Chrisanthi AVGEROU, London School of Economics, UK
is a Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the London School
of Economics and Political Science (UK). She teaches postgraduate
courses on Information Systems Implementation and on Information
Systems in Developing Countries. She chaired the IFIP WG 9.4 on
"Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries"
from 1996-2002. Her research is concerned with the study of the
dual process of the utilization of information technology and
organizational change within different socio-organizational contexts,
and one of her recent publications is on this subject is Information
Systems and Global Diversity (2002), published by Oxford University
Press.
R.
Stephen BERRY, University
of Chicago, USA
R. Stephen Berry is the James Franck Distinguished Service Professor
Emeritus, Department of Chemistry, at the James Franck Institute
at The University of Chicago. He received an AB, AM, and PhD.
After an 18-month instructorship at Harvard, in 1957 he became
an Instructor in the Chemistry Department of the University of
Michigan, and in 1960 he moved on to Yale as an Assistant Professor.
In 1964 he joined the University of Chicago's Chemistry Department
and James Franck Institute (then the Institute for the Study of
Metals) as an Associate Professor. He became a Professor in 1967
and James Franck Distinguished Service Professor in 1989. In 1983
he received a MacArthur Prize Fellowship, and he has spent extended
periods at the University of Copenhagen, Oxford, Université
de Paris-Sud, and the Frei Universität Berlin. Dr. Berry's
research interests include electronic structure of atoms and molecules;
photo- and collisional detachment of negative ions; photochemistry
of reactive organic molecules; vibronic coupling processes such
as autoionization, predissociation, and internal vibrational relaxation;
thermodynamics of finite-time processes; dynamics and structure
atomic and molecular clusters; phase changes in very small systems;
chaos and ergodicity in few-body systems; and, most recently as
an outgrowth of the cluster studies, dynamics on many-dimensional
potential surfaces and the origins of protein folding. He has
also worked extensively with the efficient use of environmental
energy and other resources. Dr. Berry is also very interested
with issues of science and the law, and with management of scientific
data, activities that have brought him into the arena of electronic
media for scientific information and issues of intellectual property
in that context. He is a member and Home Secretary of the U.S.
National Academy of Sciences. He has been involved in many activities
of the U.S. National Academies, including chairing the NRC's Study
on the Bits of Power: Issues in the Global Access to Scientific
Data.
Massey BEVERIDGE,
University of Toronto, Canada
Massey Beveridge is Director of the Office of International Surgery
at the University of Toronto and an attending surgeon at the Ross
Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences
Centre in Toronto. He has a long-standing interest in development
issues and was trained as an anthropologist at McGill and Cambridge.
He has worked as a surgeon and surgical educator in a number of
countries and now focuses on surgical education and research for
development. Dr. Beveridge earned a BA, M. Phil, MD, FRCSC, and
a DTM&H.
Gilberto CAMARA, National Institute
for Space Research (INPE), Brazil
is Director for Earth Observation at Brazil's National Institute
for Space Research (INPE). He holds a BSEE from the Aeronautics
Technological Institute, São José dos Campos and
an MsC and a PhD in computer science from INPE. Dr. Camara has
written more the 100 scientific papers and 4 books in his research
areas: design of geographic information systems, spatial databases,
spatial analysis and remote sensing image processing. He is a
consultant of the most important Brazilian funding agencies and
teaches and supervises graduate students in INPE's graduate programs
in remote sensing and computer science.
Leslie CHAN,
Bioline, Canada
is Associate Director of Bioline International, a
not-for-profit electronic publishing collaborative designed to
improve global access to research published in developing countries.
A Trustee of the Electronic Publishing Trust for Development since
1997, Dr. Chan is active in promoting partnerships between educational
and research institutions in the hope of narrowing the knowledge
gap between the South and the North. He is one of the original
drafters and signators of the Budapest Open Access Initiative,
a worldwide movement that encourages open institutional archiving
and free access to scholarly publications. As a Lecturer in the
Division of Social Sciences, University of Toronto at Scarborough,
Dr. Chan teaches courses in new media, civic engagement, and international
communications. He is frequently invited by international organizations
to conduct workshops on knowledge management, electronic publishing,
and instructional technology.
Robin COWAN,
MERIT/University of Maastricht, Netherlands
Robin Cowan is Professor of the Economics of Technical Change
at Maastricht University. He began his official affiliation with
MERIT in 1996 as a Professorial Fellow. He studied at Queen's
University in Canada and at Stanford University where he received
a PhD in economics and an MA in philosophy. Robin Cowan was Assistant
Professor of Economics at the University of Western Ontario until
1998. His current research focuses on technology competitions
and standardisation, the dynamics of consumption, and the economics
of networks. He is also doing research on the changing nature
of the economics of knowledge and intellectual property rights
in the new economy. In the past he has done consulting research
for the OECD on the economics of standards and the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory on technological lock-in and renewable energy
technologies. Recently, he has completed two research projects
on "Intellectual Property Rights in a Knowledge-Based Economy"
with Elad Harison for the Dutch Advisory Council for Science and
Technology Policy (AWT). Robin
Cowan is also an Adjunct Professor at the Economics Department
at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
David Dickson,
SciDev.Net
David Dickson is the founding director of the Science and Development
Network (SciDev.Net), a web-based news and information service
set up in 2001 that covers science, technology and the developing
world. A graduate in mathematics from the University of Cambridge,
he has formerly been science correspondent of The Times Higher
Educational Supplement, the Washington correspondent of Nature,
the European correspondent of Science, and the editor of New Scientist.
Prior to entering journalism, he was the first executive secretary
of the British Society for Social Responsibility in Science. He
is the author of "Alternative Technology" (London 1973),
and "The New Politics of Science" (University of Chicago
Press, 1986).
Thomas DREIER, University of Karlsruhe, Germany
Thomas Dreier is Professor of Law at the University of Karlsruhe,
Germany, where he is the Director of the Institute for Information
Law. In spring 2002, Prof. Dreier was Global Visiting Professor
of Law at the New York University, School of Law. Before joining
the University of Karlsruhe, Prof. Dreier has been working at
the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign and International Patent,
Copyright and Competition Law, Munich, Germany (1983-1999). He
is vice-president of the Association Littéraire et Artistique
Internationale (ALAI) and vice-chairman of ALAI's German national
group as well as a Member of the Legal Advisory Board of the EU's
DG Information Society and of the Advisory Panel on Intellectual
Property of the Steering Committee of the Mass Media of the Council
of Europe. Prof. Dreier also acts as Executive Secretary of the
German Computer Law Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Recht
und Informatik, DGRI). He earned a JD (Munich) and a M.C.J. (NYU).
For additional information, see http://www.z-a-r.de; email: dreier@ira.uka.de.
Sarah DURRANT, International Network
for the Availability of Scientific Publications, UK
Sarah Durrant is a Senior Programme Manager for the International
Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)
Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI).
A major part of her remit is to work with publishers and information
providers to develop differentially-priced access terms in order
to make their products and services affordable, and hopefully
therefore sustainable, in developing countries. Prior to joining
INASP in 2002, she had a 12-year career in international STM publishing,
working at Harcourt Brace/Academic Press (now Elsevier) in London
and John Wiley & Sons, working mostly on journals, particularly
electronic journals. As Manager of STM Journals Development for
Wiley Europe, Sarah helped developed Wiley's online journals service,
Wiley InterScience; this was followed by two years with the dynamic
and innovative journals digitisation and hosting company CatchWord/Ingenta.
For full information about INASP, please visit www.inasp.info;
additional information about the PERI programme can be found at
http://www.inasp.info/peri
Clemente FORERO-PINEDA, University
of Bogota, Colombia
Clemente Forero-Pineda is a Professor at the Universities of Andes
and Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia. He earned a certificate
in Mathematics and Physics, and an Engineering degree at Institut
National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (France). He completed
an MA and a PhD in economics at Stanford University. He was dean
of the School of Economics at Colombia's National University and
Director General of Colombia's National Science Fund (Colciencias).
Andrew KANIKI,
National Research Foundation, South Africa
is Executive Director of Knowledge Management and Strategy at
the National Research Foundation in South Africa. Until recently
he was Professor of Information Studies and the last three years
worked as Pro Vice Chancellor and Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor
(Academic) at the University of Natal, South Africa. He has also
taught at the University of Zambia and worked as a Science Information
Specialist at the Engineering and Science Library, Carnegie Mellon
University (USA). He holds a Bachelors degree in politics and
library science (University of Zambia); a MS from the University
of Illinois; and a PhD and Agricultural Information Specialist
Certificate from the University of Pittsburgh. He has published
and presented several conference papers on information needs and
use.
LIU Chuang,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
is the Director of Global Change Information and Research Center,
Institute of Geography and Natural Resource, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. She serves as the Co-Chair of the CODATA Task Group
on "Preservation and Archiving of Scientific and Technical
Data in Developing Countries," a member of ICSU Task Group
on World Data Centers, Associate Director of Data Committee of
China Association of Geographical Information Systems, Secretary
General of Remote Sensing and Data Information Network, and as
a member of the Chinese National Committee of International Geosphere
and Biosphere Program. Dr. Liu Chuang was an Information Scientist
and China Project Leader at the Consortium for International Earth
Science Information Network (CIESIN), USA, from 1994-1998, Visiting
Professor of University of British Columbia, Canada, from 1992-1993,
and Associate Professor of Peking University from 1989-1991. She
served for UNDP/FAO and Asia Development Bank as a Consultant
and Technical Assistant during 1995-1998. She received her PhD
in geography from Peking University, China, and her master and
bachelor degrees in geography in China. She has received awards
from START (USA), CIESIN (USA), MOST (China), Peking University
(China), and ISPRS (Japan) based on her scientific achievements.
Koïchiro MATSUURA, Director-General, UNESCO
Koïchiro Matsuura was elected the eighth Director-General
of UNESCO on 15 November 1999. His studies in economy and law,
which he started at the University of Tokyo and continued in the
United States of America, permitted him to start a diplomatic
career at a very early age. He entered the Japanese Ministry of
foreign affairs at a young age as the third Secretary of the Embassy
of Japan in Ghana and West Africa. After a brief stint holding
various positions at the central administration at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Japan, Mr. Matsuura then gained significant
intergovernmental organization experience as Second and then First
Secretary of the Japanese Delegation to the OECD. Stops as Counsellor
of the Embassy of Japan in the United States of America and Consul
General of Japan in Hong Kong proved essential to being named
Director-General of the Economic Cooperation Bureau within the
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While Director-General of
the North American Affairs Bureau, Mr. Matsuura began his formal
writing career and has had numerous titles published. An accomplished
author in the fields of economic cooperation, bi-lateral relations,
and perspectives on development, Mr. Matsuura then represented
Japan at the 1994 G-7 summit as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.
From 1994-1999, Mr. Matsuura was called upon to serve as Ambassador
of Japan to France and concurrently to Andorra and Djibouti during
which he published Japanese Diplomacy at the Dawn of the 21st
Century. His first contact with UNESCO was as Chairperson of the
World Heritage Committee of UNESCO where he showed a natural aptitude
for dealing with cultural heritage issues.
Florence MUINDE, UNESCO
Fellow, Kenya
Florence Muinde obtained a BEd degree in 1990 from Kenyatta University
and afterwards taught in various secondary schools in Kenya until
1995 when she joined the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
as an education officer. In 1998, she graduated from Kenyatta
University with a Masters degree in education (library and information
studies). She then worked as a trainer, researcher, and officer
in charge of data management in the DfID (Britain)/Government
of Kenya-sponsored Textbooks for primary schools project. In July
2002, she was promoted to Senior Programmes Officer for the Kenya
Civil Service Reform Secretariat. In addition to her work, she
has been a beneficiary of various scholarships. In 2000, she won
a DAAD scholarship where she participated in 1 semester summer
international and intercultural course at the University of Hamburg,
Germany, in Information as a Social Resource. This culminated
in the initiation of a virtual international women's university
and writing of a book called "The Feminist Challenges in
the Information Age." Currently, she is a beneficiary of
the UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowship, in which she is working
under Prof. John Willinsky at the University of British Columbia,
Canada, in the area of ICTs and Research Capacity Development
in developing countries.
Sal MUTHAYAN,
South Africa
Saloshini Muthayan holds a Doctoral Fellowship from the National
Research Foundation, South Africa and is a Doctoral Candidate
at the University of British Columbia; she is also a Research
Assistant with the Public Knowledge Project at UBC (http://pkp.ubc.ca).
Ms. Muthayan's research focuses on ways of building the research
capacity of universities in the developing world, using South
African universities as a case in point. In particular, she is
examining how new open access publishing technologies, such as
Open Journal Systems, may assist in stanching the gap in knowledge
access, production and dissemination between universities in the
developed and developing world. Ms. Muthayan has worked in several
research projects and has led a research team in the evaluation
and rationalization of the colleges of education in the Eastern
Cape, South Africa. She holds a Masters Degree from Rhodes University
and BA with majors in international politics and English from
the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Emma NOONGO, Ministry of
Environment and Tourism, Namibia
Ndaenda E. Noongo is a Database Manager for the Environmental
Information Systems Unit of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
She was previously employed as a researcher with the Namibia's
National Programme to Combat Desertification. Her research interests
include GIS, remote sensing and data management issues, particularly
in the developing regions. She is also the chair of a committee
that aims to build data sharing policy, data quality guidelines
and spatial data infrastructure in Namibia. Ms. Noongo received
a BSc in natural science from the University of Namibia, an MSc
in GIS and data management from Durham University (UK), and is
a PhD candidate in GIS and remote sensing from Joensuu University
(Finland).
Harlan ONSRUD, University
of Maine, USA
is Professor of Spatial Information Science and Engineering at
the University of Maine. His research focuses on the analysis
of legal, ethical, and institutional issues affecting the creation
and use of digital spatial databases and the assessment of the
social impacts of spatial technologies. He teaches courses in
information systems law, cadastral and land information systems,
environmental law and information ethics. Professor Onsrud is
Chair of the U.S. National Committee for CODATA, and currently
serves on the Mapping Science Committee within the Commission
on Geosciences, Environment and Resources of the U.S. NRC. A licensed
engineer and attorney, he is co-chair of the Global Spatial Data
Infrastructure Legal and Economics Working Group and is immediate
past-president of the University Consortium for Geographic Information
Science. He recently stepped down as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal
of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA
Journal) and has published in numerous engineering, GIS, and legal
journals.
Jean Luc PONCELET,
Pan American Health Organization, USA
Jean Luc Poncelet is a PAHO/WHO Area Manager in Emergency Preparedness
and Disaster Relief for Latin America and the Caribbean, based
in Washington, D.C. Since 1986, he has served as a disaster preparedness
subregional advisor in San Jose, Costa Rica; Bridgetown, Barbados;
St. John's, Antigua; and Quito, Ecuador. Since joining PAHO in
1986, Dr. Poncelet has participated in major disaster response
and humanitarian operations in the Americas and was among the
first professionals to actively develop the Supply Information
Management System (LSS/SUMA) that is now endorsed by the principal
UN agencies and by governments. He also helped to establish and
strengthen the Latin American and Caribbean Disaster Information
Center based in Costa Rica. He has participated in the elaboration
of several technical documents related to disaster preparedness,
response and mitigation. He holds a Medical Degree from the Louvain
University, Belgium and a Master in Public Health degree from
Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
T.B.
RAJASHEKAR, National Centre for Science, India
T.B. Rajashekar is a Principal Research Scientist
at the National Centre for Science Information (NCSI) at the Indian
Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He is also the Centre's
Associate Chairman. He holds an Associateship in information science
from Indian Statistical Institute and PhD in library and information
science from Pune University. At NCSI, his responsibilities include
development and management of variety of network-based e-information
services for the IISc research community. He has guided the development
of SciGate-the IISc Science Information Portal, E-JIS-the IISc
e-journal gateway and ePrints@iisc-the IISc eprints archive service.
He also teaches in NCSI's post-graduate training program on "Information
& Knowledge Management." He has taught and coordinated
several national-level workshops on Internet, search engines,
digital libraries, and content management. He was a UNDP Fellow
at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, during 1992-1993
and a Visiting Scientist at Informatics India Ltd., during 2000.
He delivered the prestigious Prof. S.R. Ranaganathan Memorial
Lectures in 2001. He has held R&D project grants from several
government and private agencies. Some of the projects he has handled
include the establishment of LIS-FORM, a discussion forum for
L&I services in India; development of K-Library for ICICI-Knowledge
Park; relevance ranking of CD-ROM search results; and development
of a resource base for public domain software in computer networks
and databases and their copyright information. He is a Fellow
of the Society for Information Science (SIS). He is also member
of several national and international professional associations.
His teaching and research interests include information and knowledge
organization, information retrieval, and digital libraries.
Mukund RAO,
Global Spatial Data Infrastructure, India
Mukund Rao is the Deputy Director (Technology & Systems),
Earth Observations (EO) System Programme Office in the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Headquarters, Bangalore. He
is also involved in the systems and technology assessment/coordination
for the Indian EO programme. His research and work experience
is in the field of spatial information systems. He has been the
key person in the design and definition of the Natural Resources
Management System (NRIS) programme of ISRO/DOS and has completed
a number of NRIS projects in support of district planning, urban
planning, wasteland development, etc. As Programme Manager of
NRIS, he has been involved in furthering the scope and concept
of NRIS as a natural resources information repository. Presently,
he is the key design person for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
and is associated in its strategy development, action plan development
and implementation. Mr. Rao is the Chair of CEOS Working Group
on Education and Training; President (Elect) of the Global Spatial
Data Infrastructure; Vice President of the International Astronautical
Federation (IAF); Vice Chair of IAF's EO Committee; Member of
IAF's Education Committee; Member of IAF's CLIODN Committee; Member-Secretary
of the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia
And the Pacific Advisory Committee and participates in many other
international fora. Mr. Rao is the recipient of the Hari-Om Ashrams
Vikram Sarabhai Young Scientists Award. He has a MS in geology
from Gujarat University, a Master in philosophy in remote sensing,
and is presently pursuing his PhD in systems design of urban information
systems.
Jerome REICHMAN, Duke University
Law School, USA
Jerome H. Reichman became Bunyan A. Womble Professor of Law at
Duke University in July 2000, where he teaches in the field of
contracts and intellectual property. Before coming to Duke, he
taught at Vanderbilt, Michigan, Florida and Ohio State Universities
and at the University of Rome, Italy. He graduated from the University
of Chicago (BA) and attended Yale Law School, where he received
his JD degree. Professor Reichman has written and lectured widely
on diverse aspects of intellectual property law, including comparative
and international intellectual property law and the connections
between intellectual property and international trade law. Other
recent writings have focused on intellectual property rights in
data; the appropriate contractual regime for online delivery of
computer programs and other information goods; and new ways to
stimulate investment in subpatentable innovation without impoverishing
the public domain. Professor Reichman serves as consultant to
the U.S. National Committee for CODATA at the National Academies
on the subject of legal protection for databases. He also is an
Academic Advisor to the American Committee for Interoperable Systems;
a consultant to the Technology Program of the United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development; and was a consultant on the United Nations
Development Program's flagship project concerning "Innovation,
Culture, Biogenetic Resources, and Traditional Knowledge."
D.K. SAHU, JPM Managing Editor, India
D.K. Sagu is a consultant pediatrician and neonatologist. After
completing his graduation, he founded his own consulting company
to guide students in their journey through medical education.
He received his doctorate degree in pediatrics from Mumbai University.
Presently he is working as the managing editor of Journal of Postgraduate
Medicine and is on the editorial boards of several professional
journals. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Prof. B.A. Bharucha
Foundation. He is also a member of numerous professional societies
and a fellow of the College of Physician and Surgeons. He is a
specialist on the use of information technology in biomedical
publishing, online management and communication. As an independent
consultant he has helped many journals in their management.
Charles SCHWEIK, University
of Massachusetts, USA
Charlie Schweik is an Assistant Professor with the Department
of Natural Resources Conservation and the Center for Public Policy
and Administration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
He has three primary areas of interest: (1) environmental policy
and management; (2) public information technology and digital
government; and (3) the intersection of environmental management
and information technology. He has a PhD in public policy from
Indiana University, a Masters in Public Administration from Syracuse
University, and an undergraduate degree in computer science. Prior
to academia, he worked as a programmer at IBM and as a consultant
to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Ismail SERAGELDIN,
Library of Alexandria, Egypt
Ismail Serageldin is Director of the Library of Alexandria
and Distinguished University Professor, Wageningen University,
the Netherlands. He also serves as chair and member of a number
of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and
international institutions and civil society efforts. Dr. Serageldin
worked in a number of capacities at the World Bank since joining
in 1972. He was an Economist in education and human resources
(1972-76); Division Chief for Technical Assistance and Special
Studies (1977-80), and for Urban Projects in Europe, the Middle
East and North Africa (1980-83); Director for Programs in West
Africa (1984-87), Country Director for Central and Occidental
Africa (1987-89), Technical Director for all Sub-Saharan Africa
(1990-92), and Vice-President for Environmentally and Socially
Sustainable Development (1993-98). In addition, he was active
in promoting NGO-Bank relations, and served as Co-Chairman of
the NGO-Bank Committee (1997-99).
Prior to joining
the World Bank, Dr. Serageldin worked as a consultant in city
and regional planning, and taught at Cairo University and Harvard
University. He is a member of the National Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, India; European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Austria;
Bangladesh Academy of Science, Dhaka; American Institute of Certified
Planners; Third World Academy of Sciences, Italy; and the World
Academy of Arts and Sciences, USA. Dr. Serageldin received a BSc
from Cairo University (First Class Honors), an MRP with Distinction
and a PhD from Harvard University.
Alan STORY,
University of Kent Law School, UK
Alan Story teaches intellectual property at Kent Law School in
Canterbury, UK. A Canadian, he was an investigative and political
journalist with The Toronto Star (Canada) before making a career
change. His earlier research looked at employer speech in U.S.
labour law, compensation for banned handguns, and Cuba's expropriation
of U.S. property. His intellectual property writings have examined
biopiracy, a proposed trademark for Princess Diana, and copyright
and access issues in the UK Higher Education Copying Accord. In
2001-02, he wrote the research study for the UK Commission in
Intellectual Property Rights on copyright issues in developing
countries (see Study paper #5 at: http://www.iprcommission.org/graphic/documents/study_papers.htm)
and was a co-chair of WIPOUT, the international IP counter- essay
contest (see http://www.uea.ac.uk/~j013/wipout/index.html). He
is now starting research for a book on the economics and politics
of intellectual property for Pluto Press. Professor Story has
a LLB (Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, Canada) and a LLM (Cornell
Law School, Ithaca, U.S.A.)
Paul F.
UHLIR, The National Academies
Paul F. Uhlir
is Director of International Scientific and Technical (S&T)
Information Programs at the National Academies in Washington,
D.C. His current area of emphasis is on S&T data management
and policy, and on the relationship of intellectual property law
in digital data and information to R&D policy. In 1997 he
received the National Academy of Sciences Special Achievement
Award for his work in this area. Mr. Uhlir has been employed at
the National Academies since 1985, first as a senior staff officer
for the Space Studies Board, where he worked on solar system exploration
and environmental remote sensing studies for NASA, and then as
associate executive director of the Commission on Physical Sciences,
Mathematics, and Applications. Before joining the National Academies,
he worked in the general counsel's office and as a foreign affairs
officer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
in the Department of Commerce. He has directed and published over
20 NRC studies, and written or edited over 40 articles and books.
Mr. Uhlir has a BA in history from the University of Oregon, and
a JD and MA degree in international relations, with a focus on
space law and arms control, from the University of San Diego.
Peter WEISS, U.S. National Weather
Service, USA
Peter N. Weiss began work with the Strategic Planning and
Policy Office of National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration,
National Weather Service, in March 2000. His responsibilities
include domestic and international data policy issues, with a
view towards fostering a healthy public/private partnership. Mr.
Weiss was a Senior Policy Analyst/Attorney in the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, since
1991. Mr. Weiss analyzed policy and legal issues involving information
resources and information technology management, with particular
emphasis on Electronic Data Interchange and electronic commerce.
He is primary author of the information policy sections of OMB
Circular No. A-130, "Management of Federal Information Resources",
and was a member of the Administration's Electronic Commerce Working
Group. (See "A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce").
From 1990-1991, Mr. Weiss was Deputy Associate Administrator for
Procurement Law, Office Federal Procurement Policy. In this position,
he analyzed legal and policy issues affecting the procurement
process. Major projects included examination of legal and regulatory
issues involving procurement automation, policies and FAR revisions
to facilitate EDI, as well as ADP procurement legal and policy
issues. From 1985 to 1990, Mr. Weiss was the Assistant Chief Counsel
for Procurement and Regulatory Policy, Office of Advocacy, U.S.
Small Business Administration. From 1981 to 1985, Mr. Weiss was
in private practice in Washington, D.C. Mr. Weiss holds a BA from
Columbia University and a JD from the Catholic University of America,
Columbus School of Law. A recent publication is "International
Information Policy in Conflict: Open and Unrestricted Access versus
Government Commercialization," in Borders in Cyberspace,
Kahin and Nesson, eds., MIT Press 1997.
Nico WELLEMSE,
Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia
Nico E. Willemse is a Data Management Consultant for the InfoCom
Project under the Environmental Information Systems Unit of the
Directorate of Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Environment
and Tourism of Namibia. He worked for two years as the Principal
Training Coordinator for the ACP-EU Fisheries and Biodiversity
Management Project in southern Africa. He has a BSc in zoology
from the University of Namibia, an MSc in international fisheries
management from the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University
of Tromsø, Norway, and is currently enrolled in a MBA program
at the University of South Africa. His research includes reconstruction
of a time series of marine fisheries catches for Namibia from
1950-2000; major trends in the Namibian marine fisheries, 1950-2000;
interpretation of marine fisheries catches for a 50-year time
series; the "fishing down marine food webs" phenomenon
in Namibia; and economic interpretation of a 50-year time series
of marine catches off Namibia.
Michail
ZGUROVSKY, National Technical University of Ukraine, Ukraine
Mikhail Zgurovsky is Rector of National Technical University of
Ukraine's "Kiev Polytechnic Institute," and Director
of the Institute for Applied System Analysis of National Academy
of Sciences of Ukraine and Ministry of Education and Science of
Ukraine. He is a Doctor of technical sciences and academician
of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Dr. Zgurovsky is a
member of the Board on Science and Scientific-Technical Policy
at President of Ukraine, Head of the Association of Rectors of
Technical Universities of Ukraine, and Co-Head of the Ukrainian
Union of Scientists and Engineers. During 1994-1999, Dr. Zgurovsky
was Minister of Education of Ukraine and took an active part in
working out a number of laws on education. He is a well-known
scientist in the field of mathematics and cybernetics. His scientific
interests and research embrace methodology of system analysis,
the theory of decision making under uncertainty conditions, and
analysis and modeling of various complex systems. He is a member
of academies of sciences in many countries, Senior Member of IEEE,
Member of the Governing Board of UNESCO Institute for Information
Technologies in Education (Moscow, Russia), the National Representative
of Ukraine for CODATA, and a Member of EDNES.