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The Java Community Process (JCP) program applauds the community's Star Spec Leads.
These leaders earned this honor through their efficient, prompt, and transparent
communication with their Expert Group, the Program Management Office (PMO), and the
Executive Committee (EC). They used community web pages, observer aliases, and other
tools to communicate with their expert group, the JCP program community, and the public.
They kept their Java Specification Requests (JSRs) on schedule by making sure their team
stayed focused and felt appreciated. The JCP program congratulates and honors these Star
Spec Leads. |
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Jaana Majakangas is one of the newest Spec Leads to be named a Star.
A senior design engineer with a master's degree in Mathematics and a
minor in Computer Science from University of Jyvaskyla, Finland,
Jaana has been employed at Nokia Corporation for nine years. While
there, she has pursued all sorts of software projects related to
telephony, from the telephone exchange to the mobile Java
environment. She has written up requirements, use cases, new designs,
actual code, and tests. More recently, she has participated in
standardization projects.
Early in 2002, Jaana began utilizing Java technology in terms of
developing, project leading, and using Java products. She started in
the Java EE space, developing server-side components. After changing
jobs inside Nokia, she began working in the Technology Platforms unit
on Java ME standardization.
Jaana began participating in the JCP program in September 2003,
quickly getting involved with Expert Groups:
JSR 218 Member of Connected Device Configuration (CDC) 1.1
JSR 219 Member of Foundation Profile 1.1
JSR 257 Spec Lead for Contactless Communication API
JSR 271 Member of Mobile Information Device Profile 3
Many Expert Groups rely on email or conference calls to discuss
issues. However, in Jaana's group, most of the discussion for JSR 257
has been achieved in face-to-face meetings. "We are dealing with a
very complex issue, and it is much easier to talk about it when you
are able to make drawings and make sure that all members are talking
about the same issue," she says.
Each meeting was arranged and hosted by a different member company,
who provided the facility for the event. Some members have found it
easier to participate in the meetings than others, but Jaana says, "I
think that those members that have wanted to participate have managed
always to do that." The location is determined by member request, and
the most active members are located in Europe, so all meetings have
taken place there. Non-European members are welcome to call into the
meeting to hear the latest issues right away. So far, the Expert
Group has had four "really useful and productive" meetings, run by
Jaana with the help of the organizing member.
For the Expert Group to operate efficiently and successfully, Jaana
believes a leader who asserts overall responsibility for the project
is required. She says, "I think our JSR has progressed mainly due to
my own targets for the project, and this has forced EG members to
participate in the effort as well. But we have been working really
good as a team. We have been progressing the whole time, even though
we are late from our original schedule."
Schedule delays are about as predictable as bad weather, so it's more
important to know why the delay was caused and whether it affects the
final ship date. In the case of JSR 257, "external issues" caused the
delay, which is Jaana's tactful way of noting that her API is built
on top of a standard that is still in development, and her Expert
Group must wait until that foundation is complete. Still, Jaana feels
that the final release will be pretty much on schedule.
If the final release is indeed delayed, Jaana will update the
published schedule because she knows the importance of communicating
both the good news and the bad. She says, "I have tried to keep the
PMO aware of our progress. I have also given 'warnings' about
upcoming reviews. In all, the communication with the PMO has worked
well."
If the final release is indeed delayed, Jaana will update the
published schedule because she knows the importance of communicating
both the good news and the bad. She says, "I have tried to keep the
PMO aware of our progress. I have also given 'warnings' about
upcoming reviews. In all, the communication with the PMO has worked
well."
For regular communication, the Expert Group mainly uses email,
although they also arranged several teleconference calls in addition
to the face-to-face meetings. Jaana actively tries to keep the Expert
Group aware of the current status of the specification. If concerns
are voiced from any sector, she tries to address them right away. All
comments received through the comments alias or from the Expert Group
member companies are shared with the Expert Group, for example.
Jaana was surprised to be selected as Star Spec Lead so soon, since
this is her first time to serve as a Spec Lead and the specification
is not yet finished. She attributes part of her success to excellent
mentors, saying, "I have had a good influence on the work from my two
Star Spec Lead colleagues Kimmo and Jere," who also are employed by
Nokia.
Even before achieving Star status, Jaana found the work deeply
satisfying. "I like my current role where we create a standard in
some area, and it is interesting to see how it is then implemented in
actual products. This gives us feedback on how we have succeeded,"
she says.
Finland is Jaana's home, where she is raising two sons. She finds
that being a mother takes up nearly all her free time. She enjoys
almost all kinds of handcrafts, including knitting and stained glass.
Go to the Star Spec Lead Program page for more information.
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Jaana Majakangas 
