The GÉANT Community Programme has a large portfolio of work and it is essential that this programme is regularly reviewed to ensure that activities remain strategically important, relevant and active. The GÉANT Community Committee is asked to review the portfolio on an annual basis and make decisions about which activities should continue and which should cease. The following process should be used to review activities and decide on which areas should be continued or not. This table should not suggest that groups not meeting these areas would be immediately rejected, but as a tool to highlight where groups might be in difficulties or need a different support model.
| Requirement | Description | Action | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The activity should have evidence of regular meetings in the last year | For Task Forces and Special Interest Groups, it is expected that groups will meet face-to-face 2-3 times a year. This meetings can be changed to virtual meetings, but greater value is placed on face-to-face interactions. For other areas, meetings might be face-to-face, smaller working group meetings, steering committee meetings or virtual meetings supporting the aims of the activity. | Secretary of the group to provide evidence of meeting dates and attendance. Basic information for TFs and SIGs is logged at: Task 5: Task Force and SIG Coordination. |
| 2 | The activity should be meeting its KPIs or workplan outputs | Task Forces are asked to keep an up-to-date list of activities and outputs for the group. SIGs are asked to provide an update KPIs on an annual basis. For groups to continue, they should be meeting most of these targets. | SIG KPIs are tracked at: SIG KPIs. Task Force outputs are tracked at: Task Force Work Items. Outputs and updates for other GCP areas will be provided by regular reports to the GCC. |
| 3 | The activity should be using its most appropriate format The activity should have a wider reach than can be achieved through a typical GN4 project Task / Activity | Activities within the GÉANT portfolio have a range of options at their disposal to help them achieve objectives - Task Forces and SIGs are just one of these. It may become apparent during the course of operating a TF or SIG that a different approach might be more appropriate for the group, e.g.: an annual event, a project-focused forum (e.g. STF), training, a tender, move to a GN4-X project task, a stand alone project (e.g. REFEDS). Activities should also not be double-funded, so activities in TFs and SIGs should be distinctly different from other projects. | This area is hard to objectively measure but should be a question regularly asked of the groups and the GCC. |
| 4 | The activity should be supported by at least 3 - 5 GÉANT Member NRENs | Task Forces and SIGs should have regular and active participation from at least 3-5 GÉANT member NRENs and support from external groups is also appreciated. No minimum number of attendees within groups or meetings is set as activities can benefit from smaller or larger groups dependent on activities. | Regular feedback and tracking from the TF and SIG secretaries. |
| 5 | The activity should show evidence of impact outside of core group members | One of the main purposes of the Task Forces and SIGs is to expand the knowledge sharing and impact of work beyond the confines of the GN4 project. Whilst it is important that groups are well supported by GÉANT Member organisations, TFs and SIGs should be able to demonstrate impact and reach beyond the project. It is also important that groups are more than hobby activities for small groups of people: if a TF and SIG is only being contributed to by its Steering Committee it is probably not having the impact needed. | Regular feedback and tracking from the TF and SIG secretaries. |
| 6 | The activity should be aligned with the GÉANT Strategy | Activities within the GCP should be aligned with the GÉANT strategy: https://www.geant.org/Resources/Documents/Strategy2020-Implementation.pdf / https://www.geant.org/Resources/Documents/Strategy2020_Over-the-Horizon.pdf. | GÉANT CSO team to provide a review of how and where the GCC activities align with the GÉANT Strategy. |