Every year the process of choosing the community's best starts with nominations in five categories: Member of the Year, Most Outstanding Spec Lead for Java Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition, Most Outstanding Spec Lead for Java Micro Edition, Most Innovative JSR for Java Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition, and Most Innovative JSR for Java Micro Edition. This year the JCP adds a new one: JCP Participant of the Year. At the time of writing the JCP Executive Committees (EC) representatives selected three to four nominees in each category and have another 10 days to vote for the winners. It's become a tradition to announce them at the community event the JCP organizes at JavaOne, which this year will host the fifth edition of the JCP Annual Awards.

And the Nominees Are!
JCP Member of the Year
With this award the JCP recognizes the corporate or individual member who has made the most significant positive impact on the community in the past year. When choosing nominees, the EC members look at leadership qualities, breadth and depth of effort put in the community, and innovation contributions. The nominees in this category are the Apache Software Foundation, Nokia, and Orange France. The Apache Software Foundation will present at JavaOne on the topic of The Apache Harmony Project and will join Sun, Red Hat, the Free Software Foundation, and Max Planck Institute for Computer Science on the Java Technology Libre Panel. As usual, Nokia has a strong presence at JavaOne, presenting and co-presenting in at least 10 technical sessions and BOFs combined. Orange presents in two technical sessions, one of which is about "Tackling Java ME Device Fragmentation: Orange and Sun Collaboration."

JCP Participant of the Year, New Category in 2007
This award rewards the corporate or individual member participant (individual name) who has made the most significant positive impact on the community in the past year. Leadership, technical contribution, and innovation are some of the qualities that EC members look for in voting for this award. The nominees are Wayne Carr, Jean-Marie Dautelle, and Doug Lea. For brief bios of the three nominees go to http://jcp.org/en/participation/committee and search for their names under the respective Executive Committees. You can also catch Jean Marie Dautelle at JavaOne on the panel of the Java ME BOF-5697, Take the Guessing out of the Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) Future: Latest JSRs Predict Exciting Technology Developments Ahead.

Most Outstanding Spec Lead for Java SE/EE
This award goes to the person who has brought together such qualities as technical savvy, the ability to build consensus in spite of diverse corporate goals, and focus on efficiency and execution. The nominees this year are Alan Bateman (JSR 203), Nasir Khan (JSR 289), and David Nuescheler (JSR 283). If you want to listen to Alan Bateman at JavaOne, make note of his BOF Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Utilities in JDK Release 5 and 6. To find out more about the work these Spec Leads put into developing these JSRs, go to the public pages of these projects at http://jcp.org, and do a search for the JSR number.

Most Outstanding Spec Lead for Java ME
Similarly, the EC members look for the same strong qualities when they choose nominees for this category. This year the nominees for the most outstanding Spec Lead for Java ME are Shai Gotlib (JSR 190), Mike Milikich (JSR 271), and Antti Rantalahti and Ivan Wong (JSR 272). In September 2006 Shai Gotlib interviewed with Artima Developer; to check out what he had to say about the API he's driving, go to www.artima.com/lejava/articles/mobile_events.html.

Most Innovative JSR for Java SE/EE
Innovation is key to the success of the JCP program and helps ensure that the JCP remains a fresh and vibrant community. This award recognizes the Spec Lead and Expert Group that have introduced the most innovative new JSR for the Java SE or Java EE communities in the past year. The candidates put forward are JSR 299, Web Beans; JSR 308, Annotations on Java Types; and JSR 309, Media Server Control API. If you're looking for a presentation on JSR 299, Web Beans, bookmark the technical session TS-4089, Web Beans Update, given by Gavin King, JBoss, and Bob Lee, Google. For more information on the JSRs I recommend you go to the respective public pages at http://jcp.org.

Most Innovative JSR for Java ME
A similar award is offered for Java ME for which innovation is as important as for Java SE/EE. The JSRs nominated by the EC members this year are JSR 298, Telematics API for Java ME; JSR 300, DRM API for Java ME; and JSR 307, Network Mobility and Mobile Data API.

The grand finale is scheduled to take place at the community event at JavaOne organized by the JCP on May 9. The winners will be officially announced at the Fifth JCP Annual Awards ceremony. Don't miss this community event that the JCP brings to JavaOne every year. If you can't make it to the ceremony, check the next JSR column; I'll be introducing the winners to you. If you are interested in more JCP events at JavaOne, check out the JCP Events Calendar at http://jcp.org/en/whatsnew/calendar.

For members of the press and analysts the JCP organizes a round table on Wednesday, May 9, The Java Standards Advantage, from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. at the Moscone Conference Center, Room 123. Participants include some of the nominees for the Fifth JCP Annual Awards. (journalists or analysts, send your request for round table details to corina@jcp.org).