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Dear Friends,
After the Christmas holidays we’ve returned to our professional duties, to find our e-mail in-boxes flooded with messages and urgent tasks for kicking-off the new year. Therefore, I appreciate your taking a few minutes of your time for this letter, which is a sincere wish for happiness and the prosperity for our communities in 2011, and which also provides a summary of ISTEC activities for 2010 and projections for 2011.
In December ISTEC completed its first 20 years of existence, with very positive outcomes in the social and academic endeavors that have supported its mission in the Iberoamerica region.The last two years have been challenging for ISTEC, given the economic crisis facing the world, and given the need to reshape its operations to maintain the value offered to members despite experiencing a substantial decline in resources. Still, in 2010 we experienced positive developments in several areas important to the long-term sustainability of the Consortium:
Organizational and Initiatives Update
The year 2011 opens-up with new challenges, many of them still marked by a global economic crisis, but which also present unique opportunities for greater collaboration and teamwork. Perhaps we are witnessing the end of socio-economic and political paradigms that require we rethink solutions, with a new focus on the social value of information as a facilitator of transformational change.
Creative learning and research communities, trans-cultural and trans-disciplinary in nature, are possible with the adoption of virtual technologies to help us in the efficient use of resources, and the bridging of cultural and geographical boundaries that promote our integration in the global community.
I thank you again for your confidence in the Consortium, and for your activities in support of the ISTEC community during these years. Hopefully we can gather a substantial group of members at the General Assembly in Porto Alegre, to be held from 16th-20th May, that will allow us to explore these issues and exchange ideas for a deeper involvement of our academic and industrial members in shaping ISTEC’s future.
I also want to assure you that my door is always open, and I invite you to contact me if you have questions, ideas, suggestions, complaints, etc. My email is dgarcia@istec.org
On behalf of the executive team and Board of ISTEC, we wish you a prosperous 2011!
Presidente Interina
ISTEC, Inc.
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