On 26 April 1995, the NSC Organization was incorporated in the state of Virginia. The officers who are serving during this organizational period are:

• - John J. Marciniak, President
• - Rick Linger, 1st VP
• - Andrew Chruscicki, 2nd VP
• - Walter Ellis, Secretary
• - Elliot Chikofsky, Treasurer

These officers are serving on a provisional basis pending full membership and a formal vote of the membership in accordance with the by-laws of the corporation.

The major activities of the NSC at this time are: formation of the National Software Policy Council, soliciting membership in the organization, and planning the Software Summit. Following is a short description of these activities.

Policy Council

The Policy Council is the centerpiece of the NSC. It is comprised of senior executives of software-centric corporations, presidents of academic institutions, and distinguished government executives. The mission of the Policy Council is to identify and analyze key national software issues and develop policy recommendations to address them. Membership in the Policy Council is by invitation of the NSC. The Policy Council is supported by the NSC Organization composed of a Board of Directors, Policy Committees, the Officers, and the Membership. The Board of Directors provides guidance and oversight for the operation of the NSC. The Board, consisting of not less than 12 persons, is elected on a representative basis from and by the various membership categories (e.g., business, academia). Therefore, it reflects a composition that is representative of the various sectors of our society. An Executive Committee manages the day-to-day operations of the NSC. The Executive Committee will consist of Board members and be nominated by the Board. The Policy Committees provide research and analysis for Policy Council operations. Based on focus areas defined by the Policy Council, the committees gather data on leading software indicators within the U.S. economy, including market share, trade balance, quality, reliability, productivity, security and safety, process maturity, workforce capability and capacity, and project performance. The indicators are analyzed to develop findings, assess consequences of current policies, and draft recommendations for policy guidance.

Membership

Membership in the organization is open to businesses, academic institutions, government organizations, non-profit entities, and individuals. A sliding scale of membership fees has been established. The categories include individuals, private for-profit entities, private non-for-profit entities, public entities, and academic institutions. The current membership fees structure ranges from $100 to $10,000. These are Chartering rates and will be available through the National Software Summit scheduled for 1-3 November 1995.

Software Summit

The National Software Summit's theme is "Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Global Software Production." It is an invitation only event that will be open to NSC members, prospective NSC members, and the NSC Policy Council. The Summit will gather together our nation's software leaders to set the agenda for how to address the most important software issues affecting the nation's economic security and well-being. It will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC on 1-3 November 1995. The Summit will focus on the following major issues:

• - How to maintain U.S. global competitiveness in the face of growing foreign challenges to U.S. software dominance.
• - How to assure U.S. software capability can sustain U.S. national security needs.
• - How to significantly improve the capability of the total U.S. software sector, which includes software companies, software-intensive enterprises, the software workforce, educational institutions, and industry and professional associations.

For more information please contact our DACS Technical Director ([email protected]).