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On July 18, 1984, several persons assembled at the IBM Los Gatos facility to discuss the founding of AFIPS (the American Federation of Information Processing Societies). We could not gather together everyone involved in the formation of AFIPS, of course, but the group that was convened was a representative subset.

Information processing activities in Western Europe are developing at an increasingly rapid pace. Newly created companies and many of the established business machine and electronic firms are entering this burgeoning field. A first-hand tour of major industrial and academic groups in Western Europe reveals important progress in equipment design and manufacturing techniques, as well as significant advanced development work. The United States is ahead of Western Europe, due primarily to a greater over-all research and development effort. However, there is no national boundary for creative ideas; European laboratories are developing new techniques and products for the world market, ranging from peripheral equipment to complete information processing systems. The survey of European activities is presented in three parts: an introduction, details of some important technological developments under way, and a detailed review of the characteristics of European computing systems. The technological developments indlude fixed high-speed memories, magnetic thin films, random-access memories, pattern recognition, learning machines, hydraulic logic, and problem-oriented languages.

Niels Ivar Bech was one of Europe's most creative leaders in the field of electronic digital computers. He originated Danish computer development under the auspices of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences and was first managing director of its subsidiary, Regnecentralen, which was Denmark's (and one of Europe's) first independent designer and builder of electronic computers.

Dov Chevion was a giant among his fellow men and women. He was respected for his strength of leadership, for his commitment toward worthy goals, and as the spokesman in the computer field for Israel for over two decades. He was particularly concerned with education, an area in which he made major contributions.