For several years now I've been managing the development of TCKs (conformance test suites) for Java. As I explained in an earlier post, the requirement to develop TCKs - together with the specification and the Reference Implementation - is defined by the Java Community Process (the JCP). As the standards body that guides the evolution of Java, the JCP is responsible for defining the processes through which Java specifications (JSRs) are developed, and through its Program Management Office (PMO), for the day to day management of the organization.

In my role as a TCK developer I've been merely a participant in this standards process, but now things have changed. I have been asked to take over as chair of the JCP and director of the Program Management Office. In this new role I will be responsible for leading the organization, for chairing the Executive Committee meetings, and for running the PMO. In addition I am taking over as the Specification Lead for JSR 306, which will define the next version of the JCP's Process Document.

I'll have much more to say about this later. In the meantime I'd simply like to thank Onno Kluyt (the retiring chair) for the hard work he's put into the JCP over the years, and to say that I'm looking forward to the challenge of guiding the organization in these times of change.

Wish me luck...