Hello! Some updates and next dates for the work on the governance design process.
On May 20th, a call with members of the IOPA council and other community participants presented high level propositions on the membership structure and decision making structure. The objective was to gather feedback, get a feel for how much buy-in there is for these proposals, hear questions, discuss them.
The proposals are presented on this miro board: High level proposals review IOPA governance
Some key elements are:
Membership structure:
For the membership structure, the high level proposals discussed were that:
- Anyone can be a participant/contributor to the IOPA, as long as they respect the Code of Conduct
- Membership would come from signing a document showing alignment with the purpose of the IOPA, and pledging to contribute to it (a constitution/charter of some kind)
- We would like to look into a tiered membership model for organisations
Discussion points included: the complexity of navigating a network of participants and members that are part of many organisations, and have varied levels of time available to participate.
Decision-making structure:
For the decision-making structure, the high level proposals discussed were:
- Members vote for representatives, who may then take decisions within boundaries
- Boundaries are defined in the CONSTITUTION, which is owned by all members (and can only be changed with their approval)
- Path to raise major issues back to full membership - can also be activated by membership (e.g. 25% of membership can force a vote on an issue)
In the Alliance, two main bodies of decision-making would be:
- A community council
- A tech committee
In addition, specific committees could be set-up, on a needs basis.
At the initiative level, working groups would have their own charter defining their own governance and decision making models.
Discussion points included:
- Equity vs. equality: that with a diverse membership, we would need to look at creating an equitable decision-making/voting structure.
- The order between the two governing bodies (tech committee and community council), and which should have prominence on the other if any.
The next opportunities for live discussion on the proposals will take place here (jitsi link), on Thursday 11th of May, 09:00 UTC and Thursday 25th of May, 17:00 UTC - if these timeslots do not work for you, do reach out to me directly and we can schedule another time.