Working Group Minutes/EWG 2021-08-31

Minutes of the 2021-08-31 Engineering Working Group meeting on BigBlueButton.

Attendees

Meetings will be held every 14 days.
The time somewhat works for all attendees, but isn't ideal if we can find something that works better.
Action: Roland to set up a scheduling poll for a regular meeting time and share an invitation link on the EWG email list.

We will continue using the engineering@ email list. Important discussions should happen there or at meetings.
In addition to this, Paul has set up an IRC chatroom at #osmf-engineering for more ephemeral communication. The room is accessible through Matrix as well.
Decision-making processes weren't specifically discussed yet.

It is customary for most OSMF working groups to have a chairperson, although the rules of order do not require it.
Roland volunteers for the position of EWG chairperson, chairs the remainder of this meeting.
A proper chairperson election will occur at the next meeting to allow additional candidates to step forward (should they wish to do so).

Decision: Publish a blog post on blog.openstreetmap.org to introduce EWG
- Deadline for the draft is a week from now. (Our goal is to have it public well before the next meeting, and CWG will need some time to get it published.)
- The post should be self-contained, readers should not need to follow links to understand what EWG is about.
- Do not focus on the history and previous incarnations of EWG.
The blog post will be shared to relevant channels, such as mailing lists.
The EWG page on the osmfoundation.org website is ok, no immediate need for improvements.

Prepare long term goals
Brainstorm ideas for initial project proposals until next meeting
- Our proposals should be sufficiently precise, depending on purpose
- A software list (like the one we used internally to come up with a classification of projects in the ecosystem) could be useful. Caveat: If it is published, it needs to be fair and balanced. Maybe cite and modify existing list.
We've inherited the Top Ten Tasks page from our predecessors. Some initial discussion:
- List has only 9 items because of the previous group's inactivity
- Belgium Local Chapter’s “OpenStreetMap Welcome tool” (which is currently in beta) is related to Task #5 (tools for welcoming new users)
Action: Everyone to start thinking about proposal ideas and what to do with the Top Ten Tasks page.

Due to the financial interests involved with selecting grant recipients, it is especially important to handle conflicts of interest properly.
Decision: Stick with the OSM Foundation's default CoI policy for working group until further notice
Any member is encouraged to put this topic on the agenda again if, after some consideration, they feel that the default is insufficient.

There should be public meeting minutes
- Action: Tobias to write down minutes for this meeting
- After the first few meetings, it will make sense to ask for administrative assistance
Action: Roland to share a list of tasks to be completed until the next meeting

Will happen in about two weeks, exact time and date TBD.