MINUTES of the IACR Board of Directors Meeting EUROCRYPT '97, Konstanz, Germany May 11, 1997 Present: Kevin McCurley(President),Tom Berson, Andy Clark, Fritz Bauspiess, Peter Landrock, Ueli Maurer, Roland Mueller, Roland Nehl, Birgit Pfitzmann, Bart Preneel, Bruce Schneier, Paul Van Oorschot, Jimmy Upton, Stafford Tavares(Secretary) 1. Welcome and Identification of Proxies Kevin asked if there were any proxies: Kevin for Joan Feigenbaum Tom for Gilles Brassard 2. Review and Approval of Agenda With small modifications, the Agenda was approved 3. Approval of Minutes from Board Meeting at CRYPTO '96 Motion(Tom/Peter): Move that the minutes as published in the IACR Newsletter (Jan. 1997) be approved. Carried. 4. Conferences Requiring Planning Kevin reported that there has been interest shown by several groups to sponsor EUROCRYPT '99 - almost too many. 4.1 EUROCRYPT '99 Kevin expected at least three proposals for EUROCRYPT '99 to be presented at the meeting. It was decided that there should be a discussion of what criteria should be applied in choosing a proposal. The Board should also consider what questions it wanted to put to the groups making proposals. Kevin said that one issue is how soon should a Eurocrypt return to a given country. We may take into account the IACR experience in a given country or with a previous group of sponsors. Other issues raised included: * Problems with transportation * Available Infrastructure * Political Stability and Climate * Managerial Experience of the Sponsoring Group (esp. the General Chair) * Organizers stake and commitment to the IACR and the Conference * Local facilities for meeting-room and accommodation The IACR assumes a financial risk for Crypto and Eurocrypt and cannot afford to absorb large financial losses. In fact, due to rising costs of running the IACR, the organizers of a Crypto or Eurocrypt should plan for a profit. Further, the budget should have a line item for contingencies. The General Chair should also use the database and software infrastructure developed for the IACR by the Membership Secretary. There was a presentation by Carlo Blundo for holding EUROCRYPT '99 in Sorrento, Italy. There was a presentation by Miodrag Mihaljevic and Jovan Golic to hold EUROCRYPT '99 in Yugoslavia (two locations were proposed: Budva and Belgrade). There was also a Presentation by Jaroslav Hruby to hold EUROCRYPT '99 in Prague, The Czech Republic. 4.2 EUROCRYPT 2000( or '00) Bart Preneel made a presentation on behalf of a group of organizers in Belgium. The proposed General Chair is Prof. Vandewalle at the K. U. Leuven. Bart is the proposed Program Chair. The proposed location for the conference is Brugge which is a small, old town in Belgium, and there are adequate hotel facilities. Kevin suggested that proposals for organizing Eurocrypt should be submitted two and a half years before the event and that decisions should be made two years ahead. Birgit informed the Board that she had email correspondence with David Naccache who was suggesting Greece as a site for EUROCRYPT 2000. It was noted that there were no IACR members from Greece. It was agreed that Kevin would send an invitation, without any commitment, to this group to make a proposal for EUROCRYPT 2001 to be presented at EUROCRYPT '98. Andy raised the issue of the use of logos and sponsorships. There was a presentation by Jaroslav Hruby to hold EUROCRYPT '99 in Prague, in the Czech Republic. The sponsoring organizations would be the Czech Math/Physics Society and Charles University. The suggested dates are 2-6 May, 1999(Sunday through Thursday).The conferencewould be held in the Prague Hilton Hotel(Hilton Atrium Hotel). The estimated registration fee is U.S.$340. +$72(IACR mem. fee) for a total of $412. The other Czech group will cooperate if the conference is held in Prague. Hruby was asked about the expected level of sponsorship. He said that he was expecting support from the Czech Government, the Telecom Company, software and hardware organizations and the Czech Banks. The board advised Hruby that the General Chair should not lose control of the funds. Further, a member of the Board should have access to the accounts. Hruby informed the Board that his team will be in charge of the bank accounts. Kevin informed Jaroslav that the Board would make a decision on the site for 1999 today and inform him of that decision. Yugoslavia Presentation(Miodrag and Jovan) Italian Presentation - Sorrento(Carlo Blundo for EUROCRYPT 2000) The presenters were informed that a decision would be made no later than CRYPTO '97. It was also suggested that a three year lead time might be more appropriate for planning Eurocrypts. Motion(Tom/Peter): That the Board Accept the Prague proposal for hosting EUROCRYPT '99. Carried(10 for / 2 abstensions). Motion(Bruce/Jimmy): That the Board invite Jacques Stern to be Program Chair for EUROCRYPT '99. Carried unanimously. 4.3 CRYPTO '99 Kevin asked Members of the Board to bring to CRYPTO '97 proposals for the General Chair and Program Chair for CRYPTO '99. 5. Status of IACR Conferences 5.1 Report on EUROCRYPT '97 by Roland Nehl and Roland Mueller 371 delegates had registered to date and they were expecting a number of walk-ins. They were predicting a final registration in the range of 380 to 390(Update: the final registrations exceeded 400). All the arrangements for the conference are now in place. It was reported that 16% of the registrants were students. The organizers were expecting contributions from the company and forecast a surplus of $1000 ~$2000. About 270 delegates had paid by credit card and about 100 by money transfer. 5.2 CRYPTO '97(Bruce Schneier) Bruce said because of the growing size of Crypto he proposed the use of Campbell Hall which is bigger than the previous hall. He was planning a reception after the Barbeque(a new event) but that will not be a boat cruise. He has sent out email announcements, and the mailings have gone smoothly. There were 160 submissions for the technical program, which is a new record. Bruce said that he is soliciting ideas for a T-shirt design. His target registration was 450 and the budget was based on a registration of 420. It was decided that the Board Meeting at CRYPTO '97 will start at 10:00AM on the Sunday. There was a discussion on using email to reduce mailing costs for the call for papers and other announcements 5.3 CRYPTO '98(Kevin McCurley) Kevin informed the Board that CRYPTO '98 would be held one week later than usual. One reason is that the original date was in conflict with the IEEE Symposium on Information Theory. The new date will be 23-27 Aug. 1998. 5.4 ASIACRYPT '96(McCurley and Berson) and future Asiacrypt plans The Asiacrypt Steering Committee attended ASIACRYPT '96. About 20 people were in attendance and Prof. Imai was elected as the Chair of the Committee. It was decided that ASIACRYPT '98 would be held in Beijing in the Autumn of '98. The General chair would be Dingye Pei. It was recommended that the IACR should not "sponsor" an Asiacrypt in the near future. It was also observed that there was no IACR members from Asia on the Board. The Board agreed that it should invite an observer from Asiacrypt to future Board Meetings. The Asiacrypt Steering committee will begin its work at CRYPTO '97. 6. Financial Report(Jimmy Upton) Jimmy reported that the finances of the IACR are in good shape. However, EUROCRYPT '96 lost $9000. out of total revenue of $158,000. On the other hand, CRYPTO '96 had a profit of about $20,000. The IACR currently has a balance $180,000., down by about $1000. from last year. The IACR filed its tax form on time and the tax situation is in good order. Jimmy suggested that the IACR should maintain a higher balance as a prudent financial measure as the organization grows. The board gave Jimmy a warm round of applause for a fine job as Treasurer. 7. Membership Secretary Report(Andy Clark) Andy informed the board that he was unable to prepare a written report in advance and that this would be his 9th report. He identified some alert conditions: his time available to serve the IACR was decreasing - he currently spends about 10 hours per week on IACR activities. He also feels that the members have come to expect a high level of service. He said that he intends to step down as Membership Secretary at the end of 1997. He felt that the role of Membership Secretary was an important one for the IACR. Kevin said that Andy had been Membership Secretary for 4 years and has done a tremendous job. Andy said that he had generated the address labels for Asiacrypt . He had also made a backup copy of the IACR database - the number of entries is growing. As of today, there were 886 members for 1997. Of these, 617 have valid email addresses. 8. Business Issues, Secretariat(McCurley, Upton, Clark) Kevin said there was a developing crisis that needed attention. In the future the IACR will have to pay for the services of a staff person to assist the Membership Secretary. Motion(Tom/Kevin): That the Board form a Committee to bring a firm proposal to CRYPTO '97 regarding the creation of a secretariat. The Committee will consist of Kevin, Jimmy, Andy, and Peter, and Kevin will be the Chair. Carried(9 for / 2 abstain). 9. Journal Report(Kevin for Joan) There is currently a backlog of 15 paper submissions which is typical. In general, things are going smoothly and the journal is stable. Mr. Hoffman at Springer has suggested that a CD-ROM be produced which contained back copies of the Conference Proceedings and the Journal. There would be further discussions with Springer. Disappointment was expressed that to Editor-in-Chief was not present to present the report. 10. Newsletter Report(Fritz Bauspiess) Fritz reported that 800 Newsletters were mailed to 89 countries at a cost of $3. per Newsletter. He also reported that he had started a Newsletter archive. He was currently missing Vol. 1, Nos.1 & 2, and Vol. 2, No. 1. Development of newsletter: * add the Rump Sessions * include the errata of the Proceedings * publish the membership list The Newsletter is back on schedule with the Minutes Issues: Electronic publishing for Newsletter(but not membership list) Kevin wondered if we should discontinue the paper version of the Newsletter? 11. Election Committee(Paul Van Oorschot) The Nominating Committee consists of : Ueli Maurer, Bart Preneel, and Birgit Pfitzmann Kevin will make an announcement about the electio at the General Meeting. Motion(Andy/Birgit): That the Bylaws be amended to allow all members to vote in elections of the IACR. Carried(8 for, 1 against, 1 abstained). 12. Conference Guidelines(Birgit Pfitzmann) The Conference Guidelines need revision. We need one for Crypto and one for Eurocrypt. Kevin will seek input from Richard Graveman for the Crypto Guidelines. It as stated that the Eurocrypt Giuidelines need work. Birgit has made some suggestions, and Kevin and Birgit will solicit input. Fritz asked that the Guidelines include a statement to provide input for the Newsletter. What about the Program Chair Guidelines. Ueli will look into this. Kevin suggested that Ueli consult the remarks prepared by Koblitz after CRYPTO '96. 13. Report on NSF Workshop(Kevin McCurley) Kevin gave a brief report on this workshop. It addressed future prospects for Coding theory and Cryptography 14. Proposed IACR Policy on Publishing Freedom(Kevin McCurley) Deferred. 15. Publication Database(McCurley) Removed from Agenda. 16. Other Business The Awards Committee had no action to report. It was suggested that Standing Committees shoud report at regular intervals. Board members should send input to the Webmaster. 17. Draft Agenda for General( Business) Meeting * announce a call for nominations * information on EUROCRYPT '98 and '99 * Membership Secretary Report * Treasurer's report * Acknowledge Proposals to host Eurocrypt * Report on Journal and Newsletter(Kevin) * Announce dates for CRYPTO '98 * Update on CRYPTO '97(Bruce) 18. Review of Action Items Tom - how to run an election, etc. Ueli - guidelines for Program Chair Electronic publishing The Meeting Adjourned at 5:00PM. Stafford Tavares Secretary, IACR