FAREWELL

It is not easy to maintain on the leading edge a technical journal of the nature of the “European

The present strong push towards on-line information dissemination through the Internet forces each paper-based journal to expand on the new medium. The development strategy should be structured to meet medium term and long term goals. In addition, the on-line version requires a much shorter turn-around time for publishing the submitted papers. Furthermore, competition on the technical content of the journal is growing fast and strong, according to the rapid spreading of alternative information sources accessible via the Internet. Although the European Union is progressively becoming a reality, the process of keeping together the technical telecommunications community on common publications, to make them competitive with those coming from the other regions of the world, is delayed by the slow inte- gration of the technical professional societies in Europe.

To meet these challenges, next year the “European Transaction on Telecommunications” will go on-line, in parallel with the paper version, and a reinvigorated editorial staff will lead the journal through its third phase of evolution.

I have enjoyed the position of Editor in Chief in managing the second phase, after the start up led by the previous Editor in Chief, Professor Gatti. During the last six years the journal greatly benefited from the expertise of our European Editors, and achieved a good reputation among the international publications in the telecommunications field.

I am confident that the incoming Editor in Chief, Professor Biglieri, will vigorously pursue the major objective set for the “European Transactions on Telecommunications” since its foundation: “to become a reference publication for the technical community in Europe to publish archival value papers in the field of telecommunications”.

I would like to thank the people who have helped to build and manage the journal in the last years, in particular all the European Editors, Luciano Antola, and Professor Pattavina, for their passion and dedication. I wish Professor Biglieri every success.

Transactions on Telecommunications”. This for two concurrent reasons.

Maurizio D2cina Milano, Italy, June 1997

EDITOR IN CHIEF’S ADDRESS

With this issue I am taking the torch of responsibility for the “European Transactions on Telecommunications”. They are now in their eighth year, in good shape, and growing and acquiring a reputation among the leading journals in Telecommunications.

I will do my best to lead these Transactions in the direction that was established by the former Editor in Chief, Maurizio Decina. My main concern now is leaming how to carry out the task of managing this publication. Fortunately, this task has been made a lot simpler by the work that Maurizio and the Managing Editor Achille Pattavina put into establishing policies and smooth procedures.

A technical journal could not survive, let alone establish and maintain a strong reputation, without the commitment of its Editors and of the reviewers they rely upon for manuscript evaluation. They a substan- tial amount of their time to the readers’ service. Their dedication is to be admired.

An additional word on reviews may not be out of order here. As we continue to pursue methods of reducing publication delay, we are aware that often the latter is increased in the first leg of the publi- cation process: the review cycle. Since delayed reviews mean delayed publications, I would like to invite the reviewers, who accept the evaluation of a manuscript, to put themselves in the place of the authors who wish to see their work published in a timely fashion, and to be accordingly responsive.

There are now new challenges facing the publication of this journal, in particular, as mentioned in the farewell address of Maurizio Decina, the start of an electronic version of the journal. To meet these challenges, I welcome inputs and comments from the readers concerning any aspects of these Transactions. My e-mail address is biglieri@polito.it. I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Ezio Biglieri Torino, Italy, June 1997

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