Ada-Europe Workplan 2003

The plan concentrates our resources on two important items, the well established annual conference and the quarterly journal.
 

Journal and Information Dissemination

Objectives:

To keep the European Ada community informed of events taking place, new books and products, standardization activities and other topics of general interest.

Activities:

The quarterly Ada User Journal which contains general news, information and articles concerning Ada will be distributed to all members of Ada-Europe as part of their membership either indirectly through the Associate members or directly. Ada-UK, the co-publisher of the journal, is transitioning full responsibility for the journal to Ada-Europe during 2002. The Ada-Europe Board expects that the transition will have been completed by 2003.
 

Conferences and Workshops

Objectives:

To hold an annual international conference and exhibition where the latest developments which impact the use of Ada and Software Engineering are presented and new products are shown.

Activities:

The Ada-Europe Conference 2003 will be held in Toulouse, France, commencing on June 16th. The conference is being organized in association with CS-SI in Toulouse.

The Ada-Europe Board, through a nominated Ada-Europe Board member provides a point of contact for all conferences and hence experience gained is retained and reused. The conferences and exhibitions are open to the Ada community world wide.

All indirect members of Ada-Europe whose names have been made known by their Associate member receive a discount at Ada-Europe conferences.

International Liaison

Objectives:

To maintain contact with SIGAda and other Ada organizations world-wide, for exchange of information.

Activities:

To establish cooperation with SIGAda, Ada-Europe has a Memorandum of Understanding regarding cooperation at conferences. As part of this cooperation, Ada-Europe invites representatives of SIGAda to the annual conference as guests of Ada-Europe and similarly SIGAda invites representatives of Ada-Europe to the SIGAda conference.

Current activity concerning standardization is at an international level and is focused on the national bodies that are members of ISO.  Ada-Europe has requested a category C organisational liaison with ISO JTC1/SC22/WG9, which will allow for more direct involvement of Ada-Europe and its members in the standardization effort.

Grants

Objectives:

To support activities that promote the use of Ada, directly or indirectly, through discussion and dissemination of information.

Activities:

Ada-Europe will consider providing grants to support activities in connection with the newly established liaison with ISO JTC1/SC22/WG9 for more direct involvment in the standardization efforts.  Another means of providing support is by grants to other organizing bodies. For example, Ada-Europe has provided grants in the past to workshops in Brest and York. Conditions that must be satisfied are that the organization is European, that the event promotes the use of Ada, that it is run on a not-for-profit basis, and that a report of 4-6 pages is produced suitable for publication. Applications for grants should be sent in the first instance to the President.
 

Support of Associate Members

Objectives:

To support associate members in widening their national activities into the European Ada community.

Activities:

If there are activities or services, offered by associate member bodies to their members, which are of interest and benefit to other members, then Ada-Europe will, if feasible, act as a channel of communication to make those services available, to all other members.
 

Organizational Matters

Objectives:

To maintain the smooth running of Ada-Europe, such that it meets the objectives given here, in a cost effective manner.

Activities:

Ada-Europe is managed by a Board of volunteers elected by the Ada-Europe membership. The Board delegates responsibilities to its Members and will be supported by its Secretariat. Ada-Europe will fund the operating costs of the Board and the Secretariat according to the agreed budget.

The Board is concerned at the cost of holding Board meetings which results from the high cost of international travel which is inevitable given its constitution. Much of the work of the Board is carried out through electronic mail. Whenever possible the Board meets at events, such as its own conferences, where many Board members are likely to be present. In electing directors to the Board, the members are urged to consider the likelihood of those elected being able to attend meetings without incurring additional costs on Ada-Europe.

Ada-Europe has a significant cash balance. Nevertheless it is prudent to retain adequate reserves for the future.  The conference 2000 in Potsdam yielded a notable profit for Ada-Europe; the conference 2001 in Leuven netted a large profit. The aim for a profitable conference has been set for Vienna 2002 and Toulouse 2003 as well.
The profits in 2000 and 2001 made it possible to distribute a copy of the Ada Reference Manual incorporating the Technical Corrigendum changes as a gift to all members at Christmas 2001. As a further consequence, the Board recommends deferring the increase of the membership fees by 5 Euro, as proposed for 2003, to 2004.