A few weeks ago now we turned the corner of the New Year and Brussels has been shivering under the assault of both snow and icy winter winds. These exceptional climatic conditions in Belgium have not hindered the Directorate General’s team from broaching the New Year and its array of challenges with optimism and dynamism.

2009 can be considered as a good, even very good vintage year. Our 3 conferences: IIAS in Helsinki, IASIA in Rio de Janeiro and of EGPA in Malta, were quite successful. The 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue on Public Management (MED 2) which took place from 7 to 10 October 2009 in Portoróz-Piran, Slovenia, on the theme “Local Public Services and Regional Management”, provided an opportunity for productive exchanges. The next meeting has already been planned in Tunis in October 2010.

We have also actively participated in various events organised by our partners or members. We should mention, for example, the 22nd EROPA Annual Conference which took place in Seoul from 19 to 23 October 2009, or yet again the international conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) of Saudi Arabia held in Riyadh from 2 to 4 November 2009 on the theme “Towards Excellence in Public Sector Performance”.

This year, 2010, will be particularly eventful for our Institute. In March, we will be celebrating, in Brussels, the 80th anniversary of IIAS in the presence of numerous members and guests from the political and diplomatic world as well as international associations of administrative sciences.

The programme of statutory meetings immediately following these festivities will cover extremely important items, such as, for example, an examination of a comprehensive draft revision of Statutes or the hearing for candidates seeking the Presidency of the Institute, a Presidency whose election will be announced during the Bali Congress in July.

In the meantime, we will have put online our Knowledge Portal and several of our project groups will have been completed; between the end of last year and the beginning of this year not less than 6 books will have been published by the Institute and its entities. Lastly, the drafting of the “Business Plan” project continues to progress. Simultaneously with this project, the IIAS is integrating an entire series of measures to review and adapt its various communication tools and its visual identity. We are very pleased to be able to present a finalised version of this project during the first semester of 2010.

At the age of 80, the IIAS has firmly decided on a youthful re-make!