The fifth INESS PMC meeting (Project Management Committee) met on 2 July at UIC. The meeting was chaired by the Project Manager Emmanuel Buseyne who extended a warm welcome to the 10 participants who were, for the most part, the project’s workstream leaders.
The meeting involved a general assessment of the progress made to date at workstream level, with each leader reporting on the work carried out in their respective workstream. Richard Vaux from ALMA Consulting Group reported on the progress made within WS A (Workstream A) concerning the financial and administrative management of the project and the deliverables achieved thus far. All financial reporting is to be validated by the European Commission, who requires WS leaders to provide a description of the work that has been undertaken and modified within the workstream since the start of the project, the main results achieved so far and the expected final results and potential impact.
A brief discussion was held on Myndsphere, the tool that has been developed to store all internal information related to the project. The tool is used by all the project members to classify and share work documents, deliverables and reports. Questions were raised on how best to organise and share the information stored by the workstream leaders with the workstream management bodies.
Karsten Kamps leader of WS B (business model), reported on the objectives of the workstream during the first six months and what has been achieved so far. The life cycle model was accepted by WS B at its last meeting in London on 28-29 April 2009. The WS B data collection team is to begin the process of gathering data according to the agreed schedule.
Wendi Mennen from WS D (generic requirements for ERTMS-compliant interlockings) reported that a management meeting was recently held during which task dependencies were created. She went on to report that risks have been identified and plans for mitigation made.
Jorge Gamelas, leader of WS E (functional architecture and interfaces), reported that the priority over the next several months will be to collect information from the partners. Work will be carried out once the information has been analysed. A coordination meeting has also been planned between WS E and WS D.
Ian Harman from WS F (testing and commissioning) reported that the main objective by month 21 is to have compiled a state of the art report on testing and commissioning. The report will be used as a baseline for identifying proposals for change arising from the other INESS workstreams. He went on to say that WS F will be closely examining its future strategy.
Carsten Trog, WS G leader (safety case process) presented the workstream’s deliverables. He reported on the work progress and achievements during months one to nine. The priority for WS G is to develop a strategy to support the safety case, define short-term and long-term goals and estimate the economical benefits.
Maria Lafont, leader of WS H (dissemination, exploitation, training and coaching), reported on the latest developments within the workstream, notably the publication of a new INESS brochure and flyer, and the updating of the project’s website. A new INESS logo was voted at the last Steering Board on 7 May this year and has subsequently been added to all the project’s communication documents.
INESS is currently in its tenth month following the official kick-off meeting in October last year which was attended by 80 participants including the European Commission, which is funding the three-year project.
Communications update:
– A new INESS brochure and flyer have been released, giving a general overview of what the project is about and how it is organised.
– The website has recently been updated, please visit: www.iness.eu
– The next General Assembly is due to be held on 16 December 2009
