2002-07-03 section meeting: minutes

Section Chair: Arthur E. Mynett

1.  Provision of the agenda for the section meeting and photographs taken.
2. Michael Abbott announced that Arthur Mynett will be chair for the next 2 years.
   
3. Michael Abbott emphasised the importance of communication between hydroinformaticians.
   
4. Roger Falconer highlighted the relationship with the ecohydraulics section and proposed a possible joint conference (or hold at the same location) in 2006. It would not only save costs, but also increase number of delegates and increase mutual communication. Christopher George indicated a similar relationship with IWA & IAHS.
   
5. Regarding the conference, Roland Price argued that a conference should be a platform for discussion; for delegates to converse, otherwise it loses value. He thought that this conference did not have enough discussion. Therefore he suggested that future conferences be organised in a more structured way (group discussion on a topic with common interests) in order to gain insight and realise values. Roger Falconer agreed but said that it was too late for this conference. Vladan Babovic proposed that in the future conferences workshop around common interests are organised in order to establish excha nge platforms. Other issues related to this conference included Internet connections and accommodation.
   
6. Roger Falconer pointed out that the high registration fee was mainly caused by the production of hardcopies of the proceedings. Therefore, he suggested switching back to the Iowa (2000) format where a CD was produced instead. Roland Price worried that it would affect the funding of delegates. Christopher George also pointed out that extra costs would be incurred due to the required provision of PCs to view the proceedings. Yui Liong said that the 2004 conference will definitely be producing hardcopies of the proceedings as there is governmental funding available. Jacob Odgaard concluded that it should be decided by the local organising committees and their available budgets.
7. Regarding the 2004 conference in Singapore, Yui Liong reported that it will be held between 21 to 25 June 2004. The conference will last 4 days and there will be one day of workshops (Sunday). Soon-Bo Shim specially requested that the local organising committee ensures that people are informed, in plenty of time, of the progress of the conference, i.e. paper acceptance etc. He regretted that many colleagues, although keen to attend this conference, were unable due to limited flight availability.
   
8. Regarding the conference in 2006, Philipe Gourbesville suggested that it could be sponsored by Nice, although he also indicated the possibility of joint activity with the ecohydraulics conference.
   
9. Contribution to IAHR 2003 in Greece. The local organising committee noted that theme D has been specially allocated for hydroinformatics. However, contribution to theme E which is about education and communication is expected. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 30th November 2002. Michael Abbott suggested including conference information in the Journal of Hydroinformatics. Arthur Mynett said that a contribution from Roland Price and himself to Theme E is possible. Christopher George hoped that hydroinformatics could be involved more in hydro science. Roger Falconer suggested combining e-education with the student chapter. Dimitri Solomatine proposed the introduction of a student paper competition at the hydroinformatics conference.
   
10. Contribution from hydroinformatics to the World Water Forum 2003 in Japan. Local Organising Committee member, Nobuyuki Tamai, expects hydroinformatics contributions in river basin management; more information will be available in September 2002. Christopher George indicated that IAHR is also contributing to it.
    
11. Regarding the distribution of information about hydroinformatics 2002 in Warsaw, Roger Falconer and Vladan Babovic suggested raising funds to send Arthur Mynett to attend the conference.
    
12. Call for interest in ASCE/IAHR instrumentation conference in USA.
    
13. Tim Watson hoped that hydroinformatics students can contribute to a conference in New Zealand.
    
14. About the Journal of Hydroinformatics, Michael Abbott hoped that hydroinformaticians could publicise the journal.
    
15. Miscellaneous. Roger Falconer emphasised the importance of enhancing the relationship of hydroinformatics with IWA/IAHR/IAHS for common interest topics, for example using HI tools in the wasterwater industry. Ian Cluckie indicated that there is an ecohydraulics section instead of water quality section. However, HI tools are needed for water quality and ecosystem modelling. HI should consider the relationship with ecohydrology and stochastic processes.
    
16. Suggestions are welcome regarding the preparation of IAHR 2005 in Korea.