Network Programme - Section 4

Nodes

4.1 Founding Nodes

Table 1 shows a list of founding nodes (that is those nodes included in the original proposal), organised by area. RENOIR as outlined in the programme consists of 68 nodes. It is in a position as currently constituted to act as a distributor of know-how. It has been structured to accommodate growth. We have included in our programme a number of nodes in states which are not members of the EU. These fall into each of the three groups identified in the "Guide on Non-EU Participation" issued in conjunction with the work programme. Group A includes Norway. Group B includes Switzerland. Group C includes Canada, USA and Israel. The inclusion of both Norway and Switzerland is, we believe, of obvious and immediate benefit. The nodes in each of these states are major research centres in the area of requirements engineering and are closely involved with the progress of European research in this area. In the case of Group C the nodes are selected from states with cooperation agreements with the EU covering research in this area (Canada, USA and Israel). The nodes represent distinguished research leaders in requirements engineering. Each has a long established record of cooperation with European research teams. Their contribution would be of considerable importance in providing links with ongoing international projects and initiatives. We would expect these nodes to contribute to and participate in specified activities related to research and technology development infrastructure. Obviously no funding is requested for non-EU participation. The management, travel and other costs associated with non-EU participation incurred by the EU RENOIR nodes are included in the budget and are assumed to form part of the normal expenditure of the network as determined by the Executive Board in consultation with the designated Project Officer. There may be changes in these arrangements arising from the development of cooperation agreements.

4.2 Skills

The scope, scale and strength of RENOIR (most clearly evidenced by reference to the annex) are a clear assurance of coverage of the field of requirements engineering. In particular we have been careful to draw from both the software engineering and information systems "communities". Application specialisations, such as safety-critical systems, are also fully represented.

RENOIR has a broad spread of complementary skills. In order to show the coverage of the field Table 2 shows for each node how their research activities and interests relate to the research areas discussed above. We have broken these down further into areas in which the node has a primary interest, generally reflecting substantial accomplishment in research and technology development (indicated by an 'X'), and those in which it has a subsidiary interest, generally reflecting ongoing research (indicated by an 'x'). We have made a particular effort to involve a cross-section of industrial organisations with interests in requirements engineering. These include users, developers and technology providers. We have balanced this with the research role of RENOIR. In Table 1 industrial nodes in RENOIR are indicated with a *.

It should be clear that the spread of complementary skills, extent of the intellectual resources and research expertise required warrant a European Network of Excellence. No single EU state would be able to undertake the activities that RENOIR is committed to. Further there are clear financial benefits to be obtained by sharing resources, results, activities and infrastructure. To complement the "European Dimension", it is a particular feature of this project that we have widespread coverage in terms of area as well as skills. Every EU state is represented. If a Network of Excellence is to reach out to SMEs it must maintain a real presence at a local as well as a European level.

The credibility of RENOIR for successful implementation is demonstrated through: the research excellence of the individual nodes as evidenced by publication and technology development; the existing record of cooperative projects binding various nodes of the Network together; meetings (such as the International Symposia on Requirements Engineering); joint communication (such as the Requirements Engineering Newsletter and the newly established Requirements Engineering Journal) and working groups (such as the IFIP Working Group on Software Requirements Engineering) all of which have been established by the proposers and evidence their energy and commitment.

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