OASIS FOREST INDUSTRIES TC
MINUTE OF MEETING HELD ON 12TH AUGUST 2008-08-13
PRESENT:
Chris Inglis Confor Chair
Roger Coppock Forestry Commission Secretary
Steve Atkins Forestry Commission
Ben Ditchburn Forestry Commission
Bill Allison BSW Timber
Ian logan Straker Systems Ltd
1. eFIDS to OASIS standard
Bill had raised the issue of getting Oasis to formally ratify the eFIDS standard, as this will help market presence and speed up the utilisation of the standard within the forest industry. Once the standard is acreditted it can be put to the Timber Trades Federation to encourage adoption by their members. Before it can be ratified and acreditted, there are a few hoops to go through. Steve and Bill will speak to Mary MacRae to discuss the process, and initiate the steps to kick things off. Any serious issues will come back to the TC first. Action Steve & Bill.
2. The descriptive documentation needs to have references to the schema embedded before it is published. The schema has been sent for publishing to Oasis, but thisd has not yet been done. Roger will chase up. Ian will add the references opnce known, and will produce an open office document for uploading to the TC page. Action Roger & Ian.
3. Following some discussion about the use of code lists in eFIDS, it was agreed to update the FAQs to include how these are used within the standard. Steve will draft copy for comment. Roger to arrange for uploading. Action Steve and Roger.
4. Once the standard has been adopted by OASIS, a launch will be made through the trade press.
5. Roger raised the issue of admin support for the TC, indicating that he would like to step down as secretary due to pressures of other work. Following discussion with Confor, Chris agreed that as long as funding was made available, then Confor should be able to support this, and take on the role. Roger will continue to support the group until the new arrangements are put in place. Action Chris/Roger
6. AOB. Ben provided a short update on progress with the GIS data standard, and explained how it is being embedded in work by the country grants and Licences team, and by the private sector production forecast working group.
7. Steve raised the need for a survey of business accounting systems used by FI businesses to determine what plug ins for the standard might be needed. Roger agreed to raise the matter at the next e-business forum meeting in October, and see if funding for a survey could be made available.
8. The date for the next meeting was set for the 30th October, after the EBF meeting at Stirling.