Working Group Quick Start Guide

Working Group Workflow

Essential Working Group Tasks

In the context of the working group activities, working groups will largely be working to perform the following kinds of tasks:

1. Identify high-level election processes
2. Identify the essential steps or functions of each process ( Pre-Election Process | Election Process | Post-Election Process )
3. Identify the rules of operation for each process and function (i.e., what essential principles, requirements, and assertions guide, restrict, and/or control the flow of the process?)
4. Consider how #1-#3 may be implemented using particular technologies and platforms
5. Consider what must be done to ensure that #1-#4 are:
   1. Usable
   2. Accessible
   3. Secure
   4. Interoperable
   5. Testable
   6. Certifiable
   7. Without internal contradiction
   8. Well-made according to best practices in hardware, software, data, etc.
   9. Fit for their intended purpose
6. Use #1-#5 to draft and/or to recommend:
   1. Particular standards
   2. Best practices
   3. Current priorities
   4. Future goals
   5. Essential issues
   6. Essential solutions/strategies
   7. Next steps

Working groups will carry out the above kinds of activities by:

1. Identifying information they know, do not know, or need to know
2. Researching and/or creating needed information
3. Populating the TWiki with relevant information
4. Meeting in-person or virtually to:
   1. Make plans
   2. Discuss work-in-progress, goals, priorities, and status
   3. Carry out the above working group tasks
5. Providing necessary work products such as:
   1. Processes
   2. Functions
   3. Logic – principles, requirements, assertions
   4. Standards
   5. Test Methods
   6. Workflows – for development and evaluation of election systems, election system tests, testing laboratories, certifying bodies, accreditation bodies, and end-users.

Working Group Subtasks: Supporting Research and Developmental Activities

Although working group activities will continually involve working toward particular developmental goals over time (such as the creation of a given standards, process models, principles, requirements, assertions, test methods, etc.), a given group may also become engaged in particular tasks which are necessary in order to realize these higher level goals such as:

1. Performing research to answer specific questions
2. Validating certain assumptions
3. Testing certain models
4. Developing particular content

Members are encouraged to leverage one another's strengths, collaborating to carry out particular activities, so as to facilitate the progress of the whole group.

Populating the TWiki with Knowledge, Plans, Work Products, and Status

As each group’s activities progress, it is important for group members to create and link together ideas within the TWiki website itself making pages for important topics or additional areas for consideration. In addition, as any work products (such as documents, specifications, models, or standards) are made (even as drafts or incremental updates) these should be posted in the TWiki as well so that the TWiki can always reflect both the current state of the group's knowledge as well as the current state of all activities occurring here.

Workflow-specific Areas

The overall layout of the primary  site pages supports this overall development process.

Across the top of each page are buttons or links to the following key areas:

1. Process-oriented Working Groups – where individuals can develop election-related processes, functions, logic, technology and implementation corresponding to Pre-Election, Election, and Post-Election phases of election activities
2. Constituency Working Groups – where individuals can identify the most important implications in particular areas ( Usable, Accessible, Secure, Interoperable, Testable) arising from the Process-oriented Working Groups.

General Development Process

In general, the overall development process will be kicked off by an initial focus on essential processes and functions. This will provide the high-level impetus for all groups to begin working.

Over time groups will begin to consider particular technologies, architectures, scenarios, issues, conflicts, and/or questions.

Role of Subgroups

In order to answer questions, test hypotheses, and resolve issues, individuals and teams will form particular tasks to be carried out by subgroups.

These subgroups are expected to provide actionable inputs to their parent working groups in support of higher-level activities.

Specific Pages Supporting Working Group Workflows

In the end, all groups are expected to form reasonable, reachable goals that result in concrete work products within certain periods of time.