November 2020 Newsletter
Dear friends of the HVTT Forum,
Covid-19 has brought difficult times to all of us. No one has gone unaffected. As challenging as it is we still need to find ways to cope and to move on. That is also true for the Chinese organizing committee for the postponed HVTT16 in Qingdao. With this newsletter I would like to give an update on the preparations for the 2021 HVTT16, which will take place 7-9 September in Qingdao.
Our assumption is that this will be a physical meeting, but we are also prepared to accommodate online participation. We will arrange this symposium in a hybrid format, where online, in person, live and recorded presentations meet in real time. The event will also be recorded for those not present to be able to watch at any time.
The aim is to have real time sessions during those hours where people across global time zones are awake. For some it will be morning, for others noon and for some people it will be evening. The ambition is to put the presentations where they can get the most relevant real time audiences.
Because of the symposium delay there is still a chance to submit papers. A new call for papers has thus been published on the HVTT webpage. As it looks now we will have a very interesting mix of papers with more Chinese papers than ever before. We expect a preview by February 2021 with recorded short video trailers of some of the papers to be presented at the HVTT16.
The official HVTT16 webpage can be accessed via the above link or directly via http://www.rtet.com.cn/en/. It is currently being upgraded and we expect to have the new interactive version in place by end of December.
Having the hybrid symposium covering several time zones means that those present in person in Qingdao will be given the chance to make study visits in the morning before the conference starts in the afternoon. Qingdao is a very dynamic place so we dare to promise that these will be eye opening visits.
There are still details to be ironed out, but we will keep you updated on the official webpage, starting from January.
Finally, as is customary for this newsletter. One word about the weather. The northerly cold winds arrived suddenly and Beijing went from a short mild autumn into winter overnight. That is bad news from a Corona virus perspective since it spreads more in cold climates. However, so far the Chinese government is very quick at identifying small outbreaks, tracing and testing people. So far the spread is held at surprisingly low levels. Through mobile apps the movements of people are traced and if you have been in an area of virus outbreak or of you have contracted the virus the app QR code will show this and make it impossible to enter buildings and public spaces. This system is very effective.
News about Covid-19 travels fast, and when there is a small outbreak monitoring of the situation and the general concern of further spread increases, and QR monitoring gets stricter and more people wear face masks.
We keep our fingers crossed that the world will be past the worst by next summer and that we will be able to meet in person in Qingdao in September.
Mats Harborn: Vice President, Asia & HVTT16 Chinese Organizing Committee
Zhang Hao: HVTT16 Chinese Organizing Committee
