ExCom November 2012

ESIP Federation Executive Committee, November 8, 2012

Participants: Karl Benedict, Ken Keiser, Carol Meyer, Curt Tilmes, Erin Robinson, Annette Schloss, John Scialdone, Sayeed Choudhury, Matt Austin, Steve Berrick, Brian Wilson

Meeting called to order at 2:05 by Karl Benedict

1. Approval of October minutes - Sayeed Choudhury made a motion to adopt the minutes as drafted. The motion was seconded by John Scialdone. Without discussion, the minutes were approved by acclamation.
   
2. Presentation on the Research Data Alliance (http://www.rd-alliance.org/) - Sayeed Choudhury
   • The purpose of the Research Data Alliance is to accelerate international data-driven innovation and discovery by facilitating research data sharing and exchange, use and re-use, standards harmonization, and discoverability. This will be achieved through the development and adoption of infrastructure, policy, practice, standards, and other deliverables. It is a collaborative effort across the U.S., Europe and Australia.
   • RDA looking for specific input from ESIP in two areas:
     • In general, do we see role for both RDA and ESIP?
     • Looking for the potential to co-locate a meeting in DC in January or have a breakout session as part of ESIP Winter Meeting.
   • Group discussion -
     • The group saw some clear overlap between activities like documentation and data preservation. RDA seems to extend to the biology and ecology communities outside of Earth science. The group was curious on practical, concrete ways we may work together.
     • How can an organization or individual get involved? TBD. There is a council that will expand in the next several months. RDA also has working groups that are open and mailing lists. The membership model is still unclear.
     • Are working group activities funded? At this point, no.
3. Excom Business
   • Update on Winter Meeting - Carol Meyer gave the meeting update. We have extended plenary speaker invitations, many are confirmed and we expect the rest to confirm in the next few weeks. Breakout sessions are shaping up nicely with 26 submitted so far. We will have a tentative agenda at the end of this week and expect to have a full meeting. One reminder to the group about awards - President and ESIP partner, nominations are due Dec. 1
   • 2013 Summer Meeting - Carol Meyer gave the summer meeting update. We will be having our meeting July 9-12 at the Friday Center, UNC-Ch in Chapel Hill, NC. DataOne and others will potentially co-locate their meetings with us. We are also working with the NC Museum of Science for our reception.
   • Update on Foundation Board Retreat - The Foundation Board met the week of Oct. 22. Over the history of the Board there has not been a strong need for planning outside of what already happens through ESIP. In the last year, the Foundation has been approached about supporting other Earth Science relevant communities. The Board came away with three actions:
     • Review existing governance documents
     • Establish mission, vision and values
     • Market analysis
   • Action: Add this topic to Winter Meeting Annual Business Meeting as point of information.
4. Committee Reports
   
   • Partnership is planning to hold a call in Nov. to discuss what it means to be an international ESIP member and how ESIP might best serve international members.
5. Other Business - No other business

Steve Berrick made a motion to adjourn the meeting with a second by Ken Keiser. The meeting adjourned at 2:53.