The mission of the CGNS Steering Committee is to ensure the continuation of the CFD General Notation System. The survival of a standard depends entirely on its level of use. Therefore the CGNS Steering Committee must aim at providing a standard that is widely accepted by the CFD community.
Several elements must be satisfied to ensure the acceptance of the CGNS standard. The most obvious asset is that CGNS must be useful. Not only must it answer the current needs for the recording of fluid dynamics data, but it must also follow the changes in requirements as CFD progresses. A second important element is that CGNS must be easy to implement. The CGNS Mid-Level Library (or Application Programming Interface, API) must be user-friendly and well documented, and online support must be available for all users at all times. The standard must also be easily accessible, meaning that all the sources, binaries, documents and any other pertinent information must be available to anyone without restrictions. Finally, it is of utmost importance that CGNS retains its public nature, encouraging contributions from all users.
The Steering Committee has the responsibility to oversee that the CGNS standard remains useful, accessible, easy to use, and preserves its public nature. This implies multiple activities, which can be subdivided in the following groups:
The CGNS Steering Committee is responsible for appointing a prime source, and overseeing the prime source activities. The Steering Committee must ensure that the prime source maintains the existing software, documentation and web site. This includes, but is not limited to:
The CGNS Steering Committee has the responsibility to support and even encourage the evolution of the standard in order for CGNS to remain useful. Therefore, the committee must solicit technical support and "in-kind" contributions. In addition, the Steering Committee must follow the policies described in the section of this document on Changes or Additions to the Standard regarding the collection and evaluation of technical proposals.
The CGNS Steering Committee has the responsibility to promote the acceptance of CGNS throughout the CFD community. This can be achieved through various means, including word of mouth, advertising, business articles, and presentations at conferences and technical meetings.
Electronic mail constitutes the main point of contact between CGNS users and CGNS developers. Therefore, the CGNS Steering Committee must maintain an electronic mail forum, to which users can post questions, answer questions, and exchange ideas. Members of the CGNS Steering Committee and/or appointed qualified persons will respond to the posted questions on the forum.
The CGNS Steering Committee has the obligation to determine the means by which all CGNS activities are supported. The Committee is also responsible for identifying and obtaining sources of funding, if appropriate. Finally the CGNS Steering Committee has the responsibility to distribute the tasks and funds to the most appropriate candidate, in the best interests of CGNS.