National Informatics Associations
Contributing a consensual national view; serving as external Ambassadors
Our member National Informatics Associations (NIAs) are key in bringing forward and representing a consensual national view in the European discussions taking place within Informatics Europe Working Groups. They are also of invaluable support in contributing to Informatics research and education national debates with the outcomes produced by the Informatics Europe community, in supporting its growth and, in sum, in acting as ambassadors of the community in their respective countries.
With the aim to coordinate efforts and networking with and between NIAs in Europe, Informatics Europe organizes several times per year virtual and in-presence gatherings. Non-members associations are welcome to attend as guests and get a better understanding of the full power of becoming Informatics Europe members.
NIAs membership benefits are not extensive to their members. Institutions affiliated with a given NIA are invited to apply individually to join Informatics Europe and benefit from the Academic Institution benefits (listed here). Informatics Europe is a network that represents Informatics Departments and Research Labs, and it's only through their individual membership that we can be influential and sustainable in the longer term.
If your National Association is interested in Informatics Europe initiatives and future events or collaboration please contact our office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Note that in countries where over ⅓ of all potential Informatics departments become members of Informatics Europe, the National Informatics Associations (if any) can join Informatics Europe without paying the membership fee.
Policy recommendations working group
Exclusively formed by representatives of our member national informatics associations, this group aims to establish a consensus, when producing policy statements on certain topics, going beyond personal biases and opinions while considering national viewpoints. Please visit the Policy Recomendations section for further details about this activity.
Strategy-setting and coordination meetings
To foster efforts in coordination and networking with and between NIAs in Europe, these gatherings take place several times per year (sometimes inviting guest associations*). While the detailed list is available under the tab 'Meetings', the most recent outcomes are as follows:
- Co-organization of a session during the ECSS 2023. held on 25 October 2023, about AI and the Future of Informatics Education. Learn more about the workshop here and read the presentation slides in the corresponding section of the program here
- Co-organization of a session during the ECSS 2022. held on 26 October 2022, about Open Science and the Future of Research Dissemination in Informatics. Learn more about the workshop here and read the presentation slides here
- Hybrid meeting in Zurich on 24 March 2022 results in the initiation of task forces within the Open Science working group;
- Co-organization of a session during the ECSS 2021. held on 27 October 2021, about Research Evaluation in Informatics and Informatics in Interdisciplinary Curricula. Learn more about the workshop here and read the presentation slides here.
- The Joint Statement on Informatics Research Evaluation released in April 2020 and can be downloaded here.
*Regular working group activities are restricted to national informatics associations which are members of Informatics Europe. However, the following associations having shown interest in our activities are invited as guest to some meetings, while their membership status is evaluated: Digital Research Centre Denmark, Finnish Society for Computer Science, Gruppo di Ingegneria Informatica (GII), National Interuniversity Consortium for Informatics (CINI), Swedish AI Society (SAIS), Swiss Informatics Society (SI), Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA), UK Computing Research Committee (UKCRC).
- March 2022 - A special hybrid meeting took place in Zurich on 24 March 2022 with the following topics presented and discussed. As a result, task forces within the Open Science working group were initiated and the progress was reported during ECSS 2022:
- The GII-GRIN-SCIE (GGS) conference ranking initiative presented by Paolo Atzeni on behalf of GRIN and GII;
- A process maturity model for Informatics conferences presented by Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe President;
- Open data research data management initiative presented by Michael Goedicke on behalf of FTI;
- Open access challenges in Informatics presented by Alfonso Pierantonio, University of L'Aquila;
- Informatics Europe permanent working groups presented by Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe President.
- April 2021 - A special meeting on Data Collection: Informatics Curricula for Interdisciplinary Collaboration took place via Zoom on 16 April 2021. By collecting basic data about the Informatics contents in interdisciplinary curricula, the goal is to prepare an overview report on the situation and possible curricular recommendation by the end of the year.
- January 2020 - A special meeting on Open Access, Open Data, and Research Data Management was held in Zurich on 30 January 2020. To learn more please download the minutes of the meeting with links to the presentations.
- July 2019 - A special meeting on Research Evaluation took place in Zurich on 9 July 2019. To learn more please download the minutes of the meeting with links to the presentations or read the article about the meeting. One of meeting's outcomes is the Joint Statement on Informatics Research Evaluation issued in April 2020.
- February 2019 - National Associations have been invited to the Informatics for All Coalition Workshop held in Brussels on 20 February 2019. To learn more please visit the workshop webpage.
- March 2022 - A special hybrid meeting took place in Zurich on 24 March 2022 with the following topics presented and discussed. As a result, task forces within the Open Science working group were initiated and the progress was reported during ECSS 2022:
The list below provides the minutes, joint statements and/or slides of talks from the meetings/workshops co-organised with National Informatics Associations during the annual European Computer Science Summit:
ECSS 2023 Workshop on AI and the Future of Informatics Education
25 October 2023, Edinburgh- Session 1: AI and the practice of teaching Software Engineering
- Session 2: The impact of AI on Informatics curricula and educational practices
- Session 3: The future of Informatics research evaluation
- Slides by Pierre Paradinas & Laurent Romary
ECSS 2022 Workshop on Open Science and the Future of Research Dissemination in Informatics
26 October 2022, Hamburg- Session 1 - Rethinking the Role of Informatics Conferences
- Session 2 - Open access publication models for Informatics
- Session 3 - Open Data and Research Data Management in Informatics
- Slides by Michael Goedicke
ECSS 2021 Workshop on Research Evaluation in Informatics and Informatics in Interdisciplinary Curricula
27 October 2021, hybrid Summit in Madrid- Read the presentation slides here.
ECSS 2020 Workshop on Interdisciplinarity and Informatics
28 October 2020 (half-day morning session), OnlineECSS 2019 Informal Lunch & Discussion
October 2019, Rome- During the ECSS 2019, representatives of several National Associations met in Rome for an informal lunch and discussion on synergies.
ECSS 2018 Working Session
10 October 2018, Gothenburg- the first joint meeting of the National Associations and Informatics Europe representatives as part of the program of the ECSS 2018
- Learn more from the Minutes of the Working Session