|
Thanks for subscribing to our Bulletin. We appreciate your support and wish you a wonderful holiday and new year ahead!
In this issue:
IE Welcomes European Recommendation on Informatics Education at School
On 23 November, the Council of the European Union adopted a set of recommendations on digital skills and education. The Informatics for All Coalition, a consortium co-founded by Informatics Europe (IE) to promote informatics education across Europe, has endorsed the bold recommendations outlined in the new Council report.
The Council’s recommendations demonstrate a timely and ambitious approach for advancing digital competences. It addresses the need to align education with a genuine digital transformation, ensuring it remains current and imparts the essential skills and competences needed in this evolving reality. Importantly, the new set of recommendations defines informatics as a distinct scientific discipline.
The Council Recommendation on improving the provision on digital skills and competences in education and training advises Member States to support high-quality informatics education at primary and secondary levels of education. With this recommendation, the European Union realises the need for all Member States to establish informatics as a fundamental discipline in general education. The European Commission’s September 2022 report on informatics education at school in Europe shows varying progress, with some countries well-advanced in making informatics a fundamental discipline for the 21st century, while others are still in the earlier stages.
In partnership with these efforts, the Informatics for All coalition has developed the Informatics Reference Framework for School to ensure a coherent vision and shared terminology related to providing informatics to all pupils in Europe. As a founding member of the Informatics for All coalition and a non-profit association representing the European academic and research community in informatics, IE remains committed to supporting and ensuring high-quality informatics education in schools. We pledge to leverage our extensive network and expertise to aid the European Commission in charting the way forward. Learn more about our work on informatics education here.
Expressing Gratitude for the Significant Imprint of Exiting Board Directors
We would like to extend our thanks to the following Board Directors, whose terms in the IE Board expire at the end of 2023:
- Enrcio Nardelli, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
- Gregor Engels, Paderborn University, Germany
- Dick Bulterman, CWI/VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
- Viorel Negru, West University of Timisoara, Romania
We express our deep gratitude for their contribution and time devoted to IE’s development. They are examples of colleagues who, amidst their busy schedules, volunteer to strengthen the community.
A particular thanks goes to Enrico Nardelli. After 3 full terms as IE’s President, preceded by 3 terms on the Executive Committee as Treasurer and Vice President, Enrico will step down from his current President’s role by the end of 2023 and remain as an ex-officio Board member for another term. We appreciate Enrico for his invaluable guidance and countless hard work, which led Informatics Europe to the next level in terms of growth, visibility and organizational maturity. During his presidency, the organization has broadened its scope, from gathering mainly European Informatics department heads and deans, to a pan-European collaborative network of informatics leaders aiming to jointly shape the education and research agendas in informatics in Europe. We anticipate making further progress in informatics research and education with Enrico’s ongoing support to the IE Board.
Another special thanks goes to Gregor Engels, a founding member and devoted contributor to IE for nearly two decades. Gregor served seven full terms as IE’s Board Director, three of which were on the Executive Committee as Treasurer. Earlier this month, IE was honoured to be present at Gregor’s retirement celebration, to recognize his unwavering commitment and invaluable contribution to our association and the broader informatics community across Europe and beyond! At the celebration, our Executive Director, Nuria Anguera, conveyed our sincere appreciation with a warm speech and a special video showcasing Gregor’s remarkable journey with IE. We look forward to welcoming many more informatics scientists like Gregor to IE, where we work together for the great benefit of our informatics community across Europe.
Keep an eye out for our next Bulletin, where we will announce our new Board Directors. Interested in joining as an IE Board Director or considering nominating a colleague? Find details in our call for Board Nominations here.
Association News
Board & Executive Committee Meetings
- 25 Jan (Thu), 09:00-16:30, Zurich (Executive Committee only)
- 26 Jan (Fri), 09:00-16:00, Zurich
Member representatives are welcome to submit agenda topics and participate as observers in board meetings. Let us know if you’d like to join us!
New Informatics Europe Members
We are very pleased to welcome the following new members:
They joined a growing IE membership of nearly 200 informatics institutions, national associations, companies and research centers from over 30 countries. Check out our current members list.
Don’t Miss These IE Activities
We invite you to visit our Open Activities webpage frequently to discover how you can actively contribute to and benefit from our activities. Here are a couple of noteworthy highlights for you:
- Our renowned academic leadership courses are now available in two different formats!
-
Online Academic Leadership Development Course: including orientation and six online sessions facilitated by Geraldine Fitzpatrick and Austen Rainer, the Spring ’24 cohort will start in March. Apply now and enjoy your early bird discount until 1 February.
-
Bespoke Academic Leadership Course: designed specifically for your institute’s needs. Scheduled at your convenience, this course provides expert advice and leadership training to help you and your colleagues tackle challenges and excel in informatics education and research. Reach out to us and let us help you reach new heights!
- Kindly help complete and disseminate our surveys on gender balance in informatics, ethics & inclusion in informatics education to foster a more diverse understanding and effective solutions for these topics:
-
CV Repository: our unique platform connecting the new generation of informatics talents to employers across Europe. Free registration/access are available for applicants or recruiters from IE members; a free trial period/customized offer is also available to all other interested parties (Terms and conditions apply).
Events by Members
Members News
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany – Research that lasts
Technology for Pervasive Computing (TECO) researchers led by Prof. Michael Beigl were recently presented with the 10 Year Impact Award at the International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM) for their work “Enabling Low-Cost Particulate Matter Measurement for Participatory Sensing Scenarios”.
The 2013 paper explores a mobile and cost-effective particulate matter measurement method for participatory measurements. It is shown that low-cost, commercially available dust sensors can be used in distributed or mobile personal measurement devices at a cost one to two orders of magnitude lower than professional solutions and still achieve reasonable accuracy. In a series of experiments, the performance of a calibrated high-precision sensor was compared with that of low-cost sensor devices. The paper presents a groundbreaking method to achieve high measurement accuracy in urban mobile sensor applications by exchanging measurement data between low-cost mobile devices. It is still used today and continues to influence the further development of particulate matter sensors.
Read more about TECO and their achievements here.
University of Oxford, UK – AI that automatically detects methane plumes from orbit could be a powerful tool in combating climate change
For the first time, University of Oxford researchers, in partnership with Trillium Technologies’ NIO.space have developed a machine learning tool to automatically detect methane plumes on Earth from orbit using machine learning with hyperspectral data from the NASA’s new EMIT sensor. The AI can identify excessive “super emitters” from hyperspectral satellites and could enable more effective action to reduce gas (GHG) emissions and achieve net-zero targets by allowing satellites to work together. The findings have recently been published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
Professor Andrew Markham from Department of Computer Science who supervised this research said, “In the face of climate change, these kinds of techniques allow independent, global validation about the production and leakage of greenhouse gases. This approach could easily be extended to other important pollutants, and building on earlier work, our ambition is to run these approaches on-board the satellites themselves, making instant detection a reality.” Read the full news here.
***
Would you like to share the latest updates about your institute to fellow IE members and professionals in informatics and related fields? Simply email the relevant news in brief to our Communication Specialist Kit Wan Chui to get featured in our Bulletin, LinkedIn and X.
New Jobs @ Informatics Europe Job Platform
There are 8 new job ads on the Informatics Europe Job Platform.
As members, you can advertise and extend your search to attract the best candidates for your open positions on the IE job platform free of charge!
|
|
