Newsletter January 2018
Outlook for the 50th Annual Conference of the IC in Warsaw. Possible cooperation with the IARIGAI. LinkedIn group started successfully.
Dear colleagues and members of the IC, In this Circular I will update you on some recent developments pertaining to the IC, more particularly our talks with IARIGAI to improve our co-operation and the preparatory work for the next Annual Conference in Warsaw (October 2018). On November 13, 2017, Martin Habekost and myself held a Skype conference with a delegation of the Warsaw University of Technology, Department of Printing Technologies, and representatives of IARIGAI. The latter included – amongst others – Gunter Huebner, president of IARIGAI and Prof. Branka Lozo, Secretary General of IARIGAI. The first were represented by – inter alia – Prof. Georgij Petriaszwili, Director of the 45th Conference in 2018, Dr. Joanna Izdebska Podsiadty, responsible IC Conference host, and Dr. Zuzanna Żołek-Tryznowska, responsible IARIGAI host. The main objectives of the meeting were to discuss the concept of a joint annual conference of the IC and IARIGAI in 2018, and additionally, to explore closer collaboration between our respective scientific journals. It was a very constructive meeting well prepared by Gunter Huebner, who, in his capacity as new president of the IARIGAI and vice-chair of the IC, is very familiar with both organizations and is well placed to act as intermediary. It was agreed that the conference lengths will differ (IC’s conference will be one day shorter) and that two different fees will apply, but with a joint conference reception on the first IC day. Participants of both conferences may switch between the programs and attend sessions from the other organization. More details of the program can be consulted on http://ic-warsaw2018.pl/. This website was launched recently by our Polish colleagues, who are doing a great job. It promises to become a memorable edition. Don’t miss it! It was also suggested that, if this formats works, we should consider a replication the next few years. This will be a topic for discussion during our next Annual Conference. Additionally, a closer collaboration between the two scientific journals was investigated. A number of alternatives were put forwarded and discussed. It became soon clear that keeping IARIGAI’s ISBN and indexation status was beneficial to all and we should look at how to ensure that IC’s specificity (print technology research but also management and educational issues pertaining to media technology) is given proper attention and place. Two options remained open in the end:
• Publication of all articles in one single issue but to distinguish IARIGAI from IC papers by color;
• Publish a special issue with IC topics annually, with Martin Habekost as guest editor for the IC community.
Both have their value and both will assist us in making a great step forwards towards sustainability, visibility and credibility of our scientific magazine. I have also contacted a limited number of suppliers to seek their assistance in financing the participation of young researchers in the next Annual Conference. The basic idea behind this is that a young researcher might have the ambition and the content to deliver, but lacks the financial resources to participate in a conference abroad. ESKO (one seat) and AGFA (two seats) agreed to join and promised 1.000 euro lump sum subsidy for each chair: one on Offset, one on Inkjet and one on Packaging. For more details on these grants, I am again referring to the website of the Annual Conference 2018. I hope that this initiative will be well publicized in the various institutions and that students will react enthusiastically. Furthermore, the IC entered the era of social media. Our LinkedIn Group took off successfully and I trust you will bring this to the attention of your colleagues to enable the IC community to grow. This medium is an excellent means to channel information concerning events, seminars, search for project and research partners….
I would like to encourage you to make maximum use of it to promote our interconnectivity and international co-operation. If you have not subscribed yet, do not hesitate to join us at LinkedIn. To conclude, this circular cannot end without a wish for 2018! Therefore, we wish you a healthy, creative and productive year for you and your family. With our best regards Luk Bouters Chair Mariakerke, 11 January 2018
