51(13) Council Meeting: Presentations Now Available

Thanks to all who attended the 51(13) CEPIS Council meeting in Brussels. The CEPIS Council draft minutes, presentations, and supporting documentation, are now available in the Member’s Area for your perusal. The group photo is also available in the Photo Gallery of the Member’s Area. Members who attended this Council meeting are invited to provide their feedback by completing a short survey. This will take only a few minutes of your time and will help shape future meetings. Provide your feedback on the 51st CEPIS Council Meeting

CEPIS Executive Committee

We welcome Jorg Ruegg, from Swiss Informatics (SI) as the new President of CEPIS and congratulate Djordje Dukic on his election to the position of Vice President. The CEPIS Executive Committee is comprised as follows:
- Jorg Ruegg (SI) - President
- Nello Scarabottolo (AICA) - Past President
- Declan Brady (ICS) - Honorary Secretary
- Byron Nicolaides (HEPIS) - Honorary Treasurer
- Gerald Futschek (OCG) - Vice President
- Robert McLaughlin (BCS) - Vice President
- Djordje Dukic (JISA) - Vice President (Newly elected)

CEPIS Council Meetings in 2014

The 52nd CEPIS Spring Council meeting will take place on Saturday, 5 April 2014, in Geneva, Switzerland. There will be a welcome reception on Friday, 4 April, the evening prior to Council. The 53rd CEPIS Autumn Council meeting will take place on Thursday, 27 November 2013, in Belgium. More information will be circulated to all Members ahead of the meetings. In the meantime, please save these dates in your calendar.

CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark Gets New Group Code Functionality

The CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark has been upgraded with a new functionality that enables participating Member Societies to create codes to identify specific groups of responses. Member Societies can use this new functionality to offer the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark service third-party organisations at a national level and to create separate data subsets. It is also possible to monitor that organisation’s use of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark and provide them with an organisational, or a departmental competence report. For more information about how to use the new group function, contact the CEPIS Secretariat.

Contribute to the CEPIS Code of Best Practices for Green ICT

Member Societies are invited to provide their input and expertise on the CEPIS Code of Best Practices for Green ICT. The Code describes in simple terms what organisations and individuals can do to use ICT in a more environmentally friendly manner. It seeks to raise awareness of easy-to-implement and cost-saving best practices aimed at European enterprises. The CEPIS Green ICT Task Force developed the Code, a draft version of the document was circulated at the 51st Council meeting. Please send your feedback on the CEPIS Code of Best Practices for Green ICT to Emil Valdelin.

AICA Event on Computer Ethics: Social and Ethical Aspects of the Digital Revolution

The Associazione Italiana per l’Informatica ed il Calcolo Automatico (AICA) recently organised an event on computer ethics which brought together a wide array of stakeholders to discuss the social and ethical dimension of the digital revolution. The event was supported by the expertise of the Chair of the CEPIS ICT Professionalism Task Force, Declan Brady, who delivered a presentation on the importance of professional ethics. In his presentation, Declan encouraged Professional Societies to establish, use, and publicise Codes of Ethics in order to show the value that ethics can add to society. However Declan warns that ethics shouldn’t become regarded or used as a kind of pillory, either for the profession itself, or for individual members of the profession. Watch Declan Brady’s Presentation on Professional Ethics

Francisco Lopez Receives the CEPIS ICT Professionalism Award

The CEPIS ICT Professionalism Award was given to Francisco Lopez who was the first president of CEPIS in 1991. With a career that spans over more than three decades, Francesco had various roles both in the private and in the public sector. He was the CIO of the Spanish Ministery of Foreign Affairs and he was also active in the international scene. More About Francisco Lopez

ICS’ Computing Curriculum Rolled Out in 70 Irish Schools

The Irish Computer Society (ICS) recently announced that 70 schools in Ireland are using the computing curriculum it developed last year. Two modules were initially created in the pilot phase - Digital Media and Computational Thinking - which were deployed in 45 schools between September 2012 and May 2013. Building on the pilot’s success, the curriculum was expanded with two new modules - Microprocessors and Multimedia Storytelling - totalling a minimum of 100 hours class-time. More on ICS’ Computing Curriculum

Austrian Computer Society (OCG) Warns Against Inadequate Online Surveillance Practices

CEPIS Member in Austria, the Oesterreichisches Computer Gesellschaft (OCG), recently published a statement in order to reject the global surveillance practices disclosed by Edward Snowden. Indeed the alleged mass surveillance of online users, despite the absence of reasonable suspicion, is considered as an abuse of Computer Science. In this statement, OCG calls for a responsible use of information technology while respecting the fundamental rights to privacy and data protection. The statement argues that is an essential requirement in order to develop a digital civil society. Download the OCG Statement on Surveillance Practices

Record-High Freshmen Enrolled in Computer Science in Germany

German Informatics (GI) recently reported a 4% increase of freshmen in Computer Science for the academic year 2013. There are currently 33,800 Computer Science freshmen in Germany, the highest number ever recorded in the country. Despite this increase, Germany, as many other European countries, doesn’t have enough computing graduates to meet the demand for skilled workers. Another major challenge is the reduction of the high dropout rates in Computer Science studies which can reach up to 50% in the first year. More About Computer Science Students in Germany

User Feedback on the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark

Registered users of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark can now access a feedback survey by clicking on the ’Feedback’ button in their account. By taking this survey, users can rate the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark and provide their input to improve the service in the future. Since the launch of the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark, 23 CEPIS Member Societies have started their participation in this pan-European campaign and over 1,400 full assessments have been completed. More on the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark

Get Ready for UTmessan 2014

CEPIS Member in Iceland, the Icelandic Computer Society (Ský), will organise the UTmessan event on 7-8 February 2014. A full- day conference will take place on Friday 7 February with multiple tracks, including one in English. A large exhibition, open to the public, will also take place during these two days which will bring together the biggest IT companies of the country. Iceland’s President will be present at the event to give the UTmessan awards. In 2013, UTmessan attracted people, more than 1.5% of the Icelandic population. More on UTmessan

Growing Demand for ICT Workers May Results in Skills Shortage, Confirms New EU Report

According to the European Vacancy Monitor, the number of employees working in the ICT sector has increased since 2008 in spite of the crisis, while at the same time the number of ICT graduates declined between 2004 and 2011. The number of ICT jobs increased in nineteen countries. The highest growth percentage were recorded in Greece (up by 30%) Belgium (27%), Estonia (17%), Cyprus (15%), and Luxembourg (13%). The report also indicates that the highest penetration of ICT employees is found in Northern Member States, and that 22 percent of ICT employees were aged 15-29 in 2012. Download the European Vacancy Monitor

Successful Bebras Contest in Austria

CEPIS Member in Austria, the Oesterreichisches Computer Gesellschaft (OCG), organised the Bebras contest last November which attracted more than 12,000 participants across the country, a 20% increase compared to the previous edition in 2012. The statistics reveal that 39% participants were female, 45% male, and 16% unknown. Bebras is an international informatics competition which aims to promote Computer Science among teachers and students. The contest focuses on developing the problem-solving skills of students who are asked to complete various kinds of tasks involving algorithms and programming methods. More on the Bebras Contest

Horizon 2020 National Launch Events

National launch events of Horizon 2020 are being organised in all Member States of the European Union (EU) to present the strategy of the new Framework Programme, the funding opportunities available, and the rules of participation. Horizon 2020 is the EU’s new programme for research and innovation for the period 2014-2020. With a budget of just over €70 billion, Horizon 2020 will help to create new growth and jobs in Europe. See the Horizon 2020 Events Calendar

Important Upcoming Events

10 December European e-Skills 2013 Conference Brussels, Belgium. Organised by: European Commission
11 December e-Skills for the 21st Century Brussels, Belgium. Organised by: European e-Skills Association
11 December 10th Anniversary of the CEN Workshop on ICT Skills Brussels, Belgium. Organised by: CEPIS
25-30 January 2014 SOFSEM2014 High Tatras, Slovakia. Organised by: Slovak Society for Computer Science
7-8 February 2014 UTmessan Reykjavik, Iceland. Organised by: Icelandic Computer Society
5 April 2014 52nd CEPIS Council Meeting Geneva, Switzerland. Organised by: CEPIS