BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES, ONLINE, DECEMBER 17, 2020
1. WELCOME
Matthew JONES (vice chair) and Benjamin MUELLER (secretary) welcomed Members, Friends and Guests to the WG’s first virtual business meeting. Attendees were guided through virtual networking activities to support group building.
2. APOLOGIES
Matthew JONES shared the apologies of Eija KARSTEN (chair) who was unable to attend the meeting.
3. OFFICER TERMS AND ELECTIONS
The current officers are Eija KARSTEN (Chair), Matthew JONES (Vice Chair) and Benjamin MUELLER (Secretary). The normal term of office is 3 years in each role. Eija KARSTEN is therefore intending to continue as Chair until the end of 2021 and elections will be needed in the second half of 2021.
The attending officers explained the election and voting and that a newly elected officer would join the officers’ team as a secretary (target date December 2021 business meeting).
The working group encourages volunteer applicants that will increase the officer team’s diversity.
Expressions of interest are encouraged and volunteers are asked to contact the current secretary by e-mail.
4. ATTENDEES AND MEMBERSHIP ISSUES 10 + 2 officers (out of 20 registrants)
Attendance was determined based on prior registration to the meeting as well as by taking note of the names of participants of the Zoom call.
Matthew JONES explained the procedure for becoming a member (attendance at 2 of the past 3 Business Meetings i.e. Seoul, San Francisco, and Munich). Matthew JONES asked first time attendees to sign up for an account on WG8.2’s homepage.
Markus ZIMMER indicated that he fulfills the requirements for full membership (confirmed by the secretary) and applied for membership. The application was passed 8:0 (two abstentions). Matthew JONES welcomed Markus ZIMMER to WG 8.2.
5. WG’s MEDIA STRATEGY
Benjamin MUELLER shared an analysis made by the officers that WG 8.2 has a limited online presence and visibility beyond the group’s website (which is mostly used for administrative purposes). As a result, group’s mission, members’ work, and group’s contributions (to IFIP and beyond) are not portrayed well.
This was found to be in stark contrast to the increasing presence and activity of group members of social media platforms (esp. linkedIN, ResearchGate, academia.edu).
Benjamin MUELLER suggested that the group should begin to build up and promote a visible online presence. Specifically, a linkedIN site / group is proposed as a prototype (to investigate how the site / group can be linked to members, how members can contribute content easily, and how membership is maintained / managed effectively) along with a survey among members regarding support for the idea and input for its development.
Michael MYERS, Susan SCOTT, Eric MONTEIRO, and Markus ZIMMER expressed support for the idea. The group discussed whether the proposed survey is needed and suggested that a respective linkedIN presence should be built up. The secretary was asked to report back to the business meeting next year.
6. REPORTS ON PAST EVENTS
Matthew JONES expanded on the previous year’s report on the OASIS 2019 workshop in Munich. A total of 49 participants had joined the workshop, which attracted 11 long and 11 short papers. The workshop also hosted a panel discussion on “Post-Digitalization,” a report on which was forthcoming in CAIS.
Arumina MUKHERJEE reported on the virtual Joint Working Conference hosted by IFIP WGs 8.2, 9.1, and 9.4. A total of 108 participants joined the conference which attracted 29 full papers (26 accepted) and 52 short papers (48 accepted). Further reports covered additional organizational details such as the fee structure for registrants to participate in the virtual event and the event’s financials.
Participating officers and members shared their appreciation of the organizing committee’s work and their thanks for the outstanding commitment they had shown in exceptional circumstances.
Matthew JONES shared that the deposit made for the conference venue this year was non-refundable. The conference venue has however offered to translate most of this into a down payment for another event to be hosted when ICIS returns to India in 2023. The form of WG8.2’s participation in this event would need to be decided.
Eric MONTEIRO observed, that WG 8.2’s membership was under-represented at the virtual JWC this year. Participants discussed the matter and suggested that future organizing committees should specifically reflect on encouraging participation among 8.2 members.
7. FUTURE EVENTS
Matthew JONES discussed the lineup of current events. Current planning suggests that the group hosts: (a) an OASIS workshop in conjunction with ICIS 2021 in Austin, TX, USA; (b) an event in conjunction with ICIS 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark; and (c) the aforementioned possible JWC in conjunction with ICIS 2021 in Hyderabad, India.
Susan SCOTT and Michael MYERS highlighted the need for local support and encouraged organizing committee volunteers for future events to reach out to and involve local members in or near the ICIS host city.
Matthew JONES raised the possibility of making the 2022 event in Copenhagen an OASIS workshop, rather than a Working Conference in order not to cannibalize the potential Joint Working Conference in 2023, but this would change the normal pattern of alternating workshops and conferences. There was discussion of whether attendance at (and local support for) a conference in Copenhagen might be stronger than for a conference in Hyderabad. It was agreed to revisit the question at the Austin business meeting.
The participants approve the list of proposed future events.
Matthew JONES concludes the meeting and thanks all participants for their time and contributions.