Purpose of this document and of the process it outlines
This document explains the process being used to develop a new governance model for the Internet of Production Alliance; who is involved, how other people can get involved, and how we will make decisions.
We want to make the process of developing a new governance model open, inclusive and democratic so that the outcome can also be open, inclusive and democratic. We welcome suggestions as to how to do this better.
We are also hoping to use this process (of designing the new governance model in an open & collaborative way) to test out and model a process that can be used for designing standards and other knowledge artefacts in the future.
We are trying to build the plane while flying it, and we welcome input or feedback on all aspects of what we’re doing - both the proposals that emerge, AND the process we are using to get to them. We’ll say more about that at the end of the document.
History
The IOP Alliance was created from a workshop held in Warsaw in July 2019. From that group of people we defined an Interim Governance model, and always had the intention that at some stage we would develop a better, more inclusive, more comprehensive version. That’s what we’re doing now.
Objective & Scope
Our intention is to develop a framework for how decisions are taken about the Alliance (including what relationships it has with other entities such as the Foundations that are being set up) and how oversight is maintained to ensure decisions taken are implemented.
It will include all decisions on what is done using the name ‘Internet of Production Alliance’, including for example fundraising and the process for deciding to set up a new working group on a particular topic.
It has always been envisaged that different communities that form around particular standards or topics (such as the OKH or OKW communities) can and should be able to define their own governance structure. How and where exactly to draw the line between the IOPA governance and the governance of a particular community is a topic that will be looked at.
What is the ‘Governance Taskforce’?
The people involved in developing the new governance model are the self-selected ‘Governance Task Force’– we are operating as a ‘do-ocracy’.
These are the people currently involved: (please add your name if you want to!)
We include both staff of the IoP Alliance who are paid under the Sloan Foundation grant, and volunteer community members.
Anna – chair1 of governance taskforce defined by the Interim Governance Document linked above.
Barbara - Coordinator of the Internet of Production Alliance and secretariat2 of the Gov. TF
Max - Technical Coordinator of the Internet of Production Alliance.
Tibi - Affiliate of Sensorica, helps with the governance process design and cultural translation between the institutional and the open.
Any member of the Alliance can join the Governance Taskforce at any time. If you wish to do so, please start by joining the conversation on the IOPA Community forum, and join the next meeting (dates are announced on the forum).
What does the process look like?
(This diagram is just to make it easier to discuss: it will be updated once the Gov TF has agreed on the process, and can be updated again for further changes after that)
Stage
Description
Who?
Launch
We launched this process by announcing it in the following ways:
Discussed in the Governance Taskforce (see above) and in the Council (see Interim Governance model)
Posted about it in the general channel on Slack (legacy system for Alliance comms)
Created a topic about it on the IOPA Community Forum (new, public, forum for IOP Alliance)
We will also:
Include it in the upcoming IOP Alliance September 22 newsletter (done)
Mention it on the upcoming community call, encourage people to join the process and host a Q&A (Sept. 28th. 22)
Share this document on all the channels referenced above
Continue to post updates about the process on the community Forum (these will be in the form of meeting minutes for each Taskforce meeting, plus ongoing conversations in between). If at any time you want to know what is going on and it isn’t obvious - please post here to let us know.
Our aim is to make sure that all members of the Alliance are aware this is happening and that they can contribute to it if they wish to. We welcome suggestions of any other things we should do to ensure that everyone who wants to be involved knows they can be.
Gov TF
High-level Concepts
Members of the Governance Taskforce will ideate to generate one or more high-level proposals in two workstreams:
Membership Criteria
Decision-making structure
As we start to develop proposals, these will be documented on the IOPA Pubpub site. This will create a public place where anyone can see what is being developed and where comments, suggestions, and concerns can be recorded, and versions of these documents can be accessed to view the history of their development.
Gov TF (& other members can join)
Feedback
High level proposals will be published & all members invited to comment on them, ask questions, raise concerns, and give feedback on the direction they are going in.
During this time, the Gov TF will host a community call to present the proposals and at least 2 “office hours” where the chair of the Gov TF will be online for others to ask questions or give feedback.
This stage will be complete once there is broad agreement on the high level concepts (likely with a list of concerns to be addressed at the detailing stage). If the high level concepts put forward do not have broad support, we will go back to the concept ideation stage taking the feedback into account (and more people will be encouraged to join in)
ALL MEMBERS
Detailed Proposals
The two workstreams operating under the Governance Taskforce (plus any additional members who wish to join in) will take the high level concepts and the feedback gathered, and work them up into detailed proposals.
Detailed proposals will be expected to include a proposal for how to transition to the ‘to-be’ state (e.g. if the proposal defines an elected body, it should also set out a timetable for elections).
Any member of the Alliance can join in this stage, or just keep an eye on the work being done which will all be documented in public.
GOV TF
Review & Revise
Once the Governance Taskforce has developed a concrete proposal or set of proposals, we will communicate to all IOP Alliance members (using the Forum, Slack, and Newsletter) that the proposals are available for review and comment, and let people know how to engage. We envisage that:
The proposal will be online (Pubpub) with the facility for comment
There will be an open thread on the Forum to discuss the proposals (this may be split into multiple threads on different aspects if appropriate)
There will be at least 2 ‘office hours’ sessions when the chair of the governance taskforce will be available online for specified periods to discuss the proposals, answer questions, and collect feedback that people prefer to give verbally.
There will be a working session of the Governance Taskforce *that anyone can attend* to work together on reviewing feedback and deciding how to proceed (i.e. whether feedback can be incorporated based on the current proposal or whether substantial re-work is required).
The governance taskforce will decide by majority vote when there is a proposal ready to be put to a vote of all members.
ALL MEMBERS
Vote
The final proposal will be made available for everyone to read for a minimum of 7 days before being voted on, during which time there will be one further ‘office hours’ session to answer questions on it. If three or more members of the Alliance request it, there will also be a community call to present and explain the final proposal.
In order to be accepted as the new governance model for the IOP Alliance, the proposal will be voted on and needs to pass in two ways:
A simple majority of the Council (this will be the last act of the Council as constituted under the previous governance arrangements)
A simple majority of IOPA members AND a two-thirds majority of those who vote
ALL MEMBERS
Workstreams
Initial:
1. Membership of Alliance
This includes how to manage individuals vs organisations
Voting rights for organisations that represent others
Representation
2. Decision-making structure / governance of the Alliance
3. Founding documents:
Code of Conduct
Future
Founding Documents
Charter or similar
4. Define relations with the different entities that the IOPA sets up / operates through
How can you get involved?
1. Join the Taskforce. To do this, please post a message on the ‘Membership of Governance Taskforce’ thread on the forum. Joining the taskforce means:
- you will contribute to overseeing the process of developing the governance model.
- You will be expected to join a monthly call (as often as possible)
- It does not commit you to finding time to work on developing proposals between the meetings.
2. Get involved in a particular workstream and help to develop proposals that will be put to others for feedback. To do this, post a message on the thread for that workstream (these will be set up).
3. Give feedback on the proposals - read them and comment, or join a live session to give feedback verbally if that is easier for you (it will also be documented so that others can also see it).
4. We are conscious that having the time to engage with this work on a voluntary basis is a luxury that not all members have. We know that there are people who have knowledge & perspectives but don’t have the time.
The governance taskforce will take the following steps to try to ensure we get diverse feedback on the ideas and proposals under development:
Making it as easy as possible for any member to have their views heard & documented: by ensuring a diversity of channels, times and types of ways (text, audio, video) in which people can participate.
Individually reaching out to under-represented demographics (as individuals and as types of organisations) among the membership to ask how we can make it easier for them to have their voices heard.
If none of these methods work - tell us what would work for you.
Talking about layers of governance and scope of decisions and rules (i.e. where they apply).
?
Tiberius Brastaviceanu:
Perhaps too specific to be mentioned here and now…
?
Tiberius Brastaviceanu:
Talking about layers of governance, also related to the scope of decisions and rules.
?
Tiberius Brastaviceanu:
Also add to that the rules of the organization, as well as the governing bodies, all which change over time. Another layer to consider is legal structure, which is an interface to other organizations and institutions. We may also want to consider incentives or benefits redistribution.
?
Tiberius Brastaviceanu:
That’s always the case, governance making is an ongoing process as the organization moves over different stages of development. This formulation may give the impression that governance is done once.
Max Wardeh:
Change section title to “Scope”?
?
Barbara Schack:
Updated this to reflect the process described in the table above
?
Barbara Schack:
I suggest that instead of listing this here, the first setup of a code of conduct be taken out of this process and done by the secretariat as a task linked to the setup of the forum and pubpub sites. Then reviewed by the gov tf whenever possible and appropriate. Not a big deal but might help reduce the number of workstreams and things to discuss at this early stage.
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