Black Forest Group is a global information technology (IT) consortium for standards and usage. Voting members are users from the business, academic and research realms; vendors can join but they cannot vote. The stated mission is to "To gain competitive advantage for the organizations represented by the members by facilitating the application of emerging information technologies and related concepts. To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences and directions among user organizations, vendors, and the academic and research communities."
Black Forest Group was formed in July 1992, at Bad Liebenzell, near Stuttgart, in the region of Germany known as the "Black Forest".
The Black Forest Group holds member meetings twice a year. A spring meeting is held in Europe and a fall meeting in the United States where members and invited guests discuss topics of shared interest. These conversations lead to the creation of working groups that gather user requirements and write position papers. Working groups present results at the semi-annual meetings for review and approval by the membership. Papers are then delivered to the vendor community and to relevant standards bodies for their consideration.
The current chairman of the Black Forest Group is Rick Holman.
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