Kick-Off Meeting • June 29, 2010 OpenGen.org

What is OpenGen?

•  Not for profit council of industry experts in the practice of family history

•  Creating a universal set of standards for the recording, exchange, preservation, and sharing of genealogical data •  Real Time data exchange (API’s) •  Format for data portability (.FTM, Gedcom, XML)

•  The industry evangelist community for the adoption of the standards

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Purpose of OpenGen 2

•  Create and maintain an objective standard for the definition of digital standards for genealogy and family history data

•  Build on past work to deliver a contemporary standard that is open to all constituents and companies interested in genealogy data interoperability

History of Genealogy Data Sharing 3

•  Gedcom •  First introduced 14 years ago by the Church of Latter Day

Saints •  The de-facto standard for genealogy data •  No formal mechanism for social media (commenting,

tagging, etc.)

•  API •  Gaining in relevancy and adoption as the means through

which systems share data and family history information

•  As our industry grows, new players and solutions introduce opportunities for increased data diffusion

Why are we here? 4

•  Kicking off a collaboration of experts in the field. •  Create the standards •  Recruit the right people to lead and execute this

effort •  Strategize for the widespread adoption of this new

standard

Who’s behind OpenGen?

•  Scott Mueller, Founder and CEO of AppleTree.com •  Wikipedia-style public and open

family tree of the world

•  Currently in beta, and launching in the fall

•  Advocates of free and open collaboration for people and systems to advance the practice of family history

•  Funding the kick-off of the project

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Site will officially launch in early July as the resource for the committee members, works in process, discussion forums, and project updates.

www.OpenGen.org 6

•  REST API •  Hub & Spoke

API’s

•  Bibliographic data

•  Persistent Identifiers

Content

•  Outreach •  Communication •  Coordination •  Administration

MarComm

Scott Mueller

OpenGen Structure 7

•  Alliance Chairperson

The chairperson sits for a term of 2 years and oversees the activities of the 3 core OpenGen committees

Next Steps 8

•  Identify interests of participants •  Follow-up to align interests and committee needs

•  Sharing of past work •  Forums and discussion boards will launch with

website •  Open invitation to post and share

•  Call for more volunteers •  Need your help inviting parties that would benefit

from or would be beneficial to OpenGen

Questions? 9

•  We’re open to your thoughts and feedback. •  The success of this alliance relies on the open

participation of members representing a wide cross-section of our industry