Category: Organizational Matters
Category for IAOA elections, assemblies, organizational announcements, and similar matters.
Results of the 1st IAOA Virtual Assembly 2019
we are grateful to everyone who spent time on our Virtual Assembly and
who expressed their votes concerning the 2018 Financial Report. The
ballot was closed with the end of April 15, 2019 (anywhere = UTC-12).
The 2018 Financial Report has been approved by all participants of the
ballot except for one, who abstained. These results are listed below and
on [1,2]. Many thanks to everyone actively engaged!
In case there remain any further questions, please feel free to contact
[3] info@iaoa.org or send issues of general relevance to the members'
mailing list [4].
Additionally we thank Ken Baclawski for preparing the 2018 Financial
Report, the Auditors for their work controlling the report and the
books, and those who coordinated the ballot and set up the voting system.
Finally, thanks to you once more for your contributions.
Laure Vieu
President, IAOA
== Voting results of the ballot in April 2019 ==
Ballot item: 2018 Financial Report [5]
Total number of members / entitled to vote:  72
No quorum required
Total number of votes:                       17
Participation rate:                          23.6 %
Ballot 1 (Approval of the 2018 Financial Report)
Yes:     16 (94.1%)
No:       0 ( 0.0%)
Abstain:  1 ( 5.9%)
[1] http://ontologforum.org/index.php/IAOA_Assembly_2019_04
[2] https://iaoa.org/members/users/iaoa-res2019.php
https://iaoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/iaoa-ch-financial-report-2018.pdf
FIRST IAOA ASSEMBLY FOR 2019
our Statutes [1] require the Association's Financial Statement to be formally approved every year by a (virtual) assembly.
This is a formal invitation to participate in the first 2019 virtual assembly, whose main purpose is to discuss and approve the 2018 Financial Statement.
The Financial Statement [2] is available from the Assembly page [3], together with the Auditors' report.
Then the discussion on it (and possibly other issues concerning the Association) took place until April 05, 2019.
Finalized details on the assembly and voting procedure have been published on April 09, 2019 on the Assembly page [3].
The voting period is April 10-15, 2019. The ballot is now open, please cast your vote!
Everyone with an active IAOA membership is eligible to vote. Detailed voting instructions are available from the Assembly page [3] and have been distributed anew on April 10 just before ballot opening.
The Assembly may approve the Financial Statement by simple majority; there is no quorum. The outcome of the voting is planned to be announced to the members' mailing list by April 18, 2019.
[1] https://iaoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/iaoa-ch-statute-2016-06-23-en_v12.pdf
[2] https://iaoa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/iaoa-ch-financial-report-2018.pdf
IAOA EC Elections 2018
The nomination phase for the 2018 Executive Council election has closed on December 09, 2018. In addition to Ken Baclawski, Michael Gruninger, Roberta Ferrario, Oliver Kutz, Frank Loebe, Fabian Neuhaus, Laure Vieu, and Amanda Vizedom who are candidates for re-election, we have one new candidate: Maria Keet.
We therefore have nine candidates for nine positions. The Election Committee has acknowledged all candidates and confirms that in this situation the election follows the procedure according to Article VII, Section 4, of the Bylaws:
"If the number of candidates is not larger than the number of
vacancies, no ballot is required and the nominated candidates
are deemed to have been elected."
In conclusion of the election, the new Executive Council for the
period of 2019-2020 consists of:
* Ken Baclawski
* Roberta Ferrario
* Michael Gruninger
* Maria Keet
* Oliver Kutz
* Frank Loebe
* Fabian Neuhaus
* Laure Vieu
* Amanda Vizedom
The new officers will take up their roles on January 1st, 2019, when the current period of office comes to an end. At its first meeting, the new EC will also newly elect the holders of the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
Please note that this election and its result applies to IAOA as established in Bern, Switzerland since 2016, where the Association was relocated to from Italy. As mentioned previously, IAOA in Italy has not yet been closed for administrative reasons. Accordingly and following its regulations, the Executive Council for IAOA in Italy will also be newly elected in the near future. Everyone concerned about the governance of IAOA in Italy can inquire for more information about the relation between the two associations as legal entities and can request to become also a member of that old association by writing to its new contact address:
iaoa-italy <at> iaoa.org
Finally, we would like to thank everyone who has actively participated so far, as well as all those who have meanwhile renewed their membership and thus have joined IAOA (often: again) in Switzerland. Everybody who has not yet taken the opportunity to do so is cordially invited to have a look at IAOA's recently refurbished website and (re-)register as a member, thereby supporting the ontology community as well as becoming eligible to membership benefits.
Invitations to Membership Registration and 2018 Executive Council Elections
Before 2018 will come to an end, there are still two major "projects" concerning IAOA as an organization: (1) the full opening of membership registration and renewal and (2) the Election of the IAOA Executive Council (EC) for the two-year period of office of 2019-2020.
Membership Renewal and Registration
We are happy to announce that the main steps for relocating IAOA to Switzerland have been taken and the IAOA website, relaunched in September 2018, has matured to a functional level over the last two months. Therefore, we cordially invite former members and everyone else with an interest in IAOA, who have not (re)joined the association during 2018, to register newly as a member of the association.
Joining or renewing now will allow you to (re)gain access to the Member Area of the website and its benefits. Moreover, members have access to the [iaoa-member] mailing list and they can participate in the upcoming elections for the Executive Council, please see below.
The navigation item Join IAOA allows you to join or renew. The membership period is no longer a calendar year, but is now determined individually. Based on the annual fee, membership lasts for one year, which starts from the date at which renewal/joining application is approved by IAOA.
As indicated above, joining IAOA now means to join an international association legally domiciled in Bern, Switzerland, whereas previously IAOA was located in Trento, Italy. Please note: Basically all IAOA activities are now transferred to the new association in Switzerland, while IAOA in Italy will remain for administrative reasons for some more time. Anyone concerned about the governance of IAOA in Italy can request more information about the relation between the two associations as legal entities and can request to become also a member of the old association by writing to its new contact address: iaoa-italy <AT> iaoa.org.
Virtual Assembly for 2018 Executive Council Elections
A Virtual Assembly will soon be open in order to select members for the Executive Council (EC) of IAOA (in Switzerland). All nine positions need to be newly elected within December 2018 for the period of office of 2019-2020. These elections follow the regulations in the IAOA Statute as of Jun 23, 2016. An Election Committee is in charge of supervising the election process, which comprises of Valter Cavecchia, Roberta Ferrario, Michael Gruninger, Nicola Guarino and Leo Obrst. More detailed documentation of the process and its development is available at the wiki page IAOA Executive Council Election 2018.
In order to participate in the EC Election in any form, your IAOA membership must be up-to-date. If you have not renewed your membership during 2018, then your membership has elapsed, cf. above; please (re)join IAOA before making a nomination or otherwise participating in the election.
For the next few weeks, we foresee three main phases: Candidature, Campaigning, and Elections. Key points are summarized below, whereas more details can be found at the election wiki page.
A – Candidature Phase (Nov 26 to Dec 9, 2018)
At least two members (a proposer and at least one seconder, none of whom should be the nominee) are required in order to make a nomination. The members making the nomination shall ensure that they, as well as the nominee, are current members of the association, and that the nominee shall accept the nomination.
The list of candidates and their position statements will be made available through the election wiki page.
B – Campaigning Phase (Dec 10 to Dec 16, 2018)
Nominations can be freely discussed on the [iaoa-member] mailing list from the nomination time on. Likewise, campaigning itself can start with the first candidate nomination. Once that the candidature phase is closed, there is still one week available for (further) active campaigning and discussion on the members' mailing list.
C – 2018 IAOA Virtual Assembly eBallot (Dec 17 to Dec 20, 2018)
In this period all members will be asked to vote for candidates for nine Executive Council positions. We kindly ask all members to participate in the vote (even in the case of abstention) – the more participants, the stronger the result of the election will be!
Results will be announced to the [iaoa-member] mailing list and at the wiki page.
All members should feel free to contact iaoa-election <AT> ovgu.de for any concerns regarding the 2018 EC election.
PLEASE START NOW
with your own membership (re)registration as well as
with nominations for the 2018 EC Election.
We will be very grateful for any efforts and contributions.
Michael Gruninger
for the IAOA Executive Council
1st Virtual Assembly during April 14-21 for 2013 Financial Statement and 2014 Budget Approval
[copy of today's address to the membership by the IAOA President Michael Gruninger]
Dear IAOA members,our Statute requires the Association's financial statement and annual budget to be formally approved every year by a (virtual) assembly, announced at least 15 days in advance. So this is a formal invitation to participate in the first 2014 virtual assembly, whose main purpose is to discuss and approve
our Statute requires the Association's financial statement and annual budget to be formally approved every year by a (virtual) assembly, announced at least 15 days in advance. So this is a formal invitation to participate in the first 2014 virtual assembly, whose main purpose is to discuss and approve the 2013 Financial Statement and the 2014 Budget. Our financial status is safe, not only anticipating this year's FOIS conference and Summer School. Overall, we are actively supporting participation in a wide variety of novel as well as traditional IAOA initiatives.
The relevant documents (Financial Statement plus Budget) will be published on April 02, 2014.
The discussion on the Budget (and possibly on any other issue concerning the Association) will take place between April 02 and April 09, 2014.
Finalized details will be published by April 11, 2014.
The voting period will be April 14-21, 2014. Detailed voting instructions will be distributed in advance and will be available at [1].
The quorum is satisfied if the number of votes exceeds 50%+1 of the IAOA membership count, determined on April 13. If we are not able to meet the quorum requirement, a second call will be necessary. The outcome of the voting will be announced to the members' mailing list until April 30, 2014.
Please be aware that your vote takes just a few minutes, but is of huge importance to let our Association move forward. Guaranteeing that the IAOA is truly open and democratic is our first priority, and you will certainly understand that it requires a huge investment of voluntary time. We really count on your support!
Let me take this opportunity to express the gratitude of the whole IAOA Executive Council to our acting Treasurer, Laure Vieu. She did an excellent job in keeping our finances under rigorous control as in previous years, making at the same time everything transparent and understandable in any detail. Serving as Treasurer since IAOA's inception, Laure is currently passing on the respective duties to our new designated Treasurer Fabian Neuhaus, under whose direction the 2014 budget has already been prepared, and to the new Membership Officer Claudio Masolo. We are grateful for their readiness and contributions.
SIG for Semantic Web Applied Ontology? Let us know what you think!
There is an informal proposal before the EC to form a Semantic Web Applied Ontology SIG aiming to fill the gap between the Semantic Web community and the IAOA community. Some people have shown interest in this initiative. As part of investigating this issue, wed like to get feedback from IAOA members.
Often the two communities seem to think they have nothing in common, whereas some of us believe they share many common goals, common technologies, and a common interest in well-engineered applied ontologies. Many of us in IAOA promote and use Semantic Web technologies and reasoning methods; similarly, many in the Semantic Web community advocate more rigorous and principled ontologies based on ontological analysis. Therefore, we have proposed a Semantic Web Applied Ontology SIG to bridge the gap between our two communities before it gets wider. This SIG would support communication and collaboration with our colleagues in the Semantic Web (and Linked Data) community.
Are you interested in this SIG? What do you think the SIG should do? How might the SIG work to bridge the gap? Would you participate in this SIG?
Please let us know your thoughts about such a SIG.