“As a French citizen living in Canada, the first French ACM President and its second European President, it is an honor and privilege to support ACM Europe at ICT2010. As the council of leading European computer scientists spearheading ACM's expansion in Europe, ACM Europe is a real opportunity to focus on specific domains and challenges that are important to computer science professionals and researchers living and working in Europe. Our expansion in Europe perfectly complements similar initiatives in China and India, demonstrating that we are a truly international association, acting globally to address key challenges in the field. This global outreach will be key in addressing the pressing need to fill educational gaps as we face sea changes in the IT world over the next decade by ensuring our community gets all the resources and services it needs to stay abreast of the latest developments in the field.” Alain Chesnais, ACM President 2010-2012 and Founder of Visual Transactions, who Trust-IT has recently interviewed.

Download the Interview with Alain Chesnais, ACM President

Another important message comes from Dr Fabrizio Gagliardi, Director of External Research for Europe, Middle East and Asia at Microsoft Research and Chair of the ACM Europe Council. “ACM is the oldest and most respected computing professional association world-wide. Very much inspired by the former ACM president Professor Dame Wendy Hall, an ACM European Council was launched one year ago to make ACM more prominent and relevant to European computer scientists and practitioners while increasing the role and visibility of Europeans in ACM world-wide. Among the various aims, ACM Europe seeks to increase visibility and collaboration with initiatives promoted by the EU whenever appropriate. Participating in ICT2010 is an obvious starting point.”

As Europe's most visible forum for research and innovation in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) arena, ACM Europe's presence at ICT2010 comes at an important time as Europe sets forth the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe (European Commission, May 2010) and in the light of the U.S. Congress recognises computer science education as key to success in the digital age, marking a major step for the field just a few days ago. Avi Mendelson, Microsoft R&D Israel and European Council member underscores the fundamental role ACM Europe and its International counterparts play in strongly supporting practitioners and researchers as new career opportunities for the profession expand globally over the next ten years in recognition of the need to urgently address educational gaps in the field: "ACM Europe is a key professional anchor. As a student, it helps you create your professional community in Europe and around the world. As a young scientist, it provides you the best platform to present your work, strength your collaborations and enhance your professional community. As a senior, ACM and particularly ACM Europe enables you to make a real impact on your community, and it also allows the community to celebrate key achievements in the field”.

Download Media Release: ACM Europe at ICT2010, 27-29 Sept, Brussels