Sedisi, the Association Espanola de Empresas de Informatica is an association of computer companies in Spain with a mission to promote the interests of the sector at all times, thus ensuring that new technology from the rapidly developing computer industry is applied successfully to aid the country’s present needs. Its main activities include in depth studies such as an annual report on the Spanish computing sector (CI No 1,200), as well as active campaigns. Last year Sedisi signed an agreement with the Madrid City Council to counter illegal copying, and also ran a campaign supporting efficient use of software. Sedisi has also been important in familiarising the Spanish with the European milieu, and helping the government with the diffusion of knowledge by supplying information. At the head of Sedisi there is a General Congress – the supreme decision maker – which meets once a year and consists of representatives from each of the associate companies. The second body is the Board of Directors which guides the Association and keeps a tab on directives already set out. Members are chosen from associate companies and meet every two months. Finally, there is a Permanent Committee which in turn guides the Board of Governers and is composed of a president (the managing director of Unisys Espana, Luis Felipe Vega has recently been elected to this post), three vice-presidents and a treasurer are all chosen from the Board of Directors for a period of two years. Future solutions The Managing Director of the Association is also part of this representative committee. The joint task of these three bodies is to support associate member participation as well as keeping an eye out for future solutions. Sedisi’s various activities are carried out by specific commissions (Research & Development, Telecommunications, Software, Resource Training, Humanities and Commerce) created by the Board of Directors within the Association. Enrolment in these commissions is open and projects are set up via member contribution and argument. Each commission looks at the needs of a separate subsector of the overall computer sector. The Software Commission is active both nationally and internationally, and has been concentratating on the Law of Intellectual Property. The Training Commission analyses work situations of different professionals within the sector and presents ideas on training needs at this level. Reports and studies from Sedisi have increased competitiveness in the sector’s training structure. The Research & Development Commission has been working, internationally, on the Esprit project and within Spain on the promotion of the Law of Intellectual Property. Meanwhile the Telecommunications Commission has been working on the development of a national and European legal code for the Copyright sector. In addition to the specific commissions, Sedisi is part of the Spanish Confederation of Electronics and Computer Technology (CEDEI), and also the Spanish Confederation of Company Organisations (CEOE). Internationally, it is a member of the European Computing Services Organisation, which is trying to unite attitudes in Europe and interact with other Associations all over the world, and is in contact – via the European Communities Commission in particular – with various European computing bodies.
