Dear Ramani,
thank you very much for your prompt answer. I forward your message to the whole of IFIP TC6 in order to stimulate a discussion about a possible further cooperation. In the following I give only my first impressions and I wait for some more commetns by TC6 delegates (and hopefully by ICCC governors).
Thanks for your emails about the link with IFIP. Every one shares your feelings about the winding up of ICCC, but this had gradually become a necessity. There was no way of postponing it.
We need to think together about a possible link between the group of ICCC Governors still interested in continuing some activity and the TC6. What are the possible options? Is there a way of forming a Working Group? A narrow focus does not seem possible because ICCC's interest was quite broad. Looking closely at the societal applications of networks is getting close to what TC9 does.
A working group inside TC6 (we have already ten of such groups) will be difficult to achieve; such a working group must have a clear focus - and as you mentioned, societal aspects are more the business of TC9.
Could the WG focus on multi-disciplinary issues in computer communications. This might get close to the work of the TC that deals with human factors.
Before we could envisage such a group we would need a description of Aims and Scopes and we would have to clarify and sort out possible overlaps with TC 13 (Human Computer Interaction).
There is also the focus on developing countries and that gets close WG9.5.
And to WG 6.9 (Data Communication for Developing Countries). Thus there is no need for an additional WG here.
If we resolve these issues, could we think of a WG that largely operates
over the Internet and email?
This is already largely the case by now for all WG's of TC6.
Can such a WG have 30 or 40 members?
Yes.
I know that WG 9.5 had grown to be huge and had caused some worries, but
I do think
ICCC is a special case, having carefully elected members with proven accomplishments and multi-disciplinary interests.
Not the size of a WG is a problem, but sometimes the activities of its members might be improved.
I am sure that there are other ways of connecting up with IFIP, but I merely wanted to start off the discussion that your email had stimulated.
Regards, S. Ramani
Thanks a lot for these very stimulating contributions. I wait for more comments.
best regards Otto
-----Original Message----- From: Otto Spaniol [mailto:spaniol@informatik.rwth-aachen.de] Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 3:18 PM To: ramani; ICCC Governors Cc: augusto.casaca@inesc.pt Subject: Re: Links with IFIP
Dear Ramani,
- You may wish to pass on the following call for papers to someone
interested.
- John McKendree has asked if any Governor would be interested in
continuing his/her links with IFIP in some manner or another now, after we dissolved the ICCC (on Dec 31, 2004). I do not know if this is possible. Perhaps we can request Augusto, who has always been an active Governor, and an IFIP TC6 Chair, to advise us in this matter.
I'm chairman of IFIP TC6 (again) since January 2004 as successor of Augusto Casaca. And I'm governor of ex-ICCC. Of course, IFIP TC6 would like to continue links with ex-ICCC. We will check how we can arrange this. Personally, I was deeply shaken about the fate of ICCC.
Comments on how to (re)-establish links between the two communities will be more than welcome.
Best regards Otto
SPANIOL Otto, Prof. Dr. Tel.: +49-241-80 21400/401 RWTH Aachen University Home: +49-241-57 45 90 Computer Science Department FAX: +49-241-80 22220 D - 52056 Aachen Mobile: +49-172 273 4814 Office address: Email: Ahornstrasse 55 spaniol@informatik.rwth-aachen.de D - 52074 Aachen http://www-i4.informatik. GERMANY rwth-aachen.de