How can I participate?
Participation
The IVOA welcomes participation, in several ways.
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We strongly encourage universities, facilities, data centres, and astronomy projects worldwide to become involved as providers of data, services, information, and software, by following standardised VO methods and interfaces. To do this, there is no need to make a formal link to IVOA, but we welcome your input.
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We encourage individuals to participate in the IVOA working groups that develop and agree standards, as well as the Interest Groups that discuss wider issues. Normally working group members are drawn from IVOA Member Projects, but we also welcome others, such as astronomers, technical staff, or developers at data centres or astronomical facilities. If you wish to participate as a Working Group or Interest Group member, please contact the appropriate chair (see working group contacts).
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We welcome proposals for VO projects who wish to become members of IVOA. Our expectation is that development teams and data providers will organise themselves at national level, and that it is these national projects who will be members of IVOA. (For example, we do not normally expect that individual observatories will be member projects of IVOA.)
It should be recognised that becoming a member project represents a serious commitment to contribute to the VO in general and the IVOA in particular. If you are organising a project that you think should become a member project, please start by consulting the guidelines for participation, and then contact the current IVOA chair to discuss your proposal.