GENERAL
What is an online meeting portal?
An online meeting portal is a web-based service that provides users with access to the documentation related to a specific meeting or workshop. It replaces the less efficient circulation of meeting documents in hardcopy or by email, and it also provides a place for long-term document storage so that the knowledge shared during the meeting can be easily referenced in the future. Since meeting preparation follows a standard process, it lends itself well to an online approach.
What is the purpose of this meeting portal?
The OzonAction Meeting Portal provides our meeting participants with (1) Pre-session preparation including the circulation of concept notes, logistics information, agendas, and meeting documents (2) In-session circulation of presentations delivered during the meeting, as well as revised/amended documents (3) Post-session circulation of the meeting report/recommendations. The module thus covers the entire life cycle of an OzonAction meeting from beginning to end.
Why does OzonAction need an online meeting portal?
One of UN Environment’s major recurring activities as an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is to organize, service and report on Regional Network and thematic meetings and other workshops convened by the Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) in locations around the world. For many years, the CAP team for Europe and Central Asia has maintained a public website to share information with its Network members using a standard web site, which was well-received by the members of that Network. Today more modern web-based knowledge management platforms are available to make the process more efficient, user-friendly and interactive. Learning from the best practices of the Secretariats and UNEA for their inter-governmental meetings, OzonAction has adopted a similar online approach for all of the meetings that it organizes under CAP.
Who else use online meeting portals?
Several Convention Secretariats — notably the Multilateral Fund Secretariat and Ozone Secretariat — were early adopters of paperless meetings that include online meeting portals for document organization, distribution and storage. The Multilateral Fund Secretariat’s first paperless meeting was in 2006 (Bangkok) and the Ozone Secretariat’s first was in 2008 (Doha). The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) and the Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention Secretariats have similarly adopted online meeting portals to service the meetings of their Parties. These systems have proven to be very effective and easy for participants to use, have contributed to the overall excellent track record of those entities in organizing meetings, and resulted in substantial environmental benefits and cost savings.
What services does the portal provide?
The OzonAction Meeting Portal provides users with 24/7 access to meeting documentation before, during and after the event as well as a discussion forum associated with each meeting. Users can also elect to receive automatic email alerts to notify them whenever new or revised meeting documents are posted to the site. Announcements from the meeting organizer are also sent automatically to participants.
Who do I contact about the substantive content of a specific meeting?
Contact the OzonAction Regional Network Coordinator or Activity Leader indicated on the meeting’s home page, who is the person with the overall management responsibility for that event.
ACCESS
Who can access the portal?
Some OzonAction meetings are open to the public, while others (the majority) are private (i.e. on an invitation-only basis). For public meetings, any visitor may access the documents. Public meetings are identified by a green banner on the top right of the page. For private meetings, users must have been invited by OzonAction and be registered in the system. OzonAction extends invitations to specific user Groups for its meetings, for example national Ozone Officers and other members of the Regional Networks. If a meeting is private, an individual who is not registered for that meeting will be unable to view or access its contents. Private meetings are identified by a red banner on the top right of the page.
1. Public meeting site
2. Private meeting site
How do I register for a public meeting?
If a meeting is indicated as public, then anyone can access the site (just click on the link to access the documents). Public meetings do not require any credentials and they can be freely accessed.
How do I register for a private meeting?
If a meeting is indicated as private, then you must have been invited by OzonAction and register online before you can view it. OzonAction CAP sends an invitation via email to the participants, with instructions on how to log in.
What should I do if I have forgotten my user name or password?
Contact the Meeting Administrator indicated on the meeting’s home page, who is the person responsible for registrations for that event.
Can I use my mobile device or tablet to access the portal?
The meeting portal is fully accessible from mobile devices and tablets.
OPERATIONS
Who can see what?
Meetings that are public can be viewed by anyone. Meetings that are invitation-only have a home page that is public, but the rest of the contents, e.g. Documents, Calendar, Discussion, are private and can only be accessed by users whom OzonAction CAP has registered for that event.
How long will the meeting documents remain on the portal?
After an event is concluded, the meeting page and its contents will be maintained as a permanent, long-term repository of information about that event. Whoever was registered for a specific meeting will be able to access the documents into the future. The OzonAction Meeting Portal is a long-term service that will last for the duration of UN Environment’s role as an Implementing Agency of the Multilateral Fund.
Who can use the Discussion feature?
Any participant who has access to a meeting site can use the Discussion feature to share ideas. The Meeting Manager and/or Meeting Administrator may also use the feature to post messages, notices or news to all participants.
Who controls what documents and information are added on to a meeting page?
The OzonAction CAP staff assigned as the Meeting Administrator for a specific meeting page controls the contents. She/he is the person who uploads new documents to the system and monitors the meeting page. The Meeting Administrator is listed on the home page for each meeting. The Discussion feature, however, can be used by registered meeting participant.
If I am a registered meeting participant, who do I contact if I want to upload a file to the meeting Documents?
Contact the Meeting Administrator indicated on the meeting’s home page, who is the person responsible for managing the document flow for that event.
TECHNOLOGY
What software platform is behind the portal?
The platform used for the OzonAction Meeting Portal is Open Atrium (http://www.openatrium.com), an open source collaboration software which allows organizations to stay connected through their teams, projects, and knowledge base. Open Atrium is an intranet and team portal package, based on Drupal (a free and open source content management framework). OzonAction is currently using Open Atrium 2.0 (OA 2.0).
How secure is the portal?
The system is very secure and conforms to today’s security and data management standards. The contents of the portal are backed up on a daily basis by the hosting company. That backup covers the past month of data. The system is also protected by virus scans on a continuous basis.