participation in the eGov IG

Hi all,

There seems to be some confusion about the way this Group (and W3C)  
works. I hope I could shed some light and I apologize if the  
information so far has not been clear enough.

Chairs have decided quite some time ago that this Group should be as  
open as possible. This is the way it was proposed to the W3C  
Membership [0], and the way it was approved.

Even being so open, W3C, as any other organization, is governed by  
some rules. All of the procedures are documented in the so called "W3C  
Process Document" [1]. Some of the bits may be seen as trivial (eg:  
agenda should be available 24 hours before a call) and other seen as  
of the highest importance (eg: those related to decisions, consensus  
or the W3C Patent Policy [2]).

If you have time and interest, you might go through those documents to  
learn how W3C works but I'm here to help with all that administrative  
stuff (as Team contact).

The Process Document also documents participation in Groups at W3C  
[3]. I took from there the relevant bits and put it all together in  
the Group participation page at [4]. I have tried to detail the  
available options to participate there. If the information there is  
not clear enough or you need more info, just let me know.

Subscribing to the mailing list does not make you a official  
participant of the eGov IG.
Meetings and Teleconferences are intended for Group participants only.
If you want to become a Group participant, please read there or send  
me/the list questions about it. there's more about meetings in the  
Wiki [5].

Organizations with strong interest in this area and the outcome,  
should consider the W3C Membership option [6]. Another option detailed  
there for non Members is what we call the Invited Expert. We already  
have some in the Group (see participants at [7]) that entitles you to  
participate as an individual with expertise in this area and time to  
be actively engaged in the Group's work.

We have avoided so far having two mailing lists and different places  
to host the information. We could have a different mailing list for  
Group participants and Web space where we could host information only  
intended for Group participants (teleconferences, face to face  
meetings, drafts of documents, etc.), and I'd like to hear opinions  
about it, although it's probably early to say.

I hope Group participants could say (or discuss today during the call)  
how much "public" should mean public, and I'd like to hear from list  
subscribers if they'd prefer not to be annoyed by small bits of  
probably not very useful information for them from time to time, in  
the name of openness and keeping up with detail with the Group's work.

Best,
Jose.


[0] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Member/List
[1] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/
[2] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy
[3] http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/groups.html#group-participation
[4] http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/participation
[5] http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/IG/wiki/
[6] http://www.w3.org/Consortium/membership
[7] http://www.w3.org/2000/09/dbwg/details?group=42481&public=1

--
Jose M. Alonso <josema@w3.org>    W3C/CTIC
eGovernment Lead                  http://www.w3.org/2007/eGov/

Received on Wednesday, 25 June 2008 11:16:05 UTC