INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

IFIP - The International Federation for Information Processing

IFIP was founded in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO, following the First World

Computer Congress held in Paris the previous year. An umbrella organization for

societies working in information processing, IFIP's aim is two-fold: to support

information processing within its member countries and to encourage technology transfer

to developing nations. As its mission statement clearly states,

IFIP's mission is to be the leading, truly international, apolitical

organization which encourages and assists in the development,

exploitation and application of information technology for the benefit

of all people.

IFIP is a non-profitmaking organization, run almost solely by 2500 volunteers. It operates

through a number of technical committees, which organize events and publications.

IFIP's events range from an international congress to local seminars, but the most

important are:

• The IFIP World Computer Congress, held every second year;

• Open conferences;

• Working conferences.

The flagship event is the IFIP World Computer Congress, at which both invited and

contributed papers are presented. Contributed papers are rigorously refereed and the

rejection rate is high.

As with the Congress, participation in the open conferences is open to all and papers may

be invited or submitted. Again, submitted papers are stringently refereed.

The working conferences are structured differently. They are usually run by a working

group and attendance is small and by invitation only. Their purpose is to create an

atmosphere conducive to innovation and development. Refereeing is less rigorous and

papers are subjected to extensive group discussion.

Publications arising from IFIP events vary. The papers presented at the IFIP World

Computer Congress and at open conferences are published as conference proceedings,

while the results of the working conferences are often published as collections of selected

and edited papers.

Any national society whose primary activity is in information may apply to become a full

member of IFIP, although full membership is restricted to one society per country. Full

members are entitled to vote at the annual General Assembly, National societies

preferring a less committed involvement may apply for associate or corresponding

membership. Associate members enjoy the same benefits as full members, but without

voting rights. Corresponding members are not represented in IFIP bodies. Affiliated

membership is open to non-national societies, and individual and honorary membership

schemes are also offered.

THE EDITORS

Tom J. van Weert holds the chair in ICT and Higher Education of the

Hogeschool van Utrecht, University of Professional Education and Applied

Science, Utrecht, The Netherlands. EarUer he was managing director of

Cetis, centre of expertise for educational innovation and ICT, of the same

university. Before that he was director of the School of Informatics

(Computing Science) at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Tom

has studied applied mathematics and computing science. He started his

working career in teacher education and software engineering. He has been

chair of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)

Working Groups on Secondary Education and Higher Education. He

currently is vice-chair of IFIP Technical Committee 3 (TC3) on Education.

He is also member of the TC3 Special Interest Group on Lifelong Learning.

Arthur Tatnall is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of

Business at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. He holds bachelors

degrees in science and education, a Graduate Diploma in Computer Science,

and a research Master of Arts in which he explored the origins of business

computing education in Australian universities. His PhD involved a study in

curriculum innovation in which he investigated the manner in which Visual

Basic entered the curriculum of an Australian university. Arthur's research

interests include technological innovation, information technology in

educational management, information systems curriculum, project

management and electronic commerce. He has written several books relating

to information systems and has published widely. Arthur is currently vicechair of IFIP working group 3.4 (Professional and Vocational Education).