APL in Statistics Conference

Transcribed from the printed issue; not yet reviewed. Read it in the PDF of the issue, page 11

The British APL Association and the APL Statistics User Group are to hold a conference at the University of Wales Conference Centre in Gregynog, near Newtown, on 18-20 September 1989.

The aim of the conference is to:

1. discuss areas of statistical research and teaching which are making use of APL at present;
2. propose draft standards for writing APL statistical code;
3. discuss the nature of functions which should be included in a collection of basic statistical functions;
4. review currently available APL routines.

This conference is part of a longer term project (which we hope will receive substantial financial support from the BAA, and perhaps also from SIGAPL) called ASL (APL Statistics Library) to produce a library of statistical functions written in APL which would be available as a public domain library for the academic community. Eventual release to commercial statistical users is planned, although probably on a chargeable basis.

We propose to schedule the conference to alternate presentations on areas of current statistical research which use APL, and discussion periods to cover the establishment of standards (and the library).

Academic and industrial statisticians, and other interested parties requiring further details of the conference (and the proposed project) should contact

Dr. A.M. Sykes
Department of Management Science and Statistics
University College of Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP
([telephone number omitted], or JANet: [omitted]).