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Subject: President's Message: Symposium and AGM in Review
Dear Members, In San Francisco this month, OASIS held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) for members in conjunction with our Symposium on "The Meaning of Interoperability." I?d like to thank all those who attended this event, the sponsors who supported it financially, the OASIS Technical Advisory Board (TAB) for coordinating the program, and our staff, led by Events Manager, Jane Harnad, for managing the logistics. A highlight of the Symposium, was the keynote from Peter Quinn, former CIO of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Peter shared details of his own journey to institutionalize open standards and the cultural, political, and commercial impediments he encountered on the road to "open". His keynote was followed by an array of technical and business case presentations from users, developers, and influencers of OASIS work. The TC Lightning Rounds were once again well received, as a representative from each TC delivered a three-minute update on its work. We had a special delegation of representatives from our newest member in China, the Changfeng Open Standards Platform Software Alliance. Forrester analyst, Randy Heffner, offered the closing presentation in which he described a compelling vision for the future of business interoperability. For those of you who missed the presentations, you can still review the slides of the presentations at the Symposium event webpage. http://www.oasis-open.org/events/symposium_2006/proceedings.php The one thing you won?t get from just reviewing the slides is the inspiration, challenge, and connections that were made in the multitude of face-to-face discussions held at the Symposium and the Committee meetings. Many new ideas were debated and productive relationships forged. I believe this type of relationship building is one of the primary benefits of attending OASIS-hosted events like the Symposium and Forum. The range of information and depth of experience that attendees receive and share is so vital for making good strategic business decisions amidst the rapidly evolving world of IT standards. The AGM once again offered an opportunity for OASIS executives to brief members on the strategic direction, technical progress, financial strength, membership growth, support services, and communications efforts of the Consortium. We reported on some of the trends that are affecting our organization, including: Shift in Membership § Increase in end-user and public sector members (50% of organizational members) § More international (non-US) members (46% non-US participants currently) § Additional participants per organizational member (1200 more participants in last year with the same number of organizations) § Extra staff resources required to support end-users and members who do not speak English? (recruiting, liaisons, localization, translations) Shift in Types of Committees § Increase in adoption Committees (Health, eGovernment, SOA Adoption Blueprints, ODF Adoption) § More industry vertical Committees (oBIX, Emergency Management, Forestry, Conservation) § Extra staff resources required to support promotional and educational activities Maturing of Existing Committees § Increased external promotional activities needed as more OASIS Standards are approved § More liaison time to gain endorsement from Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) These trends, combined with member requests for increased accessibility to benefits, have prompted an evaluation of our membership categories and dues structure. Currently, staff and Board Directors are considering a variety of alternatives in an endeavor to deliver the highest possible level of services to members, equitable distribution of benefits, and support for our Committees. Certainly, any changes to our membership categories and annual fees will be made only after careful and thorough review. Following the Symposium, many OASIS members participated in our first open Board of Directors meeting. Both members and the Board found value in the interaction, so much so that we plan to continue to hold open sessions of Board meetings at future member events. As always, I invite you to share your comments on these or any other matters related to OASIS, either through our publicly archived mail lists, oasis-member-discuss@lists.oasis-open.org or oasis-board-comment@lists.oasis-open.org, or to me directly. Again, our deepest appreciation to all those who supported the Symposium. I hope to see many of you at our annual European event, the OASIS Forum, which will be held in London in November. Details on that are forthcoming. Best regards, Patrick Gannon President & CEO OASIS +1.978.667.5115 x201 - office +1.978.761.3546 - mobile Skype: pgannon www.oasis-open.org
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