A significant amount of work has been performed since the last letter from the ExCo. All IAPR committees have been set up and are now working for the benefit of the association. Members of the ExCo express their sincere thanks to the individuals who have accepted to act as chairs or members of the committees. Their contribution is essential to keep the IAPR active.

 

It is our pleasure to inform the community that, following the result of the GB ballot on this question, the Asociación Chilena De Reconocimiento De Patrones (ACHIRP) has been admitted in the IAPR. Dr. H. Allende Olivares from ACHIRP is finalizing the admission process in cooperation with IAPR Secretariat Ms. Linda O’Gorman and the Chair of the Membership Committee Dr. Michal Haindl.

 

Germany and Hungary have new representatives on the IAPR Governing Board. Drs. Gerald Sommer and Wolfgang Förstner will now represent the German Pattern Recognition Society (DAGM) on the GB, while Dr. Attila Fazekas will represent the Artificial Intelligence and Pattern Recognition Society (KEPAF) for Hungary. The ExCo welcomes these new GB members. Their contribution to the GB will be greatly appreciated. The ExCo would also like to express its gratitude to Drs. H. Burkhardt (DGAM) and L. Czúni (KEPAF) for their participation in IAPR GB activities over the past years.

 

The GB ballot on the Statement of Ethics that was prepared by the members of the Advisory Committee has been initiated by the IAPR Secretary. The result of the ballot will be disclosed by mid-May 2007.

 

IAPR Secretariat Ms. Linda O’Gorman will initiate the invoicing process for collecting member societies’ membership dues in the coming weeks. Please note that according to the Constitution and Bylaws, a member society whose dues have not been paid by the first day in May in the year following that in which the dues are invoiced will lose all voting privileges and its membership will be cancelled at the next Governing Board. It would be greatly appreciated that the dues be paid rapidly in order to avoid delays that generate extra work for the secretariat.

 

The ExCo would finally like to congratulate Dr. Gunilla Borgefors for being awarded the Edlund Prize in recognition of her high quality work in digital image analysis through many years (information in Swedish is available at:  www.kva.se/KVA_Root/swe/_news/detail.asp?NewsId=907&br=ie&ver=4up).