There was some brief explanation of how the SOA and Cloud Work Groups operate,
and how to become involved in their activities, but the main focus of the discussion was on how
to enable members based in Taiwan and China to participate effectively.
The meeting discussed the barriers to participation, such as the impossibility of holding a teleconference
at a time convenient for people all over the world. Activities should not rely on real-time discussion between participants in
China, North America, and Europe, for this reason. Collaborative working can, however, progress
through asynchronous development of materials, with decisions being taken by electronic voting.
However, the best option for collaborative working may be for each region to focus on
a particular set of projects, which would have some overlap with projects in other regions,
but be able to be pursued independently. Coordination between projects would be essential,
but could take place on a weekly or monthly basis, rather than a daily basis.
