@Moult and others,
While Léon, I, and the bSI Management Office understand the sentiment behind this, there already exists a solution via the Technical Room and its Implementation and Model Support Groups (ISG and MSG).
While the ISG has traditionally been a refuge of the “big” international vendors that are members of buildingSMART, over the years we’ve seen smaller companies and individuals (like @jonm and @Arie_van_Kranenburg) become more active and participate in committees like the MSG and ISG , as well as on projects.
The effort to create this online Forum, as well as moves to change the semiannual ISG meeting to an “IFC Development” meeting (see ISG Spring 2020 Meeting (#70) - Pune, India (proposed)), is our move to be more inclusive of more voices than have participated in the past. In addition, we’re trying to establish a more regular online meeting (see Proposal for monthly "IFC Development" Calls in 2020) so that issues don’t have to fester for 6 months at a time or rely solely on this format to be discussed or explored (sometimes its easier to talk out a response than it is to write).
We have also been working to further open up discussions and efforts via the buildingSMART GitHub, so developers of all kinds and in all places can contribute to common projects, or branch off existing work and experiment before proposing new ideas to the community.
Rather than creating a separate “chapter” or “room”, I would ask that @Moult and others exploit these opportunities first. If you can, join your local/national/regional chapter (usually they have individual and academic membership levels). If there is no chapter, or you are working as a researcher/academic or startup developer, you are still welcome to participate and contribute. All I ask is that you interact respectfully, learn about the history to get a better context of why we are at where we are at today, and then be constructive toward each other and the leadership as we try to move things forward.
Best regards,
Jeffrey W. Ouellette
bSI-ISG Leader / bSI Technical Coordinator / bSI Technical Room International Project Coordinator