Merge pull request #94 from DE-RSE/improve-communication-and-outreach

Improve description of communication and outreach activities

Author: dokempf

contributors.yml

@@ -1,12 +1,17 @@
 authors:
   - author: "Markus J. Ankenbrand"
-    firtname: Markus J.
+    firstName: Markus J.
     lastName: Ankenbrandt
     initials: MJA
     affiliations:
       - Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, University of Würzburg, Germany
     orcid: 0000-0002-6620-807X
 
+  - author: "Leyla Jael Castro"
+    firstName: Leyla Jael
+    lastName: Castro
+    initials: LC
+
   - author: "Bernd Flemisch"
     firstName: Bernd
     lastName: Flemisch
@@ -96,6 +101,11 @@ authors:
       - Competence Center Digital Research, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
     orcid: 0000-0003-3931-6670
     email: [email protected]
+ 
+  - author: "Philipp S. Sommer"
+    firstName: Philipp S.
+    lastName: Sommer
+    initials: PS
 
   - author: "Alexander Struck"
     firstName: Alexander

paper.tex

@@ -461,15 +461,20 @@ \subsection{Module 8: Software Maintenance Service}%
 \item The RSE hub needs to be involved during the development period either through development or consultation services in order to ensure that best practices are followed and the required knowledge is transferred to the hub.
 \end{itemize}
 
-\subsection{Module 9: RSE Outreach}%
+\subsection{Module 9: Communication and Outreach}%
 \label{sec:outreach}
 
-One of the central tasks for the RSE unit is to connect the local RSE activities and RSEs to regional, national and international initiatives.
-This can be achieved by contributing to events, position papers and the initiatives themselves,
-either directly from the RSE unit or by advertising at the institution and matchmaking with local RSEs interested in becoming active beyond their current tasks.
+We identify three categories of communication and outreach activities according to the participating individuals and groups, connecting the RSE unit to (i) the RSEs at the institution, (ii) other entities within the institution, and (iii) regional, national and international initiatives.
+Concerning category (i), options for communication among the RSEs at the institution include messaging channels (for quick communication) and forums or wikis integrated to developer platforms to have longer discussion while keeping track of the conversation.
+Additionally, project management tools should enable all stakeholders to participate in a transparent manner.
+
+Regarding category (ii), the connection to other entities within the institution can be established by a web/wiki page including the portfolio of services and training materials offered by the RSE unit.
+The RSE unit should advocate the use of RSE techniques and best practices within their institutions actively to strengthen the local community and to reach out to new groups whenever possible.
+One possible additional measure in this regard is sharing the work done by the RSE unit and the network RSEs as part of, for instance, institutional research colloquia.
+
+Activities in category (iii), i.e., outreach to RSE initiatives outside the institution include contributing to events, position papers and the initiatives themselves, either directly from the RSE unit or by advertising at the institution and matchmaking with local RSEs interested in becoming active beyond their current tasks.
 The RSE unit thus contributes to the RSE communities on a regional, national or international level on the one hand and opens these up to the local RSEs and enables networking on the other hand.
 It organises the bidirectional exchange between the local and the global community and is the central hub for information coming both ways.
-Furthermore, the RSE unit should advocate the use of RSE techniques and best-practices within their institutions actively to strengthen the local community and to reach out to new groups whenever possible\todo{magi: this could be strengthened by invoking the hub and spoke model again}.
 
 \section{Existing Implementations}
 
@@ -615,6 +620,12 @@ \subsubsection{Establishing the Department}
 as this allows to evaluate the potential necessities for other services such as development, infrastructure provisioning and maintenance.
 An extension of the initial service portfolio for a larger target audience requires the acquisition of funding for further positions, see below.
 
+The best RSE department can easily become useless if other departments as well as RSEs outside the central hub do not know about it.
+Therefore, communication and outreach activities as described in~\autoref{sec:outreach}, particularly connecting to entities within the institution, is of utmost importance at this stage.
+Although the inception of the RSE department will be announced once the business plan has been approved by the institution, communication across the RSE hub, the RSE network and other departments should be done on a regular basis. 
+Such a communication should facilitate collaboration among RSEs while also keeping non-RSEs in the loop. 
+
+
 \subsubsection{Growth of the Department}
 
 \paragraph{Acquisition of further funding}