Agenda: DITA Adoption TC Meeting - 03-02-2021

["Dr. Stanley Doherty" <stan@modularwriting.com>]

Agenda:

1. Ongoing review of OASIS DITA charters:
   a. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/charter.php
   b. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita-adoption/charter.php
   
2. Charter comments and discussions to date:
   a. February 02 list of questions to discuss with DITA TC (https://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita-adoption/download.php/68327/dita-adoption-to-dita-tc-questions.txt)
   b. February 02 edits to the existing charter (https://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita-adoption/download.php/68242/OASIS-DITA-Adoption-Technical-Committee-Charter_notes_02-02-2021.docx)
   c. January 10 comments from Gershon Joseph (below)
 
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Gershon's comments on the Adopton TC Charter from January 10, 2021.

Hi all,

Here are my thoughts while reviewing the current charter?

Section ?Statement of Purpose:

I don?t think we need this paragraph any more:

Since DITA adoption is stronger in the US than in the rest of the world, especially the European Union, the Technical Committee will actively solicit participation from non-US members and help to facilitate providing information promoting DITA adoption globally.

I think we have pretty good adoption globally today. If anything, US users are ahead of the curve in moving away from DITA?

Concerning this paragraph:

The DITA Adoption TC intends to appoint an individual who is an active, voting member of both TCs to serve as a liaison to the DITA TC, to actively communicate the work of the Adoption TC, and to request the assistance of the DITA TC on technical issues concerning the specification. Through the liaison, the DITA Adoption TC is encouraged to bring issues to the DITA TC concerning user needs in improving the specification. The DITA TC is encouraged to bring issues to the DITA Adoption TC concerning the use cases or user scenarios around proposed changes and enhancements to the specification, as well as suggestions for other adoption-related work.

This is clearly not happening any more. We have a few members on both TCs, but we?re not bringing this information to and from the two TCs. I have no issues with keeping the above paragraph, but if we do keep it, let?s do it.

I guess we?ve failed on the last list item in the list. I?m the only Adoption TC member from outside North America and I work for a North America based company, so we effectively have no representation from outside NA ?. Should we delete this list item, or try to address it? Frankly I think we?re having a hard time finding people to work on this TC as it is. Not sure what to do about it. We?re always had a difficult time getting folks to join this TC.

Section ?Scope of Work?:

    Oversee the DITA XML.org Focus Area
    > We?re not doing this anymore, are we? Do we want to give this back to the DITA TC?
    Review and ensure accuracy of DITA references in commonly used resources such as Wikipedia
    > I don?t think we ever did this. Any point in keeping it? We?re not even taking companies who bad-mouth DITA to task?
    Host educational, vendor-neutral webinars
    > I think the vendors, STC, TEKOM, Comtech Services et al are doing a great job here. Not sure this is still relevant for us.
    Organize vendor-neutral workshops and tracks at OASIS events and other conferences
    > This proved to be very difficult to pull off. We are sort-of trying this with the current localization discussions and work on the white paper stylesheets. Not sure how far we can realistically take this item, though I?d be very happy if we could fully achieve this one.
    Produce OASIS-branded primers, white papers, position papers, slide presentations, datasheets, and other collateral
    > It?s not clear to me where the DITA TC area of responsibility here ends and our TC?s begins? I?m almost tempted to punt this one over to the DITA TC. I feel this is something they should own.
    Develop best practice guidelines
    < We used to do this. I guess all that?s left is to update our existing library for DITA 2.0. Are the new opportunities and gaps we can close in our library?
    Establish liaisons with other organizations who may assist in building awareness of DITA, and promoting DITA in a variety of user communities
    > This is a very tricky one. Besides the CIDM conferences, I don?t think we?ve done anything here. Is this an area we want to accelerate? E.g. work directly with TEKOM, STC, etc?
    Assist in coordinating promotional efforts of members, leveraging activities wherever beneficial
    > I no longer understand what our intent is with this one. I?m sure I did when we wrote it LOL
    Assist in coordinating press and analyst relations such as briefings, releases, and announcements
    > I don?t recall us ever doing any of this. It was a wonderful idea at the time. I think this ship has sailed. Should we remove this one?
    Encourage and coordinate volunteer efforts to translate the DITA specification and other committee documents into other languages
    > Is this relevant today?
    Interface with other TCs to define how DITA can be best integrated with other standards to address specific scenarios
    > I think we need to punt this one back to the DITA TC. They have something that captures this already, more or less. It?s not something we should be doing, IMO.
    Stage interoperability and/or proof-of-concept demonstrations at industry conferences
    > Did we ever do this? Not sure it?s relevant.
    Other projects aimed at increasing adoption as identified by Committee Members
    Other activities that are considered appropriate to forwarding the goals of the Technical Committee.
    > Are we referring to this TC or the DITA TC? If we keep this item, we should make it explicit.

Section ?List of Deliverables?:

We need to change the list of deliverables. About the only thing I think we should mention here is the white papers. Perhaps something like ?Develop and publish white papers that promote the adoption of the DITA standard.?

At the end of the day, I?m not convinced we still need this Adoption TC. Whoever is adopting DITA will adopt it with or without us. We don?t have participation by implementers or consultants, with the exception of CIDM and PCAS. It?s very difficult getting companies to join this Adoption TC, because they have to join OASIS at their company level. Maybe we need a DITA adoption effort outside of OASIS? Even then, I?m not convinced we?d get serious participation.