Governance & Work transition into the new GSMP Process

As part of the merger of the old GSMP and EPC into the new GSMP, the governance of the old processes will transition to newly formed groups with different roles. The responsibilities of the old structures were mapped to the new structures as part of the “ISDP” exercise and are described in the new GSMP Manual. This document describes the transition plan which was recently approved by the BCS.

Governance Transition

The following depiction shows the transition to the new Governance which will occur in April, 2010. The Call-to-Action has been issued for the formation of the new governance groups and nominations are currently being accepted.

Transition of Authority: The new governance structures, upon formation, will acquire the roles and authorities of the old governance structures in addition to the new governance roles as described in the new GSMP Manual. This will facilitate the transition to the new process and standards ratification throughout.

Interim Ratification Process: There are work items currently in the GSMP and EPC processes which will finalize after April. These work items will be ratified by the newly formed governance against the tenants of due process as specified in the existing processes. As shown in Figure 2, those work items, once reviewed by the BCS (Board Committee for Standards) will be finalized by the board which currently governs the respective process (EPC standards will go from the Board Committee for Standards (BCS) review to the EPCglobal Board; GS1 standards will go to the MB). This is a requirement of due process as defined in the current EPC and GSMP Manuals.

Note: For ratification of work that was initiated in the old processes but will finalize after April 2010, the ratification will take place as shown above.

Work Transition

When the new process starts there will be work in process (WIP) in the existing processes as shown in the dark blue bars in Figure 3. Work currently underway in EPC and GSMP will continue in the existing standards processes until conclusion unless there is a reason for transitioning the work item to the new process. The decision to transition an existing work effort to the new process would be made in accordance with the Process Oversight Committee.

April 2010 and Achieving Operational Status in the new GSMP

The target date of April 2010 is the date after which the formation of any new GS1 standards group will occur in the new GSMP process. Complex change requests (now called Development Work Requests in the new model) received after the New GSMP Launch will trigger new mission specific groups (after IE prioritization) to be formed and operational in the new model only. No new Work Groups will be formed in EPC or the current GSMP.

Important: Groups that remain active under the old processes will be accepting no new members.

Maintenance of existing standards: Simple change requests received after the New GSMP Launch 

Simple (now called Maintenance Work Requests in the new model) Work Requests submitted into the current GSMP will continue to be processed in the current GSMP model by the BRGs until the analogous SMG in the new model achieves a critical mass of IP Policy signatories. The institution of the IPP in the new process will play a key role in determining WHEN any group is considered operational.  Each SMG must have an Opted In-membership of sufficient size to represent a valid minimum of the community voice in the creation of the standard. For eBallot, the 2-2-2,12 rule (refer to the new GSMP Manual) is the voting minimum, but may be insufficient to represent the breadth of needed stakeholder input. The determination of what is a “valid minimum” will be made by the Process Oversight Committee (POC).