Benchmarking Third-Party Organisations & Other News from CEPIS – December 2013 | |
In this issueWe announce the results of the CEPIS Executive Committee elections and the dates for Council meetings in 2014. We bring you updates on the CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark, including the new Group Code functionality. We also include news from CEPIS Member Societies in Austria, Germany, Iceland, and Ireland. To send you feedback or contributions from your Society for the next update to be published in February 2014, please email Michel Krmek. |
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51(13) Council Meeting: Presentations Now AvailableThanks 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 CommitteeWe
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: CEPIS Council Meetings in 2014The 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 FunctionalityThe 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 ICTMember 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 RevolutionThe 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 AwardThe 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 SchoolsThe 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 PracticesCEPIS 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 GermanyGerman 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 BenchmarkRegistered 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 2014CEPIS 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 ReportAccording 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 AustriaCEPIS 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 EventsNational 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 Events10
December European e-Skills 2013
Conference Brussels, Belgium.
Organised by: European Commission |
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- Benchmarking Third-Party Organisations & Other News from CEPIS - December 2013
- Videos of the Ethics Micro-Conference & Other News from CEPIS - April 2014
- Reforming Children’s Digital Education & Other News from CEPIS - March 2014
- EC Highlights e-Competence Benchmark as Good Example & Other News from CEPIS - February 2014
- CEPIS Awards Female Tech Talent & Other News from CEPIS - 11/2013
- CEPIS Member Update: Council Registration Open & Other News from CEPIS - October 2013
- EC Vice President Tajani Praises CEPIS - Grand Coalition Pledge & Other News from CEPIS - September 2013
- Scaling up Computing in Schools and Other News from CEPIS - August 2013
- CEPIS e-Competence Benchmark Launched and Other News from CEPIS - May 2013
- Enhancing Women’s Participation in ICT and Other News from CEPIS - April 2013
- CEPIS Grand Coalition Pledge and Other News from CEPIS - March 2013
- Tackling ICT Skills Shortages with EC’s Grand Coalition & Other News from CEPIS - February 2013
- Building the Future of Computing in Schools and Other News from CEPIS - December 2012
- CEPIS Council Registration and Other News from CEPIS
- CEPIS Council Announcement and Computing in Schools - September 2012
- CEPIS Execom Elections, Tenders and Other News from CEPIS - August 2012
- Digital Agenda Targets Update and Other News from CEPIS - July 2012
- Fostering ICT Professionalism in Europe and Other News from CEPIS - June 2012
- ICT for Europe’s Recovery and Other News from CEPIS – May 2012