Introduction

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The Concepts & Terminology Working Group (ambitious) mission of the proposed MM&T WG is to identify and address the issues of ToIP stakeholders/users, that relate to ways of thinking (mental models) and terminology, and that may adversely affect the ToIP mission, i.e. "constructing, maintaining and improving a globally working, pervasively used, scalable and interoperable infrastructure  for the (international) exchange of verified and certified data".

Conveners

• Oskar van Deventer
• Rieks Joosten

Potential Members (add your name if you are interested in joining this proposed WG)

• Drummond Reed
• ...

Background

Context

ToIP is the first and only member of the Linux Foundation that, next to a focus on technology (e.g. cryptography, DIDs and other identifiers, communication protocols, verifiable credentials, etc.) also and specifically focuses on business, legal and social aspects. Its complex and daunting mission is "constructing, maintaining and improving a globally working, pervasively used, scalable and interoperable infrastructure for the (international) exchange of verified and certified data". This is an engineering task that must not only provide the technology, but also actual business value and capabilities for complying with different legal contexts and societies. The main difficulty ToIP seeks to overcome is the integration between technology, business, legal, etc. 

MM&T WG Mission

A well-known impediment for this is 'language confusion', evidence of which is that many stories about this exist in various cultures. A more contemporary acknowledgement of this is the arechitecture of the EU parliament building in Strasbourg, which resembles the Tower of Babel (according to Pieter Brueghel's famous painting).

The (ambitious) mission of the proposed MM&T WG is to identify and address the issues that relate to ways of thinking (mental models) and terminology that may be an impediment for the ToIP mission of constructing, maintaining and improving a globally working, pervasively used, scalable and interoperable infrastructure  for the (international) exchange of verified and certified data.

MM&T WG Purpose

In a similar way that the results of ToIP, in order to be used, must be fit for purpose, the results of this WG must also be 'fit for purpose'. This implies that the WG needs to keep tabs on what the various stakeholders will actually want to do with the mental models and terminology that this WG will govern.

Specifically, the WG  shall create and maintain a list of stakeholders, their objectives, the issues they face regarding mental models and terminology, and the products or services that they might use for resolving such issues.

Knowing the kinds of products or services that will actually be used by others will provide the requirements that the mental models and terminology of this WG must satisfy. It helps us decide what tasks to undertake, guide us with tool selection, etc.

This is especially important because we envisage stakeholders to come from very different domains - technical, business, legal, etc. - each of which has different needs. Minimizing the effort being spent in this WG will require us spending some time to identify these needs, and finding ways to reconcile them into a minimum number of artefacts to be produced and maintained.

Governance

CTWG) helps ToIP members explain things clearly so everyone can understand, no matter their background or expertise.

This matters because ToIP members come from many different places and contexts. Often they do not speak English as their first language. They might know a lot about non-tech things that matter to ToIP. Everyone needs to understand each other at least a little. Sometimes a basic explanation is enough. Other times, like with IT engineers or lawyers, you need to go deeper.

We expect some mix-ups with words, where people might misunderstand each other. The CTWG tries to fix these issues. Sometimes, looking up words in a dictionary helps. Other times, especially in legal or technical work, a deeper understanding is necessary.

Scope

The Concepts & Terminology Working Group (CTWG) supports ToIP Working Groups and Task Forces by helping them developing the terms and concepts needed for their projects. Our work includes tools for defining, editing and understanding these terms, including term wikis and glossaries. The data we work within include detailed models of concepts, their relationships, and rules across various fields. While CTWG maintains a central repository of this information for everyone in ToIP to use, individual groups can also create their own specialized glossaries. These resources continuously improve as they receive input from various sources within the industry.

Meetings

Schedule:

Meetings are bi-weekly, every second Monday from 10:00-11:00 PT / 17:00-18:00 UTC. See the ToIP Calendar for full meeting details including Zoom links.

See our Meeting Pages for agendas, notes, and links to recordings of all meetings.

Deliverables

The table below lists all CTWG deliverables that have been approved to move beyond Pre-Draft status.

The overall scope of the CTWG includes the following activities:

1. Develop and maintain a high-quality terminology that covers the needs of the ToIP community.
2. Develop a process whereby this terminology can be:
1. Curated, based on evidence and using expert opinion, such that concepts, relations between concepts and constraints can e.g. be
   1. carefully defined,
   2. assigned an identifier (name/number/label) to be distinguished,
   3. mapped onto terms that are defined and/or commonly accepted in various relevant domains/contexts,
   4. their usage documented,
   5. their status reported e.g. 'working', 'preferred', 'accepted', 'superseded' and 'deprecated'.
2. Enhanced in a collaborative, open, and fair manner by interested community members.
3. Versioned in the github.com environment.
4. Published in different ways (e.g. as a glossary, concept map, use-case stories ...), for specific purposes (e.g. education, reference, , ...) by different means (e.g. a PDF, a website, presentations/webinars, ...) and as needed by different audiences/stakeholders or domains (e.g. business domains, architectural domains, ...)
5. Promoted as a valuable public resource and an influence for convergence and excellence.
3. Train and organize volunteers so the initiative develops sustainable long-term momentum.
4. Spread the word about our work across ToIP WGs and other relevant audiences.

Chairs / Leads

• Co-Chairs:  Drummond Reed, Henk van Cann 
• Former Co-Chairs: Rieks Joosten, Daniel Hardman

How to Join

Trust Over IP members can join this WG by signing up for the Foundation mailing list at lists.trustoverip.org. Our mailing list is concepts-terminology-wg@lists.trustoverip.org.

Members as well as observers are welcome (see the caveat below).

Participation

For the protection of all Members, participation in working groups, meetings and events is limited to members of the Trust over IP Foundation (including their employees) who have signed the membership documents and thus agreed to the intellectual property rules governing participation. If you or your employer are not a member, we ask that you not participate in meetings by verbal contribution or otherwise take any action beyond observing.  To join the Trust Over IP Foundation visit our ToIP join page and fill out the membership agreement. 

Intellectual Property Rights (Copyright, Patent, Source Code)

The WG inherits the IPR terms from the JDF Charter. These include:

• Copyright mode: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. 
• Patent mode: W3C Mode (based on the W3C Patent Policy).
• Source code: Apache 2.0, available at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html. The GSWG TA TF is not expected to produce source code.
  

Next steps

Deep dive into the Core Concepts of our work, study the history of Meeting Reports, or join us for the next Concepts & Terminology work group (CTWG) meeting.<insert proposed governance policies and procedures>