Paris, 2 October 2002


EFITA newsletter / 83 / European Federation for Information Technology in Agriculture, Food and the Environment


"Computers on the farm  making them work for you=94 - ISITA Expo 2002 -Irish Society for Information Technology in Agriculture (ISITA) Conference supported by Irish Farmers Journal
Thursday 7 November 2002 - Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, Co=20 Laois
This year we are targeting farmers and have a change of format. It will be more of an exposition than a conference - with greater emphasis on the practicaluses of farm computers and farm software - (see attached draft programme) and we will be advertising actively in the farming=20 press.

- Computers for rural families - keeping up with the kids!
Elizabeth Morris, AIB Centre for Information and Knowledge Management, University of Limerick
- Farm computers - ten tips to good housekeeping
- Maintenance, insurance, lightning strikes, data security, back-up, virus protection, junk mail, internet scams=85.!
(Presenter to be announced)
- An agribusiness perspective - the relevance of the computer on the farm
Kevin Downing, Business Analyst, ICBF
- E-business in the Irish Agribusiness industry - current developments
Paul Brandon, UCD Department of Agribusiness, Extension and Rural Development, National University of Ireland
- The Teagasc Client Service
Liam Morrow, Information Management Specialist, Teagasc
- eLearning opportunities for rural areas - educating yourself from home
J F Phelan, UCD Department of Agribusiness, Extension and Rural Development, National University of Ireland
- Case Study: Putting the farm computer to practical use - a Wicklow farmer's experience
Warren Furlong, Farmer.
- ISITA AGM
Conference fee: 20 euro

Contact : M. HARKIN
mailto:harkin@iol.ie


Farm Management=85
=85the journal of the UK Institute of Agricultural Management, has been published continuously for 35 years, carrying articles by all the best-known academics and practitioners in farm management field.  You are cordially invited to submit articles for refereeing: the target length for articles is 5000 words.  The main criteria are that the content should be concerned with the economics or management of farms, agribusinesses and related rural activities including, of course, issues relating to ICT); that the approach should be rigorous while accessible to a wide-ranging readership (professional and academic); and that the standard of writing and graphical presentation should be excellent. Typical turnround time is 6 months from submission to publication.

Past ICT-based papers include:
- Decision Support Systems: Lessons From Past Failures
- Computer Assisted Learning - Using New Technology in Farm Management Teaching
- Barriers to Adoption of On-Farm Computers in England
- Farmers, Computers And The Internet: A Study of Adoption in Contrasting Regions of England
- Computerised Efficiency Analysis in Farm Business Advice in Denmark

The journal also reprinted a number of papers from the 2001 EFITA conference, by kind permission of the organisers.
If you would like a copy of the Notes for Contributors, please email Val Crean on vcrean@plymouth.ac.uk, or phone on +44 (0)1626 325619. You are welcome to send abstracts for comment to myself.
Contact: Martyn Warren, University of Plymouth, Chair of Editorial Committee
mailto:mwarren@plymouth.ac.uk


4th= EFITA Conference Symposia: Model-based decision support systems: Call for abstracts
In continuation of a tradition established through the two previous EFITA conferences as well as semi-annual meetings in between conferences for researchers involved in model-based decision support we invite you to submit an abstract for the above section at the coming EFITA conference in Hungary.
The aim of the symposium is to emphasize the methodological aspects of the model-based decision support. Hence, papers presented at the symposia should focus on the methods used in modelling in the view of the problems they intend to solve.
Despite the diverse field of applications presented at earlier meetings such as animal replacement models, natural resource management, crop management, irrigation schemes, pest control etc. the common engagement in methodological aspects have made the presentations and subsequent discussions highly rewarding to the participants. At
http://www.inra.fr/bia/T/decision/EWDA02/= there are links to the homepages of the two last meetings.
We encourage people working and thinking along these lines to submit an abstract before October 15 2002.
For submission details as well as other details regarding the 4
th EFITA Conference, please go to the official website of the conference:
http://www.date.hu/efita2003/index.php


Open Source Group Conference
Cannes - 13 to 18 October
We do not run our conferences as commercial events - our objective is to get participation so that we can make broaden awareness of issues surrounding our work. We do charge our members a meeting fee. Our policy is to waive that fee for anyone who has never attended a meeting of The Open Group before.

I will be happy to extend a free-of-charge invitation to any of the subscribers of the efita newsletter who would like to attend.

The meeting lasts all week, with sessions from Sunday 13th October to Friday 18th October.

In addition to regular working meetings of The Open Group Forums, there are two whole day conferences.

Monday 14th October - Boundaryless Information Flow - The Role of Open Source

This conference will explore the extent to which Open Source technology is going to enable Boundaryless Information Flow within and between enterprises.

The keynote address will be given by Andrew Josey, The Open Group and Member of the Board of Directors of the Free Standards Group.

The conference will attempt to answer the following questions:
- What exactly is Open Source?
- How does the Open Source model work?
- How can the essentially unconstrained development of technology result in stable, product quality software?
- How does Open Source enable faster development cycles?
- How can businesses use Open Source technology with confidence?
- How is Open Source technology licensed; who owns it?
- How does the breadth of Open Source development compare to the overall scale of customer needs?
Our speakers include:
- Jon "Maddog" Hall, Executive Director of Linux International
- Bruce Perens, Author of the Open Source Definition
- Dirk-Willem van Gulik. President of the Apache Software Foundation
- Mary Ann Fisher, Linux Program Director, Public Sector IBM Corporation.
Wednesday 16th October - Boundaryless Information Flow - Wireless Data Summit

This full-day meeting will address the current status of wireless data technology. Attendees will hear from leaders of vendors and service providers in the wireless data industry as well as the principals of trade associations, user groups, standards initiatives and regulatory bodies.

The keynote address will be delivered by Kouji Ohboshi, Corporate Advisor, and until recently Chairman of NTT DoCoMo, Inc.

Topics to be addressed will include:
- The current and future role of global wireless data focusing on Japan, Europe, and the USA
- Learn about technology capability and market take-up
- Broadband cellular services 2.5G 3G
- Wireless LAN hot spot technology
- Existing narrow-band and packet data services
- Personal Area Networks
- Other wireless technologies serving customers today
- The role of other consortia active in this area
Speakers include:
- Mark Briers, Director 3G, Manx Telecom
- Andrew Fitton, Chief Executive of the Mobitex Operators Association
- Anil Kripalani Sr. VP, Standards Planning & International Administration for Qualcomm
- Kouji Ohboshi, Corporate Advisor (former Chairman of NTT DoCoMo, Inc.)
- Mikko Riepula Managing Director, Wificom Technologies and co-founder of Pass-One
- Mike Short, Chairman of the Mobile Data Association
If any of subscribers of the efita newsletter would like to attend this conference free-of-charge, please contact me
Full details of the conference are on out WEB site at:
= http://www.opengroup.org/Cannes2002/

Contact: Mike LAMBERT
mailto:m.lambert@opengroup.org


The chicken and egg=20 question

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed.

The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette and has a satisfied smile on its face.

The egg, looking a bit pissed-off, grabs the sheet, rolls over and says, "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question."

Contact: Dr Adrian Williams - Mathematics and Decision Systems Group - Silsoe Research Institute
mailto:adrian.williams@bbsrc.ac.uk


About the EFITA mailing=20 list
Please note that you can use this moderated list to announce any event / product / web site / joke=85 related to IT in agriculture, environment, food industry and rural areas, and send me all e-mail addresses of people, who might be interested in these matters.
If you do not wish to receive our messages, please, send me a message at:
<= font color=3D"#0000FF">mailto:waksman@acta-informatique.fr



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Guy Waksman - ACTA Informatique   
149, rue de Bercy - 75595 Paris Cedex 12  
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