Registry for Soft Cultural Elements

0 Administrative information

0.1 Notes

This starts out with document CDFG-N215. Comments on the SoftCultReg are available in a separate document.

Here is also a first stab at possible SoftCultReg Categories.

The key tasks now are to identify the next steps to progress the SoftCultReg:

Solidity of the identified purposes and scope
Analyse the relationship to the EU style guides
Possible addition of a semiotic research component to better formalize the definition of targets
Identification of possible sources of funding, including research funds

How to obatin funding for the SoftCultReg is discussed in funding for the SoftCultReg.

0.2 TODOs

Who	What	Status
Håvard	look into Norwegian sources of funding (cf. funding for the SoftCultReg)	Open
Marc	look into German sources of funding, notably private foundations (cf. funding for the SoftCultReg)	Open
All	Add more categories in SoftCultReg Categories	Continuous
Erkki	Maintain contact with Commission, notably translation services and publication office	Continuous
Marc	addition a semiotic research component	Open

1 Rationale

1.1 Outline of the proposal

There is a need to describe and register in a structured format certain items of culture-specific information that are not currently covered by ongoing (or finalized) standardizing activity on the European or international level.

While ISO/IEC 15897:1999 (currently being updated), which was based on ENV 12005:1996, and the Unicode Locale Date (CLDR) create frameworks for registering much useful culture-specific information, no current framework is suitable for the registration of the Soft Cultural Elements that are the object of the proposed action.

Soft Cultural Elements are pieces of information about culture-specific realities that are not easily encoded in existing coding schemes. Insofar as these elements are important in the context of cross-cultural interactions, they are candidates for inclusion in the proposed Registry of Soft Cultural Elements (henceforth SoftCultReg). Such cross-cultural interactions may be of any number of forms, including business transactions (in particular eBusiness), administrative contacts (in particular eAdministration and eGovernment), educational services (in particular eLearning), etc. Lack of understanding of Soft Cultural Elements may e.g. cause unintended impolite behaviour or culturally inappropriate use of colour schemes in a presentation.

It is the opinion of the proposers that the proposed action is best carried out on the European level, rather than on the international level. However, once the European project has been completed, similar projects in other regions of the world should be encouraged.

Although a European Standard could (or should) be aimed at in the long run, the proposed action will be most suitable for a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) developed by a CEN/ISSS Workshop to be established for the purpose. CEN could, through a Technical Committee or otherwise, at a later stage develop the CWA into a European Standard.

The proposed action does not aim for a full-scale population of the SoftCultReg. The proposed Workshop will develop the structure and define the metadata and terminology needed for a consistent and efficient population of the registry based on the CWA (and a possible future European Standard).

The proposed action in its current version does not address measurability relating to cultural differences and cultural variation. This concept is, however, deemed highly relevant, and it should be addresses either in a corresponding but independent research activity to be undertaken by a European research institution (or a consortium of several such institutions), or as a follow-up activity within the framework of CEN/ISSS.

1.2 Consequences if not performed

<<To be filled out, if relevant.>>

2 Purpose and objectives

A non-exhaustive list of Soft Cultural Elements includes:

a mapping of countries/regions and languages, including status information, second-language (third-language, etc.) usage and proficiency;
timeliness expectancies;
forms of written and spoken salutations, including usage (“how-do-you-do-logy”);
population composition as to religious/cultural background, with any relevant mapping of registered cultural elements to such backgrounds;
rules relating to personal names, both form and usage: (a) “given names” and “family names” in relation to spouse, parents, other family; (b) use of “first name”, “last name”, titles (like Mr, Dr, etc.) in written and spoken communications to and about persons;
holidays, including “bank holidays”, religious holidays, etc., with relevant information (including whether offices or shops may be expected to be closed, etc.);
rules relating to written text, such as highlighting conventions, etc.;
any culture-specific requirements relating to form, appearance, colour, etc.

The purpose of the proposed action is to facilitate the population of the SoftCultReg through the activi- ties and deliverables that are listed under Scope of work and further detailed in the Work plan

3 Scope of work

The following activities and deliverables will fall within the scope of the proposed action (for details, see Work plan below):

establishment of the set of Soft Cultural Elements to be included in the SoftCultReg, based on the list above and other sources;
development of the necessary metadata and terminology;
planning and development of the technical infrastructure to support the SoftCultReg;
test registrations into the SoftCultReg;
planning of the administrative infrastructure to support the continuous operation of the SoftCultReg.

A CWA will be the final deliverable from the proposed action. The CWA will look into the feasibility of further developing (parts of) the CWA into a European Standard. The continuous operation of the SoftCultReg does not fall within the scope of the proposed action; however, the CWA will include plans for such operation.

4 Work plan

4.1 Detailed task description

The planned action includes three parts: a study, development of metadata, terminology and technical solutions, and planning of continuous operation.

Most of the deliverables mentioned below will all form parts of a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA), In addition a prototype of the planned technical solutions is planned as a separate deliverable (with technical specifications and description as part of the CWA).

4.1.1 W 1 – Establishment of set of Soft Cultural Elements

A thorough study of candidate Soft Cultural Elements and a selection of a set of such elements that are deemed suitable for registration in the SoftCultReg. The study will take into consideration the elements that are already included in International Standards, to ensure compatibility and avoid duplication.

4.1.1.1 Tasks:

T1.1 An “all- inclusive” inventory of Soft Cultural Elements.

T1.2 Selection of Soft Cultural Elements for the SoftCultReg.

4.1.2 W 2 – Development of metadata and terminology

The proposed action will place much emphasis on the development of metadata and terminology, to ensure reliable, consistent, and easily utilizable registrations. Metadata and terminology deficiencies may be one of the reasons for the limited success so far of registrations under ISO/IEC 15897.

4.1.2.1 Tasks:

T2.1 A terminology project to define a terminology and meta-data suitable for describing Soft Cul- tural Elements.

T2.2 Development of an XML scheme for the registration of Soft Cultural Elements.

4.1.3 W 3 – Technical infrastructure

The SoftCultReg will require some software development, mainly for input into the registry, parsing and validation of entries in the registry, main tenance of entries in the registry, and output (display and export) from the registry.

4.1.3.1 Tasks:

T3.1 Development of software routines necessary to initiate and operate the SoftCultReg.

4.1.4 W 4 – Test registration

A test is needed both to ensure that metadata, XM L scheme, and technical infrastructure are in place, and as an example and support for the benefit of f uture registrations.

4.1.4.1 Tasks:

T4.1 The completion of one or more entries in the SoftCultReg.

4.1.5 W 5 – Planning of continuous operation

To ensure successful continuous operation of the SoftCultReg a registration body needs to be designated with the necessary mandate and expertise. Some sort of expert committee on the European level also needs to be appointed. A funding proposal for (the establishment of the) long- term SoftCultReg will also be presented.

4.1.5.1 Tasks:

T5.1 Plans for a registration body and an expert committee.

T5.2 A funding proposal for the future SoftCultReg.

4.2 Workflow, milestones and deliverables

The proposed Workshop will follow the Workshop Procedures laid down by the CEN/ISSS rules.

The Workshop secretariat will define the business plan and operational rules specific for the Workshop at the onset of the project and will present it at the kick-off meeting for Workshop approval.

The following milestones are based on the assumptions that the project will start on the first day of “M01”:

· M01-01: Project start.

· M01-15: Call for experts (to be published on the CEN/ISSS site).

· M02-15: End of application period.

· M02-30: Announcement of selections and Workshop kick-off meeting.

· M11-30: Finalization of the CWA.

· M13-30: End of CWA ratification period.

The “time estimate” column in the table below indicates the total number of days needed to complete the work. After the total number of days is indicated how many paid days will be allotted to the expert in charge of the work package. The remaining days are expected to be contributed by the Workshop members (“in kind”).

All deliverables will be integral parts of the CWA. Tasks 2.2 and 3.1 will also produce deliverables external to the CWA (D 2.2 and D 3.1 respectively).

Work package	Time estimate	Deliverables	Milestones
W 1 Establishment of set of Soft Cultural Elements (cf. 4.1.1)	10 days (5 days paid).	D 1.1 A report of the results of T 1.1–1.2.	M05-30: Draft D 1.1M06-30: Revised D 1.1M07-15–M08-15: Official commenting period on D 1.1
W 2 Development of metadata and terminology(cf. 4.1.2)	30 days (15 days paid).	D 2.1 A report of the results of T 2.1.D 2.2 An XML scheme for the registration of Soft Cultural Elements.D 2.3 Documentation of the XML scheme.	M07-30: Draft D 2.1, D 2.2 and D 2.3.M08-30: Revised D 2.1, D 2.2 and D 2.3.
W 3Technical infrastructure(cf. 4.1.3)	20 days (10 days paid).	D 3.1 Fully tested software routines.D 3.2 Documentation of the software routines.	M07-30: Draft D 3.1 and D 3.2.M09-30: Revised D 3.1 and D 3.2.
W 4 Test registration(cf. 4.1.4)	5 days (3 days paid).	D 4.1 Sample-1 test registration.[D 4.2 Sample-2 test registration.][D 4.3 Sample-3 test registration.]	M09-30: Draft D 4.1.M10-30: Final D 4.1–D 4.x.
W 5 Planning of continuous operation(cf. 4.1.5)	10 days (5 days paid).	D 5.1 A report of the results of T 5.1.D 5.2 A report of the results of T 5.2.	M08-30: Draft D 5.1 and D 5.2.M10-30: Revised D 5.1 and D 5.2.

4.3 Liaison with related activities

The proposed Workshop will be an open activity. Workshop membership will be open to all interested parties. ICT- policy-making national and European authorities will be encouraged to participate.

The Workshop will seek collaboration with various bodies, including:

ISO/TC 37 Terminology and other language and content resources
CEN/ISSS Cultural Diversity Focus Group (CDFG)
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 22 Programming languages, their environments and system software interfaces (the committee responsible for ISO/IEC 15897)
The Unicode Consortium

5 Performance indicators

(To be reviewed at a later stage)

CategoryProjects CategorySoftCultReg