Ada-Europe Workplan 2006

This document describes the work Ada-Europe plans to undertake during the period January 1st 2006 until December 31st 2006. Additional activities to those described here may be undertaken provided that the new activities are in conformance with the objectives described below and that they are approved by the Ada-Europe Board.

Newsletter 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.

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 2006 is planned to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in June. The conference is being organized in association with the University of Geneva. [Subsequent to the writing of the Workplan it was decided to have the 2006 conference in Porto, Portugal.]

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 worldwide.

All direct and 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 worldwide for exchange of information.

Activities:

Ada-Europe has a Memorandum of Understanding with SIGAda 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 established a category C organisational liaison with ISO JTC1/SC22/WG9, which allows for 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:

In 2004 and 2005 Ada-Europe has undertaken a major initiative producing a consolidated Reference Manual for Ada that incorporates the language changes by an Amendment to the language definition, expected to be approved by ISO in early 2006. Ada-Europe is the holder of the copyright of this Reference Manual and will endeavour to promote its widespread availability. Electronic versions of the Reference Manual will be freely available. Ada-Europe will also cause a printed version of the manual to become available in the Springer LNCS series soon after ISO has approved the Amendment to the standard. The Board proposes to distribute the revised Ada Reference Manual to all its members of the 2006/2007 membership year.

Ada-Europe will consider providing grants to support activities in connection with the liaison with ISO JTC1/SC22/WG9 for direct involvement 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 on topics of real-time programming. 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 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 for Ada-Europe.

Ada-Europe has a significant cash balance, in part due to profits from past conferences and the Sponsorship program established in 2002. Nevertheless, the Board recommends that the General Assembly may consider a general increase of membership fees by 5 Euros, with the added revenue to be used for an initiative that subsidizes student participation at the annual conference. The indirect membership fee has been unchanged since 2001; the direct membership fee was increased in 2005 to offset the additional shipping cost of the quarterly journal.