Re: Planning to close Biomass Open Origin Standard for Tracking (BOOST) Community Group due to inactivity unless we hear from you

Hi Peter,

Thank you for the updates.  I have added a link to the repo from the group’s list of tools.

A couple of notes:

* Could your rename your GitHub so that it doesn’t have “Working Group” in the name? That is likely to create confusion.
* Please don’t refer to this work as a “standard”; community groups do not create standards. I realize this create a challenge
  because the “S” in BOOST is for standard. However in your GitHub repo you have

   "The standard supports transparent, verifiable, and consistent data exchange to enable sustainability, regulatory compliance, and supply chain integrity.:

  Please change instances of “standard” to another word like “Technology.”

The use of “standard” here is similarly a source of concern and confusion:

 "We are pursuing formal W3C specification status.  The standard is moving
from the current Community Group Draft stage toward a Community Group Report,
with the aim of establishing it as the reference standard for biomass
traceability across California's compliance programs (LCFS, BioRAM, BioMAT)
and, we hope, beyond. We are not currently planning to transition to a W3C
Working Group; the Community Group structure fits our multi-agency and
multi-jurisdiction participation model.”

Community Group reports are not part of W3C’s formal agenda (defined by Working Groups and Interest Groups).

Please confirm that you will remove usage of the word “standard” from your community group materials,
including GitHub repos.

Thank you,

Ian


> On Apr 4, 2026, at 6:12 PM, Peter Tittmann <peter@arbos.bio> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for the check-in. The BOOST Community Group is active — the mailing
> list traffic just doesn't reflect the full picture of what's happening.
> Most collaboration runs through GitHub and our interagency working group
> meetings.
> 
> Is the group publishing any Specifications?
> 
> Yes. BOOST v3.4.x is in active use as a schema-driven data standard with
> 36-entity coverage for biomass chain-of-custody traceability. We publish
> from the group's GitHub repository (https://github.com/BOOST-Working-Group/BOOST),
> which has had continuous activity throughout 2025–2026. A production
> validation library (Python) has shipped and is in use by partners including
> Veriflux and Loamist.
> 
> What is the group's expectation about future standardization?
> 
> We are pursuing formal W3C specification status. The standard is moving
> from the current Community Group Draft stage toward a Community Group Report,
> with the aim of establishing it as the reference standard for biomass
> traceability across California's compliance programs (LCFS, BioRAM, BioMAT)
> and, we hope, beyond. We are not currently planning to transition to a W3C
> Working Group; the Community Group structure fits our multi-agency and
> multi-jurisdiction participation model.
> 
> Where is the activity happening?
> 
> - GitHub: https://github.com/BOOST-Working-Group/BOOST (primary — issues,
> PRs, schema evolution, reference implementation)
> - Monthly interagency working group meetings (California: CARB, LCI, CPUC,
> Board of Forestry, CEC, plus UC Berkeley, Loamist, Veriflux, Scale
> Capacity Inc.)
> - Active California state funding through 2028: two new contracts executing
> Q2 2026 (LCI continuation + Board of Forestry Joint Institute grant),
> bringing total California investment in BOOST to ~$550K since 2024
> 
> I will update the group home page with a current status summary and news
> of recent activity within the next week. Please keep the group open.
> 
> Happy to discuss further if useful.
> 
> Best,
> Peter Tittmann, PhD
> Chair, W3C BOOST Community Group
> 
> --
> Peter Tittmann, PhD
> Founder and Principal Consultant @ Arbos
> +1 (707) 849 4135
> arbos.bio
> Booking calendar

--
Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
https://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
Tel: +1 917 450 8783

Received on Sunday, 5 April 2026 15:42:47 UTC