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 Round Table

ROUND TABLE:
Newly Elected Executive Committee Members Excited
about Future for Java Community ProcessSM Program

By John Bacon

The Executive Committees (EC), the broad oversight boards chartered to guide the development and evolution of Java technologies, were first elected in fall 2000. There are two ECs: the Standard/Enterprise Edition (SE/EE) EC oversees the Java technologies for the desktop/server space (with responsibility for the Java 2, Standard EditionTM (J2SETM) and Java 2, Enterprise EditionTM (J2EETM) specifications, and the Micro Edition (ME) EC oversees the Java technologies for the consumer/embedded space (with responsibility for the Java 2, Micro EditionTM (J2METM) specification). Each EC has 16 members, 10 Sun nominees that were ratified by JCP members and 5 elected members from a pool of self- nominated companies and organizations. Sun also holds a seat on each committee. The 3-year terms are staggered so that 5 of the 15 seats are normally up for ratification/election each year.

More EC information

If there is a buzz word that describes what the newly elected and ratified members of the Executive Committees (EC) expect from the Java Community ProcessSM (JCPSM) Program in 2003, it might be maturity. A growing, maturing and simplified process was the recurring theme in recent interviews with representatives of the companies chosen this fall by the JCP membership to remain on or join the JCP Standard/Enterprise Edition (SE/EE) and Micro Edition (ME) EC for three-year terms.

On the Standard/Enterprise side, ratified members include Apple, BEA and SAP. Elected were IONA and Cisco. Companies ratified on the ME side were IBM, Nokia and Philips. Elected were Sony Ericsson and Symbian. The Executive Committee representatives appointed by those companies are almost unanimous in lauding the successes of the process and urging an unrelenting press for continued growth and development. Many pointed to the recent upgrade to JCP 2.5 as reflective of the effort.

"We are literally shaping how the Java standards are going to evolve for the rest of the decade," says Simon Pepper, representing IONA on the SE/EE committee. "We are looking at the stewardship of Java, the cost of standardization and the pace of innovation while retaining customer confidence."

Krishna Sankar, representing Cisco and a longtime veteran of the process, says JCP 2.5 is a reflection of the momentum the JCP is gaining. "It shows the maturity of the platform - and, more importantly, the process - to a more open and participative model."

Michael Bechauf, vice president of Java Architecture and Standards at SAP AG, says he sees opportunities in the administration and management space, as well as in the area of development tools and security offerings, among others. And he notes that the move to JCP 2.5 is valuable from a legal perspective. "Clearly, the extensions regarding Open Source implementations are useful and will help promote the whole platform," Bechauf says. Pepper agrees, noting that JCP 2.5 adds a crucial degree of flexibility. "The JCP 2.1 program was a step. It has been improved with JCP 2.5."

Read on to meet and hear more from the new EC members.