The University of Edinburgh

GLOBAL COMPUTING


CO-OPERATION OF AUTONOMOUS AND MOBILE ENTITIES IN DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS

CONSULTATION WORKSHOP

21-22 September 2000(noon to noon)

University of Edinburgh

The Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) unit of the European Commission (Directorate-General for the Information Society) promotes and funds long term, innovative and high-risk research in the IST Programme. The FET objectives are in part implemented through proactive initiatives whose objective is to focus resources on visionary and challenging long-term goals that have a strategic importance.

The aims of this workshop are first to prepare the terms of reference and background information for a proactive initiative that could be launched in 2001 in the area of "global computing" by identifying and discussing the main research challenges in this area, and second to promote awareness of this new initiative. A tentative summary of its scope is as follows:

See Theme 1 of the report on a brainstorming meeting on Theoretical Computer Science (June issue of the EATCS Bulletin) for a more detailed summary.

The workshop will be held in Edinburgh on 21-22 September, hosted by the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science and sponsored by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science. Attendance is by invitation only, with attendees paying their own travel costs.

The workshop will begin with three invited speakers, followed by discussion sessions. These discussions will kick off with short introductory talks intended to foster discussion and help in focusing the research challenges and objectives of the proactive initiative.


Programme

Thursday 21 September

13.00-14.00: Lunch

14.00-16.00: Session 1
Introduction by EC representative
Invited talks by Luca Cardelli (Microsoft Research, Cambridge), Paulo Verissimo (Univ. of Lisbon) and David May (Univ. of Bristol)

16.00-16.15: Break

16.15-17.30: Session 2
Discussion on models and programming, chaired by Don Sannella (Univ. of Edinburgh)
Speakers: Luca Cardelli, Paolo Ciancarini, Mike Wooldridge

Evening: Dinner

Friday 22 September

09.00-10.15: Session 3
Discussion on efficiency and performance, chaired by Josep Diaz (UPC, Barcelona)
Speakers: Josep Diaz, Paul Spirakis, Marios Mavronicolas, Jiri Wiedermann

10.15-10.30: Break

10.30-11.45: Session 4
Discussion on security and resources, chaired by Paddy Nixon (Strathclyde Univ.)
Speakers: Steven Hand, Jörg Kaiser, Vinny Cahill, Paulo Verissimo

11.45-12.00: Break

12.00-12.30: Wrap-up and conclusion


The workshop is limited to 35 participants maximum. ATTENDANCE WILL BE BY INVITATION ONLY. If you are interested in attending, please contact Leonardo Flores but bear in mind that due to this restricted number you cannot be guaranteed an invitation.

The workshop will be held in James Clerk Maxwell Building, Room 6301 in the King's Buildings campus of the University of Edinburgh, which is 5km to the south of Edinburgh city centre. Maps and information are here.

Accommodation:

We should like to ask you to book your own accommodation directly. The Edinburgh Tourist Board offer a very efficient booking service. You can either book by phone (+44-131-473-3874), fax (+44-131-473-3636) or e-mail (conventions@eltb.org). When you contact them they will supply you with a booking form. Please book early. Although the Edinburgh International Festival will be over, September is still a very busy time. Please see here for Convention Bureau Delegate's Information and Terms and Conditions.

NB:Please state clearly on the accommodation booking form that your accommodation should be within easy reach of the King's Buildings, University of Edinburgh.

You should receive confirmation of your booking fairly quickly. You need to give them your credit card number which will serve as a security. You will actually have to pay your accommodation directly later. If you do not have a credit card, or you encounter any difficulties in booking your accommodation, then please get in touch with us directly. Please contact (global-comp@dcs.ed.ac.uk) and state your requirements.

Local arrangements: Dyane McGavin, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Division of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Scotland. E-mail global-comp@dcs.ed.ac.uk, telephone +44 131 650 5116, fax +44 131 667 7209.

Organising Committee: D. Sannella (Univ. of Edinburgh), J. van Leeuwen (Univ. of Utrecht), J. Diaz (UPC, Barcelona), P. Verissimo (Univ. of Lisbon), P. Spirakis (CTI, Patras), I. Leslie (Cambridge Univ.), L. Flores (European Commission).