Active Working Groups

• Discuss and act on topics of your interest, with tangible impact on the overall European informatics research and education community.
• Bring individual or local initiatives to the European level, backed by nearly 200 institutions.
• Contribute to concrete outcomes,  such as policy statements, recommendations, white papers, best-practice booklets, reports, workshops, events, or joint EU projects (with IE as dissemination partner).
• Network with peers across Europe, and connect with potential partners for future research projects (with or without the IE signature).
• Gain visibility as a member of IE WG and related outcomes - endorsed by IE Board on behalf of 200 institutions
• Strengthen your academic leadership profile with experience in coordination, consensus-building, and cross-border collaboration.
• Help define IE’s strategy and concerted activities in your area of interest, ensuring your voice shapes the European agenda.

Working Groups (WG) are established by the Board, or recommended by one of its Directors and approved by the Board. Researchers from IE member institutions are welcome to join existing Working Groups or suggest the creation of a new one by submitting a basic proposal to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Such a proposal should include at least the following:

• WG title, reflecting a topic aligned with IE mission and goals.
• Name of the proposed WG chair and at least 3 other researchers actively willing to contribute.
• Objectives and targeted outcomes (short and long-term goals).
• If available, a preliminary description of initial activities (how to get the WG started).

IE Working Groups (WG) accept researchers affiliated with any of our current members.

Researchers from related disciplines who are closely working with our member institutions, and thus endorsed by them, are also welcome to request registration in IE working groups. Such applications will be reviewed and analysed on a case-by-case basis.

Failing to fulfil the below-mentioned expectations (under 'governance') may result in a request to leave the WG.

Working Groups (WG) should have a chair and a secretary selected among the WG members with a simple voting procedure. Each WG should include an IE Board director among its members, who will represent the IE Board in the WG and act as liaison between the two.

All Working Group outcomes are reviewed and approved by the Informatics Europe Board before being published or promoted as official IE outputs.

WG chairs are expected to:

• Regularly call and lead WG meetings (at least 3/year, preferably more).
• Foster participation of WG members in meetings as well as concrete activities.
• Define task forces** where appropriate.
• Set clear deadlines and ensure they are met, or corrective measures are put in place.
• Ensure all members are assigned at least 1 concrete responsibility.
• Ensure the WG has an up-to-date set of goals (with a 12-24 months horizon, but also 5-10 years) and it is clearly communicated on the WG webpage (on the IE website).
• Regularly provide the IE communication officer with ‘ready to publish’ updates, to keep the IE community informed about WG work (e.g.: latest agreed activities, status report of outcomes, changes on short/mid/long term goals, etc. to be shared in IE webpage, bulletin and/or social media). At least 4 times/year.
• Identify and invite experts who are active in the area covered by the WG to join the IE WG. Encourage WG members to do the same.
• Prepare, or cause to be prepared, a session during ECSS every second or third year, to share the WG’s work and gather direct feedback/input from the IE community at large.
• Ask WG members who do not fulfil the above-mentioned expectations to leave the WG.

WG members are expected to:

• Actively contribute to the strategy setting of the WG, and indirectly to that of IE at large.
• Assume concrete responsibilities in WG activities (e.g. leading or contributing to task forces).
• Promote WG activities and disseminate outcomes (e.g. when attending conferences).
• Regularly attend WG meetings (missing more than 3 consecutive ones is not considered regular attendance).
• Meet at least once per year at ECSS.

 IE Board members (appointed to represent the Board in the WG and vice versa) are expected to:

• Serve as a sounding board for the WG chair and ensure the WG activities are aligned with the IE mission and goals.
• Monitor that WG activities run according to the pre-defined planning.
• Provide a brief (written) progress report for each Board meeting.
• Ensure WG chair fulfils the above-mentioned expectations and suggest a co-chair or new WG chair where necessary.

The IE office will develop and maintain (with WG content input) a dedicated page on the IE website for each WG.

**Task Forces are established when a group of people is to work on a specific topic to produce a given output (report, policy recommendation, white, paper, workshop, other events). Led by a task force leader, they are related to a  WG or a focused area previously approved by the Board. They are convened and report to their WG chair or assigned Board director.