Prof. Kurt Bauknecht served as IFIP President from 1995 to 1998.
The Delivery Co.: During your tenure as IFIP President what, in your opinion, were the most significant IFIP developments and activities?
K. Bauknecht: During my presidency, IFIP established itself comfortably in Laxenburg and made a major transition from the classical "paper-based" organization to one that is making full use of ICT. The IFIP Telecom project was designed and implemented and the IFIP Secretariat provided leadership in demonstrating the advantages of the Internet in the process of management. We had a successful Congress ‘98 in Budapest and Vienna. Following our 1997 General Assembly meeting in Natal, the Executive Director and I visited Paris to meet with UNESCO officials in order to activate the relations between the two organizations. That visit helped set a course of proactive IFIP involvement in UNESCO activities and I am very happy to observe the many positive developments.
The Delivery Co.: Are you currently interested in IFIP? If so, are there any developments, which you like in particular and you feel should be further encouraged?
K. Bauknecht: I continue to follow IFIP activities closely. I am a member of TC 8 and recently I was the General Chair of the First IFIP I3E Conference, jointly organized by TC 6, TC 8 and TC 11 in October 2001 in Zurich. I will be in Montreal for the 17th IFIP Congress and I look forward to meeting many good friends there. As the last one to submit my responses, I had the advantage to read beforehand the interviews of my colleagues [I enjoy project "The Day of the President" very much], and it is easy to agree with what was said. I am happy that IFIP continues to grow as an open, dynamic international federation of national computer societies. In my mind, IFIP is a great model for other international associations, especially now, when issues related to the Information Society and the Digital Divide are on the forefront.
The Delivery Co.: Are there any specific issues you find important for IFIP to address?
K. Bauknecht: No doubt, it is important for IFIP to continue to lead in the specialized areas covered by its technical committees and working groups. However, there has to be a mechanism allowing IFIP to focus on long-term developments, which transcend the subject areas of one or a group of TCs. Forecasting IT developments would certainly position IFIP as an organization to which industry, government and the public sector could look up to for guidance.
The Delivery Co.: Please share with us a few words about yourself at present - professional occupation, personal projects, hobbies ...
K. Bauknecht: In Spring 2003 I will retire and will have more time for my responsibilities as President of the Swiss Infosurance Foundation, which is supported by the Swiss government and industry with the objectives to improve information security. I intend to devote more time to the study of new developments in IT such as ubiquitous and pervasive computing and the development of better and more adequate security measures in computing
Mountaineering, skiing and golf are my hobbies and I have 3 grandchildren with unbelievable energy!