Charter

CONTENTS:

1. Mission Statement
2. Board Of Directors
3. Membership Levels
4. Technical Agenda
5. Marketing Agenda

1.0 MISSION STATEMENT:

CGM Open is a non-profit, international consortium of providers of products and services, dedicated to accelerating the further adoption, application, and implementation of the Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM), the international standard for open interchange of structured graphical objects and their associated attributes.

CGM Open provides its members with an open forum to discuss market needs and directions, and to develop and provide guidelines to enhance product interoperability. The consortium receives, coordinates, and disseminates information describing CGM methodologies, technologies, and implementations.

The work of CGM Open complements that of standards bodies, focusing on making CGM easy to adopt, and CGM based products practical to use, in real-world, open system applications.

Because the CGM standard does not constrain the architecture and functionality of applications, great diversity can and does exist among applications and product implementations. CGM Open will establish guidelines for an implementation framework within which diverse products will be able to interoperate, without compromising the platform and product independence of CGM graphics or the potential for diversity, growth, and extensibility inherent in the standard.

2.0 Board Of Directors

The CGM Open Board of Directors consists of three Directors as follows:

• Chairman
• Secretary
• Treasurer

3.0 Membership

CGM Open offers three categories of membership: Sponsor, Contributor, and Participant. Members may select the category which best fits their needs, desired benefits and commitment.

3.1 Sponsor

The Sponsor Membership is CGM Open's most comprehensive category, providing the complete range of business, marketing, and technical benefits and participation rights. Sponsor Membership is designed for organizations that are financially committed to CGM and expect to continue to invest based upon CGM Open work. Sponsors benefit from a high visibility profile within the industry and are the group most likely to be affected by the work of the technical committee. This category is particularly appealing for software vendors that offer CGM-compliant products and large user organizations.

• Sponsor Annual Fee: $7,500

Sponsor members are able to take advantage of all the benefits CGM Open has to offer, including:

1. Potential opportunity to serve on CGM Open's Board of Directors.
2. Right to vote on technical resolutions and participate in technical editorial review.
3. Participation in marketing committees and in joint marketing efforts.
4. Inclusion in all Consortium press releases and public relations materials.
5. Company and product descriptions featured on CGM Open web site with link to company home page.
6. Company press releases featured on CGM Open web site.
7. Opportunity to participate in CGM Open seminars, conference panels and exhibits.
8. Ability to submit, review and distribute CGM Open developed materials, including presentations, white papers and educational materials.
9. Use of CGM Open logo on member marketing materials.
10. Access to Consortium mailing lists.
11. Voting rights for Board of Directors
12. Attendance at Consortium events and committee meetings.
13. Participation in technical discussion groups.
14. Access to CGM Open's technical output.
15. Listing in Consortium referral mechanisms, including its member directory.
16. Member discounts at exhibitions, conferences and other events (where offered).

3.2 Contributor

The Contributor Membership is designed for organizations that want the market visibility provided by CGM Open, but may not be directly impacted by Technical Resolutions. Contributors, just as Sponsors, are interested in growing the CGM market and achieving a higher level of interoperability between products. Organizations which provide system integration and consulting services are typical members of this category.

• Contributor Annual Fee: $4,000
• Associate Rate (for companies with 5 or fewer employees): $800

CGM Open Contributors will be able to take advantage of the following benefits:

• Items 3 through 16 as defined under Sponsor Member ( Section 3.1)

3.3 Participant

The Participant Membership is designed for organizations that have invested in CGM, but have no need to obtain higher visibility within the industry. The Participant is most interested in the technical work that is done by CGM Open, either to help drive interoperability or to understand the directions taken by other members. This category is generally made up of organizations which do not actively sell a product or service to the CGM market.

• Participant Annual Fee: $2,000
• Associate Rate (for companies with five or fewer employees): $400

CGM Open Participants will be eligible for the following benefits:

• Items 11 through 16 as defined under Sponsor Member ( Section 3.1)

4.0 Technical Agenda

CGM is a broad enabling standard. The reasonable expectation of the growing CGM market is to be able to integrate multiple CGM products from multiple vendors. To meet these expectations and in order to improve current interoperability and ensure that new products can enter the marketplace, vendors must agree to collaborate in establishing pragmatic technical guidelines which assure interoperability without limiting the breadth of CGM.

Companies joining CGM Open agree to work together to improve interoperability in the market. We believe that as vendors and customers push toward common approaches, the market for CGM will grow exponentially.

By understanding how interoperability gaps occur, technical working groups will formulate guidelines for bridging those gaps and improving current practice. Documents produced by technical working groups will be submitted to a process of review and approval. These documents will provide critical information for vendors who supply products that will interoperate in a "framework" for CGM applications.

Perhaps most important, CGM Open will provide a forum in which vendors can discuss what exactly is and can be meant by "interoperability," a term that is used with various meanings throughout the vendor and customer communities. From this discussion will emerge definitions and documents, such as a CGM Open Profile, that can be used as the basis for software implementations.

CGM Open will expressly avoid duplicating the efforts of international standards committees. It will act as a forum for vendors to discuss submissions to the standards community, and to study the impact of the revision of existing and development of emerging standards.

Specific issues on the agenda will be determined by the membership. In addition to monitoring the activities of relevant standards committees. CGM Open's technical experts could form subcommittees to advise industry interchange language developers (in fields such as CALS, ATA-2100, J2008, Petro-Chemical etc.) to ensure consistent application behavior and implementation, while recognizing the individual structures and constituencies of those industries..

CGM Open will support the creation and implementation of conformance test procedures and processes which assure the interoperability of CGM based solutions.

Technical operations of CGM Open will be organized as a set of working groups made up of representatives from CGM Open member companies.

5.0 Marketing Agenda

The marketing goal of CGM Open is to substantially increase CGM implementations in commercial businesses.

5.1 Marketing Objectives

The Consortium's objectives are to:

• Increase the awareness of CGM and its benefits in commercial markets.
• Inform the media and analysts about the benefits and rapidly growing acceptance of CGM in commercial markets.
• Provide guidance to other bodies, particularly industry groups contemplating CGM adoption.

5.2 Target Markets

The Consortium's target markets include:

• Industry and government groups responsible for setting standards for graphical excellence.
• Senior management in corporations where executive vision paves the way for future solutions
• CGM vendors
• Media and analysts
• Systems integrators
• Systems consultants

5.3 Programs

CGM Open will accomplish these objectives through a variety of marketing programs, as determined by the Marketing Committees. These programs may include:

• Case Studies. CGM Open will publicize successful implementations by developing in-depth case studies. These studies will focus on the business issues surrounding the decision to adopt CGM and the solution as designed and deployed. They will highlight members' customer activities with a strong emphasis on implementation, return on investment, and lessons learned.
• CGM Open Logo. CGM Open will design a logo to identify materials and training programs, conferences, and other activities that address CGM adoption issues. This imprint helps to establish recognition for CGM in the wider business community and to identify useful educational materials for interested parties. Vendor members may choose to use the logo as an identifier on products, literature, and business cards. The use of the logo will not be allowed to be construed as a seal of approval or as a premature indication that technical interoperability issues are solved by "branded" products.
• CGM Open Newsletter. CGM Open will publish a vendor newsletter that addresses issues of common concern and reports on the activities of CGM Open. The newsletter will be for members only and concern itself with the activity of the consortium.
• Publishing. CGM Open will work with established publishing channels to create a special imprint line of printed and electronic publications.
• Educational Materials. The consortium will have available a set of materials for those who know little about CGM, designed to educate them quickly and painlessly.
• Public Relations. CGM Open actively pursues public relations channels to increase awareness of CGM in commercial markets.
• CGM Open Web Site. CGM Open will maintain a web site for reporting and publicity of CGM Open activities. The Web site will also provide an archive for CGM Open Case Studies White papers and Educational Materials. The CGM Open Web Site will also carry links to the web sites of Sponsor and Contributor level member companies.