proposal part b - The Bernstein Project

CIP-ICT PSP Call 4 50
Pilot B
[Imperialle]
publications, exhibitions, TV/radio), seeking dissemination and use of the outputs, gathering user experiences
and providing adequate design packaging of the outputs (graphics and ergonomics).
The coordinator’s office will be composed of the coordinating person of the project and a secretary-general
specifically employed for the management of the project. Depending on the nature of events, they will
collaborate with the work-package leaders, who will then contact the individual partners, or they will deal
directly with the individual partners. Each partner has one of its members designated as an administrative
contact person.
Management mechanisms
1. The decision-making, conflict-solving and contingency mechanisms are in accordance with the impact of the
foreseen action. If an action is localized, informal discussions between the affected partners is the preferred
means. Strategic decisions are usually taken during general meetings, when necessary by majority voting (1
vote per partner) and an external referee when an agreement is not reached. The use of a voting webpage will
ensure voting speed and independence from the physical location of the voters. From its beginning, the
project’s workflow has been designed to minimize risk situations through two strategic contingency measures:
[1] task autonomy: the relative autonomy of tasks reduces their interdependencies in case a product is delayed
or fails to deliver; and [2] partner integration: several partners are usually implicated in the realization of a
single task so that progressive shifting of responsibilities is possible (maintaining an extensive network of
collaborators, the consortium can, in extreme cases, quickly respond to a situation by integrating a new partner).
2. Communication and collaboration between partners takes place through a mix of physical meetings and
telecommunication/collaboration. All partners and, if possible, all individual members will gather at four
general meetings during the lifetime of the project: kick-off meeting, end of first year, end of second year, and
end of project.
A collaboration website will serve as the virtual workplace for the consortium. Its functions are those of a
listserver, a videoconferencing device, voting site, calendar management, meeting discussion agenda,
documents repository and public showcase of the project (check http://www.bernstein.oeaw.ac.at/twiki).
Jean-Baptiste Lepère, WRM Vedute d’Italia, HERTZ