Introduction

The Concepts & Terminology Working Group (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 their status reported e.g. 'working', 'preferred', 'accepted', 'superseded' and 'deprecated'.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.