Re: [egov] OASIS E-GOV TECHNICAL COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION

["Carl Reed" <creed@opengis.org>]

John -

 

As you may know, the OGC has a similar set of participant time zone issues :-) Since 1998, we have been facilitating interoperability initiatives that have participants from many time zones. For example, in 2003 we had an interoperability initiative that had participants from Belgium, UK, Australia, Eastern US and Canada, Western US and Canada and Germany. In order to properly coordinate and manage such initiatives, we have resorted to a number of communication options - none optimal - but collectively we have found them to be very effective. These are:

 

1. Weekly Conference calls. Yes, by careful scheduling it is possible to get international participants to dial-in and participate. Such verbal communication is critical to overall coordination of any such effort as the E-Gov TC. Now, obviously, timing is not optimal for all. Some have to get up early and some have to dial in after dinner. But by keeping the agenda tight, the actual overall time impact is not bad - in the OGC case, about an hour per week for an initiative.

 

2. We set up TWikis for key activities where multiple participants separated by time zones are working on a common interoperability specification/document. We have found this to be a very good mechanism for distributed collaboration and tracking. We do this as part of the OGC Member Portal. Does the OASIS KIVA system support TWikis/CVS?

 

3. The OGC also has both a Europe SIG and an Austral-Asia SIG. Unlike OASIS, the OGC has one Technical Committee comprised of about a dozen working groups. In OGC land, a WG is similar to a TC. However, recognizing that not all international members can easily attend our TC meetings, we have instantiated regional special interest groups. These groups can meet on their own to discuss issues and activities specific to their region. They can also communicate and document as a collective body interoperability requirements for their region back to the OGC TC at large. These meetings are chaired by OGC members and facilitated by OGC staff.

 

I hope some of this information might be useful!

 

Happy Holidays to one and all!

 

Regards

Carl Reed

OGC Executive Director

Specification Program

----- Original Message -----

From: John.Borras@e-Envoy.gsi.gov.uk

To: namjepark@etri.re.kr ; zhangji@harmony.net.cn ; parkbd@nca.or.kr ; max.voskob@paradise.net.nz ; rkumar@msi.com.au ; ksh@sookmyung.ac.kr ; lamcolin@hk1.ibm.com ; outframe@nca.or.kr ; ohm@nca.or.kr ; kclee@ce.cnu.ac.kr ; shk@mju.ac.kr ; cou@cht.com.tw ; ytlee@cecid.hku.hk ; junghc@nca.or.kr ; hollobit@etri.re.kr ; Stonebridge, Brian ; steve.capell@redwahoo.com ; greg.sloane@paradise.net.nz

Cc: egov@lists.oasis-open.org

Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 6:42 AM

Subject: [egov] OASIS E-GOV TECHNICAL COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION

I am conscious that the way we currently run the TC does not allow you all to participate very easily.  Not least because of the differences in time zones and the difficulty of finding a convenient time for you to join in meetings.   But our work has to be international not just confined to Europe and North America, so to overcome this I have in mind to set up a Regional sub-committee, covering the Far East,  Australia and New Zealand so that people from that part of the world can get together and better participate in the work of the TC.   I don't want to end up with two separate committees so we will need to sort out the logistics of how we do the joining up.

I'd be very interested to hear from your thoughts on this idea and if we set up a sub-committee whether you would actively participate in it.    For other members of the TC, particularly those from the international organisations, if you have contacts in that part of the world perhaps you could pass this message on to see if there is further interest.

If I get a positive response then I would be prepared to come to an initial meeting of the sub-committee in late Spring or early Summer to sort out arrangements  Perhaps we could look to a session running in parallel with a conference or other international event which might provide hosting facilities for the meeting.  Suggestions on events and locations would be welcomed.

Regards,

John Borras
Chair  e-Gov TC