Active Working Groups

• Discuss and act on topics of your interest, with an impact on the overall European informatics research and education community.
• Bring individual / local initiatives to the European level, backed by close to 200 top European institutions.
• Contribute to Working Group (WG) outcomes, such as policy statements and recommendations, white papers, reports, best practice booklets, joint EU projects (IE as dissemination partner), workshops, events.
• Network with research peers from all over Europe.
• Meet partners for research projects (with or without the IE label) and increase its visibility by acknowledging your WG membership.
• Actively contribute to defining IE strategy and concerted activities in an area of your interest.
• Gain visibility as a member of IE WG when disseminating its outcomes (standard IE WG member/chair signature available upon request).

• Data Analysis and Reporting
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Education Research
• Ethics
• Green ICT
• Open Science

Please register here if you wish to contribute to any of our Working Groups.

Additionally, our member National Informatics Associations are welcome to join the Policy Recommendations Working Group, to establish a consensus on how to answer public consultations on issues that relate to any of the goals of the organisation.

Working Groups (WG) are established by the Board, or recommended by one of their Directors and approved by the Board. Researchers from IE member institutions are welcome to join existing Working Groups or suggest the creation of a new one by submitting a basic proposal to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Such a proposal should include at least the following:

• WG title, reflecting a topic aligned with IE mission and goals.
• Name of the proposed WG chair and at least 3 other researchers actively willing to contribute.
• Objectives and targeted outcomes (short and long-term goals).
• If available, a preliminary description of initial activities (how to get the WG started).

IE Working Groups (WG) accept researchers affiliated with any of our current members.

Researchers from related disciplines who are closely working with our member institutions, and thus endorsed by them, are also welcome to request registration in IE working groups. Such applications will be reviewed and analysed on case-by-case basis.

Failing to fulfill the below-mentioned expectations (under 'governance') may result in a request to leave the WG.

Working Groups (WG) should have a chair and a secretary selected among the WG members with a simple voting procedure. Each WG should include an IE Board director among its members, who will represent the IE Board in the WG and act as liaison between the two.

WG chairs are expected to:

• Regularly call and lead WG meetings (at least 3/year, preferably more).
• Foster participation of WG members in meetings as well as concrete activities.
• Define task forces** where appropriate.
• Set clear deadlines and ensure they are met or correcting measures are put in place.
• Ensure all members are assigned at least 1 concrete responsibility.
• Ensure the WG has an up-to-date set of goals (with a 12-24 months horizon, but also 5-10 years) and it is clearly communicated in the WG webpage (on IE website).
• Regularly provide IE communication officer with ‘ready to publish’ updates, to keep IE community informed about WG work (e.g.: latest agreed activities, status report of outcomes, changes on short/mid/long term goals, etc. to be shared in IE webpage, bulletin and/or social media). At least 4 times/year.
• Identify and invite experts who are active in the area covered by the WG to join the IE WG. Encourage WG members to do the same.
• Prepare, or cause to be prepared, a session during ECSS every second or third year, to share the WG’s work and gather direct feedback/input from the IE community at large.
• Ask WG members who do not fulfill the above-mentioned expectations to leave the WG.

WG members are expected to:

• Actively contribute to the strategy setting of the WG, and indirectly to that of IE at large.
• Assume concrete responsibilities in WG activities (e.g. leading or contributing task forces).
• Promote WG activities and disseminate outcomes (e.g. when attending conferences).
• Regularly attend WG meetings (missing more than 3 consecutive ones is not considered regular attendance).
• Meet at least once per year at ECSS.

 IE Board members (appointed to represent the Board in the WG and vice-versa) are expected to:

• Serve as a sounding board for the WG chair and ensure the WG activities are aligned with IE mission and goals.
• Monitor that WG activities run according to the pre-defined planning.
• Provide a brief (written) progress report for each Board meeting.
• Ensure WG chair fulfills the above-mentioned expectations and suggest a co-chair or new WG chair where necessary.

The IE office will develop and maintain (with WG content input) a dedicated page on IE website for each WG.

**Task Forces are established when a group of people is to work on a specific topic to produce a given output (report, policy recommendation, white, paper, workshop, other events). Led by a task force leader, they are related to a  WG or a focused areas prveiously approved by the Board. They are convened and report to theiWG chair or assigned Board director.