[ARDF] Open Letter & Petition: Region 2 Rules Request

[Charles Scharlau]

Dear IARU Region 2 ARDF Working Group:

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9th IARU ARDF World
Championships in Hungary, held in 1998 when the first six USA participants
competed at a World Championships. Since then the sport has taken hold in
Region 2, with nearly 30 participants from this continent competing at the
2016 USA ARDF Championships in Killeen, Texas.

The growth of the sport in Region 2 is apparent, albeit modest, and the
experience and knowledge of our ARDF community and Region 2 ARDF Working
Group members has matured. After more than two decades of ARDF in this
hemisphere, Region 2 now has the expertise and experience to establish and
manage its own permanent rules document.

While Region 2 rules governing how the sport is administered and conducted
should not be allowed to stray far from those of our Region 1 brethren,
specific changes could increase the sport's appeal to include a wider
segment of our population. In particular, strategic rules changes might
help ARDF to expand more readily among the youth, orienteering, and the
maker movement communities.

The need for permanent rules is well illustrated by a particular adaptation
that is sorely needed, and long overdue: the use of personal smart
electronic devices (smartphones and tablets) in ARDF competitions.

In an acknowledgement of the need to adapt ARDF to the realities of
advancing technology, Region 1 rules have evolved to allow broad use of GPS
devices in ARDF competitions. That was a profound departure from the
traditional map-compass-receiver sport it had been since its origin. But
the sport has always been a combination of skills and technology, and
failure to adapt would render the sport an anachronism. Region 1 leadership
is clearly cognizant of that risk.

As Region 1 has chosen to advance the sport with the use of GPS devices,
the time has come to include smartphones, and similar portable electronic
devices capable of running customized applications. Such "apps" running on
personal electronic devices can be designed to preclude the use of banned
functionality, such as maps and radio communications. Apps can also record
if they are closed, placed in the background, or otherwise circumvented.
Thus, if an app logs all such events to a file, that log file can be
submitted as proof that no banned activity occurred on that device. In that
respect, smart devices can be made less prone to undetected abuse than the
GPS devices that Region 1 already permits. But, unlike GPS devices,
smartphones would also provide ready access to emergency communications at
many venues where cellular connectivity is available.

Permanent Region 2 rules are essential in order to provide an incentive for
experimenters and innovators in this Region to invest the time and effort
required to develop apps for ARDF. Without a permanent set of rules, there
is no ongoing assurance that the use of their creations will be permitted
at sanctioned ARDF competitions. That is a powerful disincentive for
innovation, and discourages those with such interests from getting involved
in our sport.

If Region 1 wishes to adapt their rules in tandem with Region 2, that would
be ideal. But the time has come for Region 2 to take the initiative for
advancing ARDF in the Americas. Innovating with our own rule set, and
proving the benefits of our rules changes to our Region, will help make the
case for Region 1 to incorporate them as well.

Therefore, I call upon the IARU Region 2 ARDF Working Group to establish
permanent IARU Region 2 ARDF rules before the close of this year; For those
rules to include provisions for the appropriate use of apps on smartphones;
And that all Region 2 ARDF Championship competitions in 2018 and onward be
conducted in accordance with Region 2 rules.

Signed,
Charles E. Scharlau, NZ0I

Please spread the word, and sign the petition:
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/permanent-ardf-rules-for-region-2