Ada-Europe Workplan 2009
Ada-Europe Workplan 2009 |
|
This document describes the work that Ada-Europe plans to undertake during the period 1 January 2009 until 31 December 2009. Additional activities to those described in this document may be undertaken provided that they are in conformance with the objectives described below and are approved by the Ada-Europe Board.
To keep the European Ada community abreast of events taking place, new books and products, standardization activities and other topics of general interest.
The quarterly Ada User Journal which contains general news, information and articles concerning Ada will continue to be distributed to all members of Ada-Europe as part of their membership either indirectly through the Associate members or directly.
To continue to hold the annual international conference and exhibition in which the latest developments that regard the use and furthering of Ada and concern Software Engineering are presented, new products are shown and relevant initiatives are discussed.
The Ada-Europe Conference 2009 is planned to be held in Brest, France, on 15-19 June. The conference is being organized in association with the Technopole Bretagne and the University of Brest.
The Ada-Europe Board, through a nominated Ada-Europe Board member, provides a point of contact for all editions of the conference so that experience gained with it 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.
To maintain and further contact with SIGAda and other Ada organizations worldwide, for exchange of information and coordination of initiatives.
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 a category C organisational liaison with ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9, which allows for direct involvement of Ada-Europe and its members in the standardization effort.
To support activities that promote the use of Ada, directly or indirectly, through discussion and dissemination of information.
In the period 2004-2007, Ada-Europe devoted substantial energy and resources to the production of the Ada 2005 Reference Manual. After hosting early versions of the Rationale for Ada 2005 chapters in Ada User Journal issues during 2006 and 2007, Ada-Europe has undertaken to produce in the year 2008 an updated and integrated version of the Rationale document as a volume in the LNCS series published by Springer. The Rationale for Ada 2005 book has been distributed for free to all members of Ada-Europe in late May/June 2008.
Ada-Europe may consider providing support grants for activities in liaison with ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9 for direct involvement in the standardization efforts. In particular, in conjunction with SIGAda and the Ada Resource Association, Ada-Europe have jointly supported the convener’s attendance at WG9 meetings via the provision of ad-hoc grants. Discussions are in place to arrange for this initiative to continue.
Another means of providing support is by way of 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 event is located in Europe or that it is organized in close cooperation with European organizations, that it 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 in the Ada User Journal. Applications for grants should be sent to the President. The latest such grant was provided to IRTAW-13 that was held on 17-19 April 2007 at Woodstock, USA, with the participation of a delegation of members of the Ada-Europe community.
To support associate members in widening their national activities into the European Ada community.
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.
To maintain the smooth running of Ada-Europe, such that it meets the objectives given here, in a cost-effective manner.
Ada-Europe is managed by a Board of volunteers elected by the Ada-Europe membership. The Board delegates responsibilities to its Members and is 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 that may result from the 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 Board members are likely to be present. In electing individuals 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.
Owing to the financial success of the sponsorship program established in 2002 as well as of the recent yearly conference and despite the recent expenses in support of Ada 2005, including the publication of the Rationale, Ada-Europe maintains a significant cash balance. It is prudent however to retain adequate reserves for the future and for covering financial risks with the annual conference. This notwithstanding, the Board recommends to defer the increase of the membership fees by 5 Euro, as proposed since 2001, to 2010.