Getting Started

Purpose of This Document

This document provides a practical onboarding guide for new participants joining the Smart Cities SIG.

It explains how to access the collaboration tools, where to find key information, how participation works, and how to begin contributing effectively.

Quick Start

1. Join the Smart Cities SIG community.
2. Provide your GitHub username.
3. Subscribe to the SIG calendar.
4. Review the Charter and Methodology.
5. Attend a monthly meeting.
6. Contribute through GitHub SmartCities-SIG Issues and Pull Requests.

Join the Community

To participate in the Smart Cities SIG:

1. Submit a request to join the Smart Cities SIG community.
2. Provide your company email address.
3. Provide your GitHub username.

Your GitHub username is required to:

• contribute to the repository,
• participate in issue discussions,
• submit pull requests,
• and access the private repository containing meeting minutes.

After joining, subscribe to the Smart Cities SIG calendar to receive meeting invitations and schedule updates.

Essential Reading for New Participants

New participants are encouraged to review the following documents in order:

1. ABOUT US
   High-level overview of the initiative.
2. Charter
   Official initiative scope and objectives.
3. Methodology
   Approach for analyzing interoperability challenges and developing reusable outputs.
4. The Way We Work
   Operational collaboration model and working practices.
5. CONTRIBUTING.md
   Contribution expectations and collaboration guidance.

These documents explain the purpose, scope, governance, and working approach of the Smart Cities SIG.

Participation Expectations

Participants are expected to:

• collaborate constructively,
• support evidence-based interoperability discussions,
• respect the agreed governance and working practices,
• and contribute openly and professionally.

Note: Participants are encouraged to contribute in areas where they have practical experience, operational expertise, or domain knowledge.

Note: Organizations participating in the Smart Cities SIG are encouraged to review the Participation Rules document.

Additional Reference Material

6. Roadmap
   Current roadmap, milestones, and execution phases.
7. Repository Structure
   Repository structure and organization.
8. Vision
   Long-term interoperability vision and ecosystem objectives.
9. Ecosystem Positioning
   Explains how the Smart Cities SIG positions itself within the broader ecosystem.

How Collaboration Works

The Smart Cities SIG primarily collaborates through:

• Monthly SIG meetings
• GitHub Issues
• GitHub Pull Requests
• Working documents
• Community discussions

Note: GitHub is the primary collaboration platform for documenting issues, reviewing proposals, providing comments, and developing Smart City Profiles and related outputs.

Meeting records and collaboration activities are maintained under:

• SIG WG Website or,
• sig-wg Repository

Note: Participants are encouraged to first observe ongoing discussions, roadmap priorities, and active Proof of Concept activities before introducing significant new proposals or scope extensions.

How to Contribute

Common contributions include:

• Municipal requirements
• Use cases
• Interoperability challenges
• Standards mappings
• Semantic models
• Profile reviews
• Proof of Concept participation

Contribution guidance is available in:

• Contribution guidance is available in CONTRIBUTING.

Roadmap and Execution Phases

The initiative follows a phased execution model intended to support practical delivery and interoperability validation activities aligned with the Smart City Expo Barcelona timeline.

Contributors are encouraged to review the current roadmap and execution phase before introducing significant new proposals or scope extensions.

The roadmap is maintained in:

• Roadmap

Repository Structure

The repository is organized to support governance, collaboration, profile development, meeting records, and related Smart Cities SIG activities.

The target repository structure is described in:

• Repository Structure

Questions and Coordination

Questions related to onboarding, participation, access requests, or collaboration activities may be raised through:

• GitHub Issues,
• Groups.io Smart Cities SIG discussions,
• Initiative meetings,
• or designated SIG coordination contacts.

Collaboration Tools

The Smart Cities SIG uses a lightweight set of collaboration and coordination platforms intended to support:

• transparent collaboration,
• practical interoperability discussions,
• traceable ecosystem coordination,
• and open participation across the initiative.

The following tools and platforms are currently used by the initiative.