Held on Friday the 7th of May 2004
Zürich, Switzerland.
Scribe: Lisbeth Trinskjær
Status: final version
Revision: final approval General Meeting 2005, London
Final version: Sent to website 28th June
Published: 2nd July
Elsebeth Tank, the President of DAISY, opened the meeting at 9:00 a.m. She welcomed the participants to the General Meeting in Zürich, Switzerland. Elsebeth Tank introduced the host of the meeting, Bernhard Heinser, and gave him the floor.
On behalf of SBS, Bernhard Heinser expressed hope of a fruitful meeting and added that he hoped the DAISY members would enjoy their visit to Switzerland.
A brief presentation of the locations of the meetings was given by Bernhard Heinser. The meetings were divided between The Atlantis Sheraton Hotel and the new building housing SBS. An invitation to a boat trip in the evening was given.
Elsebeth Tank announced that Markus Gylling and Lynn Leith would introduce the programme of the afternoon in more detail later in the morning's programme.
Each person attending introduced themselves and their affiliation. The people attending were:
10 of the 12 Full Members were present. The General Meeting had a quorum.
The voting Members representatives were:
Keun-Hae Youk and John Churchill send their regrets that they are not able to attend the meeting. Secretary General George Kerscher sends his regrets as well, as he had an unfortunate accident and is not able to travel.
We send them our greetings.
Elsebeth Tank explained that there were no invited guests at this General Meeting.
Elsebeth Tank, President of the DAISY Consortium, announced that the meeting was called on 26th March 2004, 6 weeks prior to the General Meeting and that the papers of the meeting were distributed on 23rd April 2004, two weeks prior to the General Meeting, as stated in the Articles of Association of the DAISY Consortium.
The agenda was approved.
Lisbeth Trinskjær was approved as scribe.
The minutes of the General Meeting 2003 have been available at the DAISY website.
RESOLUTION: That the minutes of the previous General Meeting, held in Amsterdam May 12th 2003, be confirmed.
The minutes were approved.
The Financial Statement for 2003, the Auditor's Report, the Balance Sheet for 2003 and the Operating Income and Expenses for 2003 have been distributed by email in advance of the General Meeting.
Bernhard Heinser gave a short summation of the financial papers, and explained that he would not go through all the details, but that he would go through the main points and invite for questions. Bernhard Heinser explained that the financial report this year is a little more detailed, in order to give more detailed information also on the projects run by the DAISY Consortium in 2003. The capital at the end of 2003 was 350.000 US$. Bernhard Heinser drew the participants' attention to the comments from the Treasurer provided in the final statements in the Financial Report regarding how to consider the capital. It is the suggestion of the DAISY Board to consider this capital a reserve. The reserve should be the equivalent of the yearly membership fee which in 2003 would come to approximately 400.000 US$.
The Balance Sheet and the Operational Income and Expenses state a loss. Bernhard Heinser explained that the budget of 2003 expected a balanced budget, but that the loss stated is essentially coursed by the rate of exchange between the US$ and the Swiss Franc. As the books are kept in Swiss Francs and the capital in the bank is kept in US$, the loss is mainly a loss on paper. The DAISY Consortium has asked the Auditor if the DAISY Consortium can keep the books in US$ and he has agreed. Consequently, the books will be kept in US$ from 2004.
Bernhard Heinser remarked that the DAISY Consortium is growing, and there is more capital in the Consortium, especially due to the DAISY for ALL project sponsored by the Nippon Foundation. This project will continue. The DAISY Consortium has received 684.400 US$ for a new project phase from April 2004 to May 2005 from the Nippon Foundation. The growing is reflected in the books. Bernhard Heinser announced that the DAISY Consortium will revise the presentation of the figures from 2004 in order to give more detailed information on the special projects within the DAISY Consortium.
Stephen King added that if we adjust for the fluctuation, the Consortium will "break even" in 2004. This was confirmed by Bernhard Heinser who added that the DAISY Consortium is in a healthy financial situation and that the goals set out have been achieved.
Jane Evans asked what the purpose of the reserve of the Consortium is thought to be.
Bernhard Heinser replied that the reserve is for emergencies, for investment in attracting more funds by hiring a fundraiser, to develop software etc. as it is not the goal of the DAISY Consortium to accumulate capital.
Stephen King added that the DAISY Consortium has commitments in the form of staff and projects, and some members are not always punctual with their payments. Accordingly, the Consortium needs working capital.
RESOLUTION: That the Statement of Accounts, recording income and expenditure for the calendar year 2003, be received.
The resolution was approved.
RESOLUTION: That the Balance Sheet for the year ended on December 31st 2003, be received.
The resolution was received.
RESOLUTION: That the Auditor's Report, recommending that the General Meeting should approve the Statement of Accounts and Balance Sheet for 2003, be received and noted.
The resolution was received and noted.
RESOLUTION: That the Auditor's Report, be received and noted.
The resolution was approved and noted.
The Annual Report was distributed by email in advance of the General Meeting.
Elsebeth Tank, President of the DAISY Consortium, added a few comments to the Annual Report. Elsebeth Tank suggested that it was appropriate to notice that the growth of the DC is developing satisfactory. This is a signal that the knowledge of the DAISY Consortium activities are noticed and spread out. This is due to all the people working on and with DAISY.
Elsebeth Tank mentioned that in the words of Secretary General George Kerscher, one could say that what is happening is that "the world" is embracing the DAISY Consortium. This is obviously a very positive development, but it also puts pressure on the Consortium. It generates many new suggestions, expectations etc. And the pressure will also come from outside the Consortium. For example there will be some asking us to consider motion pictures, and although this is not directly on the agenda of the DAISY Consortium, we will have to consider these demands to make sure that the standard is being used, expanded appropriately and respected.
After 2003 the DAISY Consortium have a good deal of production tools that are available to people and that enable members to produce DAISY. But we also know that this development will need a step for the next generation, and this is a key issue.
The DAISY format has been adopted as a NISO standard. This is often where standardisation within the field of technology starts, the next step will be ISO.
The DAISY Consortium has also been able to ensure a market for playback devises, in cooperation with many others.
Elsebeth Tank mentioned that now and then people ask: What do we get from the DAISY membership fee? And these are some of the things we do get back from the membership of the Consortium.
An International Network that makes the organisation very strong has been established. We can support and inspire each other and the network is there for people to work together.
The reality is that unique DAISY materials are now being delivered to people with disabilities, in different parts of the world. 2003 was a breakthrough year for the DAISY Consortium, now we can deliver and there are many impressive results.
But the breakthrough also creates pressure when members are presenting the DAISY Consortium with their expectations. And many member organisations experience an economical pressure back home and are requested to run their organisation for less money than in the past.
Elsebeth Tank concluded by stating that 2003 was an impressive year for the DAISY Consortium and announced a presentation later in the morning on the DAISY for ALL Project that has been a spectacular project for the DAISY Consortium. Finally, Elsebeth Tank mentioned that a strategic process has started within the DAISY Board, but announced that she would get back to this topic later in the agenda.
Elsebeth Tank invited amendments or comments. None were forthcoming.
RESOLUTION: That the Annual Report for the year 2003 be adopted.
The resolution was adopted.
Bernhard Heinser explained the meaning of discharging the Board and that it is a legal requirement by Swiss law. By discharging the Board the General Meeting takes over the responsibility for the work and the decisions made by the Board in 2003.
RESOLUTION: That the General Meeting discharges the Board for the year 2003.
The resolution was approved.
Elsebeth Tank announced that there were no new Full Members.
RESOLUTION: That the decision of the President, to accept the following organisations as associate members of the DAISY Consortium, be ratified.
Elsebeth Tank mentioned all 12 new Associate Members who have joined since 1st January 2003.
The decision of the President was ratified.
All Associate Members were welcomed.
The resolution was approved.
Elsebeth Tank expressed hope of a fruitful cooperation and expressed hope that their expectations to the DAISY Consortium would be fulfilled.
RESOLUTION: That the joining of the following organisations as DAISY Friends is noted with pleasure.
Elsebeth Tank mentioned all 9 new Friends who have joined the DAISY Consortium since 1st January 2003.
The resolution was approved and the new Friends were welcomed.
RESOLUTION: That the names of the eleven persons serving on the DAISY Board of Directors and the Full Members which they represent are noted as follows:
The resolution was approved.
At this point, Stephen King mentioned that RNIB in April 2004 lent their DAISY book number one million.
The Strategic Plan was given as an oral presentation by Elsebeth Tank
Elsebeth Tank opened her oral presentation on the Strategic Plan for the future of the DAISY Consortium by stating that the Consortium is currently in a very positive but also a very demanding situation. When the DAISY Consortium was established in 1996, the situation was one of anticipation, planning and exchanging view on how to invent the technology and the know how of the digital talking books.
This whole situation was the starting point of the DAISY organisation and the starting point of the strategic discussions of the organisations as well. At this point, we have good results and the Consortium is at a stage where a new strategic discussion is needed. We need to determine the future key issues for the DAISY Consortium.
Elsebeth Tank does not think that the strategy will end up having very surprising approaches, but the need to evaluate and to adjust the direction is clear. The vision is still committed to serving people with disabilities with information technologies and equal access. But maybe we need to add to the vision the relationship with main stream industry to make sure that our development is not isolated, but part of the main stream activities. And maybe some of the more substantial issues are how to develop the DAISY 3 standard in terms of production tools and playback devises, realising that the standard will continue evolving and that this will be a key issue for the DAISY Consortium.
And although the DAISY Consortium is not a copyright setting body, the copyright issue does effect our ways of work and must be part of the scope of DAISY, in close cooperation with WBU and IFLA LBS. To this end, the Board will have a discussion on copyright issues in October.
The Global Library, equally, is a key issue. How will we actually do the interchanging of digital materials? How do we build an accessible Global Library?
Fortunately, the DAISY Consortium has many good Friends and Members, but it is important to have happy Members and Friends. And that is also a key issue. If you join a consortium, you join with a lot of expectations. The fact of the matter is, however, that DC has a limited amount of resources available. Information to Members and Friends is a big priority, to be clear and more transparent and to communicate clearly what the Members gain from the DAISY Consortium and what activities we are taking on, are others.
Yesterday, the Board decided that the weekly update sent to Full Members, in future will be extended to Associate Members as well, because we believe this will be a good way to be continuously informed on the progress of the DAISY Consortium. This will be instead of DAISY news.
Elsebeth Tank explained that regarding the Strategic Plan of DAISY, the Board has formulated a vision, a mission, target and goals. A draft will be distributed to both Full and Associate Members for comments in late August. The Board would like to have feedback from Members in mid September in order to draw up a new draft for the Board Meeting in October 2004. The new Strategic Plan with vision, mission and goals will be presented at the General Meeting in 2005. Elsebeth Tank concluded by stressing that the Board is looking forward to input from the Members to add value to the strategic process.
Elsebeth Tank invited questions. There were no questions.
On behalf of Secretary General George Kerscher who is very sorry that he could not attend the General Meeting as planned, Elsebeth Tank invited Lynn Leith to present the Work Plan 2004. Lynn Leith explained that the document itself is quite long and stressed that the work plan is not static as the Board is still working on the Strategic Plan. But Lynn Leith would present the Work Plan in its current version.
The priorities are presently the following projects and initiatives:
Road map to Daisy 3, it is critical to be able to migrate to DAISY 3
Revision of DAISY 3, ANSI/NISO Z39.86 standard - adopted by the end of 2004
DAISY 3 Validator, finalised this year (before we have a production tool)
Lynn Leith invited questions. There were no questions.
Elsebeth Tank thanked Lynn Leith for the presentation and commented that this Work Plan is a good indicator of how ambitious and hard working the DAISY Consortium is.
This was not presented as the General Meeting focused on the calendar year 2003.
The budgets for 2004 - 2005 have been distributed by email in advance of the General Meeting.
Bernhard Heinser explained that the primary income of the Consortium is the membership fees. The budget 2004 calculates with 11 Full Members as the situation of Korea is uncertain, 50 Associate Members, as two of the current Associate Members are likely to join the Japanese DAISY Consortium and 19 Friends.
The funds provided by Nippon from April 2004 to May 2005 come to 684.000 US$. These are split in the budget for this year and next year.
This result in a total income of 888.000 US$.
About the expenditure Bernhard Heinser explained that the software development process is budgeted at 105.000 US$. Bernhard Heinser stressed that with the current income of the Consortium and the other costs of staff, meetings, travel etc. there is 100.000 US$ for available for projects. This means that the DAISY Consortium will have to look for external funding.
Bernhard Heinser explained that we currently have a staff budget of 256.000 US$, including George Kerscher, Lynn Leith, Markus Gylling, Lisbeth Trinskjær and Jennifer Sutton's services. Jennifer Sutton is leaving the DAISY Consortium in May 2004, and a replacement will be found to manage the website.
Travel and accommodation costs are budgeted at 78.000 US$ and Bernhard Heinser stressed that the DAISY Consortium have been trying to cut down these costs, and this have been successful as the same expenditure was 140.000 US$ in 2002.
Grants to Associate Members are budgeted at the same level as last year. The expenditure for DFA, is 430.000 US$, provided by the Nippon Foundation. And membership fees that are important strategically to the DAISY Consortium come to a total cost of 15.000 US$.
And with 15.000 US$ unallocated, the budget comes to a result of a negative balance of 50.000 US$ for 2004. And the balance for 2005 is set at a negative balance of 22.000 US$.
Bernhard Heinser closed his presentation by assuring the delegates that the DAISY Consortium is very careful with the budgeting, making sure that the budget goals are reached.
Bernhard Heinser invited questions. There were no questions.
RESOLUTION: That the membership fees are maintained at their current levels:
The resolution was approved.
Elsebeth Tank added that the Board is having a discussion on increasing the fees slightly gradually to adjust for inflation. But this would be from 2006, in that case.
RESOLUTION: That the budget for 2004 and the forward estimates through 2005 be received.
The resolution was approved, and the budget for 2004 and the forward estimates for 2005 are received.
Elsebeth Tank gave the floor to Hiroshi Kawamura to present the very impressive and brilliant project DFA which thanks to Hiroshi Kawamura have been invented and brought to life.
Hiroshi Kawamura presented the DFA, sponsored by the Nippon Foundation, in the form of a presentation presented in Geneva 2003, Global Forum on disability.
The presenters of this paper and the people working on DFA are: Monthian Buntan, Leader of National Implementation in Thailand, Markku Hakkinen, System Engineer, Marisa DeMeglio, working on the AMIS project and Dipendra Manocha, Assistant Project Manager for India and full time International Trainer Miki Azuma and Acting Project Manager and Project Secretary Misako Namura and Hiroshi Kawamura, voluntary Project Manager for the DFA.
Hiroshi Kawamura explained that the target of DFA is to reach out to developing countries with DAISY technology. The plan has been to cover the world, but the strategy of the sponsor, the Nippon Foundation, is to focus on Asia and the Pacific.
The National implementation starts with the coordination of national core organisations that can form a focal point. In 2003 India and Thailand were chosen. Both are now successfully established - and will become regional support centres in 2004.
DFA Open Source project intend to build capacity in developing countries to use DAISY tools based on local languages and adapted software including AMIS. The DFA project is essential for developing countries, but the goal is for global use.
More information on the AMIS Tool can be obtained at the AMIS project homepages:
www.amisproject.orgHiroshi Kawamura explained that all meetings are being recorded, and he invited the members to visit the website and share the knowledge.
Hiroshi Kawamura explained that the Project targets of 2004 are:
Hiroshi Kawamura stressed that during the 1st phase of WSIS, DFA gave wonderful input to the summit including a CD-ROM with all conference documents in 6 official UN languages, in the DAISY format, in full text synchronisation. (This CD ROM was distributed to the participants).
Hiroshi Kawamura concluded his presentation by stating that the vision of DFA is to cover the world with DAISY technology. Sharing knowledge and preserving cultures are some of the key issues of both the World Summit and DFA. Hiroshi Kawamura encouraged the delegates to join the WSIS 2005.
Elsebeth Tank thanked Hiroshi Kawamura for the successful role model of DFA.
Olaf Mittelstaedt added that the version of the AMIS player available on the distributed CD ROM is not the right version, but a testing platform of the AMIS player.
While Olaf Mittelstaedt had the floor he informed the participants of an initiative from Serveur Hélène, concerning automating output with Braille syntax from other languages.
More information, uploading of marked-up texts and download of various formats at:
www.serveur-helene.orgOr contact: jean-louis.monteiro@snv.jussieu.fr
Stephen King invited the delegates to have the next General Meeting of the DAISY Consortium in London, England, on Saturday the 2nd April 2005. As an additional attraction the meeting is set up in connection with the Conference Vision 2005 (a four day conference with 2000 participants). The conference will partly be placed at RNIB's Headquarters and partly at the British Library.
Stephen King added that if anybody has any additional requests, they are welcome to state these and extended an open invitation to visit any of RNIB's facilities.
RESOLUTION: To happily accept the invitation from RNIB to have the General Meeting 2005 in London
The resolution was carried.
Lynn Leith introduced the programme of the afternoon. And Elsebeth Tank gave the floor to Peter Grand from SBS who presented the participants with a little present from the SBS including books, postcards and some very rare stamps with Braille on.
Bernhard Heinser attracted attention to the fact that there would be a demonstration of EasePublisher during lunchtime.
Elsebeth Tank formally closed the meeting and thanked everyone for attendance and interest and thanked the DAISY Staff for their contribution and dedication.