CPHC Chair’s Statement from 4th July 2016
The most significant event to happen in the last month has been the Referendum on UK membership of the European Union. While the result was somewhat unexpected, the impact has not been. There is currently great uncertainty for the future of the economy and of UK Computer Science. This uncertainty begins with it still being unclear whether we will indeed withdraw from the Union. While the Leave campaign was successful, there have been discussions as to if and when Article 50 should be invoked. All Conservative Party candidates for Prime Minister have stated their respect for the referendum, and that there will be no second referendum, but according to legal experts, Parliament will need legislation to repeal the European Communities Act 1972. Whether the vote will be successful is to be seen, and there are strong thoughts that it is likely that there will either be a different referendum, or an election, to ensure there is a mandate for action. CPHC has already highlighted the potential impact of withdrawal, and remains committed to ensuring that we influence decision-making on withdrawal. In addition to the statement we have already released we will explore composing articles or undertaking primary research.
I would also like to announce that we have established working groups to coordinate action in response to the Shadbolt Review of Computer Science Accreditation and will be soliciting expressions of interest to join these groups from the CPHC membership.
We will work hard with other bodies in promoting UK Computing Science; we are examining relationships with organisations such as the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE), the Parliamentary ICT forum (PICTFOR), the Digital Policy Alliance (DPA) and Informatics Europe. I am also pleased to have been invited to the Engineering Professors’ Council Committee meetings from next academic year, and we continue to have representation on and by the committees of UKCRC and BCS Academy.
Carsten
CPHC 