Happy Holidays and thanks from the OASIS team - what the future holds

[Laurent Liscia <laurent.liscia@oasis-open.org>]

Dear members,

You've done it again: you've taken your work to new heights and solidified OASIS' reputation as a vibrant and relevant federation of communities in 2017 and for the foreseeable future. From cybersecurity to cloud computing to IoT to legal XML to dozens of other areas, your work has made the world that much safer, that much more connected, and that much more interesting.

You wisely elected a Board of Directors that takes a strategic view of open technologies. Our Directors have been invaluable in formulating and helping us execute against our one-stop-shop strategy. With excellent leadership from Gershon Janssen, your Board works long and hard to ensure your interests are fairly and intelligently represented. I can tell you it's a personal pleasure to work with each and every one of our Directors.

There are exciting times ahead for OASIS. SDOs like ours are traversing a zone of very high turbulence. That giant sucking sound we've been hearing is that of open source diverting energy from open standards and demanding to be reckoned with. In order to do so, OASIS is in a process of deep and thorough transformation that will take many forms.

First, next month we'll introduce you to OASIS Open Projects, a new program that will enable you to develop open source and standards under one roof. We've crafted a set of tools and rules that supports it all with no IP worries. Think about the power of that: now you can bring true interoperability to your APIs, protocols and code documentation, all in one, safe place. We'll be holding a member briefing in January, but if you'd like details sooner, let me know.

Second, we've heard your requests for a more modern, user-friendly and efficient set of TC collaboration tools. We intend to roll out some major enhancements by the middle of 2018, with as little disruption to you and your community as possible . [Is Scott okay with saying this?]

Third, we're working on a white label hosting program for communities that want to work under their own rules and brand.

Fourth, we will continue to grow our Borderless Cyber events via partnerships with prestigious organizations like The World Bank to promote our cybersecurity standards to a global audience.

Fifth, we are upgrading our staff tools to enable us to provide even greater, more targeted outreach to grow your TCs and promote adoption of your work.

Sixth, we will be updating our web site and visual identity to provide a modern user experience, look and feel. 

If all that sounds dizzying to you, that's because it is. We're ending 2017 as a Prius but by the end of 2018 we'll look a lot more like a Tesla, with radically modern technology on board and cool looks to boot: changes under the hood but also to the sheet metal.

Why so much innovation so quickly? Because the environment demands it. Technology goal posts have moved and OASIS must forge a strategic, well-articulated response so we can continue to retain and attract world-class members like you and world-class projects like yours.

We rely on your trust and support through these stimulating times. We're honored to serve you for another exciting year. We are committed to delivering the service and innovation you deserve. Thank you for inspiring us to be our best.

-- 
Laurent Liscia, CEO
OASIS: Advancing open standards for the information society


Follow OASIS on:
LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/OASISopen
Twitter: http://twitter.com/OASISopen
Facebook: http://facebook.com/oasis.open

Take a tour of OASIS at:
http://www.oasis-open.org/home/tour.php