CEPIS Council Registration and Other News from CEPIS – October 2012

In this issue

We invite you to register for the 49(12) CEPIS Council taking place in Brussels on 22 November 2012 and bring you news about CEPIS’ participation to the ICT Competitiveness Week and European SME Week. We also include news from the Spanish and Polish Member Societies, as well as the latest European developments. If you have any feedback or you would like to send contributions from your society for the next update to be published in November 2012, please email Michel Krmek.

49(12) CEPIS Autumn Council - Registration Open

The 49th CEPIS Council meeting will take place at the Marriott Hotel in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday, 22 November 2012 from 08:30 to 16:00. There will be a welcome reception at 19:00 on Wednesday, 21 November, the evening prior to Council, in the hotel. This welcome reception will include a buffet dinner. To register for the event, please click here. Registration is open until Tuesday 30 October. During this CEPIS Council, Execom Elections will take place for the positions of President Elect, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, and Vice President (2 positions). For any queries related to Council please contact Michel Krmek. Click here to Register

CEPIS at ICT Competitiveness Week

The European Commission DG Connect organised the first ICT Competitiveness Week in Brussels in September 2012. This invite only event brought together a select group of stakeholders to plan for the EU ICT contribution to competitiveness and smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. CEPIS President, Nello Scarabottolo, presented the reasons behind Europe’s deficit of ICT practitioner’s as well as the key projects undertaken by CEPIS to increase the number of ICT professionals, such as the e-Skills and ICT Professionalism project and the Professional e-Competence Tool. More about this Event

CEPIS Professional Ethics Repository

A professional ethics repository was recently set up on the CEPIS website and contains Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, and Codes of Practice from a series of CEPIS Member Societies. This new section will act as a reference point and will enable Member Societies to engage in a long-term assessment of commonalities among those codes with a view to driving the concept of ICT Professionalism forward. If your society has a relevant code that you would like include in the CEPIS Professional Ethics Repository, please contact Michel Krmek. View the Professional Ethics Repository

European SME Week - Female Entrepreneurship and the Role of ICT

The Italian Federation of Scientific and Technical Associations (FAST), partner of the European Enterprise Network, is organising a conference on the role of women in business on 16 October, in Milan, in collaboration with the Italian Society, AICA. This event is part of the awareness raising campaign, European SME Week 2012, launched by the European Commission DG Entreprise and Industry, to promote entrepreneurship across Europe. Female entrepreneurship is one of the central themes of this year’s campaign. Fiona Fanning, Secretary General will present an overview of female contribution to professional e-competence in Europe. More about this Event (Only available in Italian)

CEPIS Research Actions - Share Your Priorities

Luis Fernandez Sanz is the Execom member in charge of the Research thematic area and would like to gauge the interest of Members in the topic of research. In order to ensure planned actions match the needs of Member Societies, we invite you to complete a short survey to share your priorities and expectations. The survey results will be presented at the 49(12) Council meeting in Brussels on 22 November. Take the Survey

Poll: Attracting Young People to ICT Careers

A poll was introduced on the homepage of the CEPIS website asking website visitors whether enough is being done to attract young people into ICT careers. The poll is now closed and the results reveal that more than two thirds of voters (71%) believe that more should be done to attract young people to ICT careers. Visit the CEPIS website regularly to discover the next poll question. If you would like to suggest a topic or question for our next poll, please contact Michel Krmek.

Connecting Europe Facility - €50 Billion to Stimulate Europe’s Networks

The European Commission (EC) recently proposed the establishment of a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) with a budget of up to €50 billion for 2014-2020. The CEF aims to promote growth, jobs and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment at European level. The EC proposed €9.2 billion to stimulate investment in fast and very fast broadband networks and pan-European digital services such as electronic procurement or identification in order to build the Digital Single Market. Learn More about Connecting Europe Facility

Digital Agenda for Europe Going Local Forum – Riga, Latvia

This international ‘Going Local’ forum was held on 12 September in Riga to discuss the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE), in Latvia. The forum was organised by the CEPIS Member in Latvia, Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA) and the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), in close collaboration with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). The objective of the Going Local forums is to focus national attention on the DAE and its importance for economic growth, job creation and social inclusion among members of EU. Find out More about this Event

News from the Spanish Member Society - ATI

The SIMO Network Fair, the most important IT event in Spain, took place in Madrid on 25-27 September. At this occasion the Spanish Society, Asociación de Técnicos de Informática (ATI), held a session of its Software Quality Group with a focus on agile methods, quality in application, portfolio management and software testing. ATI also organised another event within the framework of the SIMO Network Fair on the implementation of the Spanish Digital Agenda. This event addressed the question of digital literacy, e-inclusion, qualifications of IT professionals, as well as the presence of women in the profession.

Thanks to Rafael Fernández Calvo from ATI for this contribution.

FedCSIS 2012 - Conference Report

CEPIS Member in Poland, the Polish Information Processing Society (PIPS), recently organised the 2012 Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS) in Wroclaw, Poland. This conference consisted of a series of recurring events that provided a common platform for researchers, practitioners and academics to discuss ideas, challenges and solutions related to computer science and information systems. Download the Conference Report

Formal Training Best Way to Counter ICT Skills Obsolescence

Skill obsolescence is defined as the degree to which workers lack the up-to-date knowledge or skills necessary for effective performance in their current or future job roles. Technological progress and rapid labour market changes or structural reorganisation are increasing the incidence of skill obsolescence. A recent report from CEDEFOP highlights that ICT skills present a high risk of obsolescence. The report indicates that formal training during working hours is the most effective method to counter skill obsolescence. This requires supportive learning cultures at enterprise level, and the design of jobs that provide autonomy and opportunities for employees to broaden their skills. Find out More about this Report

Take Part in the CONNECT Advisory Forum for ICT Research and Innovation

The European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) is establishing a group of experts, the CONNECT Advisory Forum (CAF), to advise on the orientations to be adopted in the areas of research and innovation in ICT. This is part of the preparation for Horizon 2020, the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation for 2014-2020. The CAF will advise on issues such as communication networks, computing systems, digital content, and related technologies. The European Commission is calling for expressions of interest in order to establish a list of experts to participate in CAF. The call for expressions of interest is open until 26 October 2012. More about the CONNECT Advisory Forum

EC Cloud Computing Strategy to Create 2.5 million jobs in Europe

The European Commission (EC) recently presented a new strategy on cloud computing aiming to create a single set of rules and to boost the use of cloud computing in Europe. The widespread use of cloud computing could indeed increase EU GDP by €160 billion annually by 2020 and create 2.5 million new jobs. Nevertheless uncertainties over data security or moving data between different cloud providers are still putting off many businesses and the public sector from using cloud computing. In response, the EC strategy aims to ensure that users can move data from one cloud to another easily, and it supports certification schemes for trustworthy cloud providers, among others. More about the Cloud Computing Strategy

European Cyber Security Month

October is the first European Cyber Security Month (ECSM), an initiative launched by the European Network and Information Agency (ENISA) to raise public awareness on cyber security. ECSM features a wide range of activities in eight European countries (Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and UK) aiming to promote safer use of the Internet for all users. This event is in line with the Digital Agenda for Europe that highlights trust and security as fundamental preconditions for the wide uptake of ICT and therefore for achieving the objectives of smart growth laid out in the Europe 2020 strategy. More about European Cyber Security Month

Majority of Europeans Favour Use of Robots

A recently published survey reveals that more than two-thirds of European citizens (70%) have positive views towards robots. The majority of the respondents agreed that robots are necessary as they can do jobs that are too hard or too dangerous for people, and that robots are a good thing for society because they help people. European citizens believe that robots should operate in areas that are either too difficult or too dangerous for humans such as space exploration, manufacturing, military and security, and search and rescue tasks. Given the essential role of robots for Europe’s industrial competitiveness and their contribution to the well-being of people, fostering research and innovation in robotics is one of the priorities of the Digital Agenda for Europe. Read the Survey

EC Rules on Cross-Border Electronic Identification - Impact Assessment

The European Commission recently proposed new rules to enable cross-border and secure electronic transactions and identification (e-ID) across Europe. In line with this proposal a study was conducted to assess the impact for legislation on cross-border e-ID. More specifically different policy options were analyzed: keep the status quo and propose no policy change, cease all e-ID activities in Europe, or provide a comprehensive set of rules for cross-border e-ID. The study highlights that the first two options are not effective in overcoming the barriers to cross-border e-ID interoperability at the EU level. The third option, new regulation on mutual recognition of e-ID, has a direct effect in overcoming legal barriers and technological incompatibilities at the EU level. Read the Full Report

6th Novática Award Granted to Green ICT Research Paper

The 6th Edition of the Novática Award has been presented to the best article published in 2011 by Novática, the journal of the Spanish CEPIS Member Society Asociación de Técnicos de Informática (ATI). The jury selected the paper ‘A State-of-the-Art on Energy Efficiency in Today’s Datacentres: Researcher’s Contributions and Practical Approaches’ as the winner. This article was authored by Marina Zapater-Sancho, Patricia Arroba-García, José-Manuel Moya-Fernández, and Zorana Bankovic from the Electronic Engineering Departement of the Polytechnic University of Madrid. The article is published in Spanish, in Novática issue no. 213 (September - October 2011), and in English, in UPGRADE, Vol. XII, issue no. 4 (October 2011).

Thanks to Luis Fernández Sanz from ATI for this contribution.

Important Upcoming Events

16 October Conference on ‘The Role of Women in Business’ Milan, Italy. Organised by: FAST in collaboration with AICA

5 November Informatiktag 2012 Vienna, Austria. Organised by: OCG

15 November 6th Digital Equality Conference Budapest, Hungary. Organised by: NJSzT

22 November 49(12) CEPIS Council Brussels, Belgium. Organised by: CEPIS. A welcome reception will take place from 19:00 on Wednesday 21 November, the evening prior to Council, in the hotel.

28 November Open Hack Day Nicosia, Cyprus. Organised by: CCS