[Asis-standards] Fwd: [NISO tc46ballots] Further to the Ballot about NISO setting up a TAG for JTC1/SC 34

[Mark Needleman]

FYI

Here is a note from Tom Carpenter the Executive Director of NISO answering some questions posed by LC in regard to NISO in regard to one of the outstanding ISO votes I recently sent out about NISO setting up a TAG for JTC1/SC34

It may be relevant to any comments you might have on this issue

Mark

Sent from Mark Needleman's  iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Todd Carpenter <tcarpenter at niso.org>
> Date: October 5, 2017 at 4:06:19 PM EDT
> To: tc46ballots at list.niso.org
> Subject: [NISO tc46ballots] Further to the Ballot about NISO setting up a TAG for JTC1/SC 34
> 
> Below is an email I received from John Zagas at the Library of Congress asking some questions relevant to the open ballot regarding establishment of a US TAG to return the United States to P-Member status for JTC1/SC34.  Also included is my response to his questions. These might be relevant to your organization’s thoughts on this ballot.  
> 
> As always, if anyone has a question about this, or any other ballot, please email me.
> 
> With kindest regards,
> 
> Todd Carpenter
> 
> ------
> 
>> Dear NISO,
>>  
>> We received a ballot (below) for approving NISO activity with respect to ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 yesterday with a 5 work day turnaround for the response.  We have some questions that will help us decide how to vote on this.  We would have expected such a ballot to be accompanied by a projected cost analysis..  What would be the costs that NISO would have to support?   Would ANSI charge NISO a fee for this participation and if so how much?  Would NISO be expected to support travel for NISO staff or the TAG members to attend meetings?  How many subgroups does the committee have?  How often do they meet?  Where, generally? Are there any funders who would take on the extra cost?
>>  
>> Could we please obtain this information?  Perhaps you would also want to share it with all the NISO members who are voting.
>>  
>> Thank you very much.
>>  
>> John Zagas
>>  
>> Library of Congress
>> Network Development & MARC Standards Office
>> 101 Independence Ave., S.E.
>> Washington, DC  20540-4402
>> USA
> 
> 
> John,
> 
> Thank you for your note and for your thoughtful questions.  Below are responses to each of your questions.
> 
> First, regarding the costs, because NISO already maintains TAGs for 6 ISO Technical Committees (TC 46, TC46/SC 4, 8, 9, 10 & 11) adding a 7th US TAG would only cost NISO an additional $690. If NISO had not already had an infrastructure for being an ANSI TAG, the costs would be significantly higher.  NISO already supports ANSI ISO fees of more than $20,000 per year for representing US interests in the area of TC46.  There is also a one-time application fee to assume the US TAG.
> 
> In the short term, NISO is utilizing a consultant to manage ISO balloting. However, during the Board meeting last week, there was a robust conversation about who should be responsible for the editing, review and ballot organization of NISO’s ISO work. We are currently reviewing our staffing and expect to be hiring NISO staff and reassigning responsibilities following the departure of some of the NISO staff this fall.  Management of ISO work is an important element of our work and we are committed to fully supporting US representation to ISO both within TC46 and if expanded to include JTC1/SC34 as well.  The management of JTC1/SC 34 balloting and the management of another ISO TAG is not projected to be a significant burden on staff time.  NISO will not be adding to the total staff headcount to manage the additional TAG, should it be approved.
> 
> JTC 1/SC 34 meets twice per year for plenary meetings. In all likelihood, US representation would be needed at these meetings, although that does not necessarily have to be NISO staff.  I expect that NISO staff may attend one plenary meeting per year in person, which can easily be accommodated by realigning NISO’s travel priorities if necessary.  However, with the WebEx functionality that ISO has adopted, every meeting is accessible through virtual participation and we expect more will take advantage of this service.
> 
> There are also a number of US companies that have been engaged in or have been interested in participating in JTC1/SC 34 work. We expect participation from those companies to continue under the auspices of a NISO-managed TAG.  Participating organizations in this work, as always, will have to fund their own travel to attend in-person meetings.  
> 
> The complete list of JTC1/SC34 working groups are available here: https://www.iso.org/committee/45374/x/catalogue/p/0/u/1/w/0/d/0
> 
> There are at present 5 working groups under JTC 1/SC 34, again listed on the ISO website, but also copied below: https://www.iso.org/committee/45374.html
> Reference	Title	Type
> ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/AG 1 	Forward planning	Working group
> ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/JWG 7 	Joint JTC 1/SC 34-TC 46/SC 4-IEC/TC 100/TA 10 WG: EPUB	Working group
> ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 4 	Office Open XML	Working group
> ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 6 	OpenDocument Format	Working group
> ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 8 	Document processing and presentation	Working group
> 
> 
> There are regular meetings of these subgroups.  One can look through the N-documents on the ISO livelink server to get a sense of the pace of meetings: http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=8913984&objAction=browse&viewType=1
> 
> Most of these meetings, like most standards development activities take place via teleconference.  In-person meetings are only occasional, just as they are with TC46 work.
> 
> Given the modest direct impact on NISO’s costs, there are not identified “funders” as you ask. However, we do anticipate that several new member organizations will consider joining NISO to continue their participation in JTC1/SC34 activities.  INCITS did have a number of members engaged in this work and those participating organizations, I presume, will still wish to engage in this work. If NISO assumes this responsibility, NISO will of course be recruiting those members to engage or re-engage with NISO, since many had been NISO members at one point or another.  Growth of the scope, breadth, engagement, and participation in NISO is and has always been envisioned as the primary driver of new NISO resources.  
> 
> We have over the years had great success in building our membership--now more than 225 members--, in building our services--through our educational programs that generate more than $100,000 per year--, and through pursuit of grant funding—that has brought in more than $1,3000,000 over the past decade--to support our work. The Board of Directors have been very mindful of not turning to our existing membership base to add significantly to their direct costs of participating in NISO’s activities, despite our growing footprint in the community.  The Board is committed to this as we consider this new opportunity to serve the community.
> 
> 
> If you have additional questions or concerns, I am happy to respond to any questions you may have.
> 
> With kindest regards,
> 
> Todd
> 
> 
>> 
> 
> 
> ==================================
> Todd A. Carpenter
> Executive Director
> National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
> tcarpenter at niso.org
> 
-------------- next part --------------

   FYI

   Here is a note from Tom Carpenter the Executive Director of NISO answering
   some  questions  posed by LC in regard to NISO in regard to one of the
   outstanding ISO votes I recently sent out about NISO setting up a TAG for
   JTC1/SC34

   It may be relevant to any comments you might have on this issue

   Mark
   Sent from Mark Needleman's  iPhone
   Begin forwarded message:

   From: Todd Carpenter <[1]tcarpenter at niso.org>
   Date: October 5, 2017 at 4:06:19 PM EDT
   To: [2]tc46ballots at list.niso.org
   Subject: [NISO tc46ballots] Further to the Ballot about NISO setting up a
   TAG for JTC1/SC 34

   Below is an email I received from John Zagas at the Library of Congress
   asking some questions relevant to the open ballot regarding establishment of
   a US TAG to return the United States to P-Member status for JTC1/SC34.  Also
   included is my response to his questions. These might be relevant to your
   organization’s thoughts on this ballot.

   As always, if anyone has a question about this, or any other ballot, please
   email me.

   With kindest regards,

   Todd Carpenter

   ------

   Dear NISO,

   We received a ballot (below) for approving NISO activity with respect to
   ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 yesterday with a 5 work day turnaround for the response.
   We have some questions that will help us decide how to vote on this.  We
   would have expected such a ballot to be accompanied by a projected cost
   analysis.  What would be the costs that NISO would have to support?   Would
   ANSI charge NISO a fee for this participation and if so how much?  Would
   NISO be expected to support travel for NISO staff or the TAG members to
   attend meetings?  How many subgroups does the committee have?  How often do
   they meet?  Where, generally? Are there any funders who would take on the
   extra cost?

   Could we please obtain this information?  Perhaps you would also want to
   share it with all the NISO members who are voting.

   Thank you very much.

   John Zagas

   Library of Congress
   Network Development & MARC Standards Office
   101 Independence Ave., S..E.
   Washington, DC  20540-4402
   USA

     John,

   Thank  you for your note and for your thoughtful questions.  Below are
   responses to each of your questions.

   First, regarding the costs, because NISO already maintains TAGs for 6 ISO
   Technical Committees (TC 46, TC46/SC 4, 8, 9, 10 & 11) adding a 7th US TAG
   would only cost NISO an additional $690. If NISO had not already had an
   infrastructure for being an ANSI TAG, the costs would be significantly
   higher.  NISO already supports ANSI ISO fees of more than $20,000 per year
   for representing US interests in the area of TC46.  There is also a one-time
   application fee to assume the US TAG.

   In the short term, NISO is utilizing a consultant to manage ISO balloting.
   However, during the Board meeting last week, there was a robust conversation
   about  who  should  be  responsible for the editing, review and ballot
   organization of NISO’s ISO work. We are currently reviewing our staffing and
   expect to be hiring NISO staff and reassigning responsibilities following
   the departure of some of the NISO staff this fall.  Management of ISO work
   is an important element of our work and we are committed to fully supporting
   US  representation  to ISO both within TC46 and if expanded to include
   JTC1/SC34  as  well.   The  management of JTC1/SC 34 balloting and the
   management of another ISO TAG is not projected to be a significant burden on
   staff time.  NISO will not be adding to the total staff headcount to manage
   the additional TAG, should it be approved.

   JTC 1/SC 34 meets twice per year for plenary meetings. In all likelihood, US
   representation would be needed at these meetings, although that does not
   necessarily have to be NISO staff.  I expect that NISO staff may attend one
   plenary meeting per year in person, which can easily be accommodated by
   realigning NISO’s travel priorities if necessary.  However, with the WebEx
   functionality that ISO has adopted, every meeting is accessible through
   virtual  participation  and we expect more will take advantage of this
   service.

   There are also a number of US companies that have been engaged in or have
   been interested in participating in JTC1/SC 34 work. We expect participation
   from those companies to continue under the auspices of a NISO-managed TAG.
   Participating organizations in this work, as always, will have to fund their
   own travel to attend in-person meetings.

   The   complete   list   of  JTC1/SC34  working  groups  are  available
   here: [3]https://www.iso.org/committee/45374/x/catalogue/p/0/u/1/w/0/d/0

   There are at present 5 working groups under JTC 1/SC 34, again listed on the
   ISO website, but also copied
   below: [4]https://www.iso.org/committee/45374.html

   Reference Title Type
   ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/AG 1  Forward planning Working group
   ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/JWG 7  Joint JTC 1/SC 34-TC 46/SC 4-IEC/TC 100/TA 10 WG:
   EPUB Working group
   ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 4  Office Open XML Working group
   ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 6  OpenDocument Format Working group
   ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34/WG 8  Document processing and presentation Working group

   There are regular meetings of these subgroups.  One can look through the
   N-documents  on  the ISO livelink server to get a sense of the pace of
   meetings: [5]http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=8913984&ob
   jAction=browse&viewType=1

   Most of these meetings, like most standards development activities take
   place via teleconference.  In-person meetings are only occasional, just as
   they are with TC46 work..

   Given the modest direct impact on NISO’s costs, there are not identified
   “funders” as you ask. However, we do anticipate that several new member
   organizations will consider joining NISO to continue their participation in
   JTC1/SC34 activities.  INCITS did have a number of members engaged in this
   work and those participating organizations, I presume, will still wish to
   engage in this work. If NISO assumes this responsibility, NISO will of
   course be recruiting those members to engage or re-engage with NISO, since
   many had been NISO members at one point or another.  Growth of the scope,
   breadth,  engagement, and participation in NISO is and has always been
   envisioned as the primary driver of new NISO resources.

   We have over the years had great success in building our membership--now
   more than 225 members--, in building our services--through our educational
   programs that generate more than $100,000 per year--, and through pursuit of
   grant  funding—that has brought in more than $1,3000,000 over the past
   decade--to support our work. The Board of Directors have been very mindful
   of not turning to our existing membership base to add significantly to their
   direct costs of participating in NISO’s activities, despite our growing
   footprint in the community.  The Board is committed to this as we consider
   this new opportunity to serve the community.

   If you have additional questions or concerns, I am happy to respond to any
   questions you may have.

   With kindest regards,

   Todd

   ==================================
   Todd A. Carpenter
   Executive Director
   National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
   [6]tcarpenter at niso.org

References

   1. mailto:tcarpenter at niso.org
   2. mailto:tc46ballots at list..niso.org
   3. https://www.iso.org/committee/45374/x/catalogue/p/0/u/1/w/0/d/0
   4. https://www.iso.org/committee/45374.html
   5. http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink?func=ll&objId=8913984&objAction=browse&viewType=1
   6. mailto:tcarpenter at niso.org