How can I participate?

Participation

The IVOA welcomes participation in several ways.

Universities, data centres, and astronomcal facilities worldwide are invited to adopt our standards, thus becoming providers of interoperable data, services, information, or software. Everyone can do that by just following standardised VO methods and interfaces. No formal link to the IVOA is necessary, but it is likely that by asking a suitable (not necessarily yours) national organisation will greatly ease the takeup of VO standards and technologies.

Individual implementors of software and services in astronomy are invited to participate in the IVOA working groups that develop and agree standards, as well as the Interest Groups that discuss wider, in particular subdomain-specific, issues. IVOA participation is open; to participate in a Working Group or Interest Group member, start by subscibing the group’s mailing list and perhaps state why you are there; the communities are, in general, very welcoming.

We welcome proposals for VO projects who wish to become members of IVOA. Traditionally, once a national VO community has reached a critical mass, they have organized themselves on a national level. Having such a national organisation is useful not only as a conduit of VO participation.

If you are building an organization 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.