Minutes of the membership meeting at Eurocrypt 2024
Tuesday May 28 2024, 16:30, Zurich

Michel Abdalla, President of the IACR, opens the meeting with a brief overview of the IACR, its structure, and missions.


Brian LaMacchia, Treasurer, presents the financial report. He recommends no increase in membership fees at the moment, but is considering a possible increase in the near future.

Bertram Poettering, Membership Secretary, reports on the IACR membership.


Abdalla presents online services, future conferences, and recent work of the Board of Directors. The IACR is looking for volunteers to help with IT or Code of Conduct matters.


The open discussion starts.

Boris Fouotsa asks what effort the IACR is conducting regarding the Global South. Schwabe (Director) responds that the IACR does have a call for stipend applications and would like to get more applications from the Global South. LaMacchia (Treasurer) adds that if the steering committees of LatinCrypt and AfricaCrypt want to build a tighter relationship with the IACR, it is something we should consider. He would love to see a more structured relationship. Abdalla (President) notes that a positive aspect of the new journal, Communications in Cryptology, is that it allows people to publish within the IACR without having to travel, making publication more accessible.

Nicolas Courtois notes that the Treasurer said the IACR is not investing in cryptocurrencies because of financial risk. Courtois invites the IACR to be more active with cryptocurrencies and show more support, as many of its members work in blockchain companies.

Abdullah Talayhan comments on the panel discussion on the publication model (earlier today). Talayhan would like more input from PhD students, as the panel discussion was focused around senior people.

Pierrick Dartois comments on the question of sustainability. The current system concentrates all the prestige on the big conferences. Options to publish without traveling (in journals) are regarded as lower tier. Pierrick invites the IACR to think about reducing the need to travel. Abdalla approves.

A question is raised on the cost of open access and publication. Publishers for general audiences take care of marketing and distribution. What is the value of a publisher for academia? LaMacchia responds that publication is not just about distributing papers. For instance, publishers also ensure that the journal is rated.