Happy New Year.  We are looking forward to 2017!  Here's a few things we can look forward to in the coming year:

• New Leadership Group members.  Each year we fill positions on the Leadership Group according to the VIVO charter.  We have new members and with new members comes new opportunities for leadership.
• New Steering Group members.  We will have three openings this year to be appointed by the Leadership Group. Please consider serving.  The Steering Group provides leadership for the project.
• A new strategic plan.  Our existing two year plan, needs an update.  We will have more about this in the coming weeks.  
• VIVO Camp.  The VIVO project is holding its first ever training event April 6-8 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  If you are just getting started with VIVO, this could be a great way for you to learn more!
• VIVO 1.10.  Due this summer, VIVO 1.10 will have many new features and improvements.  See VIVO 1.10.0 Release Planning for on-going description of features being added and discussed.
• Open Repositories, Brisbane, Australia, June 26-30.  
• 2017 VIVO Conference, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, August 2-4.

There will be many more events, and announcements over the course of the year.  Here are some ways you can help:

• Consider serving on the Steering Group.  We need people with vision and energy to help lead the project.
• Attend interest Group calls.  each Thursday we have a call for one of the four VIVO interest groups.  Discussions and presentations answer questions and generate ideas.  Outreach and Engagement Interest Group, Development Interest Group, Apps and Tools Interest Group, and the Implementation Interest Group provide something for everyone.  
• Join a task force.  Task forces provide the "roll up your sleeves" effort to make new things.  You can help with one of the current task forces, or form a new one.
• Learn more.  Review the On Ramps poster presented at the 2016 VIVO Conference.  This poster describes the basic elements of the project and how you can get involved.  Attend the VIVO Camp – that would be a great way to learn more about the project and VIVO.

VIVO Camp April 6-8, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Need to learn more about VIVO?  VIVO Camp is the place for you!  VIVO Camp will provide an opportunity to cover the full range of VIVO topics with experienced instructors.  New to VIVO?  This is a great opportunity to get a head start.  No VIVO experience required.  Registration will open shortly.

Coming in Release 1.10.  VIVO 1.10 is expected this summer.  All software dependencies in Vitro will be fulfilled from Maven Central.  This means that we will no longer be distributing versions of dependencies that can not be found at Maven Central.  All dependencies in Vitro are now actively maintained by their respective projects.  The Vitro distribution can be a bit smaller, but more importantly, Vitro is no longer dependent on software that is not being maintained.  This is a big step forward for Vitro.

Development call this Thursday. The Development Interest Group will hold its call this Thursday at 1 PM US Eastern Time.  The call is open to all and focuses on software development for VIVO and Vitro, and in particular, issues related to the development of version 1.10.  If you are a developer and would like to contribute to version 1.10, you are encouraged to review the GitHub repositories and the VIVO 1.10.0 Release Planning.  Use the Webex link to join the call.  We hope to see you this Thursday! 

Go VIVO!

Mike

Mike Conlon 
VIVO Project Director
Duraspace