[Web Payments] Activity Update

Long time no update on the Web Payments Activity!

After a successfull workshop in March, the last months have been busy and I want to thank again all those who participated in the discussions and contributed to the development of the W3C Web Payment Steering Group charter (aka, the Web Payments Interest Group).

I believe that the charter is now stable and covers most of the points that are in the activity’s scope. Apart from driving the charter development, we (my W3C colleagues and me) have conducted a series of 1to1 discussions with various organizations, and now believe that we have the critical mass to launch the activity.

We will soon start the formal W3C process. In a few words, the process consists of:

• After W3C management approval, the charter will be sent to W3C member representatives for review and comment;
• Based on the feedback, the W3C director will decide (or not) to launch the new group;
• As soon as the group is launched, W3C members appoint some of their staff to the group and the work begins.

The commitment for participants in the group is quite light: the group works by email, usually meets once a week for one hour teleconference, and then is likely to meet f2f about 3 times a year. While not mandatory, participation in these f2f, particularly in the first one, is really important. In most cases, we will be able to organize remote participation solutions through teleconferences.

If the group is launched as scheduled, it is very likely that the first f2f will take place during the annual W3C Technical Plenary. This year, TPAC 2014 is taking place in Santa-Clara, California, from 27 to 31 October. The Web Payments group is scheduled to meet on 27 and 28 Oct. 2014 (note that the group is not listed because it does not exist yet).

If you are interested in joining this work, here is what you have to do:

• If your organization is a W3C member (see the current list of W3C Members):
  • if you are the official W3C representative, then you just have to wait and you will soon recieve a call  for review.
  • If you are not the official W3C representative of your company, you should get in touch with your representative (don’t hesitate to ask me for her/his details) and coordinate the review together.
• If your organization is not a W3C member, note that the participation in the group requires W3C membership. If you are interested to learn more on the benefit and process for becoming a member, please get in touch with me. In some exceptional cases, we may appoint individuals as invited experts.  I’m managing these requests on a case-by-case basis.

Obviously, all comments on the draft charter are still most welcomed. See the dedicated community group for this purpose.

Stéphane.