OVERVIEW
The new Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) Community is a free-standing, open source community of simulation researchers, users, developers and other stakeholders
interested in forwarding advanced simulation modeling. This new Community is managed and governed directly by its members and
contributors and will be responsible for continuing the research momentum, and maintaining and expanding the products developed as part of the NGSIM program over the last decade.
The NGSIM Program was initially envisioned and supported by the US DOT's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
This FHWA program was successful in conducting basic research on simulation algorithms and in developing advanced datasets to
help support simulation model development and testing. Contributing to the success of this program was the formation of a stakeholder
group that included academics, government agency representatives, software vendors, consultants, and other model users.
As the FHWA's official sponsorship of the NGSIM program reached its planned conclusion in 2008-09, this group of stakeholders
decided that they would like to continue the momentum of the NGSIM effort independently as the NGSIM Community. FHWA is supporting this
transition and is anticipated to continue to be involved in the future as a key member of the NGSIM community.
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE
As established in the community by-laws, the NGSIM Community is open to membership by any individual interested in simulation modeling.
The Community is governed by its own members and the hierarchy of the Community includes:
- Community Trustees:
These individuals oversee the management of the Community and make decisions regarding the addition or condensation of workgroups within the community.
- Workgroup Stewards:
These individuals manage the operation and workflow within different workgroups in the Community, each devoted to a different topic area regarding simulation.
These Stewards are also responsible for bestowing Contributor status to members based on the contributions made by the individual members.
- Contributors:
These members have been recognized by the Community for forwarding the efforts of the Community.
Achieving Contributor status is a prerequisite for members wishing to participate in the Community as Stewards or Trustees.
- Friends: These are members of the Community that have expressed
an interest in one or more of the Community workgroups. Becoming a Friend of a workgroup is required in order to view and participate in the workgroup
discussion forums.
The positions of Community Trustees and Workgroup Stewards are currently filled by volunteers involved in
the FHWA's NGSIM Program; however, elections are being planned in 2009 to ratify the set of individuals responsible for fulfilling these roles.
Going forward all individuals filling these positions will be elected by the Community members.
There are currently four Workgroups recognized by the NGSIM Community.
Each workgroup is centered around a different topic or issue surrounding simulation. Members may choose to become a Friend of one or more of these
workgroups and directly participate in their activities. These current workgroups include:
- Algorithms: Focusing on the development and testing of advanced simulation algorithms.
- Datasets: Focusing on improving the state-of-the-practice and
availability of quality datasets that may be used in the development, calibration and testing of simulation efforts.
- Research Needs: Assessing the needs of simulation research and
attempting to influence the direction of future research.
- Infrastructure
: Focused on the provision and maintenance of infrastructure (web site) to support the NGSIM Community.
This particular workgroup is not open for general membership, as its members are assigned by the Community Trustees.
Additional workgroups may be formed in the future if the Trustees believe there is sufficient demand in the
Community.
WEB SITE OVERVIEW
To support this new Open Source NGSIM community, this web site was developed to provide additional capabilities for NGSIM community members to communicate and share information
directly with each other, and to govern the community. This new web site will also provide continuing future access to the data and documentation
previously provided on the FHWA supported NGSIM site.
Anyone may become a member of the NGSIM Community by registering on this web site.
Registering
Anyone wanting to register for membership should click on the "Register" link in the upper banner of the screen. The individual will
then be able to create their registration by filling in the appropriate fields. Note that only identification of name, a
self identified user name, a valid email address and a password are the only required fields. Of this information, only the selected
user name will be available on the user profile for other members to view. If the member chooses, they may provide
additional information about themself that will be available to other registered Community members. Once complete, the user may click on
Send Registration to complete the process. The member will have the opportunity to change this profile information later if they
choose.
Setting Your Preferences and Selecting Workgroups to Participate
Once a member has registered, they may set their preferences by clicking "My Profile" under the User Menu at the left edge of the page.
Once on the profile page, the member may provide or customize an image for their profile, or update their profile by selecting that option under the "Edit" button immediately above
the image. On the "Community Involvement" tab, the member may define which Community workgroups they would like to be affiliated with.
Becoming a friend of a workgroup allows the member to view and participate in discussion forums for those particular groups.
Friends of particular workgroups may also choose to receive periodic email summaries of all the entries made to the particular workgroup discussion forums, so they don't necessarily
have to continuously monitor the site to keep up with the latest discussions.
Members may also request "Contributor" status for any workgroup where they registered as a Friend. Contributor status is bestowed by the elected
Stewards overseeing the particular workgroup and is reserved for those members making significant contributions to that workgroup in the NGSIM Community.
By selecting "Request Contributor Status", you will facilitate the sending of a notice to the particular workgroup stewards requesting that you
be considered for "Contributor" status. The Stewards will conduct a ballot to considering your request, and you will be informed of the outcome.
Discussion Forums
Members may view and participate in any discussion forums for the workgroups they have joined as a Friend.
The discussion forums are used to communicate with other members of a workgroup or the Community. These forums are
accessed through the "Discussion" icon near the top of the screen. For each workgroup, there are two discussion forums.
The first formal forum is intended support the official business and workflow of the workgroup. A second less formal "Lounge" discussion forum is also
provided for more casual discussions within the workgroup, for example coordinating a conference call time or asking for assistance in locating a reference document.
Any Friend of a workgroup may post a new topic to either the forum or the lounge or may
reply to an existing topic. Additionally, "Town Hall" forums are available to communications with the entire community.
Any registered member with Friend status in one or more workgroups will have access to the Town Hall discussions.
Tracking and Viewing Contributions
Once a member becomes a Friend of one or more workgroup, their contributions to the Community are
automatically and continuously recorded. All postings the discussion forums, as well as any feedback, are automatically tracked by the web site itself.
Participation in other Community activities are recorded by the individual workgroup monitors under the direction of the Workgroup Stewards.
The member my view their own contribution summaries on the My Profile Contributions page. Contributions for
other members may be viewed by selecting User List and the username of the Community Member and clicking the Contributions option.
Balloting and Voting
Occasionally, the Community Trustees or Workgroup Stewards will request that a vote be taken to elect new
officers, approve changes in Community By-Laws, or to approve issues related to the work of the Community (e.g., prioritizing research needs).
If a member's vote is requested, they will receive an email announcement at their email address of record, and be provided with a link to a specific ballot page on this website.
The member may record their vote on this page and may return to this page and change their vote anytime as long as the voting period remains open.
Reporting Abuse
If a member feels that another community member is abusing the privileges of the site or using the community infrastructure improperly, they may report the abuse
to the Community monitors. On the profile page of all community users, an option is available to report abuse by selecting the Moderation
button. The member will be asked to provide a description of the offending activities and this information will be submitted to the monitor.
|
|
|
|
|
