UnitsML OASIS TC First Meeting Information

["Simon P. Frechette" <simon.frechette@nist.gov>]

CALL DATE: JUL-12-2006 (Wednesday)
CALL TIME: 11:00 AM EASTERN TIME
USA Toll Free Number: 888-454-7058
USA Toll Number: +1-484-630-7721
PASSCODE: 45378



New OASIS Technical Committee
Proposal

A new OASIS technical committee is being formed. The OASIS UnitsML
Technical Committee has been proposed by the members of OASIS listed
below. The proposal, below, meets the requirements of the OASIS TC
Process [a]. The TC name, statement of purpose, scope, list of
deliverables, audience, and language specified in the proposal will
constitute the TC's official charter. Submissions of technology for
consideration by the TC, and the beginning of technical discussions, may
occur no sooner than the TC's first meeting.

This TC will operate under our 2005 IPR Policy [b]. The eligibility
requirements for becoming a participant in the TC at the first meeting
(see details below) are that:

(a) you must be an employee of an OASIS member organization or an
individual member of OASIS;

(b) the OASIS member must sign the OASIS membership agreement [c];

(c) you must notify the TC chair of your intent to participate at least
15 days prior to the first meeting, which members may do by using the
"Join this TC" button on the TC's public page at [d]; and

(d) you must attend the first meeting of the TC, at the time and date
fixed below.

Of course, participants also may join the TC at a later time. OASIS and
the TC welcomes all interested parties.

Non-OASIS members who wish to participate may contact us about joining
OASIS [c]. In addition, the public may access the information resources
maintained for each TC: a mail list archive, document repository and
public comments facility, which will be linked from the TC's public home
page at [d].

Please feel free to forward this announcement to any other appropriate
lists. OASIS is an open standards organization; we encourage your
feedback.

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

[a]
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/process.php
[b]
http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php
[c] See
http://www.oasis-open.org/join/
[d]
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=unitsml
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROPOSED FINAL CALL FOR PARTICIPATION OASIS UnitsML TC

Name of the TC

OASIS Units Markup Language (UnitsML) Technical Committee

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the Units Markup Language Technical Committee is to define
an XML-based specification that will provide for unambiguous
representation of units of measure.

Background

Units Markup Language (UnitsML) is being developed for encoding
scientific units of measure in XML. This UnitsML language is expected to
be the first part of a project that is composed of three components: an
XML schema (UnitsML), a database containing detailed information on SI
(International System of Units) and non-SI scientific units of measure,
and tools to facilitate the incorporation of UnitsML into other markup
languages. The development and deployment of a markup language for units
will allow for the unambiguous storage, exchange, and processing of
numeric data, thus facilitating the collaboration and sharing of
information over the Internet. It is anticipated that UnitsML markup will
be used by the developers of other markup languages to address the needs
of specific communities (e.g. mathematics, chemistry, materials science,
etc.). Use of UnitsML in other markup languages will reduce duplication
of effort and improve compatibility among specifications that represent
numerical data.

The XML schema under development for UnitsML allows for the ability to
represent scientific units of measure in XML and will be used for
validating XML documents that use UnitsML. Development of this schema has
initially taken place at NIST, but completion of the development process
should include input from the international scientific and engineering
community. This work may be accomplished through the creation of an OASIS
Working Group to address any needed changes in the schema and publish a
final recommendation.

The UnitsML schema is not intended to be a standalone schema, but rather
to be used in combination with other specific schemas through the use of
namespaces. SI units can be represented through the use of base units
(e.g., meter, second), special derived units (e.g., joule, volt), and any
combination of these units with appropriate prefixes and exponential
powers (e.g., mm o s-2). In addition, commonly used derived SI units
(e.g., square meter, meter per second) and non-SI units (e.g., minute,
ångström, and inch) will be explicitly supported for reference within XML
documents.

Proponents of UnitsML may develop one or more databases to contain
detailed units and dimensionality information for an extensive number of
SI units and common, non-SI units available for access by users of
UnitsML. A database resource of this type would facilitate wide use of
the markup language by including information needed to reference units in
an XML document, specifically including unique identifiers, and also
could include various unit symbols, language-specific unit names, and
representations in terms of other units (including conversion factors).
In addition to scientific units, such a database may include information
about quantities - the measurable, countable, or comparable properties or
aspects of a thing, e.g., length.

Scope of Work

The TC will develop and publish an XML-based specification that will
enable
the unambiguous representation of units of measure.

Deliverables

The Units Markup Language Technical Committee plans to complete the
following tasks during its first year of operation.

1. UnitsML Working Draft identifying the requirements and data-model for
units of measure.
2. UnitsML Proposed Standard for the representation of units information
in XML.
3. Guidelines for implementation of UnitsML.

IPR Mode

RF on Limited Terms Mode (as specified in the OASIS IPR Policy)

Anticipated Audience

It is anticipated that UnitsML markup will be used by users and
developers of XML-based markup languages to address the needs of specific
communities, such as, science, engineering, construction, etc.

Language

The TC will conduct its business in English.

The following is informational only for the purposes of starting the TC,
and will not be part of the TC's charter.

Related Work

All specifications that may consume basic units of measure are potential
targets of this work, including products of the following groups, with
which the UnitsML TC will seek to establish a liaison relationship:

OASIS Emergency Management TC
OASIS MaterialsML TC
OASIS PLCS TC
OASIS PPS TC
OASIS UBL TC
ISO 31 / ISO 1000
UN/ECE Trade Recommendation 20
UN/CEFACT CCTS
W3C MathML

Anticipated Contributions

The current draft schema for UnitsML, available at
http://unitsml.nist.gov/,
is expected to be contributed to this TC.

Date and Time of First Meeting

The first meeting of the UnitsML TC will be a telephonic meeting held at
11:00 am Eastern US time on 12 July 2006. 

On-Going Meeting Plans & Sponsors

It is anticipated that the TC will meet via teleconference monthly, on a
schedule and at a time determined by the TC members during the TC's first
meeting. NIST and the other proposers are willing to sponsor conference
bridge facilities for meetings of the TC.

Proposers of the TC

The following eligible individuals are in support of this proposal:

Mark Carlisle, NIST, mark.carlisle@nist.gov
David Connelly, Open Applications Group,
dconnelly@openapplications.org
Bob Dragoset, NIST, robert.dragoset@nist.gov
Simon Frechette, NIST, simon.frechette@nist.gov
Tom Hendrix, Boeing, thomas.e.hendrix@boeing.com
Keith Hunten, Lockheed Martin, keith.a.hunten@lmco.com
Peter Linstorm, NIST, peter.linstrom@nist.gov
Gary Kramer, NIST, gary.kramer@nist.gov

TC Convener
The TC Convener will be Simon Frechette, NIST,
simon.frechette@nist.gov

Proposed Chair(s)
Simon Frechette, NIST, simon.frechette@nist.gov
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UnitsML OASIS TC First Meeting Agenda

1. Welcome

2. Attendance

3. Election of the chair or co-chairs

4. Welcome from OASIS staff and a short review of OASIS TC Process and
IPR Policy

5. UnitsML overview

6. Review of the TC charter (statement of purpose, goals, deliverables,
schedule) 

7. Vote on any standing rules for the TC

8. Assignment of responsibilities
editor
secretary
webmaster
liaisons with other applicable standards groups or OASIS TCs

9. Discussion of contributed work (if required)

10. Confirmation of meeting schedule
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Call-in Information

PARTICIPANT ACCESS INFORMATION

Please join MR SIMON FRECHETTE on JUL-12-2006 (Wednesday) at 11:00 AM
EASTERN TIME. 
Access information is below.

CALL DATE: JUL-12-2006 (Wednesday)
CALL TIME: 11:00 AM EASTERN TIME

LEADER:
MR SIMON FRECHETTE

USA Toll Free Number: 888-454-7058

USA Toll Number: +1-484-630-7721

PASSCODE: 45378

unitsmltcfirstmeeting.doc