On Friday, December 6 2019, long-time PLAN-E member Lajos Bálint (KIFÜ) has unexpectedly passed away. Lajos has been a very active PLAN-E member, representing Hungary, since the start and we will miss him dearly. PLAN-E extends its deepest sympathies to Lajos’ family, friends and colleagues. Below, we included a short biography on Lajos, taken from the EOSC Secretariat website, which shows his involvement in the many national and international developments relating to the broader field of eScience.
“Born in Hungary, 1946. Married, two children. Dr.techn. (1976) and Ph.D. (1997) degrees from the Technical University of Budapest, C.Sc. degree (1976) from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Advisor at KIFU (Governmental Information Technology Development Agency) as retired Director of International Relations at NIIFI (National Information Infrastructure Development Institute) in Hungary. Earlier different functions mostly related to public research in the fields of information technology, communications, computer sciences and electronics engineering. Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Budapest. Participated as leader or partner at about 40 national and international R&D projects on research infrastructures, information systems, computer networks, network applications, man-machine systems, human-computer interaction, physical design and technology in electronics and telecommunications, computer aided design, circuit and system theory and applications. Published more than 200 contributions between 1969 and 2019.
Past and present memberships/functions (selection): member of the Public Body of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, member of ERAB (the European Research Area Board), member and Chair of ENPG (the European Networking Policy Group), member of EAG-RI (the Expert Advisory Board on Research Infrastructures), member of NATO-CNAP (NATO Computer Networking Advisory Panel), member of EIPF (e-Infrastructures Policy Forum), member of DERAF (Digital ERA Forum), member and Vice-Chair of the e-IRG (the e-Infrastructures Reflection Group), member of PLAN-E (Platform of National eScience Centers in Europe), Treasurer of TERENA (the Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association), member of the NREN-PC (the Policy Committee of the National Research and Education Networks), member and Vice-Chair of the ISOC-AC (the Advisory Council of the Internet Society).”
PLAN-E 