Dear friends, TC members,
A year ago I
accepted the election as chair of this committee. After the start I did a few
proposals to change the modus operandi of the TC.
In general:
organising at least three face to face meetings a year, at least one TC
conference call a month and a more clear working agenda.
Next to that I
expected the non government members to contribute more to this committee.
At the time we got
into a short discussion on the role of this TC.
The general
outcomes:
Almost no
agreement on having face to face meetings : Too costly
No one was willing
or able to pay for teleconference lines or communication
costs
Industry members
perceived this TC as a group of government officials who make clear what they
want and industry is listening.
I was of course
disappointed about this for a couple of reasons:
There is a lot of
knowledge to share between industry and governments but as we say in my country
:love has to come from both sides.
Just a few actors and the rest
lurkers simply does not work. Working within OASIS means per say that industry
plays a heavy role. If government representatives want to talk among each other
there are more and perhaps better organisations to do this
in.
Next to that if a TC
takes itself serious it has to produce work. If a TC wants to be heard it means
hard work and also making costs. A TC is more than a mailing
group.
I promised the TC to
organise a couple of informal regional sessions. One during the OASIS forum in
London (3 members), One in Washington (3 members), One in Canberra,
Australia (2 members). All participants except one where government
officials.
In this meetings
members did want a new start but had not enough time and resources to pull this
TC
My conclusion at
this moment. Although there is interest, there is no support for a active
working E-gov TC anymore. And I am not the person able to make it
work.
Currently I am in
charge of a lot of projects in my own government and I have my activities in the
Tax-xml TC as well. Although industry support in that TC is minimal as well,
there is a firm basis and that TC is working.
So, I must admit (a
little disappointed) that I could not make it happen, I have decided to leave
this TC. I hope and expect that a later date E government interoperability
issues will make a E-gov TC worthwhile. At that time I will be happy to make a
contribution is any form.
Kind regards,
Harm Jan van
Burg
Netherlands Ministry of
Finance
Directorate-General of the Tax and Customs
Administration
office + 31 70 342
8522
mobile +31 6 23943759"