AdaWorks wrote: > > I have included only part of Chris' message below. It is the > important part. I earlier asked for someone who would have the > interest in providing leadership in the effort to achieve greater > visibility for Ada. Chris has offered, if I read his message > correctly, to provide that leadership. Now it is up to us to > decide our own level of commitment in supporting him. > > Richard Riehle > > On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Chris Sparks wrote: > > > Having this type of discussion is ok, however, going around in circles and > > barking at the moon is not going to change things. > > > > I am once again going to request that people who are interested in forming > > a virtual consortium/corporation please submit me information as to what > > you like to do, dislike doing, project ideas. I can post a summary of the > > information on my own personal web site. I can look into getting access > > passwords, if needed, or some obscure path name, whatever, for those > > involved. Aside from coding we need testers, salespeople, integrators, > > archive specialists, etc. Michael Feldman has provided some good information on SIGAda which is an existing worthwhile organization that can achieve your goals. I would like to add some additional information that might entice you to become not only a member, but a significant contributor. The Special Interest Group on Ada Programming Language (SIGAda) is potentially a powerful resource for the software community's ongoing understanding of the scientific, technical and organizational aspects of the use, standardization, environments, and implementations of the Ada language. SIGAda is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a professional software society. SIGAda currently has between 700 and 800 paid members and has been doing important things to disseminate Ada and software engineering technology, evolve Ada technology, and promote Ada. Some of the key things that SIGAda does include: 1. SIGAda sponsors the Annual International Ada Conference. This year it will be hosted at the Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland from 12-16 November. Called SIGAda 2000, this Conference has the theme of Ada Technology Update. You are encouraged to participate. It's URL is http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigada/conf/sigada2000/. This is an important activity to tell the world that Ada is alive and a viable alternative for developing software for systems that must be reliable. 2. SIGAda publishes Ada Letters. Ada Letters is our quarterly publication for disseminating Ada information to the international Ada community. It contains papers addressing a wide range of Ada and software engineering issues. As just discussed on Team-Ada, it is a valuable resource for us. 3. SIGAda evolves Ada Technology. SIGAda has chartered a number of Working Groups which have been very effective in serving as an international forum to evolve Ada technologies and address issues. For example: Its Ada Languages Issues Working Group (ALIWG) was a forum to address language needs for Ada 95 before it was even Ada9X; Its Numerical Working Group (NUMWG) addressed a standardized way to support mathematical functions; Its Ada Semantic Interface Specification Working Group (ASISWG) developed the technology behind ASIS for Ada 83 and Ada 95, resulting in the ISO standard in 1999; Its Education Working Group (EDUWG) has been a fantastic resource of Ada artifacts to the academic community; Its Patterns Working Group is evolving patterns to support better software engineering in the Ada community. There are a bunch of other working groups, all addressing other Ada technology needs and issues. It is likely that a Working Group exists to support your technology goals. Some are very active, some need energizing. If a group does not exist, please consider forming one. (Working Groups need to be officially chartered by the SIGAda officers). 4. Ada Advocacy. SIGAda plays an active role in Ada advocacy by taking its message to conferences to show we are a viable technology for developing high-integrity, safety-critical, reliable software. Typically the booth goes to about 6-8 conferences a year to include places such as the Software Technology Conference (STC), GOVTECH, SIGCSE, and ICSE. This is an example of good synergism between the Ada Resource Association and SIGAda where the ARA provides financial support for taking our booth to conferences and SIGAda provides volunteers to spread the message. Additional volunteers could help us become more effective in this area. 5. Maintain a Home Page and maillists to facilitate the spread of Ada information. An important tool in getting the word out to the Ada community is the SIGAda Home Page at http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigada/ and a variety of maillists. There are maillists associated with each of the Working Groups. Even the [log in to unmask] is made available through ACM through SIGAda. 6. SIGAda Local Chapters. SIGAda has about 10 local chapters. These can be effective ways to address the local needs for disseminating Ada and software engineering information. As an example, please check out the DC SIGAda chapter activities at http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigada/locals/dc/. Other cities have effective chapters acitivies as well. If your city does not have an active chapter, why not consider forming a chapter. If your local chapter needs help, how about helping to make it strong and effective. 7. Many other areas. This email is just a high level overview of the many things SIGAda does. Please check out the SIGAda Home Page for other areas. I guess the basic point is that we already have an organization set up to address many of the goals identified in this thread. And the organization is sanctioned by the Association for Computing Machinry, a recognized software professional society. It seems silly to create a new organization when SIGAda exists. SIGAda is completely run by volunteers and we are all dedicated to supporting the needs of the Ada international community. And these needs are addressed in many way. If you are interested in getting involved, go to the SIGAda Home Page and look for the types of things you are interested in doing. You probably want to contact the chair of that activity. Some special points: Ada Advocacy contacts should be made to Hal Hart at [log in to unmask] Folks wanting to start a new SIGAda local group should contact Ron Oliver at [log in to unmask] Folks wanting to help disseminate information on the SIGAda Home Page should contact John McCormick at [log in to unmask] Folks wanting to help produce the Ada Letters publication should contact Martin Carlisle at [log in to unmask] Folks wanting to start up a new Working Group should contact Ben Brosgol at [log in to unmask] (with a copy to me at [log in to unmask] | [log in to unmask] - Also folks wanting to start any other initiative should contact Ben Brosgol and Currie Colket SIGAda is not perfect, but it does provide a framework to support the international Ada community and to a certain extent it does a pretty good job. We can be more effective if we know what your specific needs are that are not currently being met; We can be more effective through more volunteers. I encourage you to think about how you can make SIGAda more effective and to work closely with other volunteers to make this happen. SIGAda actually has a pretty good track record. With your support, it can become even more effective in the future. v/r Currie Colket SIGAda Vice Chair for Meetings and Conferences Chair ASISWG P.S. If you are not a member, it only costs $25 to join - Find out how on the SIGAda Home Page at http://www.acm.org/sigs/sigada/ - This could be the best $25 you even spent.