When a little more than two months remain for the beginning of the fifth TICAL Conference, the event has already defined its five international speakers who will share their experiences in the plenary sessions. Susan Grajek, from the US, Andrés Holguín, from Colombia, MSc Manuel Moreno, from Mexico, and Johann Pongratz, from Germany, are four of the international experts that will give life to the plenary sessions of TICAL2015 (that will be held in Viña del Mar, Chile, between the 6th and the 8th of July) alongside the speaker that we are here introducing: Eloy Rodrigues, from Portugal.

Eloy António Santos Cordeiro Rodrigues is graduated in History, variant in Archaeology, at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto, and completed the course of specialization in Information Science, option of Library and Documentation, at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon.

Director of Documentation Services of the University of Minho, the focus of his work has been the development of digital libraries, the training of librarians and library users, and the promotion of the open access to scientific literature through the institutional repositories. He is the author of more than three dozen of articles, books and book chapters on these matters.

In 2003, he led the creation of the RepositoriUM - the institutional repository of the University of Minho, directing the service ever since. In the late 2004, he contributed to the definition of the policy of free access of the University to its scientific production.

He also streamlined the Working Group about the Open Access established by the Council of Rectors of the Portuguese Universities in 2007, and since July of 2008 leads, with the scientific and technical responsibility, the team of the University of Minho that develops the project Scientific Repository of Open Access of Portugal.

At European level, Rodrigues was a member of the Working Group on Open Access of the EUA (European Universities Association), representing the Council of Rectors of the Portuguese Universities, and is coordinating the participation of the University of Minho in various projects (NECOBELAC, OpenAIRE and OpenAIREplus, MEDOANET, PASTEUR4OA, FOSTER) funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme related to the repositories and Open Access. Currently, he also chairs the Working Group about the Interoperability of Repositories, of the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR).

In the last five years, invited by several universities and other organizations, Rodrigues has conducted over three dozen of lectures, seminars and other activities of information or training on free access to the knowledge and institutional repositories in Europe (Portugal, Spain, UK, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and France), Mozambique, Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

In TICAL2015, Rodrigues will develop the thematic line “A governance framework for data managing and its processes.”

With promotional prices for those who register until May 31st and three open calls - for authors to submit papers, for young entrepreneurs and for interinstitutional projects - open until April 15, TICAL2015 promises to surpass its previous editions. The Conference will be held between July 6th and 8th, in Viña del Mar, Chile.

For more information, visit: www.tical2015.redclara.net

The Chilean National University Network (REUNA), in partnership with EDUTIC, will host TICAL2015. A reference among the Latin American academic networks and one of the oldest among them, REUNA in recent years has demonstrated that has reached its maturity and that is ready to face all the necessary challenges in order to ensure the development of Science, Education, Innovation and collaborative research in Chile. We talked about this moment and also about her expectations about TICAL2015 with Paola Arellano, Executive Director of REUNA.

The TICAL Thematic Meeting on Security and CERT, organized by RedCLARA as part of the collaborative activities of the Directors of Technology who form the TICAL Community, will take place this Thursday, April 9th.

The event will address the synergies between the collaboration of the CERT and the academic institutions through the Uruguayan experience, and the impact and challenges faced by the universities in the field of Security today. To reach it, representatives of the Universidad de la Republica (UdelaR) and CERTUy, both from Uruguay, will attend the meeting, telling about the collaboration experience developed in their country. Furthermore, the event will review the reasons why this type of initiative is a so valuable line of work to address the complex problems under Security.

Those interested in participating in the TICAL Thematic Meeting on Security and CERT through videoconference should complete the application form until this Wednesday, April 8th, and participate in the equipment testing session.

For more information about the event and about how to participate in it, please visit: https://eventos.redclara.net/indico/event/489

AGENDA

Thursday, April 9th, 2015

15:00 GMT | Welcome and connection adjustments
Marcela Larenas, RedCLARA, Chile

15:10 GMT | What is CERT (or CSIRT)? And what are its objectives and functions? The Experience of Uruguay
Eng. Ignacio Lagomarsino, CERTuy

15:30 GMT | The challenges of the University on Security today. Academic Vision / I+D
Dr. Eng and Eng Betarte Gustavo Alejandro Blanco - Faculty of Engineering, UdelaR

15:50 GMT | The technical aspects
Eng. Monica Soliño - SeCIU, UdelaR

16:10 GMT | Collaboration between CERT and universities: the experience of the University of the Republic and CERTUy in a mark of permanent collaboration and the challenges for the short and medium term
All panelists them

16:30 GMT | Questions and comments from participants in the classroom and streaming

After the brazilian Mauro Cesar Bernardes and the argentine Ernesto Chinkes, now is the chilean Nadja Starocelsky who answers our five questions about TICAL. In this interview, Starocelsky, who attended the TICAL 2014 as author and member of the Programme Committee, talks about the importance she gives to the event: "TICAL is the perfect opportunity to develop the cooperation".

Hello, Nadja! Tell us a little about yourself and your training.

Hi! I am a Civil Engineer in the Austral University of Chile, from those times when these careers were recently incorporated into the academic offerings of Chilean universities. Between 2010 and 2012 I did a Masters in Information Technology. Since 1990 I’ve been professionally working, starting this road in Telco companies. In 1995 I joint the Austral University of Chile as Head of Development Projects, aiming to modernize the Corporate Information Systems. After 15 years of developing different tasks as project leader and having implemented various systems at the University, I started working as Director of Information Technology.

Which was your first contact with the advanced networks and how do you evaluate its development since then?

I would say that around 2007 I had the first contacts with the advanced networks, when the Austral University of Chile implemented several Videoconferencing systems as a means of eliminating boundaries with other universities. But it was in 2010, when I started as Director of Information Technology, and in 2012, when I was appointed as the institutional representative to REUNA, when I really knew the true potential of the advanced networks. Universities that are attached to these networks have great advantages for collaboration between institutions both in the field of teaching and research, sharing knowledge, data, applications, among others.

In this context, what is the importance of TICAL for the growth of the networks and professionals in the field of ICT?

TICAL is a unique experience that allows professionals in the areas of IT in Latin America to share their experiences, build partnerships and establish or expand their networks; where issues associated with IT in teaching, research and liaison issues are widely discussed. In addition, TICAL is a space that allows us to recognize the potential of advanced networks for teaching and research.

You participated in the last two editions of TICAL, and in the last one in Cancún you were member of the Program Committee and author of a paper. What lessons did you get of these different experiences?

I have always considered that sharing work experiences among similar institutions generate important savings in terms of time and costs to organizations. When I knew about TICAL as a way of contributing to issues that involve the role and work of the Directors of Information Technology in Latin America, I could not pass up the opportunity to attend or participate in it. TICAL has allowed me to validate the fact that demands of IT in universities in the region are similar and therefore the Directors of Information Technology are confronted with similar problems. It gave me the opportunity to learn about experiences and innovative initiatives in other institutions, and forming links and networks with other directors and also to get proposals for universities from different vendors.

Personally and professionally, what are your expectations for TICAL2015? And why Chileans should attend the event this year?

I hope TICAL2015 exceeds the success of previous versions, a space where we –the ICT Directors- meet presentations of innovative initiatives and spaces to share enriching experiences. I have no doubt that my expectations will be amply met in this release. In Chile there are a variety of initiatives in Information Technology that can be shared with our peers and TICAL is the perfect opportunity to develop this cooperation!, especially considering that this year the distance should not be a variable that limits us to participate.