As the Java Community Process (JCP) Executive Committee (EC) prepares to enter the next phase of revising the JCP program, the community is more acutely aware of the composition of the EC. Thus, the recent election of new representatives to the Java Platform Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition (SE/EE) EC and the Java Platform Micro Edition (ME) EC carried a somewhat greater sense of importance.

Multiple candidates vied for the elected seats, driving up anticipation over the outcome. On the SE/EE EC side, two out of nine candidates were elected. Twitter, Inc. captured the lion’s share with 32 percent of the votes, and Azul Systems received 19 percent.

• Attila Szegedi

  Twitter is new to the JCP community, but well known as one of the hottest social networking enterprises. The company is relying heavily on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) as its runtime and writing new software in Java or Scala. Twitter wants to share open source solutions being developed to solve challenging design problems. The company is developing libraries for scalable IO, monitoring, and management. Attila Szegedi represents Twitter on the EC. He is a software engineer in Twitter's Runtime Systems division, serving as the cross-team expert for JVM topics in general, and specializing in JVM performance optimizations and multi-language development. He also contributed to Kiji, Twitter's server-optimized Ruby runtime, maintained Mozilla Rhino, a JavaScript runtime for the JVM, and authored Dynalink: the Dynamic Linker Framework for Languages on the JVM. Attila says, “We were honestly and pleasantly surprised at the proportion of votes we got. This shows that Twitter as a brand name has a lot of goodwill within the Java community, and we'll do our best to live up to that trust. We joined the SE/EE EC at an exciting time, when it and the ME EC are merging. For now, we are participating in the discussion and work related to the merge.” Attila also keeps an eye on what's happening with JSRs relevant to Twitter, ready to inform colleagues about in-progress ones that could benefit from Twitter’s chiming in.





• Gil Tene

  Azul Systems is also new to the EC, but has been a Java licensee and JCP community member since 2002. Global 2000 enterprises run mission-critical Java workloads on Azul’s JVM and Java Virtualization products. The company demonstrated expertise in design and optimization of systems stack components for Java execution, including OS, virtualization, hardware, and the Java runtime (JVM). Azul signed the OpenJDK Community TCK License Agreement (OCTLA) with Oracle in order to take an active role in the JDK project. Azul’s goal is to actively participate in proposing, reviewing, and ratifying Java Specification Requests (JSRs), and to help set the future direction of the JCP program and JSR technologies. Azul’s representative, Gil Tene, is CTO and co-founder at Azul Systems, which he started with the goal of eliminating common Java responsiveness, performance, and scale barriers. At Azul, Gil pioneered several Java industry firsts in its products, including Pauseless Garbage Collection, Elastic Memory, and Java Virtualization, and has been awarded 24 patents in computer-related technologies. About the SE/EE EC election, Gil says, “It is telling that both elected seats are from relatively young companies that have recently announced focus on OpenJDK activity. Along with Attila Szegedi from Twitter, I hope to bring some startup/young company energy into the process.” He looks forward to actively helping the JCP.next process move forward, noting that “community members need a clear and long term path defined for how technology standardization and TCK access rules work.”

As for the ME EC, out of the five total candidates, two were elected, with ARM Limited gaining 36 percent of the vote, and Werner Keil taking 19 percent.

• Robert Barnes

  ARM Limited has collaborated on Java technology since 1996 by supporting JSRs 163, 184, 271, and 297. The company is new to the EC, and hopes to ensure ARM’s 250 semiconductor partners (collectively shipping more than six billion units in 2010) have the most highly supported Java solution available, in order to help drive Java into new and compelling embedded markets. Primary representative Robert Barnes has been an ARM employee for over 11 years. He has a degree in Electronic Engineering and is now European Embedded Segment Director at ARM. Robert is currently responsible for developing ARM's global strategy for smart energy products and developing the European microcontroller business. He offers a broad knowledge of the embedded space and continues to drive local activities with key silicon vendors, distributors, ecosystem partners, and OEMs. He is particularly concerned with memory usage and security, especially in embedded systems. Upon hearing of ARM’s election, Robert felt “very pleased and surprised, but we believe ARM can truly add the value people hope and expect. We hope to build lasting and fruitful business relationships.” Thus, his initial plan for getting involved is to “meet the people and see how we can help our partners get great products to market quickly.”





• Werner Keil

  Werner Keil is an incumbent individual EC representative who was elected to the JCP SE/EE EC three years ago at a critical, difficult phase and helped many JSRs along, including Java EE 6 and JCP 2.8. This time around, Werner ran for the ME EC since he has worked in mobile/telco for the past three years. In the last twenty years, he has served in a diverse number of roles as program manager, coach, software architect, and consultant for finance, telco/mobile, media, and the public sector. Werner is an Eclipse Committer and UOMo Project Lead. He contributed to a variety of JSRs, including 321 (Trusted Java), 331, 333, 342 (Java EE 7), 344, 346 (CDI 1.1), and 348 (JCP.next). Werner was happy to hear the results of the election. He says, “Despite greater momentum and many new good candidates on both sides, enough people trusted my experience to give individual members a voice to continue improving the JCP and Java Platform.” He looks forward to supporting the EC’s upcoming task of merging the Executive Committees and to “working in Expert Groups across the JCP, towards a lean, unified, and more modular future of Java.”

The community endorsed all of the proposed candidates for the ratified seats, with each candidate earning approval ratings in the range of 72 to 90 percent. Ericsson AB, Intel (previously holding an elected seat), and SAP will continue to hold seats on the SE/EE EC, as will IBM, Nokia, and SK Telecom on the ME EC.

• Magnus Lönnroth

  Ericsson AB is engaged in all aspects of Java standardization, especially in defining the next version of the Java EE platform. In 2006, Ericsson AB was awarded JCP Member of the Year, and was nominated for additional JCP awards since then. Ericsson AB participated in over forty JSRs, and was the Spec Lead for several, including 29, 281, 319, and 325. This member contributes in other ways, such as by releasing the company’s SIP-servlet container to the open source community; Ericsson values openness and transparency. Magnus Lönnroth is a new representative for Ericsson. Having specialized in middleware/Internet and database technologies, Magnus spent 25 years pioneering database-driven Web technology, server-side Java, and Java/CORBA integration while at Oracle, and leading the implementation of very large Java-based mobile data services at Drutt and later Ericsson AB. When he heard the JCP election results, Magnus was “pleased for Ericsson AB to be confirmed in a ratified seat.” While he has appreciated the “important and necessary” hours the EC spent revising the JCP process, he says, “I would personally like to see us get more involved in actual JSR work. Evolving the Java language and platform is really important. I'm hoping to increase Ericsson's level of participation during 2012.”





• Anil Kumar

  Intel Corporation has actively contributed to the JCP program since 2002, participating in more than twenty JSRs and earning a nomination for JCP Member of the Year in 2008. In serving as a JCP EC member for nearly a decade, Intel has consistently supported openness and fairness, while helping Java technology move forward to address the latest trends and complex future needs. A significant population of developers and end-users run Java technologies on Intel architecture platforms, providing Intel with unique perspectives on the Java platform. Intel’s new representative, Anil Kumar, has worked in various roles in the Software and Services Group. Although he is new to the JCP community, within the Java ecosystem, he contributed to various standards organizations, establishing benchmarks such as SPECjbb2005, SPECjvm2008, and SPECjEnterprise2010. He also improved the user experience and resource utilization in certain customer applications and helped the default performance for hardware and software configurations. “It is a very exciting opportunity to be part of this community, which is defining the future direction of the Java eco-system,” says Anil. He looks forward to helping define additional reforms beyond JSR 348 to make the JCP even more open, transparent, and productive. His goal is to ensure Java is the “most preferred platform for current and future users of all segments, from enterprise servers to handheld devices.”





• Steve Winkler

  SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. With over 160,000 enterprise customers, SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software. A significant portion of their customer base runs SAP or SAP partner solutions based on Java. SAP has participated in the JCP program since 2001, with SAP engineers participating in more than 50 JSRs. SAP’s new representative, Steve Winkler, is a technology strategist focused on open standards and open source in the SAP Office of the CTO. He has over sixteen years of Java programming experience, including the design and development of an enterprise-class, Java-based XML Messaging System that enables the communication of SAP systems with non-SAP systems. Since 2004 he has been an active participant in numerous community-driven standards bodies, including the JCP program. SAP has a long history supporting the Java community. Steve says, “I was happy to hear that SAP had been confirmed; it indicates that the community has appreciated our efforts, and wants me to continue in the same direction.” Right now, Steve plans to focus his energy on the key issues the EC will face in the coming year. “The challenges that will be addressed are non-trivial, and the decisions the EC will make will have a significant impact on the Java community. It’s our responsibility to make the best informed decisions we possibly can,” he says.

• Mark Rogalski

  IBM has influenced most aspects of the Java platform's evolution since 1996. The company led and participated in numerous JSRs and served on both ECs since their inception in 2000. In the Java ME space, IBM provides VM ports to more than twenty environments, and support for a broad range of configurations, profiles, and JSRs. IBM contributed significantly to the Application Programming Interface (API) specifications of the Java ME, SE, and EE platforms, for example. IBM won Most Outstanding Java SE/EE Spec Lead in 2008 for work on JSR 286, and was nominated for other JCP awards. Mark Rogalski, a Software Architect for mobile collaboration applications, represents IBM on the ME EC. He spent the last fifteen years at IBM working on Java-based software for various types of devices, including set-top boxes, bar code scanners, smart phones, and tablets. News of the election results left him feeling “gratified to be able to continue to contribute to the progress we are making in the JCP, and look forward to the continued success of the Java community.” In representing IBM, Mark intends to actively participate in the ongoing evolution of the Java ME platform, as well as the Java Community Process program. He says, “Java's success has largely been the result of its industry-wide adoption, and we expect to continue to participate as a primary investor in the Java platform.”





• Erkki Rysa

  Nokia is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones, and most of the phone models sold provide a Java ME platform for third-party developers. The company has been nominated for many JCP awards. In 2003, at the first-ever JCP awards ceremony, Nokia’s JSR 184 won the Most Innovative J2ME JSR award. Twenty percent of the Star Spec Leads in the Spec Lead Hall of Fame represent Nokia. Erkki Rysa is a Senior Technology Manager in the CTO unit of Nokia Corporation in Finland. He has worked for Nokia for the last seventeen years in various software development, technology management, and standardization roles. He is highly involved in the JCP community as the Spec/Maintenance Lead for JSRs 180, 232, 234 (awarded Most Innovative JSR for J2ME Platform in 2004), 248, and 249. Erkki was nominated Most Outstanding Java ME Spec Lead in 2009 for his open, transparent methods of working on JSR 249. He has also been involved in many other JSRs led by Nokia and other JCP members. At the conclusion of the 2011 EC election, he was “happy to see the continued recognition of Nokia’s role in Java ME.” As a veteran representative in the ME EC, Erkki is “especially interested in learning how the new representatives think the JCP should evolve.”





• Dr. Hoojong Kim

  SK Telecom has actively participated in the JCP community, serving as Spec Lead for JSRs 298, 324, and 327 (nominated Most Innovative JSR for 2009 and 2010). The SKVM Java platform enables various kinds of applications and content to run on mobile handsets. Under its environment, services and applications such as games, Instant Messenger, real-time car navigation, data streaming, real-time graphic-based commerce, entertainment, and information can run on mobile handsets. With experience in JSR development as well as service platform commercialization, SK Telecom expects to provide opportunities for various existing Java technologies to naturally expand into new fields, such as the automotive industry. Dr. Hoojong Kim represents SK Telecom as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Technology R&D Center, where he is responsible for technology and solution development of terminals and platforms. With more than twenty years experience in the mobile industry, his efforts help develop and secure key technologies for 3G terminals. Hoojong’s current research interests are in developing a business model for future mobile services, principally on the convergence of telecommunication.