New Clients
Wireless Industrial Networking Alliance (WINA)

In June, Global Inventures was pleased to welcome WINA -- the Wireless Industrial Networking Alliance -- as a new client, assisting in the incubation, structure and operation of the Alliance. Global Inventures provides operational services for WINA, including Virtual Business Services for account management, financial management, membership services, and administrative support. In addition, Inventures provides executive management, marketing and communications, event planning, and Web/IT services as needed by WINA.

WINA was formed to help industrial end users access clear, unbiased technical information on comprehensive wireless solutions. Rather than focusing on one specific wireless-delivery technology, WINA will help industrial end-users — from industries as varied as pharmaceutical, aerospace, climate control, and chemical -- identify the wireless technologies truly optimized for their needs. For more information visit www.wina.org.

Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA)

In April, it was announced that Global Inventures was selected by the Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA) to manage ongoing collaboration activities.

EGA is a new alliance comprised of industry leaders in the enterprise software, hardware and services market created to develop enterprise grid solutions and accelerate the deployment of grid computing in enterprises. Grid computing connects pools of computers, storage and networks, enabling enterprises to dynamically allocate resources based on changing business needs. EGA will enable businesses to realize the many benefits of grid computing such as faster response to changing business needs, better utilization and service level performance and lower IT operating costs. For more information on EGA, visit their web site at www.gridalliance.org.

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Inventures Rolls Out New Technology

We are happy to announce that several clients are now using the Inventures Document Management System (IDMS), the latest extension to our suite of integrated software applications. IDMS is a powerful, easy to use, customizable and affordable software application especially designed for the management of documents and links on web sites of collaborative associations and consortia.

Features include:
• Public and Private (secure) document repositories
• Upload, view, download and edit documents
• View and download complete document history
• Automated custom document naming system
• Document checkout process for version control
• Customizable Look and Feel
• Powerful and flexible Search
• Password protected Online System Administration

For more information and to schedule a demo, contact your Account Manager or Executive Director.

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Technology E&O Insurance: What is it? What is right for your Organization?

In contrast to General Liability Insurance, which primarily responds to claims for third party claims for bodily injury, Technology Errors and Omissions coverage protects the insured industry association against claims for financial damages by third parties or member organizations. Standard-setting organizations have significant areas of risk that may not be insured under ordinary general liability, directors and officers liability or association professional liability policies. Several insurance carriers have begun to design specialty E&O liability coverage that responds to the insurance needs of organizations involved in setting standards, specifications and related activities (certification, accreditation or related consulting services).

Coverage features can include:
• Claims-made form
• Contingent BI/PD coverage
• Antitrust defense
• Discrimination defense in standard-setting activities
• Copyright coverage
• Personal injury perils coverage
• Optional coverage for certification and accreditation activities
• Optional coverage for related consulting services
If you are interested in learning more about Technology Errors and Omissions coverage and how it can protect your organization, please contact your Executive Director.

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Staff Spotlight
New Faces at Inventures

We’d like to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our newer associates. Many of our staff may only be known as a name on an email, so now you can associate a friendly face to that name!

Jennifer Barbusica – Member Services Coordinator, Jennifer came on board in March and has been a fantastic addition to our Member Services staff and our “Virtual Office” core team. She provides a wide range of member support services including new memberships, renewals, working group list management, meeting and event database management and member help desk. Jennifer has BA in Psychology and over 3 years experience in customer service, including being a Supervisor for the Premium Frequent Flyer Department of Qantas Airways. And yes, she is the sister of Account Manager Sarah Barbuscia!

Karen Sweet - Marketing Programs Manager, In May, Karen Sweet joined us as a Marketing Programs Manager, initially focused exclusively on the Enterprise Grid Alliance (EGA). Karen has managed marketing programs in the IT industry for the past 10 years including time at Netscape, America Online and Sybase. For the past 3.5 years Karen has overseen various marketing initiatives for the software group at Sun Microsystems. Her broad based skills in marketing, plus her experience in the enterprise software market make her a great addition to the Global Inventures team.

Isaac Gonzales – Information Technology / Help Desk, Isaac is the most recent addition our IT development and support staff. Armed with a Mathematics degree from UC Berkeley, a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification and a solid 3 years of experience in Information Technology, Isaac handles server/network maintenance and upgrades, web updates, and dozens of HelpDesk tickets in support of our clients IT/web needs.

Tonya Hawes - Marketing Programs Manager, Tonya brings over 10 years of strong program management experience to her new role at Global Inventures, including corporate marketing communication and management of major events and user forums in the high-tech industry. Her background includes positions at Digital Equipment Corporation, Sybase and, most recently, PeopleSoft where she oversaw Marketing for the Connect Conferences from messaging and direct marketing to on-line content and registration. It’s great to add Tonya’s skills and experience to our team.

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News from Our Communities

Here is just a sampling of all the recent news from our Communities. Visit the Global Inventures Community News page to and read these and other recent releases from a few of our clients.

• DCML Organization to Advance Data Center Standard within OASIS (8/30/04)

• Enterprise Grid Alliance Establishes Foothold in Japan with Regional Operations (7/5/04)

• HomePlug® Powerline Alliance Sheds Light on Standardization at Broadband over Power Line Conference (7/26/04)

• IMTC Checking the Multimedia State-of-the-Art at SuperOp! 2004 (8/4/04)

• Keynotes Highlight OSGi™ Alliance 2004 World Congress (7/13/04)

• Parlay Group Launches “Parlay–X Web Services for Telecom” at Record-Setting Parlay Americas 2004 (6/4/04)

• “Connect with UPnP[TM] Technology” 2004 Asia and U.S. Summit Dates Announced
(8/12/04)

• ZigBee Alliance Grows to Over 90 Members (8/16/04)

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Viewpoint
Innovation Strategy and Corporate Standards Management
By Deepak Kamlani

Centralization is a dirty word. For many it conjures up images of bureaucracy, inertia, and socialism and all its perceived and attendant ills. Yet, corporations do centralize many critical functions, and they do direct functional policy and practice from this perspective- Planning, Hiring, and Supply Chain Management are some examples. Here is a link to an article on our website http://www.inventures.com/documents/Standards_Centralization[1].pdf in which I attempt to make the case for a Corporate Standards Practice, in the context of corporate objectives, innovation strategy, R and D investment, and the need to generate RoI from these programs.

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Contacting Global Inventures
help@________.org

Occasionally, individuals who participate in groups we manage aren’t sure whom to contact for administrative and membership issues regarding their alliance. Although different account teams support various collaborative communities, the shortest and surest path to support is to send an email to help@[yourcommunity].org. All inquiries are logged in our HelpDesk application and routed to the appropriate person – Member Services, Web, Account Manager, Executive Director, etc. The sophisticated HelpDesk application enables our member services coordinators to view all messages and track the complete history of each message, to allow them to streamline and constantly improve contact. We’re here to support you, the members.

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