Minutes of the 51st CEPIS Council
Thursday, November 21st 2013, 08:30 – 16:00
The Hotel, Brussels, Belgium
Chair: Nello Scarabottolo, President
Attendees: There were 35 attendees from 22 countries representing 30 Member Societies, including 7 represented by proxy.
Nello Scarabottolo President, (AICA), Italy
Jorg Ruegg President Elect (SI), Switzerland
Declan Brady Honorary Secretary, (ICS), Ireland
Byron Nicolaides Honorary Treasurer, (HEPIS), Greece
Luis Fernández Sanz Vice President, (ATI), Spain
Gerald Futschek Vice President, (OCG), Austria
Robert McLaughlin Vice President, (BCS), United Kingdom
Ronald Bieber OCG, Austria
Dirk Deschoolmeester FBVI-FAIB, Belgium
Marijan Frkovic CITA, Croatia
Robert Serén FIPA, Finland
Peter Federer GI, Germany
Volker Schanz VDE, Germany
Kai Rannenberg LSI SIN, Germany
Roberto Bellini AICA, Italy
Carlo Frising ALI, Luxembourg
Albert Vella CSM, Malta
Renny Bakke Amundsen DND, Norway
Marek Holynski PTI-PIPS, Poland
Vasile Baltac ATIC, Romania
Djordje Dukic JISA, Serbia
Branislav Rovan SSCS, Slovakia
Niko Schlamberger SSI, Slovenia
Erik Hult DFS, Sweden
Bernhard Hämmerli SI, Switzerland
Jüerg Gutnecht SI, Switzerland
Joop Verbeek LSI SIN, The Netherlands
Harry J.J. de Breet RI VRI/NGI, The Netherlands
Turhan Mentes IAT, Turkey
Damien O'Sullivan ECDL Foundation
Jakub Christoph ECDL Foundation
Fiona Fanning CEPIS Secretariat
Michel Krmek CEPIS Secretariat
Andrea Leroux Paez CEPIS Secretariat
Emil Valdelin CEPIS Secretariat
Apologies
Mensura Beganovic AI, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Radoslav Yoshinov UAI, Bulgaria
Panicos Masouras CCS, Cyprus
Julius Stuller CSKI, Czech Republic
Per Andersen Dansk IT, Denmark
Istvan Alföldi NJSzT, Hungary
Arnheiður Guðmundsdóttir ISIP, Iceland
Mara Jakobsone LIKTA, Latvia
Saulius Maskeliunas LIKS, Lithuania
Stevan Ljumovic DICG, Montenegro
Opening Address and Welcome
The President, Nello Scarabottolo, opened the meeting and welcomed the delegates to the 51st Council. He extended a particular welcome to the following new attendees:
· Erik Hult, from the Swedish Computer Society
· Jüerg Gutnecht, from Swiss Informatics
· Joop Verbeek, from The Netherlands
Proxies have been appointed as follows:
· Association of Informatics in Bosnia and Herzegovina - appointed proxy to Marijan Frkovic
· DICG (Montenegro) - appointed proxy to Marijan Frkovic
· LIKTA (Latvia) - appointed proxy to Nello Scarabottolo
· CCS (Cyprus) appointed proxy to Djordje Dukic
· LIKS (Lithuania) - appointed proxy to Djordje Dukic
· UAI (Bulgaria) - appointed proxy to Niko Schlamberger
· NJZST (Hungary) - appointed proxy to Niko Schlamberger
Meeting Agenda
The meeting agenda was approved. Two items were added under AOB.
Minutes from the 50th Council Meeting
The minutes of the 50th Council Meeting were reviewed and approved.
CEPIS Strategy
CEPIS Secretary General, Fiona Fanning, presented the main activities and new developments in 2013 and what is planned for 2014. The CEPIS work on ICT Professionalism has led to recognition from the Vice President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani who praises CEPIS for its leadership on ICT Professionalism. The CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark is active in over 20 countries and now has two new functions, one to facilitate engagement with companies and the other to gain feedback to help assess the future development of the tool.
Financial Matters
Byron Nicolaides, Honorary Treasurer, presented the year to date management accounts for 2013, which were found to be in order. Byron noted, and expressed appreciation for the valuable contribution of ECDL Foundation to the work of CEPIS and its operations.
The 2014 Budget was presented. The anticipated deficit of EUR 8,180 was agreed to be acceptable given that CEPIS is activities-driven and a not-for-profit organisation. It was noted that additional expenditure may be required for the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark as this is a project worth investing in; Council approval will be sought when further details are known. The 2014 budget was unanimously approved.
CEPIS Executive Committee Elections
The Honorary Secretary, Declan Brady, presented the procedure for election, the positions available, and the associated term and responsibilities. Volunteers from the floor were invited to form the election committee charged with counting the votes. Only those not involved in elections should undertake this role. Niko Schlamberger and Bernhard Hämmerli volunteered to join Fiona Fanning in forming the election committee. The election candidates were Luis Fernández Sanz and Djordje Dukic.
The vote for the election of one Vice President was held by secret ballot. Each candidate presented themselves. Djordje Dukic was elected Vice President. The President thanked Luis Fernández Sanz for his service on the Executive Committee.
Strategy Area: Education
Robert McLaughlin presented the work of the Special Interest Network (SIN) on Computing in Schools and outlined the importance of this topic for the future of Computer Science. He presented the draft paper and letter produced by the group for Council approval. It was noted that the letter should be tailored to suit the situation in each country. Members expressed their appreciation and thanks for the work of the SIN.
Breakout Discussion: Computing in Schools
Each Member Society outlined the state of computing in schools in their respective countries and the variations were discussed. The value of computing in schools was agreed to extend also to the contribution that computational thinking can make to education in general. The content of the discussion will shape the future meetings and activities of the Computing in Schools Special Interest Network (SIN).
Breakout Discussion: CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark
The new functions of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark were presented in detail, including the new group (ID) code function that will enable members to engage with companies and other sub-groups. The creation and use the functions were described. The new feedback button was explained and how this feeds into the future of the tool. Members presented the status of and considerations on the tool from their own campaigns.
Good Practice Panel and Q&A
The good practice panel focused on the implementation of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark:
· Roberto Bellini from AICA outlined the experience of the national standards body in Italy in creating a national standard based on the European e-Competence Framework. He showed how AICA had successfully gained a high degree of visibility and uptake of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark though using Digital Magazine.net and by engaging with companies using the code function. He stressed the need for multiple contacts with different target groups.
· Robert Serén from FIPA presented the areas of interest and status of the society as well as the many publications they produce. The rapid success of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark in Finland can be attributed to the use of the press among other factors. Robert provided 6 recommendations for success that included finding the right partners, marketing the service through the right (public) channels, getting endorsement from independent partners, involving the press, and using the previous results to get public attention.
· Renny Bakke Amundsen from DND demonstrated how DND had effectively used their website, as well as social media channels in addition to regular methods of contacting their members and the public through their CRM and direct mailings to boost their campaign and gain good response levels. This has proved successful for their campaign.
Strategy Area: Legal and Security Issues
Joop Verbeek presented the latest statement from the Legal and Security Issues Special Interest Network (LSI SIN) on Assisting EU Citizens with Reliable ICT Security Information. He explained the context for such a statement and the particular current relevance and importance. Following discussion the Statement was warmly welcomed and endorsed unanimously by Council without amendment. The importance of CEPIS providing the European view on this matter was noted. Council expressed thanks to Joop Verbeek, Kai Rannenberg, and the LSI SIN for their work.
Kai Rannenberg, Chair of the LSI SIN, provided an update on the SIN and its purpose and encouraged members to appoint a delegate to join the SIN. He noted that the SIN has recently been able to secure a representative on an EU Platform addressing network on information security (WG3) thanks to the support of CEPIS. Marko Hölbl, the LSI Secretary, represents CEPIS in this group. Kai outlined the areas of work and the initial methodology.
Kai also presented a recently released statement from IFIP on security and trust mechanisms.
Strategy Area: e-Skills and Professionalism
Declan Brady recounted the work on the Task Force on ICT Professionalism, their recent meetings and actions in 2013. A micro conference on ethics took place and another one is anticipated for 2014. Declan summarised the work he has completed on best practice including the output from the breakout session of the previous Council and a focus group conducted among members and others. He presented the results and the ensuring model that he developed.
Strategy Area: Research, Development and Innovation
Luis Fernández Sanz stressed the innovation element of this topic, noting that the level of member interest may point to a perception of research and development that does not do justice to the innovation side. He encouraged members to get in touch with the Secretariat to express an interest in this topic.
Any Other Business
OCG Paper: Gerald Futschek presented a newly released paper expressing the views of OCG on the surveillance practices disclosed by the Snowden affair.
The President noted that a point related to ECDL had been brought to the attention of Execom by Swiss Informatics (SI). As this was an ECDL Foundation matter, and not related to CEPIS, Execom has recommended to SI to address ECDL Foundation.
The President announced that the winner of the ICT Professionalism Award was Mr Francisco Lopez Crespo. He noted that the reaction from members to the award indicated low levels of interest and that as result any possible reiterations of the award will be revisited in the future.
Closing Statements
Nello announced that the 52nd Council will take place on Saturday April 5th 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland.
Nello expressed his thanks to Execom and members for their support during his presidency. Jorg Ruegg praised Nello this term in office and thanked him for his dedication.
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