BUSINESS MEETING MINUTES, ONLINE, DECEMBER 08, 2021

IFIP WG 8.2 Business Meeting 2021
December 08, 2021, starting at 22:00 UTC
Meeting minutes

1. WELCOME
Matthew JONES and Benjamin MUELLER welcomed Members, Friends and Guests to the WG’s virtual business meeting.

2. APOLOGIES
Matthew JONES shared the apologies of Eija KARSTEN (outgoing chair) who was unable to attend the meeting.

3. OFFICER TERMS AND ELECTIONS
The current term of the WG officers, Eija KARSTEN (outgoing chair), Matthew JONES (outgoing vice-chair) and Benjamin MUELLER (outgoing secretary), expires in December 2021. Following elections in October 2021, Matthew JONES was elected as Chair, Benjamin MUELLER as Vice Chair and Yeliz ESERYEL as Secretary for a three-year term. Matthew JONES noted that the election result had been close and thanked both candidates (Yeliz ESERYEL and Pamela ABBOTT) for their willingness to stand. Yeliz ESERYEL was congratulated on her election and introduced herself.

4. ATTENDEES AND MEMBERSHIP ISSUES (16 participants)
Attendance was determined by taking note of the names of participants of the Zoom call (see list below).
Matthew JONES explained the procedure for becoming a member (attendance at 2 of the past 3 Business Meetings i.e. San Francisco, Munich and last year’s virtual meeting).
Polyxenia VASILAKOPOULOU and Arto LANAMÄKI indicated that they fulfilled the requirements for full membership (confirmed by the secretary) and applied for membership. The application was passed. Matthew JONES welcomed Polyxeni VASILAKOPOULOU and Arto LANAMÄKI to WG 8.2.
Gamila SHOIB and Brenda KILLINGSWORTH were welcomed as friends and invited to register on the 8.2 website.
Both results passed unanimously among the members present.

5. WG’s MEDIA STRATEGY
Benjamin MUELLER reported on progress with setting up a presence for the WG on LinkedIn. The working group is now represented by a group on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9085108/
All members are invited to join the group, all friends and interested parties are invited to follow the group.
In accordance with last year’s discussion, the group is intended to (a) help showcase members’ work that resonates with the working group’s profile and mission, (b) advertise working group events to members and beyond, and (c) serve as an open communication channel toward the membership. Benjamin MUELLER explained that in addition to the group, members are also encouraged to use the hashtag #WG82 to tag relevant posts for the channel.
Discussion among the members present encouraged the officers to leverage the newly laid foundations to develop a media and content strategy to bring the channel to life. Eleanor WYNN asked if we could have a Facebook group as well. Yeliz ESERYEL suggested that she could start and manage such a group. Matthew JONES suggested that the officers will look into it and report back at the next business meeting.

6. REPORTS ON PAST EVENTS
Matthew JONES noted that the Virtual Joint Working Conference (with WG 9.1 and 9.4) had been reported at the last Business Meeting. This event had broken even and IFIP dues had been settled.
Because of continuing Covid-related uncertainty it had been decided to hold an exceptional, virtual workshop in 2021 to contribute to the IFIP Jubilee celebrations, marking 60 years since the founding of IFIP. The event comprised a panel of 4 speakers (Eric MONTEIRO, Susan SCOTT, Dirk HOVORKA and Matthew JONES) who were invited to present their views on
a. the role of WG 8.2 in the community thus far
b. 2-3 fields / themes that the WG should engage with in future
c. How the WG can contribute to IFIP’s mission overall
The panel was advertised beyond the WG8.2 community and attracted over 30 participants during peak attendance.
The panel was followed by a workshop for 8.2 members to discuss how to take forward the themes identified by the panelists, as well as other themes sparked by the discussion. Members were divided into 4 breakout groups, facilitated by the panelists, and reported back to a plenary discussion. 27 members and friends participated in the workshop.
The output from the workshop will be used to inform the planning of future events.
This event, too, broke even and registration revenues will be sufficient to cover the IFIP dues.

7. FUTURE EVENTS
Matthew JONES discussed the lineup of future events. Current planning suggests that the group hosts: (a) an OASIS workshop in conjunction with ICIS 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark; and (b) a Joint Working Conference (with WG9.1 and WG9.4) in conjunction with ICIS 2023 in Hyderabad, India.
Members engaged in discussions regarding the timing of the working group’s major events, especially regarding the pro’s and con’s of summer events vs. aligning the main events with ICIS. The discussion supported keeping the current line up and frequency.
Benjamin MUELLER proposed that lessons learned from the last two years suggest that virtual events could be an important part of the group’s efforts to reach out to new members especially in current geographical areas not well represented among the membership. Ulrike SCHULTZE and Eleanor WYNN agreed.
In connection with the issue of hybrid / virtual events, the group discussed whether other event formats, especially virtual ones, could further complement the group’s event schedule. The officers called on the membership to propose any ideas and volunteer to bring these ideas to life.

8. OTHER BUSINESS
No other business was raised by the attendees.