[ecoop-info] Informatics Europe

[Bertrand Meyer]

Members of the ECOOP mailing list in Europe may be interested in the 
official start of Informatics Europe, the association of CS and IT 
departments in Europe. Modeled after the US CRA (Computing Research 
Association), Informatics Europe is intended to provide a meeting place 
for all members of the discipline and advance informatics in Europe. The 
following paragraphs describe the goals and current state of the 
association. You can find more information, and a membership form, at 
http://www.informatics-europe.org. Please pass on this information to 
other potentially interested people, including department heads.

Thanks and best regards,

-- Bertrand Meyer

------------- About Informatics Europe ---------------------------------
Informatics Europe is the association of computer science/IT/informatics 
departments of universities and research organizations, public and 
private, in Europe and neighboring areas.

The mission of Informatics Europe is to foster the development of 
quality research and teaching in information and computer sciences.

Informatics Europe was created as a result of the first two European 
Computer Science Summits (ECSS), held at ETH Zurich in October 2005 and 
  October 2006, where heads of computer science departments from all 
over  the European region joined forces for the first time to define and 
  promote common policies and study common issues.

Informatics Europe is a nonprofit membership organization; members are 
organizations such as CS departments of universities as well as public 
or private research laboratories. Informatics Europe maintains close 
ties with other academic and professional organizations.

The association pursues its goals through meetings, working groups, 
newsletters and other activities. Currently five working groups are 
active, each with a mailing list and a Wiki page:

	- Evaluation criteria for informatics research (what are the
	  appropriate measures for evaluating the work of researchers
	  in computer science and information technology?)

	- Curriculum issues (what is an appropriate informatics
	  curriculum, how do we assess equivalences for exchange
	  students etc.?)

	- Facts and figures (collecting the basic data about
	  informatics in Europe, from the mere list of departments
	  to bachelor/master/PhD graduation figures, faculty
	  salaries etc.).

	- Lobbying and strategy (making our voice heard by
	  political authorities and others.)

Informatics Europe also publishes the weekly "Tech Watch Digest", a 
concise summary of the latest development in the field, with a European
accent. Subscription is free and open to anyone; see 
http://www.informatics-europe.org/techwatch.html.

The next annual meeting of Informatics Europe, the European Computer 
Science Summit 2007, will  take place in Berlin on 8-9 October 2007.

Informatics Europe is currently building up its membership; major
universities from across the region have already joined. Membership is
for the calendar year and covers access to all activities of Informatics
Europe; it is the opportunity to engage in contacts with many colleagues
facing the same issues, learn from their experience, and  help the
recognition and progress of informatics in Europe.