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7.3

Terms of Reference for the TAHI Industry Sector Workgroups

Background

Objectives of the workgroups are:

Promotional

Representational

Membership of workgroups

Management of workgroups

Funding

Interworkgroup Liaison

Governance

TAHI are looking to create an environment to help our members to work together to exploit the opportunities in the market.

Whilst it is recognised that the world is moving to a more integrated environment, private and public customers still purchase solutions against specific requirements.

Recognising this phenomenon, TAHI have set up Industry Sector Workgroups to develop integrated solutions to address their specific sector needs within the TAHI Open Architecture (TOA) framework. Once Industry Sector solutions are developed based on the common TOA, more interoperability between sector solutions should be possible with the associated cost savings and improved efficiency.

Four Industry Sector Workgroups have been set up:

1. Energy Management, and sustainability ISG (EMSISG)
2. Entertainment and Communication ISG (ECISG)
3. Health Telecare and Community ISG (HTCISG)
4. Building, Construction, Regeneration ISG (BCRISG)

The fourth group, the Building, Construction, Regeneration group is recognised as spanning all the other groups.

• Grow the market for services to connected homes
• Show people everywhere the benefits from intelligent connectivity
• Build consortia that will provide the framework and deliver business for TAHI members
• Create regional developments of "smart houses"
• Disseminate to local communities the actual experiences of people living in the developments.
• Build market demand

Each group should undertake a programme of promotional and marketing activities to raise the profile of the group’s members, and their TOA interoperable solutions, services and products. These promotional activities should include, but are not restricted to:

• Maintaining a flow of articles to journals and magazines, particularly those with circulation in the primary target market groups
• Maintaining an up-to-date and relevant web site.
• Identifying and running an ongoing programme of fee paying events for attendance by non-members and members.
• Establishing and maintaining an up-to-date library of case studies and white papers of members’ solutions, which should include information on the business case used to justify selection of the solution.
• Identifying and implementing opportunities to showcase members’ solutions, services and products.
• Identify any potential sources of funding for projects.

Workgroups are encouraged to arrange for relevant commercial, social, voluntary and other Government / Regulatory Bodies and associations to become active members of their Workgroups.

TAHI is currently funded by membership fees only. It is therefore necessary for companies to be members of TAHI before they can contribute to a Workgroup.

The TAHI Board invites an appropriate Chairperson chosen from the relevant market sector to run each of the sector workgroups. It is the responsibility of the sector chairpersons to appoint a workgroup secretary to take minutes at the groups meetings. The workgroup secretary is responsible for ensuring that the TAHI secretariate is supplied with copies of all minutes of meetings for inclusion on the TAHI Website.

The detailed activity of each of the Workgroups to meet the overall objectives will be up to the Workgroup leader and the members of the group, however it is expected that the Workgroups would meet formally between 2 and 6 times annually as an individual group as well as contributing to general TAHI events.

While there may be informal bilateral liaison between groups (eg. With common members) there shall exist a formal liaison procedure via the TAHI executive and the Secretariat which shall be responsible for the group to group liaison and dissemination of relevant information.

The TAHI Board will also organise a number of events to promote inter-working between the Industry Sector Workgroups.

Changes to these general Terms of Reference require TAHI Board approval.