4th Dec 24

Intros:

Kevin Hammond: TSC Voting Member - Chair of TSC - IOE

Neil Davies: TSC Voting Member - PN Solutions

Johnny Kelly: TSC Voting Member - IOE

Adam Dean: TSC Voting member

Markus Gufler: TSC Voting member - Cardano Foundation

Nicholas Clark: TSC Voting Member - Tweag/Modus

Ben Hart: TSC Voting member - MLabs

Duncan Soutar: Secretary of TSC - Intersect

Matt Davies - Head of Technical Operations - Intersect

Hwang Hongket - Secretary of Core Infrastructure Roadmap - Intersect

Lewis Mayne - Secretary of Hard Fork Working Group - Intersect

Ricky Rand - General Manager - IOE

Duncan Coutts - WellTyped

Christian Taylor: Head of Open Source Office, Intersect Staff

Tex McCutcheon: Open Source Program Manager, Intersect Staff, Open Source Committee Secretary

Agenda:

1. Update on Contracts - Duncan

   1. Peras

   2. Core Maintenance

2. Feedback on Community Priorities - Duncan/Matt

3. Classifying work items - Kevin

a. COR Maintenance

b. COR Roadmap

c. General Roadmap

d. Non-Roadmap

e. Out of Scope

4. SRLs Use of Standard Definition- Duncan

5. How to proceed to tender: two stage or one stage?

1. Form small working group to propose priorities and classifications, including normalised start/end SRLs

2. TSC considers recommendations and approves after discussion

3. Open the tendering process for the maintenance and high priority core roadmap items

6. Updates on Plomin hard fork - Matt

7. Increasing TSC transparency - Kevin

8. AOB

Minutes:

Discussion Point	Notes	Actions: Responsible / Note
Meeting Opening	Duncan Soutar opened the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) meeting for December 4th, noting quorum with 4 of 7 members.	N/A
Contract Approvals	Paras contract approved by 4 out of 6 eligible voters; Adam and Marcus have not yet committed. Discussion on pursuing their votes versus proceeding.	Follow up with Adam and Marcus; Set a deadline for feedback by the end of the week to close voting.
Deadline Policies	Discussion on establishing deadlines for decisions to avoid delays. Neil Davies suggested a concrete approach, while Benjamin Hart and Kevin Hammond emphasized flexibility in certain cases.	Draft decision-making rules for deadlines and incorporate them into TSC procedures.
Rules of Procedure	Agreement on the need to formalize operational procedures, including how deadlines and decisions are handled.	Develop a TSC rulebook to document agreed procedures.
Maintenance Contract	Initial drafting of the maintenance contract is underway, including scope, responsibilities, FTEs, and costs. Enhancements for transparency and process simplification are being considered.	Share draft contract with TSC for review and ensure subcontractors are named to promote transparency.
Subcontractor Inclusion	Agreement on naming subcontractors in contracts to ensure transparency and highlight collaborative efforts.	Incorporate subcontractor names into contracts for clarity.
Categorization of Work Items	Proposed categories: core maintenance, core roadmap, general roadmap, non-roadmap, and out-of-scope. Focus on categorizing items based on risk and operational importance rather than importance alone.	Continue refining categories and classify existing prioritization lists under them.
Community Engagement	Challenges in gaining sufficient community feedback on prioritization surveys; current response count is 55. Plan to publish initial results and reopen the survey after the holiday period to drive more engagement.	Publish initial survey results and leave the survey open for further responses. Communicate findings to the community.
Transparency Initiatives	Suggestions for improving transparency include better communication channels and potentially hiring a community/communications liaison.	Collect community transparency suggestions; explore creating curated playlists and technical videos for TSC initiatives.
Governance and Hard Fork Plans	Plan to raise governance action in Epoch 529 (December 20th) with a voting period in January to ensure readiness. Notifications have been distributed across multiple channels.	Monitor for feedback or objections; finalize governance action timeline.
Budget and Tendering Process	Discussion on creating an open tendering process for future contracts. Agreement to prepare communications for suppliers explaining the process and expected timelines.	Draft supplier communications and outline tendering processes for review.
Software Readiness Levels (SRLs)	Definitions for SRLs have been refined to focus on expected artifacts at each level. Agreement to apply these to prioritized projects and share definitions more broadly.	Validate refined SRL definitions with prioritized projects; share publicly.
Transparency in Communication	Proposal to improve communication using visual and accessible platforms like YouTube. Suggestions included hosting TSC updates, FAQs, and technical discussions.	Set up a playlist or schedule for TSC-related updates on YouTube and other platforms.
Resource Planning	Proposal for a hybrid community/communications role to enhance transparency and engagement, pending budget approval.	Draft job description for the role and share with TSC for feedback.
Partner Chains and Risk	Agreement that technical risk should guide TSC’s involvement in projects, with flexibility to adjust priorities based on evolving risks and needs.	Develop risk assessment criteria for projects under TSC oversight.
Prioritization of Roadmap	Ongoing work to classify and prioritize inflight projects. Emphasis on aligning technical efforts with community and product priorities.	Finalize and share prioritization framework and project list.
Transparency Challenges	Acknowledgment of community concerns about visibility of TSC activities. Suggestion to expand communication to include Discord, Twitter, and other platforms.	Gather suggestions for transparency improvements and integrate them into communication strategies.
Hard Fork Coordination	Updates on hard fork planning to ensure smooth implementation with minimal community disruptions over the holiday period.	Continue monitoring and address any arising issues promptly.
Wrap-Up and Next Steps	Agreement to address pending discussions on tendering processes and other major items in upcoming sessions.	Schedule additional discussions for unresolved topics before the holiday break.