PTC Overview
The purpose of the OMG's Platform Technology Committee (PTC) is to solicit, propose, review, recommend modifications to, recommend adoption of and maintain specifications of technology in pursuit of the goals stated in the OMG by-laws. The principal foci of PTC activity is the specification of OMG's Model Driven Architecture (MDA®); the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA®) applied at the enterprise and embedded systems levels; and the Unified Modeling Language (UML®), Meta Object Facility (MOF) and Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM®) modeling technologies.
PTC Organizational Structure and Membership
The PTC, an OMG Technical Plenary, is composed of a Chair (an OMG employee), OMG member representatives and any other individuals deemed appropriate by the Board of Directors and its chartered subgroups: Subcommittees, Task Forces and Special Interest Groups. Subcommittees are standing committees that typically set their own missions and goals, and deal with procedural or other non-standards issues. Task Forces are chartered to fulfill some specific goal, usually the adoption of specifications in a particular segment of OMG’s technical architecture. Revision Task Forces and Finalization Task Forces are responsible for maintaining specifications. Special Interest Groups exist to provide a forum where OMG members can discuss technology-related topics of common interest which fall outside the immediate work plan of the PTC. A list of PTC subgroups can be found within the TC Subgroup Directory.
The structure of the PTC and its subgroups is designed to ensure that all OMG members may participate in this process. The voting members of the PTC are the Contributing and Platform Members of the OMG. Voting rights in PTC subgroups are restricted to OMG members above the level of Trial.
PTC Meetings and Operating Rules
PTC meetings are conducted by the Chair, or another appointed representative of the OMG, and under the general guidance of Robert's Rules of Order. Meetings occur five times a year on the last day of an OMG Technical Committee Meeting. Quorum for PTC meetings is calculated as half the number of Voting Members which have been represented, in person or by proxy, at two or more of the last three PTC meetings.
The OMG Policies and Procedures covers the operation of the entire OMG, including the PTC. It contains membership categories, the organization, and the procedure for technology adoptions.
PTC Deliverables
RFPs
A Request for Proposal (RFP), which is an explicit request to OMG members to submit a proposal for a specification meeting the requirements stated in the RFP. Such proposals must be received by a certain deadline and are evaluated by the issuing Task Force.
Submission Recommendations
Upon evaluation and recommendation by the issuing Task Force and Architecture Board of a proposed specification filed against an issued RFP, the PTC conducts a vote to recommend adoption of the proposal to the OMG Board of Directors.
RFC Reviews and Recommendations
The Request for Comment (RFC) process allows an OMG member to request OMG adoption of an uncontentious specification without requiring a Request for Proposal to be issued. A critical part of this process is a 90-day comment period in which the RFC is reviewed. Any significant comment made against the RFC can halt the process. The PTC is responsible, upon endorsement by the reviewing Task Force and Architecture Board, to issue the RFC for its comment period. If the RFC passes its review cycle, the PTC conducts a vote to recommend its adoption to the OMG Board of Directors.
Final Reports
Upon evaluation and recommendation by the Architecture Board, the PTC conducts a vote to recommend adoption of Finalization and Revision Task Force Final Reports to the OMG Board of Directors. The FTF Final Report represents a completed, new specification. The RTF Final Report represents a completed, revised specification.
RFIs and White Papers
Requests for Information (RFIs) are solicitations for information to be used by a PTC subgroup to develop its roadmap or to gather requirements for an RFP. White Papers are position papers developed by a PTC subgroup. The PTC votes to issue either as a means of conveying OMG endorsement of their publication.