Focus: Service Providers Group Meeting

Time: 10:00 - 12:00

Place: Online and Triform SA Lausanne

Coordination: Valentine Arrieta (Service Providers Group Co-Secretary) and Moritz Brennecke (Service Providers Group Co-Secretary)

Present: Valentine Arrieta (VA), Moritz Brennecke (MB), Cyril Meder-Graf (CM), Gerard Sollberger (GS), Arnaud Poncet-Montanges (AP), Tom Meppiel (TM), Batiste Chrétien (BC)

Topics:

MB and VA made a presentation at the TEKSI Day in Morges and gave feedback on it:

• Members (municipalities) refused to increase their financial contribution to the development of TEKSI solutions.
• One potential solution would be to bring other associations (communities) into TEKSI to secure more funding (this was also discussed during the General Assembly). → VA proposed to consult with the board to ensure that all users of TEKSI join the association and contribute to its funding → CM indicated that they (the board) want the fees to be covered by the providers. → CM suggested that providers should encourage the wastewater association to join TEKSI.

AP provided feedback from the Technical Group:

• Providers have requested a change in the coordinate system to align with the new one used by Qwat for freshwater (already applied to wastewater). → This change is planned for after the summer, as it was not a priority in recent weeks.
• A main objective for the next release is to install and configure extensions and parameters using the datamodel tools (plug-ins, dependencies, projects, etc.). → A presentation explaining how to do this is planned for June.
• Additional funding and human resources will be needed to address issues and fix bugs.
• Other topics (e.g., translation issues - see new TEKSI translation guide) are documented in the minutes available on GitHub.

VA asked AP whether it would be possible to highlight the main differences between the 2015 and 2020 versions. → A document exists on the VSA Website (though it may not be ideal), and a discussion could be held to clarify the content and improve its shape.

VA and CM will arrange one or two dates before September or October to certify anyone who wishes to apply. Those who do not apply will lose their certifications.

The following points were discussed :

• AP mentioned that OpenGIS and the Technical Group could participate.
• CM stated that the board believes webinars should be financed by participants and held outside the association. They should be offered every few months in French and German, with priority given to users, and later potentially to providers.
• MB pointed out that providers first need a presentation showing the available solutions. Only afterward should infrastructure and usage be addressed. Everyone should be aware of the different options.
• VA suggested that webinars should focus more on updates and new possibilities.
• GS will ask providers what kind of technical presentations they need, and propose several topics to gauge their interest. → AP suggested using the 10 core skills expected from providers as a basis.
• AP proposed using these events to provide coaching and collect provider needs. However, CM replied that this should remain separate from official training sessions.
• CM could provide the course in German but prefers not to involve OpenGIS. The focus should remain on users' needs.
• VA is available to provide courses in French.
• VA will contact Lucie Nicolier to organize a meeting with people interested in giving courses and to provide feedback at the next provider group meeting.
• AP suggested that someone from the user group could survey the users to understand their expectations from the training (e.g., basic instructions on how to insert and modify data in the modules). Users have also indicated a need for documentation on practical use of the modules. → The aim is to create a basic structure (skeleton) for the training.
• Time must be allocated to update the documentation. AP will organize a short webinar to explore how users can contribute to this effort.

VA summarizes the to-do list:

• VA will set a date for the certification sessions.
• GS will ask certified providers about their needs.
• VA will contact Lucie Nicolier to organize a meeting with people interested in giving courses.

Next meeting for the providers group will be on Wednesday September 24th at 10 A.M.

(11:40)