[ecoop-info] ECSS 2019 - First Call for Participation

[Svetlana Tikhonenko]

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*15th European Computer Science Summit - ECSS 2019 * 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/home.html>

*'Social Responsibility of Informatics'*

28 - 30 October 2019, Rome, Italy
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The European Computer Science Summit is the meeting place for anyone 
interested in issues of research, education and policy in Informatics. 
The annual summit is a unique opportunity to meet some of the prominent 
decision makers and discuss critical issues for the discipline. The 15th 
edition - ECSS 2019 <https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/home.html> 
- will be held in Rome, Italy, October 28-30, 2019. The conference this 
year will have a renewed and enriched format consisting of a main summit 
of three days composed of a number of complementary events and sessions.

The conference opens on Monday with a *Workshop for Leaders of 
Informatics Research and Education*, and a *Workshop of the WIRE working 
group*. The program continues with keynote addresses and a 
thought-provoking discussion panel on the central theme 'Social 
Responsibility of Informatics'. An array of interdisciplinary topics 
regarding the interplay between Informatics and Ethics, Law, Privacy as 
well as Responsible Research and Innovation and Artificial Intelligence 
will be addressed by a selection of distinguished speakers 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/speakers/keynote.html> from all 
over Europe. Rounding up Tuesday's program, we will have the 
*Informatics Europe and ERCIM Awards Ceremony*, the*Dialogue with 
Members Session* and the*Informatics Europe Annual General Assembly 
*where key topics of relevance to the community and the development of 
the organisation will be actively discussed. This year we want to 
encourage a closer dialogue and an even more active participation from 
our members. The program will include a *Creative Coffee Break* and a 
*Members' Voice* track where members will have the opportunity to 
actively contribute and discuss ways to implement their ideas. The 
Summit is concluded on Wednesday with a very special *Workshop on 
Bridging the Digital Talent Gap in Europe* organised by Informatics 
Europe in partnership with the European Commission DG CONNECT. The 
workshop will bring together leaders from Universities, Industry and the 
European Commission for an open, transparent and productive conversation 
on the complex, pervasive and pressing issue of the digital talent gap.

ECSS 2019 is devoted to important and timely strategic issues and trends 
regarding all aspects of Informatics, including research, education, 
entrepreneurship, funding, career development, management and policies 
and will bring together:

* Heads (deans, chairs) of academic Informatics (Computer Science,
Computing, IT, ICT) departments (schools, faculties, institutes);
* Research directors and managers of research centres, institutes and
laboratories, both in public institutions and in industry;
* Faculty members and researchers from both academia and industry;
* Members of funding and governmental agencies at European, national,
regional and local level;
* Experts, advisors and thinkers of numerous key issues like ethics,
the relation between Informatics and other sciences, the
discipline's future and its influence on the academic world and
society.

The Summit is co-chaired by Enrico Nardelli, Informatics Europe 
President, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' and Gianfranco Basti, 
Pontifical Lateran University, with organisational support by Alessandro 
Mei, 'Sapienza' University of Rome and Paolo Atzeni, University of Rome 
'Tre'. Program Chairs include Elisabetta Di Nitto, Politecnico di 
Milano, and Paola Mello, University of Bologna; Geraldine Fitzpatrick, 
TU Vienna and Gregor Engels, University of Paderborn; Erika Abraham, 
RWTH Aachen University, Lejla Batina, Radboud University, and Alexandra 
Silva, University College London; Fabrizia Benini and Alexander Riedl, 
European Commission (DG CONNECT).

Below, the information about the venue, coordinates and logistics is 
provided. Reading further, you will also find an overview of the whole 
Summit, with summary of each day and more details about the events and 
sessions. For further information, you can visit the ECSS website 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/home.html> or access directly 
the information concerning each specific session:

* Leaders Workshop
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/leaders-workshop.html>
* WIRE Workshop
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/wire-workshop.html>
* Keynotes and Panel on Social Responsibility of Informatics
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/social-responsibility-of-informatics.html>
* Informatics Europe ERCIM Awards Session
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/awards.html>
* Informatics Europe Sessions
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/ie-sessions.html>
* Talent Gap Workshop
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/talent-gap-workshop.html>

An advance detailed schedule 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/schedule.html> is also 
available on the ECSS 2019 website. Registrations will open by the end 
of June.

*Venue/Travel*
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*ECSS 2019 Venue Location*

The Summit will be held at the Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro 
<https://www.nh-collection.com/hotel/nh-collection-roma-centro> - Via 
dei Gracchi, 324, 00192, Rome, Italy. See here a map of the location 
<https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hotel+NH+Collection+Roma+Centro/@41.9097764,12.468714,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x270e00f08b670083?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi22ueQ8LjiAhViwcQBHdcQBn0Q_BIwC3oECA0QCA>.

*How to Reach the Venue*

The Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro is located in the heart of Rome, in 
the Prati/Vatican City area. The closest *Metro station is Lepanto.*

/*From the Airport:*/

* Taxi: 33 minutes ride for around 60 EUR.
* Aerobus shuttle: Departs every 30-45 minutes and costs 6 EUR. Drop off 
at Stazione Termini and from there take Metro A direction Battistini for 
5 stops, get off in Lepanto walk few meters.

/*From Train Station Termini:*/

*Metro A direction Battistini for 5 stops, get off in Lepanto, walk few 
meters.

Click here <http://viaggiacon.atac.roma.it/index.html?language=eng> for 
a Rome Metro map.

/*By Car: */

* The hotel's GPS Coordinates: 41.90977640000001°N 12.468713999999977°E
* Parking: Offsite. The parking is owned by a 3rd party and is 25 EUR/day.

For more information about public transportation in Rome and ways to 
reach the Conference Venue, you can visit www.atac.roma.it 
<https://www.atac.roma.it/index.asp?lingua=ENG>.

*Accommodation*

Beyond the Hotel NH Collection Roma Centro, you can check the following 
hotels at walking distance from the venue - we recommend *early booking* 
since Rome is always a busy touristic city -

* Twenty One Hotel <http://www.twentyonerome.com/>
* Hotel Casa Valdese Roma <https://www.casavaldeseroma.it/>
* Hotel Farnese <http://www.hotelfarnese.com/>
* Hotel NH Collection Roma Giustiniano
<https://www.nh-collection.com/hotel/nh-collection-roma-giustiniano>


*Special Offer for Prospective Members*
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If your organisation is planning to join Informatics Europe, we have a 
special offer in combination with ECSS 2019: your conference 
registration fee(s) will be discounted from the annual membership fee of 
your institution when joining Informatics Europe. The offer includes the 
discount of one individual registration fee per institution up to the 
value of maximum one annual membership.

For details about membership, please visit our Membership page 
<http://www.informatics-europe.org/membership/why-join.html>. For 
further information about this offer, please contact 
administration at informatics-europe.org 
<mailto:administration at informatics-europe.org>.

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ECSS 2019 - EVENTS AND SESSIONS
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*Leaders Workshop - Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context*
*Day I (Monday, October 28)*

The Workshop for Leaders of Informatics Research and Education addresses 
specific challenges they encounter in their role. The workshop is a 
unique networking forum for leaders of Informatics institutions and 
research groups, and focuses on concrete issues and practical solutions.

The 2019 workshop will be held on Monday, October 28, chaired by Gregor 
Engels, Paderborn University and Geraldine Fitzpatrick, TU Vienna.  The 
central theme is *Developing as a Leader in an Academic Context*, with 
main focus on special skills and leadership training needed to play a 
leadership role at any level in an academic context.

This will be a highly interactive workshop, based on evidence-based 
leadership research, with a series of discussions/knowledge 
sharing/exchange in both large and smaller groups and summarising 
presentations that point to current research and practical guidelines.

To get more details about the content and topics covered, visit the 
Leaders Workshop web page 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/leaders-workshop.html>.

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*WIRE Workshop - The Computer Science Career Journey - Opportunities and 
Challenges for Women*
*Day I (Monday, October 28) *

The Informatics Europe working group on Women in Informatics Research 
and Education (WIRE) 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/working-groups/women-in-icst-research-and-education.html> 
promotes actions that help improving gender balance at all stages of the 
career path in Informatics (Computer Science, Computing) in Europe. WIRE 
will be organising a full-day workshop with the main goal of fostering 
and strengthening a European network of colleagues working at the 
university and country level on the issue of gender unbalance in 
Informatics. The workshop is open only to invited participants and is 
chaired by Erika Abraham, RWTH Aachen University, Lejla Batina, Radboud 
University, and Alexandra Silva, University College London.

For more information and requests for invitation visit the WIRE Workshop 
web page 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/wire-workshop.html>.

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*Keynotes and Panel - Social Responsibility of Informatics*
*Day I, II and III (Monday, October 28, Tuesday, October 29, Wednesday, 
October 30)*

The last years have clearly shown that Informatics is not anymore only a 
solid and pervasive scientific discipline with a huge potential for 
technological innovation, but it is also deeply affecting the fabric of 
our society. More and more, Informatics systems automatically control 
our lives, regulate our personal and social relations, and take 
decisions directly affecting ourselves and the whole society. While the 
increasing automation offered by Informatics could allow humankind to 
achieve huge possibilities of progress, it could also dramatically 
affect not only everybody's quality of life, but also fundamental rights 
of individuals and society.

It is therefore becoming mandatory that our scientific community 
reflects on the 'Social Responsibility of Informatics' and makes sure 
that this 'social responsibility' perspective is more and more 
integrated into our teaching and research. During the ECSS, prominent 
academics, industry leaders and decision makers discuss the importance 
of responsibility assigned to us by an unbelievably powerful technology, 
offering food for thought in state-of-the-art lectures, engaging panel 
discussion and examples of successful stories.

*Keynote Speakers*

* Tony Belpaeme <https://tonybelpaeme.me/>, Ghent University
* Virginia Dignum <https://people.cs.umu.se/virginia/>, Umea University
* Mireille Hildebrandt
<https://lsts.research.vub.be/en/mireille-hildebrandt-0/>, Vrije
Universiteit Brussel
* Paola Inverardi <http://people.disim.univaq.it/inverard/>,
University of L'Aquila
* Bernd Stahl
<https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/academic-staff/technology/bernd-carsten-stahl/bernd-carsten-stahl.aspx>,
De Montfort University

*Panellists*

* Guglielmo Tamburrini
<https://www.docenti.unina.it/#!/professor/4755474c49454c4d4f54414d42555252494e49544d42474c4c35334230314638333948/riferimenti>,
University of Naples (Panel Chair)
* Antonio Spadaro
<https://www.laciviltacattolica.it/author/antonio-spadaro/>, La
Civilta Cattolica
* Peggy Valcke
<https://www.law.kuleuven.be/citip/en/staff-members/staff/00018835>,
KU Leuven
* Hannes Werthner <http://www.ec.tuwien.ac.at/~werthner/>, TU Vienna

For more information visit the Social Responsibility of Informatics web 
page 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/social-responsibility-of-informatics.html>.

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*Informatics Europe Dialogue with Members and Awards Session*
*Day II (Tuesday, October 29)*

To strength the network of members and allow them to participate 
actively in the main decisions regarding the strategy for future 
development of Informatics Europe, as well as keeping them informed of 
the main activities and outcomes of the organisations' work, Informatics 
Europe will be organising this year in Rome:

* A *Dialogue with Members* session which will include a track focused
on the progress of *Activities and Outcomes *of Informatics Europe
Working Groups and High-Level activities, a *Creative Coffee Break*
and a *Member's Voice* track where members of the association will
have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with other members and
the Board and present their ideas on how they would like to
contribute and shape the future of the organisation.
* The *Informatics Europe Annual General Assembly* to discuss the main
organisational and financial outcomes of the past year and outline
the association's plans and finances for future years.

For more up to date information, visit the Informatics Europe Sessions 
web page <https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/ie-sessions.html>.

In partnership with ERCIM, Informatics Europe will organise a joint 
Award ceremony where the winners of three awards are presented:

* Best Practices in Education Award
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/awards/education-award.html>
recognising educational initiatives across Europe that improve the
quality of Informatics teaching and the attractiveness of the
discipline.
* Minerva Informatics Equality Award
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/awards/minerva-informatics-equality-award.html>
recognising best practices in departments or faculties of European
universities and research labs that encourage and support the
careers of women in Informatics research and education.
* Cor Baayen Young Researcher Award
<https://www.ercim.eu/human-capital/cor-baayen-award> recognising a
promising young researcher in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics.

For more information visit the Awards web page 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/awards.html>.

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*Workshop Bridging the Digital Talent Gap - Towards Successful 
Industry-University Partnerships*
*Day III (Wednesday, October 30)*

Informatics Europe in partnership with the European Commission's 
Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology 
(DG CONNECT) will organise a workshop that will bring together higher 
education organisations, industry and public policy makers to reflect 
and act on the problem of the Digital Talent Gap. The goals are to 
identify current challenges, opportunities and together propose 
solutions that could help bridging the supply-demand gap in ICT in 
Europe, resulting in more graduates with the skills needed by European 
businesses to grow and innovate. Particular areas of interest are: 
Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and Software Engineering.

The workshop will be a mixture of presenting results of preparatory desk 
research, including a short survey, presentation of success stories, 
participatory workshops on concrete topics run by professional 
facilitators with a high degree of interactivity, harvesting and 
discussions, planning next possible steps as emerged at the workshop.

Concrete outcomes will be sought and  a report from the workshop will be 
published, containing, for example, proposals for new and amended 
courses; suggestions for new models of industry-academy cooperation in 
higher education; input to existing and future funding programmes at the 
European (Digital Europe Programme, Horizon Europe), national and 
regional level; ideas for possible increase of private-sector 
investments. It will be considered whether a large consensus emerges on 
some key points that could be the base for a possible joint manifesto 
signed by the workshop participants.

To get more details about the content and topics discussed, visit the 
Talent Gap Workshop web page 
<https://www.informatics-europe.org/ecss/program/talent-gap-workshop.html>.
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