Re: Draft XG Charter

Paul -

 I have become aware that there is something of a distinction between what
> might be termed the domestic emergency management agencies and the
> international response agencies.
>

Well, I that distinction indeed exists and its good your a pointing it out

National vs International is important, the first level of which is LANGUAGE
for non English speaking countries, it is obvious that what we are doing
concerns the international dimension (otherwise things would be discussed
locally in their language instead of on a 'world' list)

Considering that we are working in English,  there is no question that our
work is currently focussing on the 'international' dimension, and the layers
thereof that interface with the 'national level'

Obviously there is a lot of overlap and interplay between their activities
> at the national level, but it might be worth identifying this distinction
> within the XG Charter and expanding upon it in the reports.
>

Modelling the 'nationality' dimension will inevitably touch upon the
following factors>

language
regional issues
religion
culture
etchincal background
geography
logistics
national security
defense
politics
internal conflicts
(more)

maybe a long term goal?


This will avoid any misunderstandings if there is a particular focus one way
> or the other, and help with this group's approach to both of those other
> groups of organisations?
>

It is pretty clear to me that the focus of our charter is creating and
supporting interoperability
at international level, although cohesion is likely to trickle down and
refect further in the long term - but maybe you are right, for the English
speaking countries this may not be obvious?

If we all agree on this point, it may be worth adding a sentence or a
phrase, as per your suggestion, to clarify that dimension


Paola Di Maio

Renato Iannella wrote:
>
>
>  Hi all - any last comments on the draft XG Charter?
>  PDF version here <http://esw.w3.org/topic/DisasterManagement?
> action=AttachFile&do=get&target=eiif-charter-02.pdf>
>
>  HTML version attached.
>
>   Cheers...  Renato Iannella
> NICTA
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
>    - Scope <#1144060ddfde6e18_scope>
>    - Deliverables <#1144060ddfde6e18_deliverables>
>    - Dependencies <#1144060ddfde6e18_coordination>
>    - Participation <#1144060ddfde6e18_participation>
>    - Communication <#1144060ddfde6e18_communication>
>    - Decision Policy <#1144060ddfde6e18_decisions>
>    - Patent Policy <#1144060ddfde6e18_patentpolicy>
>    - Additional Information <#1144060ddfde6e18_additional>
>    - About this Charter <#1144060ddfde6e18_about>
>
> [image: W3C] <http://www.w3.org/> [image: Incubator Activity]<http://2005/Incubator/>
> Emergency Information Interoperability Framework Incubator Group Charter DRAFT
> - Do Not Disseminate outside this group - DRAFT This is a PROPOSAL ONLY -
> No ENDORSEMENTS implied Mission
>
> The *mission* of the Emergency Information Interoperability Framework
> Incubator Group <http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/eiif/>, part of the Incubator
> Activity <http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/>, is to review the current
> state-of-the-art in vocabularies used in the emergency management sector and
> to investigate the path forward via an emergency management systems
> information interoperability framework. These activities will lay the
> groundwork for a more comprehensive approach to ontology management and
> semantic information interoperability leading to a proposal for future
> longer-term W3C Working Group activity.
>
> Note: The term *Emergency Management* is used holistically and in its
> broadest sense.
>
> Join the Emergency Information Interoperability Framework Incubator Group.
>   End date X August 2008  Confidentiality Proceedings are public
> <http://2005/10/Process-20051014/comm.html#confidentiality-levels>  Initial
> Chairs Renato Iannella, NICTA  Initiating Members
>
>    - National ICT Australia (NICTA) <http://nicta.com.au/>
>    - Google <http://google.com/>
>    - IBM (TBC) <http://ibm.com/>
>
>   Usual Meeting Schedule Teleconferences: Monthly
> Face-to-face: Once/Twice Annually   Scope
>
> The Emergency Management sector encompasses a broad spectrum of the global
> community and covers both short term actions, such as the response to an
> natural hazard, medium-term actions, such as the recovery from such hazards,
> and long-term actions, such as mitigation activities and community
> resilience capacity building. In effect, *everyone* is involved in the
> Emergency Management sector, which makes collaboration and sharing
> information vital.
>
> Information systems can have a tremendous value to help manage the scale
> of the Emergency Management sector operations, from day-to-day mitigation
> and resilience activities to immediate actions when a disaster strikes. Each
> stakeholder group needs to understand the vocabulary of others, and exchange
> information in common formats, to support data integration for critical
> decision making.
>
> The types of functions and roles supported by the Emergency Management
> sector include:
>
>    - Early warning services to the public
>    - Resilience networks of local services and groups performing crisis
>    functions
>    - Situational awareness of emergency risks and crisis planning
>    - Rapid damage assessment of areas and critical infrastructure
>    - Missing and displaced people management
>    - Coordination of relief organizations roles and responsibilities
>    - Managing relief logistics
>
> In essence, this XG aims to encourage the Emergency Management sector to
> move towards the adoption of compatible information systems before any
> disaster and therefore to develop the capacity and capability of strategic
> long-term local Emergency Management and short-term relief operations.
>  Success Criteria
>
> The XG will prove successful if, in addition to the Deliverables, it will:
>
>    - encourage collaboration between experts, local authorities, relief
>    specialists and non-governmental agencies,
>    - promote the development of common standards and protocols for
>    coordinating information gathered in anticipation of potential risks, and
>    - highlight best practices in simplifying the exchange of
>    information across the sector.
>
>
>  Deliverables
>
> This XG will develop three specific outcomes.
>
>    - XG Report on the current state-of-the-art of vocabularies and
>    terminologies used in the Emergency Management sector. This will present a
>    categorised snap-shot of the sector's ontology usage and development plans.
>    - XG Report on an interoperability information framework for the
>    Emergency Management sector. This will provide a reference model for
>    information interoperability across the sector.
>    - Final XG Report with recommendations for future activities.
>
>  Dependencies
>
> While the XG will not have any direct dependencies, there are a number of
> related efforts with which it intends to maintain close communications.  The
> XG intends to collect and categorize numerous Emergency Management related
> vocabularies and in the process will gain a comprehensive picture of the key
> stakeholders in this sector. This will include existing standards groups (eg
> OASIS, UN), national emergency management groups, and international
> resilience and relief organisations.  The XG will solicit and welcome input
> from these and other efforts of which we become aware during the duration of
> the XG.
>  Participation
>
> It is envisioned that the XG will teleconference every month at a time
> that provides an adequate compromise over the various time zones of the
> interested participants. Extensive discussion will also be carried out on
> the XG mailing list.  Additionally, it may be useful to have one or two
> face-to-face meetings at a venue for which a significant number of XG
> participants are likely to attend.
>
> Expected participation follows the W3C Process Document discussion of Good
> Standing<http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/process.html#good-standing>
> .
>  Communication
>
> This group primarily conducts its work on the public mailing list
> public-xg-eiif@w3.org (archive<http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-xg-eiif/>)
> .. The group's Member-only list is member-xg-eiif@w3.org (archive<http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Member/member-xg-eiif/>)
>
>
> Information about the group (deliverables, participants, face-to-face
> meetings, teleconferences, etc.) is available from the Emergency
> Information Interoperability Framework Incubator Group home page<http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/eiif/>
> .
>  Decision Policy
>
> As explained in the Process Document (section 3.3<http://Consortium/Process/policies#Consensus>),
> this group will seek to make decisions when there is consensus. When the
> Chair puts a question and observes dissent, after due consideration of
> different opinions, the Chair should record a decision (possibly after a
> formal vote) and any objections, and move on.
>
>    - When deciding a substantive technical issue, the Chair may put a
>    question before the group. The Chair must only do so during a group
>    meeting <http://Consortium/Process/policies.html#GeneralMeetings>,
>    and at least two-thirds of participants in Good Standing<http://Consortium/Process/groups.html#good-standing>must be in attendance. When the Chair conducts a formal
>    vote <http://Consortium/Process/policies#Votes> to reach a decision
>    on a substantive technical issue, eligible voters may vote on a proposal one
>    of three ways: for a proposal, against a proposal, or abstain. For the
>    proposal to pass there must be more votes for the proposal than against. In
>    case of a tie, the Chair will decide the outcome of the proposal.
>    - This charter is written in accordance with Section 3.4, Votes<http://Consortium/Process/policies#Votes>of the W3C Process Document and includes no voting procedures beyond what
>    the Process Document requires.
>
>  Patent Policy
>
> This Incubator Group provides an opportunity to share perspectives on the
> topic addressed by this charter. W3C reminds Incubator Group participants of
> their obligation to comply with patent disclosure obligations as set out in Section
> 6 <http://Consortium/Patent-Policy/#sec-Disclosure> of the W3C Patent
> Policy. While the Incubator Group does not produce Recommendation-track
> documents, when Incubator Group participants review Recommendation-track
> specifications from Working Groups, the patent disclosure obligations do
> apply.
>
> Incubator Groups have as a goal to produce work that can be implemented on
> a Royalty Free basis, as defined in the W3C Patent Policy<http://Consortium/Patent-Policy/>
> .
>
> All Participants in this XG must make a statement that they *Agree* or *Do
> not agree* to the following two commitments:
>
>    - The Participant I represent agrees to offer licenses according to
>    the W3C Royalty-Free licensing requirements described in section 5
>    of the 5 February 2004 W3C Patent Policy<http://Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Requirements>for any portions of the XG Reports produced by this XG that are subsequently
>    incorporated into a W3C Recommendation.
>    - If the Participant joins a W3C Working Group that incorporates
>    into a W3C Recommendation-track document any portions of the XG Reports
>    produced by this XG, the Participant I represent agrees to waive the right
>    in that Working Group to exclude Essential Claims with respect to those
>    portions of the XG Reports.
>
> *Note:* A Participant in this type of XG may change a "Do not agree"
> statement to a "Agree" statement at any time (even after the close of the
> XG). A Participant must not change an "Agree" statement to a "Do not agree"
> statement.
>
> For more information about disclosure obligations for this group, please
> see the W3C Patent Policy Implementation <http://2004/01/pp-impl/>.
>  About this Charter
>
> This charter for the Emergency Information Interoperability Framework
> Incubator Group has been created according to the Incubator Group
> Procedures documentation <http://2005/Incubator/procedures>. In the event
> of a conflict between this document or the provisions of any charter and the
> W3C Process, the W3C Process shall take precedence.
> ------------------------------
>  Renato Iannella
>
> Copyright <http://Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright>(c) 2007 W3C (r) (MIT<http://www.csail.mit.edu/>,
> ERCIM <http://www.ercim.org/> , Keio <http://www.keio.ac.jp/>), All Rights
> Reserved.
>
> $Date: 2007/06/27 $
>
> ------------------------------
>
>
>
> --
> Paul Currion
>
> UK / CELL: + 44 79 46 82 45 46
> UK / LAND: + 44 20 71 93 71 67
> MSN / SKYPE / YAHOO / IRC: paulcurrion
> Web / www.humanitarian.info / www.currion.net
>
>


-- 
Paola Di Maio
School of IT
www.mfu.ac.th
*********************************************