Call for chair election, and conference call 23 May

[James Bryce Clark <jamie.clark@oasis-open.org>]

Members of the OASIS e-Government TC:

     As you know, after an internal reassignment John Borras has found it 
necessary to resign his role as chair of this committee.  John continues to 
serve as a member of our Board of Directors, and as chair of the OASIS 
Election Services TC;  we deeply appreciate the leadership he has provided 
to the important work of this e-Gov committee as well as those other 
continuing contributions.  In order for this committee to move forward, we 
must elect a successor TC chair.
     The e-Goverment TC has completed several of its early planned 
deliverables relating to early-emerging technical issues (such as use of 
data core components use), but its workplan includes providing important 
guidance to governments about the use of standardized methods for many 
other key functions, such as semantic interoperability and web 
services.  Several additional proposals already have been made to the TC 
for future work within its scope. .
     In order to ensure the smooth continuation of this work, we would like 
to take the following steps.

     First, the rules allow me as TC administrator for OASIS both to call 
meetings and to conduct the election of a new chair.   I declare 
nominations open for that role, and am pleased to report that Mr Harm Jan 
van Burg has accepted a nomination.  Mr van Burg is a senior policymaker 
for the Netherlands Ministry of Finance who (like Mr Borras) has 
significant leadership experience in global, European and national 
e-government initiatives, and is the co-chair of the OASIS TaxXML TC.   We 
appreciate the willingness of Mr van Burg and his ministry to make his time 
available.  OASIS staff have made several inquiries about other potential 
candidates as well.
     Of course, election of a replacement chair is a matter for the 
committee to decide.  TC Members are welcome to nominate or suggest others, 
and should do so to me directly or to this list.  However, if I am aware of 
no other nominees, then I will plan to conduct an election ballot.  This 
committee often has conducted its business by e-mail and web-based ballots, 
due to its wide geographic distribution.  Accordingly, failing objections, 
I plan to open a ballot on 16 May 2005, closing 23 May 2005, which will 
list each declared candidate as well as permit write-in nominations.  In 
the interim, I will review the TC records to confirm that the voting status 
of each member is properly reflected in the roster.
     This timing would allow some informal recruiting and future planning 
for the TC to occur at the upcoming OASIS Open Standards Day on 24 May 2005 
in Amsterdam:
http://www.xtech-conference.org/2005/oasisosd.asp, adjacent to 
IDEAlliance's XTECH conference (formerly XML Europe) that week.  This event 
often enjoys strong attendance from e-government-oriented participants.

     Second, in connection with that event, we would like to call a 
telephonic meeting of the TC, to discuss the TC's progress, leadership and 
current work agenda.  My colleague Pim van der Eijk has offered to convene 
this session from Amsterdam and I will attend (telephonically) from Los 
Angeles.

     Date: Monday 23 May 2005
     Time: 0700 Pacific US (Los Angeles), 1000 Eastern US (New York), 1600 
CET (Brussels), 2300 JST (Tokyo)
     Conference call-in data:  To be circulated to this list shortly.

     Finally, at the above meeting, we also would like to discuss possible 
plans for an Autumn face-to-face meeting, perhaps in September in or near 
London.

     As always, we deeply appreciate your contributions to our e-government 
work as well as your support for open standardization.   We would be 
delighted to see you in Amsterdam, but in any case we look forward to your 
advice and participation and to talking with you on the 23rd.
      Best regards  Jamie Clark


~   James Bryce Clark
~   Director, Standards Development, OASIS
~   jamie.clark@oasis-open.org