[Internals] FIG 3.0 Implementation and Transition Timetable; Core Committee Elections
Michael Cullum
Hi all,
The FIG 3.0 vote ended yesterday evening in what will mark a significant event in the FIG’s history, this is a time for us all to come together, and work together, to pursue the common aims of this group which we now define in our bylaws, and put aside political differences of past months.
We [the secretaries] have come up with a draft timetable for the implementation of FIG 3.0 as per part of FIG 3.0, the 100-implementation bylaw[1]. If anyone has any objections to what is below, please do air them and we can always adjust as needed.
In order to give people a chance to consider if they wish to run for the Core Committee, nominations and the CC election will not happen in October but in November.
All member projects according to the bylaw must re-declare their intent to remain member projects within 30 days
We shall switch entirely into FIG 3.0 on the 1st January 2017, by which point we should also have a voting system/app in place. This gives WGs time to form themselves with a new CC sponsor.
There are some existing PSRs that it makes sense to finish up before FIG 3.0 is implemented so they need not form a new working group when they are essentially done. These existing PSRs can go through the old workflow bylaw so long as their approval votes start before the end of the year.
PSRs will continue to be led by their current editors. As the old sponsor and coordinator roles are eliminated those currently serving as sponsor or coordinator have the option of moving to the new working group. It is up to the Editor to find a CC sponsor (who may or may not be one of the current sponsors). This applies only to PSRs that have not begun an acceptance vote by 1 January.
Formal Timetable (All times UTC, all deadlines/closings are 23:59 UTC)
1st October: Beginning of period for member projects to declare intentions to remain
31st October: Deadline for projects to declare intentions to remain
1st November: CC Nominations open
10th November: CC Nominations close
11th November: CC Election voting begins
25th November: CC voting ends
26th November: CC results announced
27th November: CC takes post
16th December: Recommended date for PSRs to have working groups fully formed with a CC sponsor
17th December: Latest date for any FIG 2.0 votes to start except acceptance votes
17th December: Latest date for any PSRs to enter review under the old system
31st December: Latest date for any PSRs to start approval votes under the old system
31st December: Final deadline for PSRs to have full working groups formed with a CC sponsor
1st January: All votes and actions take place under new system; full transition
14th January: Latest possible date for any FIG 2.0 approval votes to have finished by
31st January: Deadline for any PSRs which entered review before the 17th December to form a Working Group with a CC sponsor if they failed their approval vote/didn’t get to their approval vote in time
May 2017: Next Secretary and CC election
Finally, there is a general strong recommendation that whilst PSR approval or Errata votes might take place over the next three months, we’d strongly recommend waiting for the new structure to be implemented on the 1st January before any other kind of vote takes place. We are now in an odd kind of limbo state and membership votes, changes to FIG 3.0 and other parts of bylaws or entrance votes might be best to wait until the new structure is in place; especially seeing as the bylaws have changed how these votes actually take place and the voting franchise, but those people are not entirely yet in place to vote on those things. This isn’t a rule, it's not in the bylaws and Secretaries don't have the power to stop votes, we are simply recommending holding off on such votes to avoid confusion over who should be voting on the different measures and debate on such issues.
The next few months will be quite busy, both in terms of PSR activity and our own internal transitioning to the new structure but we urge everyone to try and make this process as easy and smooth as possible. The PHP community and all of your respective communities you represent are watching us; and they don’t want a mess either. Let’s come together and work together.
Many thanks,
The Secretaries
[1]: https://github.com/michaelcullum/fig-standards/blob/fig3.0/bylaws/100-implementation.md
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success” - Henry Ford