauknecht (CH), Prof. Lance Hoffman (USA), and Dr. Fred Cohen (USA). The invited talks
were very well received, providing real food for thought. Mr. Murray, for example, indicated that
engineers build bridges and buildings only after they clearly understand their technologies and
materials, and are sure that their construction will last. The question was whether the IT
(information technology) discipline, especially the information security discipline, is always as
sure about the systems it is constructing. Dr. Cohen reiterated this question by referring to the
dependence of large power-generating plants and other infrastructure systems on IT. Mr. Parker,
in his talk about ways to avoid information anarchy, also touched on this issue. Another issue was
security in open systems, and the talk by Prof. Muftic clearly illustrated the potential problems, but
also provided some solutions. Cryptographic policy issues were addressed by Prof. Hoffman.
TC11 established a task force to compile a list of encryption policies in different countries.
Some other issues were also prevalent at the conference.
One was the aspect of internal controls in IT systems, and their relation to information security.
A task force was set up by TC11 to report on this matter. TC11 also established a task force to
report on standardization issues.
A first for this conference was the Swedish track. On the Thursday of the conference, a separate,
dedicated, parallel track was scheduled, consisting only of papers by Swedish authors, providing
a comprehensive overview of the research and development in Sweden in the area of information
security.
In general, the technical part of IFIP/Sec 95 was very successful, providing a real state of the art
presentation and evaluation of information security on the international scene. Prof. Basie von Solms
(ZA) was General Chair of the conference, and Prof. Jan Eloff (ZA) was Chair of the International
Program Committee. These two were also joint Chairs of the Organizing Committee. The full
proceedings of the conference are now available from the IFIP publisher, Chapman & Hall.
During the official conference banquet, with a true African theme and live African music, the Kristian
Beckman Award, in memory of the first chairman of TC11, was awarded to Mr. Per Hoving (S). This
Award is made annually by TC11 to a person who has made an international contribution to information
security.
For all those who could have attended IFIP/Sec 95, and who did not: You missed a great conference!!!
Do not make the same mistake next year. IFIP/Sec 96 takes place 21-24 May 1996 on the Greek Island
of Samos. For more information, please contact the IFIP/Sec 96 Secretariat:
fax: +30 1 364 5154
IFIP/Sec 97 is scheduled for Denmark, and IFIP/Sec 98 for Austria/Hungary.
TC11 also held its annual meeting just before the conference. The meeting was attended by delegates
from 22 countries -- the most in a long time. A strategic policy-direction document for TC11 was
accepted at the meeting, and a number of task forces were established to investigate and report on
various issues. Working Groups also submitted their future plans. At the meeting, Prof. von Solms
was elected Chairman of TC11 until 1998, and Prof. Reinhard Posch (A) was elected Vice-Chairman
for the same term.
For more information about TC11 and its Working Groups, please contact the Secretary, Dave
Batchelor, at
e-mail: 72607.744@compuserve.com
* chairman of TC11
Tutorial Program Is Also Described
Prof. Egon Hörbst (A), co-chairman of the International Program Committee for IFIP Congress '96,
recently announced the four Congress keynote speakers.
Prof. Luc Steels (B) will speak on Artificial Life and Real-World Computing. He is director of the
AI laboratory of the Free University of Brussels and past-chairman of the University's Computer
Science Department. The AI lab is well known in Europe, the U.S., and Japan for its pioneering work
on tools for knowledge representation, and, more recently, for its work on robot societies and artificial
life. Prof. Steels is involved in numerous projects with industry and ESPRIT, the European Union's
R&D program. Since 1986, he has been working on the application of complex dynamics to the
construction of intelligent autonomous agents. He has published ten books, including textbooks on
LISP and knowledge systems.
The address by Prof. Wolfgang Wahlster (D) will be Speech Recognition and Translation -- Towards
Speech-to-Speech Translation for Mobile Telecommunication. Prof. Wahlster is Professor of Computer
Science at the University of Saarbruecken, Germany, and a Scientific Director of the German Research
Center for Artificial Intelligence, a European center of excellence for innovative information technology
solutions. Since 1993, he has led the VERBMOBIL project, the largest consortium for speech translation
worldwide. Prof. Wahlster has published more than 150 technical papers on human language technology
and intelligent user interfaces. His current research includes intelligent multimedia interfaces, user
modeling, intelligent help systems, and plan recognition.
Prof. Raj Reddy (USA) will discuss Grand Challenges in Artificial Intelligence. He is Dean of the
School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University and the Herbert A.
Simon University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics.
Prof. Reddy joined Carnegie Mellon's Department of Computer
Science in 1969 and served as Director of the Robotics Institute from 1979 to 1992. His research interests include
the study of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. His current research projects include speech
recognition and understanding systems; collaborative writing, design, and planning; JIT learning technologies; and
the Automated Machine Shop project. His professional honors
include the Turing Award this year and the French Legion of
Honor, presented by President Mitterrand in 1984.
The fourth keynote speaker, Mr. Hajime Sasaki (J), will talk
on Trends of Flat Panel Displays in the Multimedia Age. Mr.
Sasaki is Executive Vice-President of NEC Corporation, responsible for the entire operation of electronic devices,
including microelectronics and flat panel displays. He has
been involved in the research and development of VLSI systems and the management of the microelectronics business of
NEC. He has published numerous papers in the scientific media and participated in the organization of international
conferences, such as the ISSCC and VLSI symposia. He served
as Organizing Chairman of the IFIP VLSI Conference in Tokyo
in 1985.
Tutorials
The Congress will also have an exciting tutorial program.
Prof. Robert Meersman (NL), chairman of the Tutorial Committee, announced that there will be
eight tutorials, each a half day long. They will take place 30 and 31 August, the Friday and Saturday
preceding the Congress. Each will be held both in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia (the Congress
itself will take place in Canberra).
The speakers and their topics are as follows:
Dr. John Zeleznikow (AUS): Computer Tools for Legal and Management Professionals
Mr. Jim Melton (USA): SQL3: An Update on the Emerging Standard
Prof. Luc Steels (B) (also a keynote speaker): Software Agents and Electronic Commerce
Prof. Brian Shackel (GB) (former chair of IFIP's Technical Committee 13): The Business Benefits of Information Tech-
nology Usability: "The Business Case" of Human Factors in IT
The remaining tutorials will be announced in the near future.
The Congress, which will take place 2-6 September 1996 in Canberra, will consist of three individual
conferences, as described in the IFIP Newsletter in June (page 1) and September (page 4). Information
about submitting papers can be found on page _ of this issue. For additional information, please
communicate with the organizers:
The IFIP General Assembly (GA) met 9-10 September in Calgary, Canada, preceded by three days
of related meetings. During these five days, discussions took place on a number of significant issues,
the most important of which were related to IFIP Congresses and publications. In addition, the GA
discussed the multitude of IFIP technical activities, considered the quality of IFIP products, selected
new officers, honored members of the IFIP community, and observed that the financial situation is
satisfactory.
The Alberta chapter of the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) did an admirable job
of arranging tours of universities and industrial facilities before the meetings; unfortunately, few
participants were able to take advantage of the opportunities. Those able to attend were given excellent
presentations on research and development in wireless communication, software engineering,
seismic analysis for geological exploration, course preparation for computer-aided instruction,
"middleware," and other work that is taking place in Alberta.
Opening Session
Mr. Denis Herard, a member of the Alberta government, welcomed the GA on behalf of the province
of Alberta and told how Alberta is positioning itself for the 21st century in the "knowledge industry." He
cautioned the assemblage about "information silos," which isolate one group from another.
IFIP was also greeted by Mr. Kevin Brown, the national president of CIPS.
Prof. Asbj×rn Rolstadas (N), IFIP's outgoing president, presented his final report to the GA, summarizing
his three years in office. Unlike politicians, he reminded the GA of his "campaign promises" and
discussed the progress that had been made in achieving his goals. In pursuing the first goal, to serve
Member societies, he had visited a dozen of them and discussed IFIP with their officers. Although
much has been achieved, Prof. Rolstadas felt that continual effort is needed. He pointed out that
improved relationships with UNESCO and the European Commission had been achieved over the
past year. He noted that the strength of Technical Committees (TCs) in IFIP has been increased, but
that much more needs to be done to bring Working Groups (WGs) closer to the center of IFIP. During
his tenure, the Secretariat had been moved from Geneva, Switzerland, to Laxenburg, Austria; a contract
with a new IFIP publisher had been established; and IFIP had been installed on the Internet.
Among the problems to be faced, said Prof. Rolstadas, are the difficulty in establishing strategic
plans for IFIP and executing them, making decisions rapidly, and distributing responsibility; lack of
continual work between meetings; and establishing a satisfactory mix between academia and industry.
He closed by urging the GA to reconsider the role of IFIP. In particular, he asked whether IFIP should
continue to focus its efforts on conferences and proceedings, or whether other products and projects
should be considered.
Technical Activities
Among the recent IFIP conferences discussed at the GA was the World Conference on Computers in
Education, one of the major conferences sponsored by IFIP. This and several other recent IFIP
conferences had lower attendance than expected. (We note here that MEDINFO '95, the biennial
conference of the International Medical Informatics Association, formerly an IFIP TC, had an attendance
of over 3000.) Despite the contention that all the events were successful from a scientific point of view
and that disappointing attendance and low book sales were due to external factors (e.g., poor choice
of venue or dates), the results prompted a discussion of the quality of IFIP products. Prof. Martti Tienari
(SF), then chairman of the Activity Management Board, presented a discussion paper that mentioned
possible measures of the quality of an event (attendance, number of copies of the proceedings sold,
satisfaction of the participants, etc.). A related concern was the apparent decrease in the number of
events being planned. Possible explanations are the disruption of record-keeping associated with the
recent move of the Secretariat, the decision of some TCs not to sponsor events if IFIP does not control
the contents of the program, and others. Clearly, these matters merit continuing scrutiny by IFIP and
increased efforts to ensure that IFIP sponsors events and publishes books of only the highest quality.
One new Working Group (WG) was approved by the Technical Assembly (TA): Architectures for Enterprise
Integration (WG5.12). Its Aims and Scope will be printed in a future issue of the IFIP Newsletter. In
addition, the GA decided to transform the Specialist Group (SG) on Fractals and Chaos (SG15) into a new
WG under the TC on System Modeling and Optimization (TC7). Although the TA wants the SG on
Foundations of Computer Science (SG14) to be transformed into a TC, that action was deferred by the
GA until the membership of the SG conforms to that required of a TC, i.e., not more than one representative
for each IFIP Member society. Finally, the recommendation of the TA that the task force on Smart Cards
be transformed into a SG was accepted.
Mr. Graham Morris (GB), the IFIP secretary, reminded the GA that the Austrian government had offered
to fund a project in telecommunications (for up to 72 000 Swiss francs) and invited IFIP to identify
significant problems this project might undertake. Our incoming president, Prof. Kurt Bauknecht (CH), is
chairing the project steering committee and appointing its members, and Mr. Plamen Nedkov, the IFIP
Administration Manager, will be project manager.
The following topics were also discussed:
-) Prof. Klaus Brunnstein (D), chairman of the TC on the Relationship between Computers and Society
(TC9), suggested that IFIP establish an activity concerning the relationship between electronic publishing
and intellectual property rights. He is serving as chairman of a panel of experts considering this topic,
organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). He also proposed
activities involving lawyers and information technology, in such areas as copyrights and computer crime.
-) Prof. Jozef Gruska (SK), chairman of SG14, urged that theory sessions be included in all IFIP
Congresses. In addition, he requested that IFIP establish an award for theoretical results that have
found significant applications.
-) Prof. Gordon Davis (USA), chairman of the TC on Information Systems (TC8), announced that work has
begun on a monograph, Information Management as Organization Function and Academic Discipline, which
will define the field of information systems or information management in organizations, both as an
organization function and an academic discipline.
-) A book is being written by the WG on User Interface Engineering (WG2.7/13.4): Design Principles
for Interactive Software.
-) A project to help developing countries gain access to e-mail was described. It will be discussed
in a future Newsletter.
IFIP Congresses
Four IFIP Congresses were touched upon in Calgary. Prof. Wilfried Brauer (D), then an IFIP trustee,
reported on behalf of the Congress '94 (Hamburg) Organizing Committee that it anticipated paying soon
the amount it owed IFIP. He estimated that the expense for each delegate had amounted to approximately
1000 German marks (about 1300 Swiss francs). It was also announced that the anticipated white
papers elaborating on the "Congress Message" produced for Congress '94 (see articles on page 7 of
the December 1994 Newsletter and page 8 of the March 1995 Newsletter) would not be published, because
most of the "Issue Champions" had been unable to create them.
A discussion of Congress '96, to be held in September in Canberra, Australia, is on page _.
Prof. Egon Hörbst (A), co-chairman of the International Program Committee (IPC) for Congress '96, was
appointed by President-elect Bauknecht, as chairman of the IPC for Congress '98 (to be held in August
in Vienna and Budapest). Prof. Hoerbst announced that the format of the Congress would be similar to that
of Congress '96: namely, the Congress will comprise several simultaneous world conferences, each arranged
by a separate IPC. Tentative topics are security, computers for people with special needs, knowledge
rights, telecommunications, teleteaching, and collaborative work. The difficulties of organizing a Congress
with two venues, like Congress '80 in Tokyo and Melbourne, were discussed, and it was decided to
increase the planned length of Congress '98 from three to four days. Dr. Roger Johnson, the representative
of CEPIS (Council of European Professional Informatics Societies), as well as the representative of the
U.K., announced that CEPIS was interested in cooperating with IFIP to encourage good attendance by
Europeans at the Congress.
Finally, the GA deferred decision on selecting the site of Congress 2000. Invitations to hold the Congress in
Beijing or Tokyo had been received from the Chinese and Japanese IFIP Member societies. After their
representatives had presented the proposals, Prof. Ashley Goldsworthy (AUS), an IFIP vice-president,
proposed that the Congress be held partly in one of the cities and partly in the other. The GA voted to
encourage the two contending Member societies to plan a joint Congress and to present their joint
proposal to the March 1996 IFIP Council in Johannesburg, South Africa. Should the two parties be unable
to agree by the end of November (after this Newsletter has been sent to the printer), or should Council find
the joint proposal unacceptable, Council was empowered to select one of the original proposals; however,
the GA indicated that it would prefer that a mail ballot of Members be conducted to select the site.
Finances
Because the present financial status of IFIP is relatively healthy, the discussion of finances occupied less
time than usual. Mr. Aage Melbye (DK), IFIP's treasurer, presented his usual careful report. The main
points are the following:
-) A slight deficit (25 000 Swiss francs <25K CHF>) is budgeted for 1996. Before the GA, a small surplus
was anticipated; however, last-minute requests for change resulted in the planned deficit.
-) A surplus of 50-100K CHF is anticipated for 1995. This compares with a budgeted deficit of 100K CHF.
-) In June, IFIP's assets were approximately 1300K CHF.
-) In June, The TCs with the largest TC Fund balances were TC10, TC6, and TC8. These funds make up
24% of the general fund.
-) It appears that expenses for running the Laxenburg Secretariat will be lower than those to run the
Geneva Secretariat, as was anticipated.
-) The official currency of IFIP will remain the Swiss franc, and the official seat will remain in Switzerland.
New Officers and New Members
The following GA representatives were elected vice-presidents: Prof. Brauer and Prof. Goldsworthy for
three-year terms, and Mr. Geoff Fairall (ZW) for a one-year term.The following were elected trustees:
Mr. Moshe Gotlieb (IL), Dr. Walter Grafendorfer (A), and Dr. Johnson for three-year terms, and Mr. Christopher
Guy (ZA) for a two-year term.
Also, the GA unanimously elected Dr. Jack Rosenfeld (USA), who is editor of the Newsletter, to be an
Individual Member. (The IFIP statutes specify, "Any individual may be admitted as an Individual Member
in recognition of his contribution to the Federation and the Information Processing field.") Dr. Rosenfeld
is the ninth Individual Member admitted by IFIP but the only one not previously a GA representative of
a Member society.
Mr. Melbye announced his intention not to seek reelection as treasurer at the 1996 GA. Because of
the difficulty in transferring the management of the databases of IFIP events and financial information
from Geneva to Laxenburg, the Executive Board decided to extend his contract as a consultant to the
end of 1995. The Executive Board is especially concerned with the succession of IFIP treasurers and
secretaries. Since these officers have extensive knowledge and skills, the sudden loss of which could
be damaging to IFIP, the Executive Board is studying plans for ensuring that there are always individuals
who could serve as interim treasurer or secretary should the need arise.
The three nations admitted to membership by the 1994 GA are still not formally members of IFIP, since
they have not paid their dues. The GA agreed to allow them one more year to officially join IFIP
(the dues must be paid, and a representative must attend the GA). No new applications for membership
have been received, despite the interest expressed by several Eastern European delegates to IFIP
Congress '94.
Other Matters
Mr. Nedkov reported on the move of the Secretariat to Laxenburg. Although he had to work
single-handedly for several months after his assistant quit in April, he was optimistic about the future.
He pointed out that facilities exist in Laxenburg for small meetings of TCs and other IFIP groups (up to
14 people). He also demonstrated to the TA the new IFIP WorldWide Web home page, which he
had organized. The address is now http://www.ifip.or.at. Mr. Nedkov urged all TCs, Member societies,
and other bodies related to IFIP that have home pages to inform him, in order that he can create links in
the IFIP pages to the others. He also pleaded that all concerned send him address changes. The
information in the IFIP Bulletin is in electronic form and should be available to the IFIP community from
the IFIP database server once the legal (privacy) aspects have been investigated and resolved. In
addition, the Marketing Committee requested that the Secretariat continually place changes in
addresses, new appointments, and similar material on-line, and that the Secretariat send e-mail
messages quarterly to the IFIP community, listing those whose addresses and other information have
changed during the quarter. Because of this, there will no longer be a "Changes in IFIP" column in the
Newsletter. Problems still remain to be solved regarding the databases of IFIP events and financial
information, which have yet to be installed in Laxenburg.
The GA revisited the issue of an IFIP press officer, an effort that has failed twice in the past few years.
Because IFIP is the only truly international body in the information processing field, its work and
announcements should be broadly disseminated. The GA encouraged frequent issuing of press
releases, with timely, significant statements. Member societies are urged to come forward with
suggestions, which should be distributed to GA representatives well in advance of the meetings (in
order that the representatives have an opportunity to consult their national societies, TCs, or other
constituencies). President-elect Bauknecht announced that he would appoint a press officer.
A significant discussion concerning the role of the TA began, in part, because of complaints of too
much repetition in the GA of material already presented in the TA. The TA was originally intended to be
a body in which TC chairs could discuss mutual problems and strategic issues related to the technical
activity of IFIP. As the TA has evolved, more and more is discussed there, including publications,
finances, and marketing. Recently, it was recommended that all GA members attend the TA meeting,
in order that TC chairs not need to repeat anything during the GA. Nonetheless, some believe there is
still too much overlap. A variety of suggestions were voiced, including abolishing the TA and discussing
all the TA issues in the GA, restricting attendance at the TA to TC chairs and very few other individuals,
abolishing TC reports to the GA, maintaining the TA as the forum of the TCs and keeping the GA as the
forum of the Member societies, and requiring all reports to be distributed to the GA well in advance.
Prof. Bauknecht appointed a task force to study this issue.
Mr. Nedkov, in his role as IFIP-UNESCO Liaison Officer, noted that increased support had recently
been received from UNESCO. He reported that a dossier on IFIP had been prepared for UNESCO's
upcoming evaluation of NGOs with official status. In addition, Bulgaria had prepared a resolution and
submitted it to UNESCO to encourage changing IFIP's status from "B" to "A" and providing a grant of
$50 000 (U.S.) to ensure a stronger participation from developing and Eastern European countries in
IFIP Congress '96. Also, UNIDO has granted IFIP a consultative status.
Additional matters discussed include these:
At the close of the GA, President-elect Bauknecht presented President Rolstadas with a gift from IFIP
(a painting) to thank him for the leadership he had shown during his term in office and to recognize
the progress IFIP had undergone during those three years.
Finally, President Rolstadas thanked CIPS, the Canadian host society -- especially Mr. Ken Chapman,
who was responsible for the arrangements -- for the flawless organization of the meetings and the lavish
hospitality shown. (Although the social program far exceeded the IFIP guidelines, none of the
participants was heard to complain!)
In May, the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) hosted a meeting in Paris to discuss the
merits of forming an International Union of Computing Science and Informatics (IUCSI).
ICSU is "an international non-governmental scientific organization, established in 1931 to promote
international cooperation in science for the benefit of humankind." At present, IFIP is an International
Scientific Associate of ICSU, which has been determining whether to admit any organization from the
information processing field as a member on an equal footing with its approximately 20 members
representing mathematics, physics, chemistry, and other sciences. If ICSU does accept information
processing, it will decide what organization best represents the field internationally.
IFIP officers have engaged in discussions with ICSU officers, and in September 1994, a task force was
appointed by Prof. Asbjørn Rolstadås (N), then president of IFIP, to take necessary measures to have
IFIP represented in ICSU. In March 1995, the IFIP Executive Board discussed the matter further and
decided to move slowly in that direction, perhaps first cooperating with ICSU on joint projects.
Sixteen prominent computer scientists attended the May meeting convened by ICSU and voiced strong
support for the creation of an IUCSI, intended to become a member of ICSU. That meeting was not
known to IFIP until September, when it was reported to the General Assembly.
Goals of New Organization
We quote here a few sections from the proposal drafted at the meeting:
The primary goal of IUCSI would be to host an International Congress approximately once every four
years. Presentations at this Congress would be by invitation of the society, and speakers would be
drawn from all active areas of Computing Science and Informatics (CSI). This is not to say that the
Congress would attempt to cover all aspects of Computing. For example, the more commercially-related
developments in Computing are very well represented elsewhere. Our intent is to focus on the scientific
aspects of the field, and to convey some of the intellectual excitement of the discipline....
A second goal of IUCSI will be to promote education in the scientific aspects of CSI....
A third goal will be to promote the internationalization of the scientific study of computing, particularly
among developing nations. The primary means by which this can be accomplished is through the
sponsorship of more frequent international and regional conferences, and support of the travel costs
of young scientists....
Comparison with IFIP
International contact and collaboration in computing has been well served by existing structures. The
IFIP, in particular, has undertaken responsibility for promotion of quality and range in education, for
advancement of the subject in underdeveloped countries, and for establishment of technical committees
and working groups engaged in coordination of standards and preparatory research leading to
consensus. Their regular (two-yearly) Congress brings together contributions from all engaged in
development, promotion and exploitation of computers, and its success reflects widespread realisation
of the immense economic, commercial, industrial, financial, and social implications of computing
technology.
However, there is a possibility that, among all these vital pursuits, the unifying role of the underlying
basic science may be obscured. We intend therefore to complement many of the activities of these
existing organisations, but focusing on the scientific aspects of the field. Links to application will be
maintained and welcomed as a source of challenges and new directions, and a trigger to advances
in the basic science.
Many national computing societies, such as the IEEE, ACM, and CRA, also take serious responsibility
for the international dimension, and we would expect to work closely together with such societies, either
informally or as associated or adhering bodies....
To carry out the scientific role outlined above, the proposed Union must be led by prominent scientists
and supported by a simple, efficient organization. In particular, we envision a structure that is similar to
other unions within ICSU such as the International Mathematics Union (IMU).
The IMU has 52 member countries, each of which pays an annual fee of between 1200 and 12,000 Swiss
Francs, depending on the level of activity in that country....There is a minimal level of administrative
support for the officers of the union and no permanent staff. The Executive Committee appoints two
committees, one to organize the International Congress and one to select Fields Medal winners. It
also allocates funds for all IMU activities, including the support of other international meetings.
By design, the proposed CSI Union would fit well within the framework of ICSU. ICSU itself has
expressed a strong interest in the creation of this union within the ICSU family.
A task force led by IFIP's president, Prof. Kurt Bauknecht (CH), will soon contact ICSU.
Electronic Publication Is Essential
The future of IFIP publications was again a major topic considered by the IFIP General Assembly (GA),
at its September meeting in Calgary. Publications are always a key topic in
IFIP because of their importance to IFIP's mission of disseminating information as well as the income
IFIP receives from royalties; therefore, the status of publications was discussed in the Publications
Committee (PC), the Marketing Committee, the Technical Assembly, and the GA itself.
Prof. Wilfried Brauer (D), then chairman of the PC, reported that 35 IFIP books will be published in
1995 by Chapman & Hall (C&H), the primary IFIP publisher, in the first year of its contract with IFIP.
The royalty income for the books in 1995 is expected to exceed the minimum royalty income guaranteed
by C&H. Future royalties are difficult to predict. Prof. Brauer also reported that it has been very difficult
to implement the recommendation of the 1993 GA that IFIP initiate several new journals. As reported
previously, beginning in 1996, a new journal, Education and Information Technologies, will be published
in both print and electronic forms by the IFIP Technical Committee on Education (TC3). On the other
hand, the journal of the TC on Computer Applications in Technology (TC5), has been discontinued.
The Publisher's Problems
Mr. Mark Hammond, the representative of C&H, reported that the sales of some IFIP books had not
met the publisher's expectations; however, overall revenue is satisfactory because of the large number
of titles published. He indicated that C&H was disappointed by the poor response from Member
societies to the C&H request for help in promoting IFIP books (In many cases, there was no reply to
C&H mail.) Neither has the response from TC chairmen been helpful. Means of reducing expenses
were suggested by Mr. Hammond, such as decreasing the number of complimentary copies that the
contract with IFIP specifies that C&H furnish, reducing royalties to IFIP, not publishing all possible IFIP
books, printing smaller books, and moving rapidly toward electronic publication. Since no data were
furnished by C&H to substantiate the claim of hardship and the need to modify its contract with IFIP,
C&H was requested to provide such data in the future. Nevertheless, IFIP made concessions, as
described below.
Some participants in the meetings encouraged more aggressive marketing of IFIP books, and one TC
chair suggested an improved returns policy (allowing organizers of conferences to return unsold books
to C&H).
Fewer and Smaller Books?
Perhaps books that are likely to have a small number of sales should not be printed, suggested Mr.
Hammond. The contract between C&H and IFIP permits C&H to refuse publication of books it deems
likely to have few sales. Although the publisher has not exercised this clause of its contract, Mr.
Hammond suggested that C&H might do so should costs not be reduced and sales improved. Another
means of helping C&H would be for TCs to subsidize the cost of unprofitable books that they deem to
have merit. Mr. Hammond pointed out that the partnership between C&H and IFIP should be based
upon mutual accommodation. What is good for one party is ultimately good for both. He also noted
that C&H has been obliging, providing services for IFIP that were not required by the contract, e.g.,
editing a book and mailing the IFIP Newsletter at the cost to C&H.
Mr. Hammond also proposed the publication of selected papers from conferences rather than all the
papers presented. The latter is the practice with most of IFIP's conferences; however, some
international program committees (IPCs) select a subset of the papers presented for publication in the
conference proceedings, thus improving the overall quality of the books and reducing their cost.
This occasionally dissuades some potential participants from submitting papers.
Electronic Publishing
A major component of the discussions centered around electronic publishing (dissemination of
information through computer networks -- gratis or for a fee), which might solve several problems but
perhaps generate others. Publication on CD-ROMs was also deliberated. Promulgation of information
can be done more economically by electronic than by paper publication. Also, documents can be
created more rapidly in electronic form than in print form. Electronic publication could be used for IFIP
books that are not likely to be economically feasible to print; for supplements to proceedings, containing
papers that were not selected for the printed version; for individual papers or monographs chosen for
publication by this medium; and for other purposes. Among the problems associated with electronic
publishing are the following:
In addition, IFIP has no expertise in electronic publishing at present, despite the topic having been
discussed in IFIP for over two years. The GA strongly encouraged the PC to acquire relevant knowledge,
at least by having one or more members familiar with the technology and the issues. It was again
suggested that IFIP hold a conference on electronic publishing (a previous suggestion to this effect was
made at the March 1994 IFIP Council). Dr. Ronald Uhlig (USA), president of the International Council for
Computer Communication (ICCC), reported to the GA that his organization is planning an Electronic
Publishing Conference in 1997 and that ICCC would consider IFIP co-sponsorship of this conference.
Mr. Hammond presented a proposal to the PC and other IFIP bodies for an electronic "IFIP Resource
Centre," which would maintain IFIP information on the Internet -- both documents about IFIP, available
free of charge, and scientific information (journals, books, abstracts, software, and other products),
available for a fee. The general consensus reached at the meetings was that the proposal had a great
deal of merit, but that it would be preferable for IFIP to control the contents of the database.
IFIP Policies to Help Publisher
In order to consider all these issues more thoroughly, the Technical Assembly commissioned a task
force, chaired by Dr. Roger Johnson (GB), which met one evening to discuss the problems and create
a plan for action. The task force concluded that electronic publication (except for CD-ROMs) is not
likely to be practical for IFIP within the next five years, although some doubt it will take that long. The
task force recommended the following:
No recommendations were made concerning electronic publication five years hence.
Mr. Hammond warned the GA that a delay in the approval of these recommendations might jeopardize
the publication of some marginally profitable books. The GA approved the recommendations. The
PC, now chaired by Dr. Johnson, will take up the work of the task force.
We gratefully acknowledge the generous financial support of the following corporations toward the
eleventh IFIP International Open Conference on Computer Security (SEC'95), held in May in South
Africa:
A Collaboration of IFIP, Curtin Business School, and ACS
Two video tapes have been produced as the result of a three-way collaboration of the IFIP Technical
Committee on Information Systems (TC8), the Curtin Business School of the Curtin University of
Technology in Perth, Australia, and the Australian Computer Society. The two tapes, significantly
different in approach and intended audience, were organized and planned by Dr. Bernard Glasson,
chairman of TC8 (effective 1 January 1996) and Associate Professor of Information Systems with the
Curtin Business School, who introduces both tapes.
The first tape, State of the Art in Information Systems (IS), is for use in upper-level university courses
and inhouse staff seminars in industrial establishments and similar locations. It presents five
perspectives on IS from around the world and was filmed in five different locations in Europe and the
U.S. The presenters, chosen by the five Working Groups of TC8, and their topics are
The tape was first presented at an Australian Computer Society national seminar, at which "local
commentators" were chosen and asked to give their views of the contents of the five segments.
These discussions were subsequently analyzed and summarized in the form of lists of "opportunities
and challenges." In the final version of the tape, a summary of the local commentators' consensus is
presented by Dr. Glasson following each of the segments. In addition, transcripts of the video tape
sound track and audio tapes of the local commentators were made. The data from these tapes is
being analyzed by Dr. Glasson and should be available soon as working papers.
The collaborators are in the process of producing the next edition of a State of the Art in Information
Systems video, which uses the same format but focuses on five new topics:
Business Process Re-engineering
The second tape, International Perspectives on Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), was filmed
primarily at the May 1994 TC8 International Conference on BPR in Australia. It is intended as an
executive summary. The contents consist of the answers to a set of questions on BPR by eleven
of the participants in the conference, including Prof. Gordon Davis (USA), Prof. Ashley Goldsworthy
(AUS), Prof. Rudy Hirschheim (USA), Prof. Mats Lundeberg (S), and Dr. William Olle (GB), who are
IFIP leaders. The following questions were asked:
Each of the responders answered all the questions; however, the producers of the tape selected three
representative answers for each question to include in the tape. Following the three answers, Dr.
Glasson summarizes the major issues raised by all the responders. For the final question, the
answers of all responders are shown.
A consensus answer, derived by content analysis, to the first question (What is BPR?) is presented
by Dr. Glasson: An integrated approach to dealing with business problems and opportunities, through
a fundamental rethinking of the key processes of the business, in order to achieve sustainable effects
and major business improvements through radical change and the effective alignment of information
systems and technology to the goals of the business. The answer to the question "Is BPR mainly
hype, or is there substance to it?" proved to be quite interesting: Some 46% of the responders
said it is primarily hype, 43% said it is mainly substance, and 11% indicated that it is a mixture of both.
mong the conclusions presented are these:
a) Do not automate what exists now in a business, but what should exist.
b) BPR is primarily a business concept -- not an IT concept.
c) BPR is a high-risk activity with potentially high rewards.
Accompanying both tapes are pages of summary information and bibliographies, which the viewers are
urged to consult. The brochure "What is IFIP?" is also included with the second tape.
To obtain a copy of either tape, please send a note by e-mail to
ISVIDEOS@BA1.curtin.edu.au
The preparation of video tapes for state-of-the-art presentations is an activity that could be
undertaken by many groups within IFIP. Such tapes can provide valuable information to students and
workers around the world, in developed as well as developing countries, about new disciplines. They
do not require the speakers to be in the same location at the same time, nor do they require the
extensive, detailed preparation on the part of the speakers that is required to create class notes for a
state-of-the-art seminar. On the other hand, the value of any presentation is likely to be proportional to
the amount of preparation, and capturing the extemporaneous opinions of experts on videotape
may result in little more than a collection of banalities, with no substance.
TC8 is to be congratulated on this innovative project.
The following appointments as committee chairs were made by Prof. Kurt Bauknecht (CH),
the new IFIP president, following the September General Assembly in Calgary:
The theme we set for INTERACT'95, IFIP's Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer
Interaction (HCI), was "Bringing People Together." As well as bringing together the usual participants,
we fulfilled this theme with especial success by being able to offer IFIP Awards to bring 18 scientists
from the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries to Lillehammer, Norway, to
INTERACT.
Well before the Conference, the IFIP Technical Committee on HCI (TC13) decided that attempts should
be made to encourage Eastern HCI scientists to go West. Consequently, as the TC13 chairman,
I agreed to approach the IFIP Developing Countries Support Committee (DCSC) for a starting grant,
and also, from my institution's experience of the European Union (EU), I thought there could be some
hope for an EU grant.
The approach to the DCSC was successful; that initiative also revealed that the IFIP Contracts Officer,
Mr. Plamen Nedkov (BG), had assisted the German Gesellschaft für Informatik to obtain grants from
both UNESCO and the EU for the same purpose for IFIP Congress '94. Nedkov suggested that the
same UNESCO and EU contacts could perhaps be used. I readily agreed and wrote the proposals,
which Nedkov submitted to UNESCO and to two sections of the EU, in a developing process over two
months.
The decision from UNESCO came quite soon, with a grant of U.S.$3,000, which enabled us to offer three
awards of IFIP Fellow (although at a minimum cash level, because of the recent large drop in the U.S.
dollar exchange rate). Because of changes of Commission staff at the EU, there were delays in
responding to our proposal to establish an ongoing project (INTERACT-EAST, with this year's proposal
being for Project I'95EAST). Finally, 10 days before the start of the conference and after helpful verbal
assurances in advance, the EU grant of 22,750 ECU was confirmed. This EU grant enabled the
proposed IFIP Projectee awards to be offered, and also enabled a supplement to the IFIP Fellow
awards, so that they could provide more help with travel as well as costs at the conference in
Lillehammer.
About 6 months before the EU grant was decided, a general announcement was made via e-mail and
through various contacts in the East. From the applications submitted, a small sub-committee of TC13
with the INTERACT'95 programme committee chairman selected, with almost unanimous ratings, the
three IFIP Fellows. Others were informed of the possibility of an award if the EU grant were received.
Finally, 22 Eastern European scientists were informed that an award had been made in their favour.
Unfortunately, the EU grant and this announcement arrived too late for four of them to get visas or make
their travel arrangements. We were able, however, to welcome 18 scientists from Eastern Europe to
INTERACT'95.
Their attendance at INTERACT'95 was an undoubted success. Many letters and e-mail messages
of thanks, and hopes to continue and develop further the contacts made, have been received. Any
reader who wishes to contact any of these Eastern European scientists may contact me for an e-mail
or fax number, at the address below.
IFIP, and especially TC13, thank UNESCO and the EU for these grants. Naturally, both IFIP and TC13
hope that this success in achieving the first direct grant to IFIP from the EU will set a precedent and
make it easier for IFIP to obtain similar awards in the future.
For further information about this work, please contact:
* past TC13 chairman
by Prof. Janos Gertler (USA)*
We include here a major portion of an article from the newsletter of the International Federation
of Automatic Control (IFAC), a sister federation of IFIP, also located in Laxenburg. The topic may
be of interest to the IFIP community. -- Editor>
The idea of putting the material of IFAC Congresses and Symposia on CD-ROMs, instead of paper,
first came up in 1991. Subsequently, the National Organizing Committee of the 1996 San Francisco
IFAC Congress gave the matter some serious consideration -- and concluded that, by then, the time
might be ripe for this innovation....
Our friends at Elsevier
As a result of all these discussions, the following arrangements are now in place for the 1996
Congress. The full material of the Congress, estimated at about 9600 pages, will be placed on
CD-ROMs. The disks will be prepared from the usual camera-ready manuscripts by optical scanning.
They will contain the table of contents, authors' index, and subject (keyword) index and will be readable
under DOS and UNIX operating systems. Each participant of the Congress will receive a copy as
part of the registration package. Copies provided to the Congress participants will carry single-user
licenses. The same CD-ROMs will be marketed by Elsevier after the Congress and carry library
(multiple-user) licenses.
The full material will also be printed in the usual way from camera-ready manuscripts. The printed
papers will be arranged in about 17 "subject volumes," each volume containing a thematically-coherent
part of the material. Congress participants will receive, as part of their registration package, two
volumes of their choice, and may purchase additional volumes for extra payment. Volume choices
made at preregistration will be guaranteed, while on-the-spot selections will be satisfied as long as
the stocks permit. In addition to the subject volumes, every participant will receive a Plenary and Index
volume, which will also contain instructions concerning the use of the compact disks.
The organizers and the publisher do hope that the significant extra effort needed to implement this
scheme will pay off, in terms of the satisfaction of the Congress participants and of the entire
control-engineering community. They also trust that what is an experiment today will prove to be the
wave of the future.
* Publications Manager, IFAC '96
WCCE95
Margaret Street
Birmingham, B3 3BW, U.K.
ELEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION SECURITY HELD IN
SOUTH AFRICA
e-mail: sec96@aegean.ariadne-t.gr.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS ARE ANNOUNCED FOR IFIP CONGRESS '96
Secretariat, IFIP Congress '96
c/o Australian Convention and Travel Services
G.P.O. Box 2200
Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
tel: +61 6 257 3299, fax: +61 6 257 3256
e-mail: ifip96@act.acs.org.au
http://acslink.net.au/~tomw/ifip96br.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETS IN CALGARY
ICSU HOSTS MEETING TO FORM INTERNATIONAL UNION OF COMPUTING
SCIENCE AND INFORMATICS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSIDERS PUBLICATIONS MATTERS
MORE IFIP SUPPORTERS
IBM South Africa
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu International
They are now added to the list of IFIP Supporters.
TC8 HAS PRODUCED VIDEO TAPES ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS
o Prof. Mats Lundeberg (S): IS Methodology
o Prof. Niels Bjørn-Andersen (DK): Organizational Impact Issues
o Prof. Ralph Sprague (USA): Decision Support Systems
o Prof. Doug Vogel (USA): Office Systems Applications
o Prof. John King (USA): Public Sector Applications
o Prof. Michael Earl (GB): Information Systems Planning
o Prof. Tom Davenport (USA): Business Process Re-engineering
o Prof. Rudy Hirschheim (USA): Outsourcing
o Prof. Haruhisa Ishida (J): Client Server
o Dr. Ivar Jacobson (S): Object-oriented Development
NEW IFIP COMMITTEE CHAIR APPOINTMENTS
Technical Assembly: Prof. Martti Tienari (SF)
Activity Management Board: Dr. Walter Grafendorfer (A)
Admissions Committee: Mr. Masanori Ozeki (J)
Congress Committee: Mr. Chris Guy (ZA)
Developing Countries Support Committee: Mr. Moshe Gottlieb (IL)
Finance Committee: Dr. Dipak Khakhar (S)
Marketing Committee: Mrs. Patricia Glenn (CDN)
Publications Committee: Dr. Roger Johnson (GB)
Statutes and Bylaws Committee: Prof. Pierre Bobillier (CH)
Internal Awards Committee: Mr. Graham Morris (GB)
Nomination Committee for Officers: Mr. Aage Melbye (DK)
Nominations Committee for Trustees: Mr. Dudley Dolan (IRL)
Please click here to see the Technical Committee and Specialist Group chairmen
EUROPEAN UNION AND UNESCO ASSISTED EASTERN
EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS TO ATTEND INTERACT'95
by Prof. Brian Shackel (GB)*
Professor Emeritus B. Shackel
HUSAT Research Institute &
Department of Human Sciences
University of Technology
Loughborough, LE11 3TU, U.K.
tel: +44-1509-223010, fax: +44-1509-212664
e-mail: b.shackel@lut.ac.uk
IFAC '96 ON CD-ROM
FUTURE IFIP MEETINGS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND COUNCIL (AND RELATED MEETINGS)
Council 3-7 Mar 96 (Sun.-Thurs.) Sandton
(near Johannesburg), South Africa
GA 5-10 Sep 96 (Thurs.-Tues.) Canberra, Australia
Council Mar 97 Slovakia (Bratislava
or elsewhere)
GA (contiguous to IFIP Congress '98) Vienna, Austria,
or Budapest, Hungary
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE AND WORKING GROUP MEETINGS
TC2 13-14 Jul 96 Oxford, U.K.
WG2.1 Jun 96 Western U.S.A.
WG2.2 Sep/Oct 96 Macao
97 Graz, Austria
WG2.3 15-19 Apr 96 Han-Sur-Lesse, Belgium
Jan 97 California, U.S.A.
WG2.4 3-7 Jun 96 Ameland, The Netherlands
Jun 97 Berlin, Germany
98 Colorado, U.S.A.
WG2.7/13.4 Apr 96 Vancouver, BC, Canada
15-18
WG2.9 second quarter 96 Northwestern U.S.A.
TC3 1-2 Sep 96 Wollongong, Australia
97 Ghent, Belgium,
or The Netherlands
TC5 Jan 96 e-mail conf. of WG chairs
10 May 96 Trondheim, Norway
WG5.7 3 Nov 96 Kyoto, Japan
TC6 26-27 Apr 96 Montreal, Canada
6-7 Sep 96 Australia
or mid Oct 96 Zimbabwe
Mar/Apr 97 Cambridge, U.K.
Sep/Oct 97 Beijing, P.R.C., or Tunisia
Apr/May 98 Bulgaria or Denmark
TC7 17-20 Jun 96 Munich, Germany
Jul 97 Detroit, MI, U.S.A.
Jul 99 Cambridge, U.K.
TC8 12-13 Apr 96 Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
WG8.1 7 May 96 Geneva, Switzerland
WG8.2 7 Dec 95 Cambridge, U.K.
Dec 96 (with ICIS) Cleveland, OH, U.S.A.
Dec 97 (with ICIS) Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
TC9 16-17 Mar 96 Tel Aviv, Israel
WG9.2 12-14 Jan 96 Namur, Belgium
WG9.5 7 Jul 96 Brighton, U.K.
WG9.6 9-10 Mar 96 Hamburg, Germany
TC10 Sep 96 Canberra, Australia
WG10.4 23-27 Jan 96 Martinique, French West Indies
27 Jun - 2 Jul 96 Marioka, Japan
TC11 May 96 Samos, Greece
97 Denmark
WG11.1, 2, 5, 8:
22 May 96 Samos, Greece
WG11.3 22-24 Jul 96 Como, Italy
WG12.2 3-6 Jul 96 (with ICML96) Bari, Italy
TC13 14 Apr 96 Vancouver, BC, Canada
WG13.1 16 Apr 96 Vancouver, BC, Canada
WG13.2 13 May 96 (during working conf.) Geneva, Switzerland
WG13.4/2.7 Apr 96 Vancouver, BC, Canada
15-18
SG14 96 U.S.A.
CALLS FOR PAPERS
IFIP Congress '96
2-6 Sep 96, Canberra, Australia
The three conferences that make up the Congress are as follows:
Advanced IT Tools
papers due: 31 Jan 96
contact: Dr. Nobuyoshi Terashima
c/o ATR Communications Systems
Research Laboratories
2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun
Kyoto, Japan 619-02
tel: +81-774-95-1211
fax: +81-774-95-1208 or +81-774-98-2054
e-mail: Terasima@atr-sw.atr.co.jp
Mobile Communications
papers due: 31 Jan 96
contact: Jose L. Encarnac
Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics
Wilhelminenstrasse 7
64283 Darmstadt, Germany
tel: +49-6151-155-130, fax: +49-6151-155-430
e-mail: jle@igd.fhg.de
or
Jan M. Rabaey
Dept. of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science
University of California
Cory Hall, Room 511
Berkeley, California 94720, U.S.A.
tel: +1-510-642-8206, fax: +1-510-642-2739
e-mail: jan@eecs.berkeley.edu
Teleteaching 96
suggestions for interactive events due:
31 Jan 96
contact: Sandra Wills
Director, Educational Media Services
The University of Wollongong
Northfields Avenue
Wollongong, NSW, Australia 2522
fax: +61 42 258 312
e-mail: s.wills@uow.edu.au
ICCHP'96 - Fifth Intl. Conf. on Computers Helping People with
Special Needs
17-19 Jul 96, Linz, Austria
papers due: 1 Feb 96
contact: Joachim Klaus
University Karlsruhe
Engesserstrasse 4
D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany
tel: +49-721-608-2760, fax: +49-721-69 73 77
e-mail: joachim_klaus@ira.uka.de
FORTE/PSTV'96
IFIP TC6/WG6.1 Joint Intl. Conf. on Formal Description Tech-
niques for Distributed Systems and Communication Protocols,
and Protocol Specification, Testing, and Verification
8-11 Oct 96, Kaiserslautern, Germany
papers due: 19 Apr 96
contact:
FORTE/PSTV'96 Organization Committee
Univ. of Kaiserslautern
P.O. Box 3049
D-67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany
tel: +49 631 205-3426 or -3287
fax: +49 631 205-2640
e-mail: forte.pstv96@informatik.uni-kl.de
Will event organizers please note that calls for papers cannot be listed in this column until the events
have been approved by IFIP.
National Abbreviations Used in Newsletter
A Austria
AUS Australia
B Belgium
BG Bulgaria
CDN Canada
CH Switzerland
CZ The Czech Republic
D Germany
DK Denmark
GB United Kingdom
I Italy
IL Israel
IRL Ireland
J Japan
N Norway
NL The Netherlands
S Sweden
SF Finland
SK Slovakia
USA U.S.A.
ZA South Africa
ZW Zimbabwe
The "Changes in IFIP" column has been discontinued because the Secretariat will be providing
that information on-line on a regular basis.
IFIP COUNCIL
Executive Board
K. Bauknecht President CH 95-98
A. Rolstadås Past-Pres. N 95-96
H.L. Funk Vice-Pres. USA 94-97
A.W. Goldsworthy Vice-Pres. AUS 95-98
W. Brauer Vice-Pres. D 95-98
G.R. Fairall Vice-Pres. ZW 95-96
G.J. Morris Secretary GB 93-96
A. Melbye Treasurer DK 93-96
Trustees
M. Ozeki J 93-96
D. Dolan IRL 94-97
D. Khakhar S 93-96
W. Grafendorfer A 95-98
P. Glenn CDN 94-97
M. Gottlieb IL 95-98
R. Johnson GB 95-98
C. Guy ZA 95-97
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
and SPECIALIST GROUP
CHAIRMEN
TC2: R. Kurki-Suonio SF 95-97
TC3: P. Bollerslev DK 91-96
TC5: T. Mikami J 93-96
TC6: O. Spaniol D 92-97
TC7: P. Kall CH 95-98
TC8: B. Glasson AUS 96-98
(effective 1 Jan. 96)
TC9: P. Jaervinen SF 96-98
(effective 1 Jan. 96)
TC10: E. Hoerbst A 93-96
TC11: B. von Solms ZA 94-98
TC12: L. Carlucci-Aiello I 96-98
(effective 1 Jan. 96)
TC13: J. Hammond AUS 95-98
SG14: J. Gruska SK 89-95