Connectathon Project Manager

IHE uses the term Technical Project Manager (TPM) to describe a person who is responsible for the technical management one or both of these items:

• IHE Connectathon
• IHE Domain

The purpose of this page is to provide background and relevant material for the duties of a Connectathon Manager. Domain Manager requirements are described elsewhere.

Conflict of Interest

The Connectathon Manager will be responsible for reporting test results and resolving differences in interpretation of technical standards and process. The Connectathon Project Manager must be free of any conflicts of interest. In the US, the Connectathon Project Managers do not have contracts or other business with participants in the North American or European Connectathons.

Technical Tasks

The Connectathon Manager needs a technical background as described in this section. At both the North American and European Connectathons, the Connectathon Manager also serves as a Domain Manager for a limited set of domains. This allows the Connectathon Manager to perform some of the Connectathon tasks more efficiently. We will call this out in this section.

Some of the technical tasks can be handled using the Gazelle Test Management System (Gazelle). That software is not a requirement to run a Connectathon. We will make a note on the tasks below where you might consider using Gazelle. For some smaller events, that tool might not be the best solution.

Pre-Connectathon Tasks

• Work with sponsoring organization to create and submit a Connectathon request to IHE Testing and Tools Committee
• Work with sponsor to determine the IHE domains / profiles to be offered for testing.
  • It is acceptable to offer a subset of profile from one domain or to select profiles across domains. This is determined by the objects of the sponsoring organization.
• Determine how you will support testing for each profile selected. In North America and Europe, each domain is managed by one person (e.g., ITI). It might be appropriate to split responsibilities in a domain based on expertise. This means:
  • Support person needs to understand pre-Connectathon and Connectathon tests to be able to administer them and answer questions.
  • Support person needs to understand any software tools used during the testing process. This person might be responsible for bringing and managing the tools or might defer that to someone else.
  • Support person is at the Connectathon and resolves technical issues that cannot be resolved by participants or monitors.
  • Support person is responsible for collecting test instances and providing final grades for participants. Person must also engage in review process if a participant feels they did not get the appropriate grade.
• Work with sponsor to determine registration process (Gazelle).
• Establish a communication system so you can inform participants.
  • IHE USA uses a Google Group that is configured so that only administrators can send messages.
  • IHE Europe uses a different Google Group that allows participants to ask questions directly to the group.
• Work with sponsor and Connectathon site to specify network requirements. You do not have to be a network expert, but you need to understand enough to know
  • Who is responsible for the physical network (switches, cables, Internet access)?
  • How IP addresses will be assigned (fixed, DHCP?) (Gazelle)
  • How will DNS be managed? (Gazelle)
  • Will there be outbound connections to the Internet (in general)?
  • Will there be services outside the testing area that need to get access to the internal network? Examples include developers who want to get access to their system or organizations that host their systems in a cloud environment and need to connect to participants on the private network.
• Manage network configuration (once agreed to with network contractor)
  • Assign IP addresses (Gazelle)
  • Communicate host name, IP address map (Gazelle)
  • Communicate general network parameters (Subnet mask, Default gateway, DNS server) (Gazelle)

Connectathon Tasks: Setup

You are responsible for the technical aspects of setup. That includes:

• Network
• Gazelle Test Management (if in use)
• Any other software tools

You might not directly do the work for any of these items, but you are responsible to make sure that the systems are in place and ready to go. The sponsoring organization could relieve you of some of this work, but it is most natural for you to manage this.

Post Connectathon Tasks

• Work with sponsoring organization to create and submit a Connectathon report to the IHE Testing and Tools Committee.
  • This also serves as a request to formally publish results in the IHE database.