24th March 2021 - MS Teams video-conference

1. Welcome and introductions

  • RGr – introduced and chaired the meeting.

2. Attendance

2.1 Current members that were present

  • Rémy Giraud (RGr), Météo France [MF] - SC Chair
  • Jeremy Tandy (JT), Met Office [UKMO] - SC Vice Chair
  • Loïc Le Gallou (LG), Météo France International [MFI]
  • Kari Sheets (KS), National Weather Service [NWS]
  • Mikko Visa (MV), Finnish Meteorological Institute [FMI]
  • Weiqing Qu (WQ), Bureau of Meteorology (BoM)

2.2 Members not present

  • Mr. Y K Reddy, India Meteorological Department (IMD)
  • Sungsoo Do (SSDo), Korea Meteorological Administration [KMA]

2.3 Other attendees

  • Steve Olson (SO), National Weather Service [NWS]
  • Jude Anthonisz (JA), (OpenWIS Association Secretariat)

3. Approval of the agenda

  • All - No changes or addition to the agenda.

4. Approval of previous minutes

  • All - No changes. Therefore approved.

5. Articles of Association / By-Laws

  • RGr - I am awaiting the latest passports from Board members as an update for the power of attorney.
  • LL - I will check with Nathalie.

ACTION All Board members to send latest passport information and sign the latest version to enable progress in approval of the by-laws.

6. OpenWIS 3.x

  • MK - The meeting on 12 February went ahead and discussions are in progress. It is looking promising.
  • LL - Contract terms are being changed to fixed price basis and now lawyers are analysing contract to
    make sure it is effective. 3-4 weeks are needed to finalise discussions and a further 2-3 weeks for agreements between suppliers. So, I expect finalisation in mid-May 2021. The next meeting will be at end of April 2021.
  • MK - I will call E-work to check latest situation.
RGr - is E-work happy to have a contract applicable in French law?
  • LL - This is in discussion and not clear whether this is a strong issue.
  • RGr - So compared to the anticipated timescales what this mean for the TC, Steve?
  • SO - Originally, we were working for 21 May 2021.
  • RGr - So no issue.
  • JT - I want to thank MK and LL for their work in progressing this.
  • RGr - This is a very important exercise for us.
  • LL - If the applicable law becomes a blocker, then we can set up a contract with MFI as solution if rules allow.
  • RGr - So MFI will be middleman?
  • LL- Yes.
  • RGr - According to advice from lawyers, this option shouldn’t be a problem for the Association.
  • JT - the crucial point is that we are complying with EU law.
  • RGr - So, this would be no different in the way we have previously work with UKMO.
  • LL - the best way is to have a direct contract.
  • RGr - Any questions from anyone?
  • ALL – No.
SO - It would be good to update on OpenWIS 3.15 as there a few issues. Three partners are involved in installing this release (NWS, MF and BoM) and there are 3 issues preventing installation. The impact is that the schedule has been delayed to end July 2021. There is a dependency on OpenAM which is a risk.
  • RGr - the dependency on OpenAM is a known as aspect, so not a surprise?
  • SO - It was a surprise
  • RGr - Because an older version?
  • SO - It was part of the 3.15 build.
  • RGr - was this in the scope of MFI’s requirement?
  • LL - I will need to check
  • RGr - So, it may be that this work would be reflected in the RFP?
  • JT - We would be removing OpenAM completely as part of the RFP.
  • RGr - Yes, so is this than issue?
  • SO - This is for awareness.
  • RGr - So, not an issue.
  • JA - Is installation only on test environments?
  • SO - Yes.
  • RGr - Any more questions?
  • ALL - No

7. Association Internal Rules for Contributing Partners

-
JT - I’ll update on AWS and OpenCDMS. The rate of progress on OpenCDMS is slower than we anticipated (as culture change involved as much as new technology). The current approach is to make things platform neutral, so shouldn’t be tied to AWS or any other vendor or platform. The contribution from AWS is c10k and will be in 12 months. The approach is to use an MoU – so a much lighter touch arrangement that previously envisaged. I’ll aim to bring RGr into the discussion with the MoU is further developed.


  • RGr -Who are involved in the discussions? WMO representation? -
JT - Myself, the Account Management Team for UKMO for AWS, Ian Edwards as representative of WMO, and Karen McCourt (UKMO), i.e. as UKMO is providing WMO funding via VCP. So, WMO involved by proxy.

RGr - WMO has a spotlight on OpenCDMS, so we need to aware that all the WMO community will be interested.
  • JT - Yes, so I am ensuring that OpenCDMS is not tied to AWS or another vendor/platform.
  • RGr - Other similar work with EUMETNET are also considering similar discussions.
  • JT - Yes, interoperability is key.
  • RGr - In summary there is no need for defining Contributing Partner for OpenCDMS as referred to in issue 610.
  • RGr - We will need to add relevant Internal Rules for Contributing Partners at some point after the Articles of Association and by-laws are agreed
  • JA - I can create a separate issue for addition and review of Internal Rules for a Contributing Partner and close 610.
  • RGr - any other comments?
  • All - None.


ACTION – JA to close issue 610 and create a new issue for reviewing Internal Rules for the purposes of defining a Contributing Partner.

8. Any Other Business

-
SO – Benjamin Saclier has a new role in MF and will not be able to be VC of the TC. David Podeur has agreed to be VC. I am asking all current TC members where there is any interest in being VC. I will inform the SC of the nominee of the VC once I hear from TC members.

9. Summary of recommendations to the Board

  • Once all actions are complete regarding the new by-laws, a recommendation will be made to the Board (i.e. at the annual Board meeting of 2021).


10. Next meeting

  • The following was agreed:
    • Use of virtual meetings with 2-3 slots spread over 3 weeks.
    • There will be 2 slots covering the technical discussions during either week commencing 3 or 10 May 2021.
  • JT - Can OpenCDMS added into TC and PMC discussions?
  • SO - Yes, I will ensure this happens.
  • RGr - The meeting slots for SC and Board meetings will be set for 1100hrs UTC for 3 hours (equivalent of 1pm in France) during weeks starting 17 and 24 May. There will be two slots each for the SC and Board will be scheduled. Access will be via MS Teams.

ACTION JA to schedule SC and Board slots

21. Closure of the meeting

  • 
1215 UTC