Ada-Europe Workplan 1998

(as submitted to the General Assembly 1997 in London)

Author: John Barnes (president of Ada-Europe)

This document describes the work Ada-Europe plans to undertake during the period January 1st 1998 until December 31st 1998. 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.

An important consideration is that having at last obtained the money from the Edinburgh account, Ada-Europe currently has a considerable cash balance out of proportion to the ongoing needs of the organisation. It is therefore intended to reduce the balance by judicious subsidy of events such as the conference and by making a limited number of grants.

Newsletter and Information dissemination

Objectives:

To make available to the European Ada community English translations of articles of general interest.

To make available to the European Ada community information which is too large to be published in a journal, for example outputs from the standardization process, secondary standards, comparisons of Ada with other high level languages.

Activities:

Publish a Newsletter, currently Ada-Europe News, which is available quarterly and contains general news information and articles. Ada-Europe News is distributed to all Ada-Europe members as part of their membership either indirectly through the Associate members or directly.

Over the past few years it has proved difficult to maintain a quarterly publication. The board is taking active steps to remedy this situation and to ensure that all members receive a news publication every quarter.

In 1995 and 1996, Ada-Europe distributed to each of its indirect members a copy of the Ada Year Book (normal distribution via the associate members). It is the intention to distribute a useful book of some kind at least every other year (the Ada 95 Style Guide is currently under consideration).

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 Board, through a nominated Ada-Europe Board member provides a point of contact for all conferences and hence experience gained is retained and reused. It is the aim that at least part of the effort of organising conferences should be performed by the professional secretariat - see below. The conferences and exhibitions are open to the Ada community world wide and a registration fee is charged.

As in recent years, it is anticipated that the conference will be subsidised from reserves in order to ensure that the registration fee remains reasonable.

Grants

Objectives:

To support workshops, conferences and similar events that promote the use of Ada, directly or indirectly through discussion and dissemination of information.

Activities:

An alternative means of providing support is through the provision of grants to other organising bodies. For example, Ada-Europe has recently provided grants to workshops in Brest and York. Conditions that must be satisfied are that the organisation 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 in the newsletter. Applications for grants should be sent in the first instance to the Secretary.

International Liaison

Objectives:

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

Activities:

To establish cooperation with SIGAda, Ada-Europe has signed a Memorandum of Understanding. SIGAda has appointed an International Representative. To maintain this relationship, Ada-Europe invites three representatives of SIGAda to the annual conference as guests of Ada-Europe and similarly SIGAda invites three representatives of Ada-Europe to the TRIAda conference.

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.

Organisational 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 will be managed by a Board of volunteers elected by the Ada-Europe membership. The Board will delegate 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 Secretariat has not functioned for some time and the Board is investigating its reintroduction which could reduce the need for formal board meetings. 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. Whenever possible the Board meets at events such as its own conference and at TRIAda 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.