The International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Technical Committee 13 (TC13) on Human-Computer Interaction
IITPSA is the South African Member of International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and has a representative on the General Assembly of IFIP as well as representatives on nine of the 13 active IFIP Technical Committees.
Established in 1989, IFIP Technical Committee on Human–Computer Interaction (IFIP TC13) is an international committee of 30 IFIP national member societies and nine Working Groups, representing specialists in human factors, ergonomics, cognitive science, computer science, design and related disciplines.
IFIP TC13 aims to develop the science and technology of human–computer interaction (HCI) by encouraging empirical research, promoting the use of knowledge and methods from the human sciences in design and evaluation of computer systems; promoting better understanding of the relationship between formal design methods and system usability and acceptability; developing guidelines, models and methods by which designers may provide better human-oriented computer systems; and, cooperating with other groups, inside and outside IFIP, to promote user-orientation and humanization in system design. For more information on IFIP TC13 and its Working Groups, see http://ifip-tc13.org/.
IFIP TC13 held its biennial flagship INTERACT 2019 Conference, the 17th IFIP TC13 International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, in Paphos, Cyprus between 2 and 6 September 2019. The Conference is truly international and included 165 research papers (written by 1023 authors from 51 countries), seven industry case studies, three courses, nine interactive demonstrations, 18 interactive posters and 9 workshops. The papers presented addressed issues ranging from accessibility and assistive technologies, design for business and safety critical systems, design of interactive entertainment systems, HCI education and curriculum, interaction design for development and culture, interactive systems technology and engineering, information visualization, methodologies for user-centred design, social interaction and mobile HCI, understanding human aspects of HCI, and many more. Compared to previous INTERACT Conferences, there was this year a notable increase in papers specifically addressing issues related to the 4th industrial revolution and automation. The Conference Proceedings is published by Springer in 4 volumes of its Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series and can be accessed via Springer Link (https://link.springer.com/conference/interact).
INTERACT 2019 was attended by 314 participants from 41 countries (see figure). South Africa had three representatives at the Conference: the two South African representatives on IFIP TC13, Prof Janet Wesson (Director of the School of Computing Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, Nelson Mandela University) and Prof Paula Kotzé (Extraordinary Professor, University of Pretoria), as well as Dr Sue Petratos (Director of the School of Information and Communication Technology, Nelson Mandela University).
Prof Paula Kotzé presented a keynote address at the Conference. In her talk, entitled “Is human-computer interaction and user experience ready for the 4th industrial revolution”, she tackled the issue of the necessary skills required to succeed in the 4th industrial revolution with a specific focus on the fields of user experience, human factors and ergonomics.
For more information on IFIP and its activities, see https://ifip.org/.
