Thursday, September 9, 2010
Standard Operating Procedures

New IMIA Working Group Proposals

Preamble

  1. The Vice — President - Working and Special Interest Groups is responsible to the IMIA Board and General Assembly for the creation of new Working or Special Interest Groups.
  2. The by-laws of IMIA refer to working groups as follows: "A Working Group is established by the General Assembly upon the submission of the proposed scope of the Working Group and shall deliver whatever result is decided at a specific time. A Working Group consists of experts selected and assigned, without consideration of nationality, to work in a specified area."

Process

  1. IMIA’s three-part process for approving new working groups begins with a formal proposal from the person(s) wishing to develop the new working group that includes the following requirements.
  1. Proposed Working Group Name
  2. Focus area or topic for the Working Group
  3. Expanded description of the content areas that will be worked on by the proposed Working Group
  4. Proposed work plan
  5. Contact information of the proposal chair and co-chair(s)
  6. Review of the Scientific Map to locate the other IMIA working groups where interactions are expected (refer to www.imia.org - Endorsed Documents).
  7. Outline the potential overlaps with other IMIA working groups
  8. A list of individuals who will constitute the Working Group’s initial membership
  9. An outline of plans to recruit other working group members from throughout the world.

It must be noted that the topical focus of the Working Group is relevant and important world-wide and that the potential participants are representative of and have connections within the international informatics community.
  1. After the proposal is submitted, IMIA VP for Working Groups completes a pre-submission evaluation. When satisfied that the requirement criteria have been met, the VP presents the proposal to the IMIA Board for review and approval. The Board may grant Provisional Status to the Group.

    Since 1999 IMIA has used the model of ‘Provisional" status for working groups that are not yet approved by the General Assembly. This allows more time to refine their proposals prior to submission for full review.

  2. Finally, VP for Working Groups proposes acceptance of the Working Group by the IMIA General Assembly at its next annual meeting. Normally, the proposed Chair of the Working Group attends this meeting to participate in any discussion that may ensue prior to the approval or otherwise of the Working Group by the General Assembly.

The IMIA VP for Working Groups completes a pre-submission evaluation of their proposals and emphasizes the need for topics that are important world-wide and that the potential participants are international and have connections world wide.

Responsibilities

Subsequent to approval by the General Assembly, the Working Group conducts its affairs in accordance with its approved mandate. Normally, the Chair of the Working group shall be the liaison between the Working Group and the IMIA VP. The following are ongoing responsibilities to IMIA:

    • When the working group has been approved, provide and maintain:
      1. A narrative description of the Working Group
      2. Complete contact information of the Group’s Chair and where applicable co-Chair (s), along with an electronic photograph.
      3. Where applicable, the URL of any website that the Working Group maintains.

      This information will be posted on the IMIA Website (www.imia.org - Working Groups)

    • Provide the VP Working Groups with the by-annual reports that are required for IMIA Board and General Assembly meetings on a timely basis.

Approved:
IMIA Board Meeting, April 5, 2002
General Assembly, October 4, 2002