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Dear Members,
We are happy to send you the latest Informatics Europe bulletin, our bi-monthly newsletter for members.
In this issue:
Informatics Education in Europe: Are We All in the Same Boat?
We are proud to share with our members the final report of the Committee on European Computing Education (CECE), a joint effort of Informatics Europe and ACM Europe. The CECE was established by ACM Europe and Informatics Europe to bring forward a detailed picture of the state of basic education in Informatics, Digital Literacy, and Teacher Training in these disciplines in Europe. The goal was to investigate further and provide evidence for the recommendations of the first joint report “Informatics Education: Europe cannot afford to miss the boat”, published in 2013.
The data has been collected over the course of two years and the findings, derived from an in-depth study, include description of recent policy and implementation changes, provide
evidence of the need for such changes, and provide support for the final recommendations.
Informatics Europe would like to thank all members of the CECE for this tremendous effort and in particular Prof. Jan Vahrenhold, University of Muenster, for the strong leadership, fundamental for the success of this major accomplishment. We are also grateful to the numerous colleagues across Europe who individually contributed to bring a more clear and systematic picture of the state of Informatics education in schools in Europe.
Download here the report Informatics Education in Europe: Are We All in the Same Boat?
The report is supplemented by an online map - http://cece-map.informatics-europe.org - where the results can be explored visually and interactively.
Informatics Europe will be now leading efforts to bring the report to the attention of relevant policy makers and politicians across Europe, both at the national and European level. A plan for diffusion and lobbying has been discussed by the Board at a meeting in Edinburgh end of June. An official letter, accompanied by the executive summary of the report, translated to the national languages, will be sent to relevant officers responsible for national education. Additionally, Board members have been seeking the endorsement for the report with key Industry leaders in Europe and meetings with key players at the European Commission will be organized.
If you would like to get the letter to your national government please contact our office at administration@informatics-europe.org. We would also appreciate to know if you have relevant contact with Industry leaders who would have interest in endorsing the report.
ECSS 2017: Program and Registration
Registration is now open for the 13th European Computer Science Summit (ECSS 2017) in Lisbon, 23-25 October, hosted by the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. This year`s edition focus on the theme: Informatics Connects!
The list of speakers and an advance version of the conference program is now online on the ECSS 2017 website.
The Summit is the only event, once a year, where leaders and decision makers in Informatics research and education in Europe gather to debate strategic themes and trends related to research, education and policies in Informatics. We hope that you will join us for an exciting Summit this year!
The fees for the different events and access to the registration site can be found in the ECSS 2017 website. Early-bird reduced fees run until 15th September. Register early to profit of the discounted fees!
ECSS 2017 quick links:
Pre-Summit Workshop for Deans and Department Heads
Jointly with the ECSS main Summit, Informatics Europe organises a special Workshop for Deans and Heads of Informatics Departments. The aim is to address specific challenges, best practices, new approaches and practical strategies in Informatics education & research. This year the Workshop is dedicated to the topic: Teaching Informatics for All!
The Workshop will be held on October 23, at the Rectorate Building of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, co-chaired by Prof. Mehdi Jazayeri, Faculty of Informatics, University of Lugano and Prof. Hannes Werthner, Faculty of Informatics, Vienna University of Technology.
You can register for the Pre-summit Workshop alone, or for the combined Pre-summit Workshop & ECSS 2017.
Quick links:
2017 Awards Winners to be announced at the ECSS in Lisbon
Winners of the 2017 edition of the Minerva Informatics Equality Award, with focus this year on the transition of female PhD and Postdoctoral Researchers into Faculty positions; and the Best Practices and Education Award devoted to curriculum and professional development initiatives that make Informatics education available to all, will be public announced at a special Award Ceremony on October 24th during the ECSS 2017.
The submissions are currently being evaluated by the experts’ panels and winners will be confidentially informed by August 1st. The Award ceremony at the ECSS will be jointly organized with ERCIM that will announce the winner of the 2017 Cor Baayen Young Researcher Award. At the occasion, winners of the three Awards will be invited to give a short talk on their achievements.
New Jobs @ Informatics Europe Job Platform
Current openings on the Informatics Europe online Job Platform:
Your department/institute can advertise open positions on the Informatics Europe job platform too. Extend your search to attract the best. The job service is free of charge for our members.
Association News
Michael Carpersen new Executive Director of IT-Vest in Denmark
Our Board member from Denmark, Michael Caspersen, has been appointed new Executive Director of IT-Vest.
It-vest is an educational and scientific network among the three universities in Western Denmark: Aalborg University, Aarhus University and University of Southern Denmark. Altogether the three universities educate half of all ICT graduates in Denmark. The organizations has permanent annual funding from the Danish government of about €3 millions per year for development and innovation of Informatics education.
Michael, who is also co-Chair of the Committee on European Computing Education (see first article), plays a key role in the Informatics Europe Board, overseeing our efforts on Informatics Education.
We congratulate Michael on this achievement and wish him great success in his role at It-Vest.
New Members
We are happy to welcome the following new members:
Our first member in Lithuania widens our representation in Europe, adding up to 29 countries and over 115 institutions.
Leiden and Radboud membership represent a significant milestone for Informatics Europe. All major Informatics academic departments and research institutions in the Netherlands are now members. This is the result of the work of our current president Prof. Lynda Hardman, and founder and previous board member Prof. Jan van Leeuwen, as ambassadors of our organization, and the acknowledgement of the important role Informatics Europe plays for the field in Europe.
For an overview of our membership, visit our member’s list.
Board Meetings
The Informatics Europe Board met by teleconference on May 19 and later in the city of Edinburgh on June 16 hosted by the School of Informatics of the University of Edinburgh. A number of topics have been on the agenda, including: membership drive, ECSS 2017 and ECSS 2018, progress report of current working groups, collaboration with ERCIM and ACM Europe and industrial partnerships.
Next Board Meetings:
- Friday, July 28, 16:00-17:00, Skype
- Friday, August 25, 16:00-17:00, Skype
- Friday, September 22, 16:00-17:00, Skype
- Sunday, October 22, 14:30-17:20, Lisbon (PT)
Don’t forget: as a member representative, you are welcome to submit agenda topics and to participate as an observer in Board meetings. Let us know!
Members News
From this edition on we are including in our Bulletin relevant and interesting news from our member institutions. If you would like to include a piece of news in our next Bulletin (September 2017) please contact Pepa Echanove (pepa.echanove@informatics-europe.org) by the end of August.
Politecnico di Milano: Master of Science in Geoinformatics Engineering
Every day humans generate quintilion (1018) bytes of data: 80% of them are spatial data acquired from fixed and mobile in-situ sensors, on satellites, aircrafts, UAVs or land vehicles, digital documents and social media. Such a massive flow generates new challenges since stored data have to be analyzed and processed, both in real-time and off-line. The Master of Science in Geoinformatics Engineering is a two years international master course taught in English. It brings together Environmental, Geomatics and Computer Science to form multidisciplinary experts highly requested by both private and public sectors.
For more information visit: www.geoinformatics.polimi.it
We wish our readers and members a happy and refreshing summer break!
Our Bulletin will be back in September,
with more news and updates about our activities and services.
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