#1 -- The Globus Consortium has committed to funding resources dedicated to fixing bugs in the Globus Toolkit code base. Each month the members are allowed to apply a distribution of points to any outstanding issue in the bugzilla system. These points affect the relative position of that issue in the Consortium priority bug list and dictate the order upon which Consortium resources work on them. All fixes will be submitted back to the open source Globus Toolkit and available for integration into subsequent releases of the Toolkit.

#2 -- The second Consortium funded effort is of benefit to more than just the community of Globus Toolkit users. Release 4.0 of the Globus Toolkit (GT4) has been implemented with a method of execution management (GRAM) that is centered on web services. The Consortium will sponsor the creation of documents that capture the GT4 WS-GRAM interfaces, semantics, and abstractions in a form that is suitable for input to standards discussions. This will include a roadmap that describes how the functionality embodied in GT4 WS-GRAM can be standardized in stages, and how other standards efforts such as WSDM, WS-Agreement, and WS-CIM might be brought to bear on execution management standards at various stages. Working groups will either be engaged with or formed in the appropriate standards bodies, support from other organizations will be recruited, and there will be an on-going effort to participate and drive discussion within these groups.

#3 -- Given the international user base of the Globus Toolkit, the Globus Consortium is funding globalization efforts to further promote the Toolkit in the world marketplace. The Consortium is sponsoring a survey of Globus Alliance organizations, Consortium members, and industry best practices regarding globalization, in order to define the requirements and appropriate approaches for Globus software globalization. Based on this survey, the following documents will be produced.

> Globus Internationalization Coding Guidelines: This document articulates globalization requirements, and recommends approaches that should be followed by contributors to the Globus software to ensure that all Globus software is correctly and consistently internationalized. This work will be done with the input of various Globus Alliance organizations ensure that these guidelines are consistent with existing GT coding practices.

> Globus Localization Guidelines: This document recommends procedures on how best to localize Globus software that has been authored using the approaches defined in the Globus Internationalization Coding Guidelines.

> Globus Globalization Scoping Document: This document will be a complete review of the Globus Toolkit and all libraries upon which the Globus Toolkit depends. It will identify modifications required to make all Globus components conform to the Globus Internationalization Coding Guidelines, estimate the level of effort associated with making these modifications and understand the ramifications of not making these modifications.

We look forward to updating you on the progress of these three projects in future issues of the Globus Consortium Journal.

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