OpenGen is a nonprofit council of genealogy experts created to establish universal standards for recording, exchanging, preserving, and sharing genealogical data. The council will maintain standards for digital genealogy data definition and sharing that are open to all interested parties. OpenGen will build upon past work like GEDCOM while allowing for new capabilities like social media integration and real-time data exchange through APIs. The kick-off meeting outlined OpenGen's structure and initial goals of identifying member interests, sharing past work, recruiting volunteers, and launching an official website to facilitate collaboration.

1. OpenGen.org Kick-Off Meeting • June 29, 2010

2. What is OpenGen?
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• Not for profit council of industry experts in the
practice of family history
• Creating a universal set of standards for the
recording, exchange, preservation, and
sharing of genealogical data
• Real Time data exchange (API’s)
• Format for data portability (.FTM, Gedcom, XML)
• The industry evangelist community for the
adoption of the standards

3. Purpose of OpenGen
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• Create and maintain an objective standard for
the definition of digital standards for genealogy
and family history data
• Build on past work to deliver a contemporary
standard that is open to all constituents and
companies interested in genealogy data
interoperability

4. History of Genealogy Data Sharing
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• Gedcom
• First introduced 14 years ago by the Church of Latter Day
Saints
• The de-facto standard for genealogy data
• No formal mechanism for social media (commenting,
tagging, etc.)
• API
• Gaining in relevancy and adoption as the means through
which systems share data and family history information
• As our industry grows, new players and solutions
introduce opportunities for increased data diffusion

5. Why are we here?
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• Kicking off a collaboration of experts in the
field.
• Create the standards
• Recruit the right people to lead and execute this
effort
• Strategize for the widespread adoption of this new
standard

6. Who’s behind OpenGen?
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• Scott Mueller, Founder and CEO
of AppleTree.com
• Wikipedia-style public and open
family tree of the world
• Currently in beta, and launching in
the fall
• Advocates of free and open
collaboration for people and
systems to advance the practice
of family history
• Funding the kick-off of the project

7. 6 www.OpenGen.org
Site will officially launch in early July as the resource for the committee
members, works in process, discussion forums, and project updates.

8. OpenGen Structure
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The chairperson sits for a • Alliance
term of 2 years and Chairperson
oversees the activities of
the 3 core OpenGen
committees Scott Mueller
• REST API • Bibliographic • Outreach
• Hub & Spoke data • Communication
• Coordination
• Persistent
• Administration
Identifiers
API’s Content MarComm

9. Next Steps
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• Identify interests of participants
• Follow-up to align interests and committee needs
• Sharing of past work
• Forums and discussion boards will launch with
website
• Open invitation to post and share
• Call for more volunteers
• Need your help inviting parties that would benefit
from or would be beneficial to OpenGen

10. Questions?
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• We’re open to your thoughts and feedback.
• The success of this alliance relies on the open
participation of members representing a wide
cross-section of our industry