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From Lefis
The LEFIS Thematic Network pursues to develop and implement a cross-national teaching and research infrastructure in the legal field which adequately responds to the needs raised by the information and knowledge society. LEFIS is the acronym of Legal Framework for the Information Society. LEFIS is a European registered mark [1] since 10/12/2007.
Upon the base of previous EU-supported initiatives, LEFIS expects to improve the current legal education practices by adapting them to the new social, political and regulative environment, whereby legal education is broadly conceived as covering related technological, social, economic, ethical, and policy-making issues
A major focus is the improvement of the teaching system resulted from the LEFIS experience and on its integration into the ongoing EU high education policies. The most significative result in this moment is the Law and ICT shared virtual campus [2][3].Another product is the concepts of the LEFISPEDIA [4]
Contents |
Objectives
The LEFIS Thematic Network pursues to develop, implement and consolidate a cross-national teaching and research infrastructure which adequately responds to the needs and problems raised by the information and knowledge society. This overall goal may be split into three interwoven objectives, namely:
1.- The design and development of coherent, common training and study programmes, providing for a teaching offer in IS Law and Governance (covering Law, ICT Law and related issues) which effectively matches the social needs and expectations according with the EU high education initiatives and the Tuning methodology. The initial reference is the LEFIS teaching offer
2.- The development of a certification and implementation system which assures the quality, consolidation, exploitation and dissemination of those programmes [5]
3.- The consolidation of a research and policy-making infrastructure capable of carrying out legal, economic and social studies and regulative proposals on ICT, ICT Law and the governance of the information and knowledge society.
The dissemination work, diffusion and consolidation of the project outputs, shall warrant the creation and spreading of integrated knowledge which reflect into several paramount spheres for the development of the forthcoming society, such as the theoretical framework for e-governance, the increased human capacity in terms of lawyers with strong skills in the ICT legal issues and of better prepared civil servants and technicians workforce.
The project activities and results thus will reinforce the EU education policies and initiatives and will enrich it with additional knowledge on the legal implications of the knowledge society. Moreover a common understanding will allow for a further integration of the processes which in turn will result in more consistent European high education space.
Activities
The LEFIS TN targets the teaching on the governance of the information and knowledge society (IS Law) which may be distributed into three major Teaching Areas [6]:
1.- Teaching Area 1: Law and Policy [7]
2.- Teaching Area 2: Business and Management [8]
3.- Teaching Area 3: Informatics and Telecommunications [9]
From the thematic and research point of view, the working concept of IS Law addresses the legal and governance framework of the knowledge society, which covers topics formerly belonging to IT law as well as their related social, economical, and policy issues. In its turn, this legal framework may be split into three major Thematic Areas [10]:
1.- Thematic Area 1: Telecommunications Governance [11]
2.- Thematic Area 2: Legal and Policy Principles for Key Technical Issues [12]
3.- Thematic Area 3: Ethics, Rights & Control [13]
From an organizational and operative point of view, the LEFIS TN activities will be conducted by five Working Groups, that will have the following Denomination, Field of work, Institution in charge [14]:
1.- Work Group 1: Graduate Studies. The University of Bologna (Italy)[15]
2.- Work Group 2: Postgraduate Studies. The University Mikolas Romerys (Lithuania)[16]
3.- Work Group 3: Continuing Education. The firm FASE (Spain)[17]
4.- Work Group 4: Public-Private Relations. The Corvinus University (Hungary)[18]
5.- Work Group 5: Quality. APTICE (Spain)[19]
History
Since 1999 a number of Universities, belonging to ten EU-member states, has been working together in teaching and researching in legal informatics, as well as in designing study programmes and courses in this field. Most of these courses are currently offered to graduate and post-graduate students.
From its very beginning, this universities network has been supported by the EU Erasmus/Socrates Programme, specially by the Curriculum Development Programme (CD). The last modality of the EU support for 2002-2003 was the Dissemination one, from of the same Erasmus/Socrates Programme, with the name Legal Informatics and Communications Technologies Studies (LIACTES).
The Legal Framework for the Information Society initiative emerged as a result of the wide-ranging experience jointly carried out by these Universities. With the purpose of making their activities public and strengthening the co-operation framework by inviting further universities an other institutions, firms or associations to join the initiative.
This very idea underlay the first LEFIS-TN experience in 2003/04, which under EU support has emerged as a solid teaching and research infrastructure on IT & IS Law. Conclusions drawn thereof point that the continuity and progress of this approach necessitates further work on its social and institutional impact, feasibility and acceptance
Results
The next cited several joint initiatives let to present the LEFIS network in relation with: 1) The functioning of the LEFIS organization, 2) The existence of an adequate technical infrastructure, 3) The participation in a project of the virtual campus call, Lifelong Learning call, 4) The participation in an Intensive Programme, Lfifelong Learning call, 5) The joint making of several books and on line learning and teaching material, 6) The collaboration with another networks related with the objectives of LEFIS, 7) The establishment of Codes of practice and one Observatory of E Government, and 8) The collaboration to the establishment of new conferences
The organization
LEFIS as European Registred Trade Mark.- Number: 5625132.- From: 10/12/2007. [20]
Lefis Association.- Letter of Intent signed by 55 persons coming from 26 countries [21]
Advisory committee.- Steering Committee Network
Executive committee.- Research group Data protection and electronic signature, Government of Aragon
The partners.- 118 institutions.- 328 persons.- 43 countries
The distribution list.- 333 Members.(keyword is neccessary)
The web page: number of visits.- From 1st March 2006 to 31st December 2006: 15.957 different visitors.- .- From 1st January 2007 to 26st December 2007: 39.683 different visitors [22]
Infrastructure
The LEFIS digital library [23]
The public key infrastructures: LEFIS APTICE and LEFIS UNIZAR, and their generated public keys.- 202 and 29, respectively [24] of public and private character
The bilateral agreements.- 46 partners [25]
Projects
LAW & ICT Virtual campus project.- 133837-LLP-1-2007-1-ES-ERASMUS-EVC.- From 1/10/2007 to 31/9/2009.- Responsible.- U. Zaragoza.- Participants.- U. Isik, U. Queen’s Belfast, U. Lapland, U. Vaasa, Politechnico Beja, U. Mykolas Copernicus, U. Mykolas Romieris, U. Münster. U. La Laguna, FASE
Intensive Programme
LEGIS.- LEGIS: Intensive Programme on Legal Aspects of Information Society.- Course 2007/2008.- Responsible.- U. Isik.-Participants.- U. Zaragoza, U. Warwick, U. Queens’ Belfast, U. Wroclaw, U. Orebro, U. Vienna, U. Mykolas Romieris, U. Thesaloniki, Politechnico Beja. It is foreseen the duration of the Programme until 2009/1010
Books
F. Galindo (ed.), Gobierno, derecho y tecnología: las actividades de los poderes públicos, Thomson-Aranzadi, Madrid, 2006.
The LEFIS Series.- 6 vols.- www.lefis.org, -> outcomes ->The LEFIS Series. In publication by Prensas Universitarias. Universidad de Zaragoza[26]
P. Casasnovas, P. Noriega, D. Bourcier, F. Galindo, G. Sartor, (eds.) , Trends in legal knowledge, the semantic web and the regulation of electronic social systems, European Press Academic Publishing, Italy, 2007 [27]
Another Networks
Archipelago.- 135753-LLP-1-2007-1-IT-ERASMUS-EAM.- The Archipelago of Humanistic Arts and Sciences: Structuring Interdisciplinary Dialogue.- From 1/10/2007 to 31/9/2008.- Responsible.- U. Pisa [28]
Lexelerator.- Legal Information for SMEs in e-Business.- Lexelerator results from the LEKTOR project, a specific support action of FP6, funded by the European Commission [29] [30] .The INMARK Group participates in the activities of Lexelerator
COLORJURIS.- Network for copy right protection in the web [31]
Lexconverge.- Consortium for consultacy work and research projects [32]
Codes of practice
APTICE as Code of practices.- Recognized as code on line [33] [34]
The LEFIS Code of practices [35]
The EGOVS Observatory [36]
Recent and next foreseen meetings
IRIS LEFIS Track [37]
XII Congreso Iberoamericano de Derecho e Informática, junto con FIADI [38]
Updated information can be find in the LEFIS web pages: news [39]and events [40]
