The 13th Annual OpenFabrics Alliance Workshop is now in the books. We’ll have more to say about the workshop in an upcoming blog. In the meantime, you can see all the presentations and videos here – https://www.openfabrics.org/index.php/2017-ofa-workshop-presentations.html.
But for now, I want to concentrate on a significant change underway in how the OFA does business resulting in a new program of At Large Directors rolled out at the Workshop this year.
The OFA has always been an open source organization; the code produced by its members is freely available on public repositories and non-members are always welcome to participate in OFA working groups. The Board of Directors has also welcomed guidance from users and developers during our annual workshops and through participation in OFA working groups. Lately the OFA’s Board has looked for ways to strengthen its relationship with the broader community. One important step in that direction is the Board’s recent decision to create two new At Large Director positions on the Board. The objective is to bring outside voices into Board of Director discussions to ensure we are serving the entire open source community.
This notion of expanding the OFA’s outreach via an augmented Board was formally rolled out at the Workshop this year where nominations where held and two individuals were elected to serve a one year term as our first At Large Directors.
So, it is with great pleasure that the Board of Directors announce the election of Jason Gunthorpe and Bob Noseworthy as the first two holders of these At Large Director seats. Many of you know Jason; in addition to his long-time involvement with the OFA, he is a very active developer of RDMA solutions and widely respected within the Linux community. Bob Noseworthy describes himself as the Chief Sherpa at the University of New Hampshire Interoperability Lab (UNH-IOL) where he’s been immersed in the technology and engaged with its practitioners every day. These two outside voices are welcomed influences to the Board as we shape how the OFA will deliver on the emerging technologies that will be required by the next generation of data center.
Please join me in welcoming Jason and Bob and thanking them for taking on this important new role. I can say without a moments’ hesitation that we’re looking forward to this coming year.
Best Regards,
Paul Grun
OFA Vice Chair
