[Osia-members] OSIA (belated) May update

Jack Burton jack at saosce.com.au
Sat Jun 2 17:45:29 AEST 2018


Afternoon, all.

Please accept my apologies for the late delivery of the May update --
your board been extremely busy of late (as you'll see from the below)
and we only have limited resources, so preparing this update had to take
a back seat to some of the more urgent substantive matters.

** DTA ICT procurement framework **

On 25 April (yes, on ANZAC Day!) OSIA lodged a submission to the
Digital Transformation Agency on the draft ICT procurement framework.
The submission is available at:
http://osia.com.au/f/osia_sub_201804_dta_rc4.pdf

This submission marked OSIA's return to the procurement policy (as
opposed to other public policy issues) arena after a 16 month hiatus.
It is also significant in that it is the first OSIA submission ever to
have five named authors. A big thankyou to all those who contributed to
the analysis & drafting effort on this one.

On 27 April, OSIA put out a press release regarding that submission,
available here:
http://osia.com.au/f/osia_dta_ictpf_pr1.pdf

** JSCOT inquiry into TPP **

OSIA's April submission to Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT)
was formally approved for publication in early May. Copies of the
submission are available here:
http://osia.com.au/f/osia_sub_201804_jscot.pdf
and here:
https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=19af91f2-b876-4dd9-8683-17e0a1b23d47&subId=565185

On 2 May, OSIA put out a press release regarding that submission,
available here:
http://osia.com.au/f/osia_cptpp_pr5_0.pdf

Yesterday (1 June), OSIA Chairman Mark Phillips and I gave evidence
before the JSCOT inquiry's public hearing in Melbourne, along with the
Minerals Council of Australia, the Australian Winemakers' Federation
and the ACTU. It was interesting to note that, with the exception of the
question of labour market testing (which we did not address), the
evidence led by the ACTU was in accord with our own.

The transcripts are not yet available, but we'll let you know when they
are.

** Reminder: expect a call from Paul **

Those of you who have not yet received one should expect a call from
OSIA Director (membership) Paul Moore within the next week or so. This
relates to an initiative to build a better understanding of the nature
of all OSIA members' businesses and what else, over and above what we
already do, OSIA can best do to serve its membership in future. So
please give Paul a few minutes of your time when he calls, to help him
help us help you.

** Changing of the guard **

OSIA Director (unencumbered open standards) Ron Skeoch has resigned
from the board, citing the pressures of other work.

At its last meeting, the board passed unanimously a formal vote of
thanks to Mr Skeoch for his outstanding services to OSIA and to the
Australian FOSS industry in general.

Over the years, Mr Skeoch has been a tireless advocate for the
important of open standards for all government/citizen and
government/business interfaces and of the importance of all reference
implementations published by standards bodies being released under FOSS
licences. To that end he has been especially active in his advocacy to
the Australian Taxation Office.

Some of you may also remember Ron as a keynote speaker at the OSIA
domestic market event "Breaking down the silos: a future built on
unencumbered open standards", held in Adelaide back in 2014.

Longer-standing members will no doubt recall him too as a regular
attendee at NSW members' meetings in the early days and as a key
contributor to the debate around OSIA's future (which ultimately led to
OSIA's first resurrection) during the lead-up to the 2010 AGM.

But most members will probably remember Mr Skeoch best as OSIA's
Chairman during the 2017/18 interregnum. His outstanding service during
that time helped steer OSIA through its most difficult period ever.

I'm sure you'll all join me and my fellow directors in thanking Ron for
his distinguished contribution to OSIA and in wishing him well in his
other business endeavours.

Ron's NSW-based company, Muli Management Pty Ltd, remains an active
financial member of OSIA and I'm sure we'll see him continue to be
involved in OSIA's activities in some capacity for the foreseeable
future.

Mr Skeoch's resignation from the board leaves us with three casual
vacancies. Accordingly, the board has identified a range of suitable
candidates and we have commenced direct discussions with some of those
already (as foreshadowed at the January SGM). I look forward to
reporting to the members on the appointment of new directors to fill
those casual vacancies in due course.

** DCA copyright modernisation inquiry **

As noted previously, OSIA intends to lodge a submission with the
Department of Communications & the Arts inquiry into copyright
modernisation.

Due to the urgency of the two TPP inquiries and the DTA procurement
matter, work on this matter has been delayed. However, we still intend
to lodge a submission with DCA next week.

If any of you have strong views on this matter *and* the time to
contribute seriously to the drafting on very short notice, please
contact me off-list tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

** Senate inquiry into CPTPP **

On Thursday (31 May), OSIA lodged a submission to the Senate Standing
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence & Trade regarding CPTPP.

Under standing orders, this submission remains embargoed until the
Senate Committee have approved it for publication. Once that happens,
naturally we'll publish a copy and comment further.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank OSIA Director (Public Policy) Josh
Stewart and Chairman Mark Phillips for their contributions on this
matter.

** OSIA in the news **

OSIA has been mentioned in three news articles over the last month or
so, for our various public policy activities:

"Draft ICT procurement framework a mixed bag for FOSS sector", Mirage
News, 27 April 2018[1]

"OSIA calls for genuine free trade instead of 'Byzantine' CPTPP",
Mirage News, 2 May 2018[2].

"OSIA slams CPTPP for its 'non free trade stance' and lack of benefits
to Australia", Aircargo Asia-Pacific, 3 May 2018[3]

Although I haven't seen any articles on it yet, there were a couple of
journalists in attendance during our testimony before JSCOT yesterday,
so I expect we'll be seeing reports on that in due course too.

** Membership renewals **

Membership renewal invoices will be sent out during June and will fall
due in July. Only financial members (plus those whose membership lapsed
in FY2016/17, noting that the previous board waived all renewals for
FY2017/18) will receive an invoice automatically. If your membership
lapsed prior to then, you should contact either OSIA Director
(membership) Paul Moore or me off-list to arrange for reinstatement.

As you can see, OSIA is already far more active now than we were a mere
few months ago and that is only set to increase further. But with
increased activity comes increased cost. Your membership fees make it
possible for us to do what we do. So, please pay your renewal invoices
promptly and by doing so support the industry body that supports your
businesses.

** Board meetings **

OSIA's board met by teleconference on 24 April then again in
Melbourne on 19 May. Both were productive meetings, with a number of
further substantive resolutions passed and new actions delegated.

As noted previously, the board will meet once each month for the rest
of the year, with two out of every 3 board meetings being held in
person. 

The schedule of board & general meetings for the remainder of 2018 is:

Sun 17 Jun Sydney, NSW (*)
Mon 16 Jul teleconference
Sat 11 Aug Ballarat, Vic.
Sat 09 Sep Campbelltown, SA
Mon 08 Oct teleconference
Sat 03 Nov Melbourne, Vic.
Fri 30 Nov (evening) 2018 AGM (venue tba)
Sat 01 Dec board strategic planning day (same city as AGM)
Sun 02 Dec first board meeting of new term (same city as AGM)

[*] the June meeting has been moved from Sat 16/6 to Sun 17/6

We are making these dates public well ahead of time so that any members
who want to may meet informally with OSIA's directors around the the
dates listed in the towns listed. To do so, just contact either OSIA
Chairman Mark Phillips or me off-list well in advance of the meeting.

In the meantime, as always OSIA members are encouraged to bring any
pertinent matters (and indeed your views on them) to the attention of
the board, either on this list or by contacting any of us directly. The
OSIA email addresses of all board members are available here:
http://osia.com.au/drupal7/corporate-documents/osia-board-members


References for the "OSIA in the news" item:

[1]
https://www.miragenews.com/draft-ict-procurement-framework-a-mixed-bag-for-foss-sector/

[2]
https://www.miragenews.com/osia-calls-for-genuine-free-trade-instead-of-039-byzantine-039-cptpp/

[3]
http://www.impactpub.com.au/aircargo/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15502:osia-slams-cptpp-for-its-non-free-trade-stance-and-lack-of-benefits-to-australia&catid=85&Itemid=435



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