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    ECO-SE Section Leader Meeting 2

    → Europe/Zurich
    60/6-015 - Room Georges Charpak (Room F) (CERN)

    60/6-015 - Room Georges Charpak (Room F)

    CERN

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    AI tools and Copilot licences

    • In the sector, MPEs (staff members and graduates), MPAt members (technical, doctoral and administrative categories) and temporary personnel should have access to Copilot licences. The IT department ran out of licences during distribution, but this issue should now be resolved.
      • Free tier: Copilot Chat (web access and general AI use).
      • Paid tier: Copilot 365, integrated with email, OneDrive and OneNote. Licences are covered for all MPEs, MPAt members, temporary personnel, graduates, administrative personnel and temporary students.
      • Developer tier: Claude licences identified for coding assistance, primarily for Arnaud’s web team.
    • Copilot 365 licences renew automatically; no action is required.
    • The CERN–Mistral partnership is limited to the physics and science domains and does not provide access to general Mistral licences.
      • Voxtral, Mistral’s transcription tool, was identified as particularly useful but requires separate follow-up.

    Copilot data privacy

    • Guidelines on handling sensitive data are available at: https://devices.docs.cern.ch/pss/microsoft_copilot_introduction
    • Email service guidelines are available at: https://mailservices.docs.cern.ch
    • According to guidance from the IT department, sensitive data should not be stored in email or made accessible to Copilot.
      • Recommended approach: Store sensitive files in CERNbox and share them using protected links.
      • Copilot can access email and OneDrive files but not CERNbox.
    • A concern was raised about the lack of clearly communicated guidelines for staff members, with responsibility currently resting with individuals.
      • A request was made to invite a representative of the IT department to a future meeting to provide clarification.
      • James will circulate the official IT guidelines.

    HiLumi campaign update (Corinne)

    • The campaign was launched approximately five months ago to maintain public interest throughout Long Shutdown 3 (LS3) until the start of HL-LHC operations in 2030.
      • Main challenge: Keeping audiences engaged while the accelerators are offline for four years.
      • Branding: The campaign was renamed HL-LHC, with the tagline ‘Pushing the Limits’ and a yellow, gender-neutral mascot called Lumi.
      • The Lumi mascot will be launched on 1 December. It is intended for use on social media and as a toy sold in the CERN shop for the Open Days.
    • The campaign was launched on 11 June with a one-hour video programme from the CERN Control Centre (CCC), now available on YouTube. A press release followed on 29 June.
    • Content published since July includes press releases, articles, videos, explainers and a dedicated LS3 webpage on the CERN website.
      • As at the end of September, the LS3 webpage was the tenth most viewed page on cern.ch.
      • Snapshots have been produced in collaboration with CNRS, DESY and Fermilab, with more planned.
      • Three HL-LHC explainer videos have been published on YouTube, and further physics-focused explainers are being prepared.
    • The writing team comprises Corinne, Anna, Emma, Rory, Anaïs and Daniela. The same team is responsible for all website articles and annual reports.
      • Outreach officers from the ATLAS and CMS experiments contribute texts that are edited by the team.
    • Upcoming activities: New HL-LHC webpages, for which the English versions are complete and translations are pending, and a pavilion/exhibition near the CERN site, scheduled to open in November.
    • Alumni Office contributions: News from the Lab with Oliver Brüning, and a LinkedIn Live event for World CERN Alumni Day featuring cryostat assembly with Markus.
    • HiLumi and the Future Circular Collider (FCC) are the Director-General’s two main priorities. Campaign management is now a sector-wide effort.
      • The FCC campaign is expected to intensify next year.

    Overview of strategy key performance indicators

    • Key performance indicators (KPIs) are linked to the five pillars of the strategy. They are reported internally, with selected indicators also reported to the Council.
    • Key KPIs by aim:
      • Aim 1 (HL-LHC): Schedule deviation from the baseline (ATS responsible). The project is currently approximately four days ahead of schedule.
      • Aim 2 (FCC): FCC decision milestones, the proportion of funding from the European Union (EU) and the Moonshot project funding target.
        • Discussions on EU funding for the FCC are ongoing in Brussels. No concrete outcome is expected before summer 2027.
        • The ambitious fundraising target is more than 1.3 billion USD in pledges.
        • A Senior Fundraising Officer position is to be created early next year to support major and principal giving and stewardship.
      • Aim 7 (Member State balance): The target is to increase the proportion of staff members, graduates and students from poorly balanced Member States from 15.5% to 20%. The target for students and graduates is above 35%.
      • Aim 13 (Inspiring the next generation): The target is to welcome more than 75 000 visitors to the 2027 Open Days.
      • Media coverage KPIs (SR/Echo Group): The target is 300 000 media clippings annually by 2030, compared with the current baseline of approximately 180 000–200 000. Journalists and influencers are welcomed on site.
        • Tone monitoring: Negative coverage, currently at 5–10%, is used as an early-warning signal.
      • Aim 10 (User satisfaction): Perception metrics and surveys conducted via SO. ACU presentations contain the survey criteria.
      • Sustainability, diversity and inclusion (D&I), safety and governance KPIs are also included. Some are still under development.
    • KPI owners are responsible for identifying how to involve the wider Organization.

    Off-site retreat and merit objectives

    • Off-site retreat: 29 January.
      • Participants: Those present at the meeting, together with the extended group from last year.
      • Agenda: A brief review of 2026 by Arnaud and James, followed by the definition of 2027 objectives for each area.
      • Main objective: Translate high-level aims into team merit objectives and identify interdependencies.
    • KPI reporting to the Council feeds into the Annual Progress Report (APR), the draft of which will be submitted to the Council in March.
    • Work on merit objectives can begin before 29 January in areas where the objectives are already well defined.

    Any other business

    • End-of-year party: The registration deadline is tomorrow, 4 November. Participants must register via Indico; accepting the Outlook invitation is not sufficient.
      • Approximately 70–71 people have registered so far. The sector covers the costs, so non-attendance has financial implications.
      • Team lunches and dinners funded from section budgets have not been approved this year. The sector party is the designated event.
    • Sector finances: Expenditure is broadly in line with expectations. Zoe is managing any budget overruns and has access to the Director-General’s Reserve if necessary.
    • Alumni Office awards: The Alumni Office won a Silver Circle of Excellence Award from CASE and the Europe and Africa Best of Region Award for the CERN Alumni Engagement Programme (Can Doers).
    • LHCb media coverage: The LHCb spokesperson appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live today to discuss the latest discovery and the withdrawal of UK funding from CERN. CERN was prominently mentioned.

    Next steps

    • Circulate the IT guidelines on Copilot data privacy (James). Publish the guidelines on Indico and share them with the group to clarify how staff members should handle sensitive data when using Copilot.
    • Arrange for an IT representative to attend a future meeting (James). Invite a representative of the IT department to clarify Copilot data privacy requirements and address the unresolved data protection impact assessment (DPIA) questions raised by the group.
    • Investigate Voxtral (Mistral’s transcription tool) separately. As Voxtral is not covered by the CERN–Mistral partnership, a separate discussion on licensing is required.
    • Invite Matteo to present the Open Days plans at a future meeting. Although planning is still under way, a presentation to the group would be useful.
    • Register for the end-of-year party via Indico. The deadline is 4 November; accepting the Outlook invitation alone is not sufficient.
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