Architecture Committee: Charter/Mission

Background 
The Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) Board of Trustees established an Architecture Committee empowered to establish rules and take responsibility for development of technical and architectural aspects of CIECA standards.  The Architecture Committee will report to the Standards Advisory Board (SAB).  This committee will be comprised of Business and Technical people from CIECA member companies.  This committee will also be responsible for researching and assessing new technologies and for acting as a liaison with other industry standards organizations and other associations. 

Leadership
The chair(s) of the Architecture Committee will be selected by the SAB and participate on the SAB.  The ideal candidate(s) will have both technical and business experience in business-to-business (B2B) data exchanges such as, but not limited to, X12 and XML syntax.

Scope and Objectives
The Architecture Committee will focus on the following key critical items:

• Develop deliverables with industry participation to achieve widespread industry acceptance, functionality, and compatibility

• Enforce Quality assurance
  • Project Documentation meets CIECA approved standards 
• Enforce Compliance with CIECA Procedures
  • Ensure new project proposals, releases, maintenance, and support guidelines for technical standards are being followed
• Ensure Project work meets business case
  • Ensure deliverable(s) are within the scope of the business case
• Develop the required project forms and templates
• Develop and recommend new technical methods
  • Define release, maintenance, and support guidelines for technical standards
  • The goal is to focus our standards development on current technologies that have industry acceptance 
• The current focus will be upon the development of XML documents including but not limited to:
  • Data structures
  • Schemas
  • Tag names and definitions
  • Naming conventions
• Incorporate security and other standards as required
• Develop and coordinate work that spans multiple Systems Development Committees
  • Assist committees in their development efforts
  • Review reuse opportunities  

• Responsible for training and education of technical and architectural aspects of CIECA standards.

• Other objectives as assigned by the Standards Advisory Board or the Board of Trustees

Operating Guidelines

• The Architecture Committee will meet monthly or more frequently as needed
• Guides and other documents will be maintained and made available through the CIECA web site
• There will be a commitment to coordinate XML activities with other industry and standards setting organizations to gain greater acceptance and/or speed development
• Coordinate with other industry standards organizations and other associations  through appointed CIECA liaisons

Constraints and Assumptions
The Architecture Committee assumes the SAB will facilitate and coordinate the activities of the various CIECA Standards Development Committees (SDC) and action teams.  Refer to the SAB Charter for more detailed information.   

Architecture Membership
Architecture participation is open to all individuals who qualify as members of CIECA. An individual may participate within Architecture without being a member of Architecture. Membership within Architecture is granted after attending two consecutive Architecture meetings and 50% of the scheduled meetings after membership is established. Attendance criteria includes full Architecture meetings as well as Architecture sub-committee meetings.  A scheduled meeting is a meeting announced as both CIECA webinar meetings and face to face meetings.   Membership is granted to the individual, not an organization.  All approval decisions are made openly and on a consensus basis.  Consensus requires that all views and objections be openly and honestly considered, and that a concerted effort be made toward resolution.  The group will agree collectively on recognizing different positions.

Industry Coordination
Coordination within the collision industry, standards organizations, and industry groups is essential for this committee to meet its objectives.  This list includes but is not limited to ASC X12, Aftermarket Council on Electronic Commerce (ACEC), ACORD, Universal Business Language (UBL), United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UNCEFACT), Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), STAR, and other CIECA subcommittees.