Subject: SC22 N2963 - SC29 Liaison Report - PLENARY AGENDA ITEM

From: William Rinehuls <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 13:53:10 -0400 (EDT)

____________________ beginning of title page ___________________________
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22
Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces
Secretariat:  U.S.A.  (ANSI)

ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22
N2963

TITLE:
JTC 1/SC29 Liaison Report for the September 1999 JTC 1/SC22 Plenary -
PLENARY AGENDA ITEM

DATE ASSIGNED:
1999-07-24

SOURCE:
Secretariat, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22

BACKWARD POINTER:
N/A

DOCUMENT TYPE:
Liaison Report

PROJCT NUMBER:
N/A

STATUS:
Discussion of this document will be an agenda item for the September 1999
JTC 1/SC22 Plenary

ACTION IDENTIFIER:
FYI

DUE DATE:
N/A

DISTRIBUTION:
Text

CROSS REFERENCE:
N/A

DISTRIBUTION FORM:
Def

Address reply to:
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC22 Secretariat
William C. Rinehuls
8457 Rushing Creek Court
Springfield, VA 22153 USA
Telephone:  +1 (703) 912-9680
Fax:  +1 (703) 912-2973
email:  [email-masked]

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      Report to the Twelfth Plenary Meeting of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22
           from its Liaison Officer to ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29

I was appointed as Liaison Officer to SC29 at the Eleventh SC22 Plenary in
1998 and have been monitoring the SC29 web site since that time.  Unlike
SC22's practice of distributing many documents by email, SC29 only
distributes documents via its web site, with an email announcement when new
documents are placed there.  This makes it slightly more time-consuming to
follow exactly what is going on since it requires a conscious effort to go
to the relevant web pages.  On the other hand, the web site, which covers
both SC29 and its WGs, is very well organised with easy access to all
current and past papers, informal reports, etc., from a well-designed
visual layout.

It had been my intention to attend one or more of the SC29 WG meetings,
which frequently meet in the same location at the same time, in order to
more fully acquaint myself with the detail of SC29's work, but this proved
to be impossible due to other commitments at the relevant times.

SC29 operates at a very much faster pace than does SC22, presumably because
it is driven by urgent industrial and commercial requirements, which cannot
afford to wait for the leisurely speed of development which is common in
most SC22 WGs.  Although it still has to follow ISO and JTC1 procedures, I
get the impression that, because all the major players are involved in the
WG activities, once they have come to an agreement they are willing to move
ahead to commercial implementations without waiting for the formal
standardisation procedures to wend their weary way towards completion.

It is not obvious exactly why a liaison is required between SC22 and SC29,
although it is clear that situations might arise, for example in connection
with web authoring languages/tools, where some interaction between SC29
products and SC22 products might occur.

My appointment as SC22's Liaison Officer to SC29 was originally for one
year only.  As I shall no longer be participating in the work of SC22/WG5
(either as Convenor or in any other role) after the coming Plenary, and
will be unlikely to attend any future SC22 Plenary Meetings, it may be
appropriate to appoint someone else as SC22's Liaison Officer to SC29.  On
the other hand, since the work of SC29 is related to my primary field of
activity, I am willing to continue if there are no other volunteers, on the
understanding that I shall be unlikely to present any Liaison Reports in
person at future Plenaries.

Miles Ellis
26 July 1999

_________________________ end of SC22 N2963 ____________________________