PWG White Paper Policy - May 5, 2014 (editor: msweet@apple.com) Abstract This policy document clarifies the Charter phase in the PWG Standards Development Process 3.0 document (section 3) by requiring an editor, White Paper, and Formal Approval prior to adoption of any new work. This version is available in the directory: http://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/general/process/pwg-white-policy-20140505.txt The PWG White Paper template is available at: http://ftp.pwg.org/pub/pwg/general/templates/white-template-20140505.docx -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PWG White Paper Policy (Normative) Section 3 of the PWG Standards Development Process v3.0 defines a Charter phase for standards development. The Charter phase includes White Papers as Internal Documents and a Charter, Requirements Statement, and Working Drafts as PWG Standards Documents. Section 4.1 requires that the Chair of the relevant Workgroup appoint an editor for each PWG standards-track document. Section 4.3 requires that new Workgroup charters require Formal Approval or, for existing Workgroups, approval of the updated charter by the PWG Steering Committee. Section 4.4 requires a clear statement of requirements prior to the completion of the first Working Draft of a standards-track document. Originally, standalone Requirements Statements were published as PWG Informational Documents, however in some cases the Requirements Statements have been embedded in the Working Drafts and subsequent Candidate Standards. A standalone Requirements Statement always requires Formal Approval. Section 8.3 defines the requirements for Formal Approval. In order to promote the successful development of new PWG standards, all new standards development MUST begin with one or more editors producing a White Paper using the PWG White Paper template that outlines the rationale, use cases, design requirements, and possible technical solutions for the proposed standard(s) prior to adoption of the new work by a PWG Workgroup or modification of any PWG Workgroup Charter. The White Paper MUST NOT assign, reserve, or register new standards-track names or values. Multiple drafts of the White Paper MAY be produced and reviewed as needed. Once the White Paper is complete, a PWG Workgroup can adopt the White Paper after a modification to its charter, a new PWG Workgroup can be chartered to advance the White Paper, or the White Paper can be archived due to lack of participation. Addition of new work, whether to an existing PWG Workgroup or through the creation of a new PWG Workgroup, requires Formal Approval. Modifications to existing work such as updating milestones, changing document titles, and splitting or merging of existing documents may still be approved by the PWG Steering Committee, as defined by the PWG Process.