IFIP General Assembly, 4 - 5 September 2001, Natal, Brazil

The President opened the General Assembly meeting and welcomed all participants. He was grateful to the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) and to the University of Natal for the excellent arrangements. Mr. Bollerslev was pleased to invite the local hosts from the University of Natal to address GA.

Professors Maragna and Mayer, respectively Vice-Rector and Dean at the University of Natal, welcomed the IFIP General Assembly and said they were grateful to SBC and to IFIP for choosing Natal to hold the meetings.

Mrs. G. Gregersen, GA representative of Norway
Mr. B. Domolki, GA representative of Hungary
Mr. D. Kim, GA representative of the Rep. of Korea
Mr. L. Strous, GA representative of the Netherlands and new TC 11 Chair
Mr. A. Haeberer, new TC 2 Chair
Mr. G. Olling, new TC 5 Chair
Mr. D. Roode, TC 8 Chair-Elect
Mr. R. Gudauskas, Lithuania
Mr. T. Ishida, Japan
Mr. C. Menezes, UNESCO

The Secretary announced the GA attendance, proxies and regrets (please refer to the Attendance List). 40 IFIP Members currently have voting rights. Representatives of 27 Full Members were in attendance and another two member societies were represented by proxy.

Quorum 			- 21
Present and proxies 	- 29

Mr. Johnson advised that this attendance makes it possible for GA to proceed and presented a schedule for nominations, presentations and elections.

General Assembly unanimously APPROVED the Minutes of GA 2000 in Beijing, China

Council members unanimously APPROVED the Minutes of the March 2001 Council meeting in Capri, Italy.

The President reported that since Council 2001 he had visited two Member society countries and one country with a society now applying for IFIP membership.

He had attended the SSI Annual Conference in Portoroz, Slovenia and was pleased to observe how well it functions. A Regional meeting was held and it was decided to establish closer cooperation between the computer societies of a number of countries. IFIP played an important role in launching the initiative.

In June, Mr. Bollerslev met the Chief Executive Officer of the British Computer Society in London to explore the preparations for an IFIP conference on Professionalism in May 2002.

In August, he was in Lithuania to follow-up with meetings at a high governmental level the interest of this country to join IFIP and to discuss arrangements for hosting an IFIP WITFOR conference in 2003.

The fruitful cooperation with UNESCO has continued with a special session on IFIP-UNESCO cooperation during WCCE 2001.

The management of IFIP has worked well and the members of the Executive Board have done what they were supposed to do. The Executive Director and the staff of the IFIP Secretariat have as usual worked to perfection and he had just words of thanks for the support he had received.

When he became IFIP President Mr. Bollerslev had in mind some ideas about the structure and the operations of IFIP and how these can be enhanced in order to respond quickly to new developments and challenges in the field of information technology. It was not easy to materialize all the ideas as three years was not a long period and given the nature of IFIP there are areas in which the organization needs to proceed carefully. The President also had to take care of matters related to administration, which at times required greater attention.

His term of three exciting years with challenges, experiences and wonderful personal relationships was far better than the initial expectations. IFIP's Members are the ones to reflect upon what has been achieved during the last 3 years and Mr. Bollerslev wished to thank GA for supporting him. He was handing over to the new President a healthy and prosperous organization.

The IFIP Executive Director responded that he had maintained close contact with the President at all times and in return wished to express the Secretariat's thanks to Mr. Bollerslev for his guidance and support.

Mr. Johnson reminded GA that 40 Full members had voting rights. Armenia and Syria have lost their voting rights and the membership of Albania and Russia was frozen since GA 99. EB has drawn up a list of prospective members and the Admissions Committee will report about the results so far.

Mr. Johnson attended the SEARCC Executive Committee meeting in May 2001 in connection with the scheduled IFIP conference on Professionalism in IT and further details about the Conference will be reported elsewhere.

The Secretary said that the Secretariat is busy and the Executive Director and his staff are to be congratulated for providing sterling services and support to IFIP activities.

The Executive Director reported that immediately after GA 2000 and Council 2001 the most important decisions and information were circulated. The Minutes were available electronically soon after, followed by the mailing of the hard copies. All known changes in the lists of IFIP, GA, TC and WG officers and members were updated and uploaded on the web. The new IFIP Information Bulletin was prepared, printed and distributed. The Secretariat worked closely with the Auditor and the IFIP Treasurer to finalize the 2000 accounts and to assist auditing. The IFIP Council 2001 in Capri was successful and in cooperation with SBC the IFIP Secretariat has done its best to facilitate the organization of GA 2001 in Natal.

Mrs. Brigitte Brauneis, who joined the Secretariat in July 2000 on a part-time basis, is successfully dealing with important engagements such as updates of the IFIP directory information, preparation of reference material, secretarial duties and other. The Secretariat is actively involved in the management of IFIP Events and publications. Special attention was devoted to support the activities of IFIP's TCs and WGs, to finalize outstanding matters related to the 16th IFIP Congress in Beijing and to support the organizers of the 17th IFIP Congress in Montreal. The marketing of events and publications has significantly improved with direct mail, information releases and Internet references, IFIP lotteries, advice to event organizers and other. The AMB statistics and the response from event organizers are good indicators of the positive role of the Events Facilitator. The Delivery Co. is a constant source of information on IFIP related activities and the IFIP community had warmly endorsed the new design and functionality of the IFIP web-site.

During the reported period, the Executive Director was involved in the IT STAR regional initiative, the IFIP Gateway project, UNESCO, the implementation of a new membership scheme and recruiting new IFIP Members.

There were many changes of TC and WG officers and the Secretariat assisted the smooth leadership transition. The period since GA 2000 was very intensive and Mr. Nedkov was thankful to Dorothy and to Brigitte for all their prompt and efficient support. He was also grateful to GA members and TC Chairs for their recognition and encouragement.

Messrs. Bollerslev and Johnson advised GA that EB had met in Tokyo in February and regular contact was maintained after Council 2001 in Capri. An EB meeting was held in Natal prior to GA 2001. IFIP's activities were reviewed and several important issues – congresses, membership, digital libraries, awards, standing orders, new initiatives and other – where thoroughly considered. So as to avoid repetition, many of the issues that have been dealt with will be addressed under the respective agenda items.

Mr. Johnson informed GA of the ongoing preparations to hold an IFIP Conference on "Meeting Global IT Skills Needs - The Role of the IT Professional" in June 2002 in the UK. The conference will aim to examine issues related to occupational skill assessment. The target audience includes international organizations and government agencies concerned with IT skills needs, policy makes in computer societies and federations, IT suppliers, employees and academics. There would be 40 to 50 invited participants who will be expected to meet their own travel and accommodation costs. The results will be published in a report of findings. Several IFIP members were consulted on this initiative and will act as co-sponsors.

The President advised of EB's recommendation to GA to accept Kurt Bauknecht, IFIP President for the period 1995 - 1998, as IFIP Honorary Member.

Mr. Khakhar referred to his report and explained the way it was structured. He said the 2000 accounts were reviewed in February 2001 in cooperation with the IFIP Secretariat and the IFIP Auditor. The 2000 Result, after amortization and depreciation according to approved policies and after special funds provisions, is a surplus of 66,743 EUR. The result is a bit lower than the budgeted surplus of 72 K EUR.

Compared to 1999, the 2000 Result shows less income while expenses have increased by approximately 23 K EUR.

The Total Income was 393 K EUR, which is below the budgeted 437 K EUR. Income from Return on Assets, managed by UBS London since 1990 is negative [loss of 33 K EUR]. Dues from Members were above budget. Royalties from Publications increased by 20 K EUR, or by 17%, to 125 K EUR. Proceeds from IFIP Events include 72 K EUR from WCC 2000 and 56 K EUR from TC events.

Total Expenses were 260 K EUR, or 47% below budget, which is due to savings at all levels.

Expenses of the 12 Technical Committees were in total 48% below the budgeted amount and show considerable variations. 10 TCs had positive TC Fund balances available for 2000. During 2000 all TCs had increased their fund balances and currently have positive fund balances to the extent of 295 K Euro. Technical Support expenses were 24 K EUR, or 54%, below budget, and relate to DCSC activities. The Special Activities Fund increased by 26 K EUR to the amount of 124 K EUR.

The Final Result, after Special Funds Provision of 65 K EUR, is an increase of IFIP’s General Fund by 66 K EUR to 1,384 K EUR.

The Treasurer informed that the financial status for 2001, as at 31 July, shows a surplus of EUR 195,727. Total income was EUR 300,479, which includes membership dues (EUR 143,301), royalties from publications for the second half of 2000 (EUR 76,197), activity proceeds (EUR 52,014) and return on assets (EUR 28,966). The Total expenses for the period were EUR 104 K out of which the main part was for the Secretariat’s operational costs. No other major expenses were occurred.

For the remainder of the year the following major income and expenses could be expected:

Royalties 			75 	Travel 				15
Proceeds from activities 	50 	Salaries incl. Soc. Sec. 	85
Return on Assets 	       -25 	Office Expenses 		30
					Newsletter 			15
					Auditor’s Fee 			 5
					DCSC related activities 	20
					TC related activities 		20
					Miscellaneous 			40

The Treasurer’s estimate is that 2001 will result in a surplus of approximately EUR 60 K.

In preparing the 2002 Budget, the Treasurer had taken account of the 2000 Actual Result and 2001 Budget Approved. He had also considered the budget requests.

The 2001 Budget Proposed implied a total income of 446 K EUR and total expenses of 375 K EUR, with a surplus yield of 71 K EUR. On the income side Royalties of 88 K EUR are foreseen. Other components of the income consisted of membership dues (170 K EUR), proceeds from activities (79 K EUR) and return on assets (108 K EUR). On the expense side, the Secretariat related expenses are budgeted at 238 K EUR. Other major expenses relate to TC funded expenses for special activities and DCSC support. The DCSC budget includes compensation for developing countries under the Voucher scheme.

Mr. Granado drew attention to his report and stressed that IFIP’s finances remain stable and the Treasurer was able to produce accurate budgets. The cash flow management remains to be improved.

The year 2000 was bad for the stock markets and there was a negative "Return on Assets" of -33 K EUR. In comparison with the previous year Expenses increased by 9.7%, which is greatly due to an increased DCSC support of projects and events. Income shows a decrease of 32.5% and is mainly due to the negative Return on Assets. The final Result was 154% above the approved budget for 2000.

Expenses were kept tight and income was well managed. An excess of cash on the IFIP current accounts is observed at the end of the year.

Mr. Rosenfeld opined that it is important to produce leaner budgets based on better forecasts.
Mr. Aiken pointed out that the IFIP Secretariat is certainly lean and IFIP should be grateful for that.

With regard to the prudential guidelines, Mr. Granado stressed the following:

A. Fixed Income covering fixed expenses: this was not achieved and the membership dues of 171K EUR were below the 201 K EUR for Secretariat expenses and Administrative Support. To overcome this, new members need to be actively recruited.

B. Ratio between Funds and Annual Expenses: The 5 times objective was exceeded and Funds are currently at a level of 7 times the recorded 2000 expenses.

With these clarifications Mr. Granado requested GA on behalf of FC to approve the 2000 audited accounts and to congratulate the Treasurer and the Secretariat for their excellent work.

With regard to the 2001 expenses the FC Chair said that the accounts were reviewed and were according to expectations. The return of Assets will remain low. Cash on the current account is nearly 4 times the budget and should be reduced. The Executive Board expenses have already exceeded the budget. Apart of these 3 observations the finances are well managed and follow the normal patterns.

With regard to Budget 2002, the Finance Committee has examined the Treasurer’s proposal and recommended to GA to approve it. Mr. Granado concluded that it was time for IFIP to search and find new reproductive activities in order to increase the investment capability of the organization.

The Secretary reminded GA that the Nominations Committee for Officers had put forward the nominations of Messrs. K. Brunnstein, R. Reis and P. Ralston and there were no further nominations from the floor.

K. Brunnstein (Germany) RE-ELECTED (2001 - 2004)
R. Reis (Brazil) RE-ELECTED (2001 - 2004)
P. Ralston (Australia) ELECTED (2001 - 2003)

The President informed GA that the current Secretary and Treasurer were the only candidates for Secretary-Elect and Treasurer-Elect and requested GA members to cast their votes

For Secretary-Elect: R. Johnson (UK) ELECTED (For - 33, Against - 1, Abstentions -0)
For Treasurer-Elect: D. Khakhar (Sweden) ELECTED (For - 33, Against - 0, Abstentions - 1)

The Secretary reminded GA that the Nominations Committee for Trustees had put forward the nominations of Mrs. Wang and Messrs. Granado, Katsikas and del Moral. In addition, Messrs. Frisiani, Schlamberger and von Solms were nominated from the floor.

A. Frisiani (Italy) 18 votes
J. Granado (Portugal) ELECTED 34 votes (2001 – 2004)
A. del Moral (Spain) ELECTED 27 votes (2001 – 2003)
S. Katsikas (Greece) 16 votes
N. Schlamberger (Slovenia) ELECTED 24 votes (2001 – 2002)
B. von Solms (S. Africa) ELECTED 32 votes (2001 – 2004)
Q. Wang (China) RE-ELECTED 26 votes (2001 – 2004)

General Assembly noted the WCC 2000 final report, which was previously submitted to Council 2001, and expressed its full satisfaction with the Congress program, organization and final result. General Assembly conveys its appreciation and thanks to CIE for the efforts in making IFIP's Congress in Beijing a great success.

Messrs. Wibe and Boynton reported on the work of the IPC and OC and on major issues related to the preparation of the Congress [http://www.wcc2002.org]

Mr. Khakhar informed GA that there was a formal request from the Canadian hosting societies for an up to 6-months interest free IFIP loan of EUR 70,000. This loan is intended to assist the cash-flow management of the OC. The Treasurer had reviewed the supporting documentation and recommended GA's agreement.

Mr. Gottlieb said that plans with the organization of Congress 2004 in Jerusalem had proceeded well and there was support for this event among the Israeli IT community. IPA had also investigated contingency plans for moving the venue to Eilat in case of necessity. Some time before GA he was made aware of EB's concerns about the situation in the Middle East.

Mr. Bollerslev reported that EB had consulted with Mr. Gottlieb before GA and during the EB meeting in Natal. Based on these consultations and further contacts during GA EB proposes the following draft resolution to be adopted by GA:

Mr. Gottlieb was grateful to EB for the consultations and for the flexibility of the proposed resolution.

Mr. Bollerslev said that IFIP's members from South Africa and France were consulted on whether they are ready to resubmit their bids in case GA decides to move Congress 2004 from Jerusalem. Both have agreed and the outline of their bids is basically the same as presented during GA 2000 in Beijing and recorded in the GA 2001 Minutes.

Mr. Laprie said that the Toulouse candidacy is based on Excellence in organization, science and technology, environment, institutional support, finances and travel opportunities. Since GA 2000 some new sponsorship opportunities are available for the congress which would greatly enhance the organization and the positive outcome. As a consequence, the minimum guaranteed return to IFIP is set at 38,400 EUR. The actual return to IFIP would vary depending on the number of attendees [for 1,200 participants the IFIP share would be 64,200 EUR and 99,900 EUR for 1,500 participants].

Mr. von Solms said that CSSA was proud to be in the final round last year and that the society has reiterated its invitation as the situation in the Middle East has deteriorated. There were no changes in the South African bid for WCC 2004 as presented in Beijing. Some positive developments could be reported related to the construction of the Cape Town Convention Center. He felt that a Congress in South Africa would be important for the region and the continent. CSSA is involved in IFIP at all levels and having the IFIP Congress in South Africa will generate further interest and broader
African involvement.

The President announced that in such a case he is entitled to a casting vote. However, in view of the importance of the decision, he abstains and thus offers a chance to GA members to once again consider the two invitations and vote again.

The President thanked the representatives of the 2 societies for resubmitting their invitations and said that IFIP was looking forward to a successful IFIP Congress 2004 in Toulouse, France.

	INCOME TO IFIP		Reg. Fees (EUR)	Coverage	Extras
	Guaranteed	Variable	Reg. Fees (EUR)	Coverage	Extras
South Africa	75 K Euro	32 Euro per participant + 10 % of profit	Early – 625 Normal – 695	Proceedings, 2 soc. events, p.c.o. costs	-35 free regs.
France	32 K Euro	32 Euro per participant + 50 % of profit	Early – 350 Normal – 450 Late – 560	Proceedings, 4 soc. Events, p.c.o. costs	-various EU arrangements