EVENT CONCEPT PAPER - EML Webinar
 
Proposed Event Type:   
An OASIS hosted webinar comprising presentations and a Q/A session.

Proposed Title & Theme:  
Standards for public elections, ballots and voter information
“Learn how election authorities in the USA, Europe and Australia are using the OASIS election standard EML to provide better, more complete services for citizens and election officials.  Understand the opportunities and how vendors are enabling their solution offerings.”

Provisional Dates: 
To be determined.  Possibly more than one session to enable better global coverage having regard to the different time zones.

Goals:  
•	To promote the need for standards and common data formats to be used in public elections.
•	To demonstrate to all potential stakeholders the scope and value of EML version 7.
•	To present examples of current usages of EML.
•	To highlight some possible opportunities for future use of EML.
•	To encourage vendors to build EML into the products and services. 
•	To encourage election officials to conduct e-enabled elections.
•	To encourage the media to use EML for the reporting of election results.
•	To help voters with their understanding of the evolving e-enabled election environment.
•	To attract new members to the E&VS TC.

Definition
With the advent of e-enabled elections it was recognised that at various points in the end-to-end voting process there would be a need to exchange data in a structured way between hardware, software, and service providers and no standard existed for that purpose.  EML was developed to fill that gap, the objective being to introduce a uniform and reliable way to allow systems supporting the election process to interoperate.  The standard has been designed to be used in both public and private elections and can be used for all or any part of the e-enabled election process, such as voter registration, casting of the vote, e-counting and communication of the result.  EML has been used in public elections to varying degrees in several countries since 2003. 
The paramount objective of all involved in running elections is to ensure they are seen to be trustworthy.  EML goes a long way towards supporting this objective by providing common interfaces at different points in the voting process that can be tested and audited to ensure accuracy, consistency and verifiability.  It allows for a "mix and match" of equipment from different equipment suppliers, thus avoiding concerns often raised by the use of a single supplier and their proprietary software.  
It is extremely unlikely that in the future elections will not have some e-enabled component(s).  It’s probably more a question of how many components and when they are introduced.  But there are still many concerns to be allayed and a good deal of confidence that needs to be built before e-voting becomes the norm.  However EML is the base on which to build future e-enabled elections that will be trustworthy, open and creditable.  This webinar will provide an update on the latest version of EML together with examples of its current use around the globe, and discuss future opportunities.

Outline agenda
Overall time 1 hour comprising 45 minutes for presentations and 15 minutes for Q&A

Agenda:
1.	Introduction – John Borras (10 mins)
The need for standards and common data formats in public elections.
2.	Use Cases:
a.	UK voter registrations – John Ross (5 mins)
b.	USA blank ballot distributions – John Wack (7/8 mins)
c.	Either:  California results reporting – David Webber (7/8 mins), or New South Wales results reporting – Valery Sureav (7/8 mins)
d.	Other usages – Peter Zelechoski (5mins)
3.	Opportunities – David Webber (10 mins)
4.	Q&A  (15 mins)
 
Supporting Information:
As time will be limited in the webinar we will provide access to demonstrations of EML usage including videos, presentations and training material to expand on and supplement the presentations given in the webinar.  This supporting information together with the webinar recording will then be packaged and made available for future outreach discussions and demonstrations.

Target Audience:  
All stakeholders involved in aspect of the operation of any part of e-enabled elections and referendums plus the general public in their role as potential voters in those elections and referendums.

Potential Invitees:
Election legislators and administrators
Vendors of election hardware, software and services
Representatives from all types of the media
OASIS members
All voters