Millennium Project SOFI-SD Project

This document outlines the proposed approach and initial work plan for the MP-SOFI-SD (Millennium Project - State of the Future Index - Software Tool/System Development) Project (the "Project"). Project details can be found in the MP-SOFI-SD Vision and Scope document.    (02)

We start from the years of work on SOFI by Ted Gordon and the Millennium Project, including the spreadsheet model, algorithms and collection of data, and progressively develop it into an Internet based futures study and analysis tool supported over an open knowledge system. Key features of the proposed approach shall include:    (04)

• The architecture of the system is crucial in that it shall be designed so that this global knowledge system can grow organically and will live up to the original vision of the project.  We will enlist a panel of Advisors (on a pro bono basis) to help make sure that the system architecture is planned and designed properly.    (05)

• Development of the software tools shall follow a variation of the "open source" model -- wherein, development work shall be properly remunerated, but then, the resultant work product (executable codes as well as source codes) are to be opened to the public to encourage continued, collaborative development. This way, we attempt to get the best of both worlds -- the efficiencies, quality and usability of enterprise software development, and, the creativity, passion and robustness of open source software.   (06)
• Proper funding for the following work in the initial stages is expected. This work shall be outsourced to CIM.     (07)
  • Development of the seed codebase    (08)
  • Coordination and maintenance of continued open development efforts    (09)
  • Operation of the infrastructure to support that work    (010)
• Past the initial stages, an income model and operation shall be put in place, so that the continued development and operation shall be self-sustaining financially. The income streams may be derived from:    (011)
  • Sales of annual (bi-annual, quarterly?) reports and SOFI related publications    (012)
  • Licensing of the online use of the system, and the access of its knowledgebase, possibly based on an ASP (application service provision) model    (013)
  • Syndication of SOFI and its supporting analysis    (014)
  • Education and training in the use and deployment of the system    (015)
• Most of the work shall be done in a distributed fashion, with team players stationed in different geographies, supported by sound process and project management, and augmented by sophisticated collaboration technology    (016)

At this point, it is useful to breakdown this project into three (3) initial phases:    (018)

• Phase 0 -- Strategizing, Planning, Staging & Requirements Gathering   (019)
  • E-mail to Peter Yim, from Jack Gottsman dated 23-Jul-02, and from Ted Gordon dated 06-Aug-02, marked the beginning of this phase.    (020)
  • This phase is done on a pro bono basis by all parties involved.   (021)
  • The acceptance of the following shall conclude this phase:    (022)
    • Vision and scope    (023)
    • Initial approach and plan    (024)
    • Phase 1: requirements and use cases    (025)
    • Phase 1: budget    (026)
  • This confirmation of funding shall mark the completion of this phase and the beginning of the following phase.   (027)
• Phase 1 -- Initial Software Tool Implementation    (028)
  • System Architecture     (029)
  • System Design    (030)
  • U/I design and Prototyping    (031)
  • Software Tool Development    (032)
  • Alpha and Beta testing     (033)
  • Development and deployment of an open community infrastructure implementation    (034)
  • Continued research & development of SOFI data and algorithm. This is run as a parallel track to the software development effort, and is eventually integrated with the software tools to produce the product package that will be deployed      (035)
  • Training and Deployment    (036)  
  • Launching of Open Community    (037)
• Phase 2 and beyond -- Plan and Implement Future Phases of the System    (038)

The establishment of the SOFI Advisory Committee -- [Planned Date: 23-Oct-02;   Actual Date: 23-Oct-02]     (040)

The confirmation of funding availability -- [Planned Date: 06-Nov-02;  Actual Date: pending -- development on general hold (after pre-alpha/demo) awaiting clearance of this item ]     (041)

Execution of development contract between MP and CIM -- [Planned Date: 08-Nov-02;   Actual Date:                ]     (042)

Kick-off Meeting (face-to-face) -- [Planned Date: 08-Nov-02;   Actual Date: 08-Nov-02]     (043)

System Architecture design workshop, with project principals and invited outside experts -- [Planned Date: 08-Nov-02;   Actual Date: 08-Nov-02]     (044)

System Architecture Document (v1.0) confirmed -- [Planned Date: 04-Dec-02;   Actual Date: 18-Dec-2002 ]     (045)

System Design Document (v1.0) confirmed -- [Planned Date: 16-Dec-02;   Actual Date:             ]     (046)

U/I design review Meeting (real time) -- [Planned Date: 22-Nov-02;   Actual Date:  26-Jan-03 ]     (047)

First alpha software Presentation -- [Planned Date: 14-Feb-03;   Actual Date: 13-Feb-03 (pre-alpha/demo) ]     (048)

First deployment and community infrastructure release -- [Planned Date: 14-Feb-03;   Actual Date: 13-Feb-03 (community platform ready and announced)]     (049)

First beta software release -- [Planned Date: 20-Mar-03;   Actual Date:                ]     (050)

First training and deployment session held (real time) -- [Planned Date: 21~30-Mar-03;   Actual Date:                ]     (051)

First production software release, along with the launch of the open development community -- [Planned Date: 30-May-03;   Actual Date:                ]     (052)

First MP-based SOFI generated from the Phase-1 system -- [Planned Date: 06-Jun-03;   Actual Date:                ]     (053)

First Region- or Nation-based SOFI generated from the Phase-1 system -- [Planned Date: 13-Jun-03;   Actual Date:                ]     (054)

mp-sofi-sd Project Phase 1 completion -- [Planned Date: 30-Jun-03;   Actual Date:                ]     (055)

This MP-SOFI-SD project shall be a sub-project within the AC/UNU Millennium Project, and is considered the next phase of the ongoing SOFI development effort. Direction and execution oversight of the software development shall be provided by the "SOFI Advisory Committee" that is made up of Ted Gordon (chair), Jack Gottsman, Jerry Glenn, and Peter Yim (mp-sofi-sd project director).  A monthly committee meeting/conference call shall be held, where high level decisions on the project shall be discussed and where the project director shall report status and progress of the Project.  Regular Project communications shall be conducted over the [mp-sofi-sd] and the [mp-sofi-dev] online forums, the http://mp.cim3.net/file/project/mp-sofi-sd/home.html site and workspace for the development team. An open (wiki) website will also be setup for the user community under http://mp.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?MP-SOFI-SD .   (057)