Martin Tisne (Omidyar Network). 5. Richard Stirling (Oxford Insights). 6. Sumandro Chattapadhyay (The Centre for Interne
Oct. 2017
Governance Structure
The Open Data Charter is overseen by a governance structure designed to reflect our position as a trusted space that guides, connects and enables governments and organisations to deliver impact from open data. These structures support the delivery of our mission and include a multi-stakeholder Advisory Board, with responsibilities for running the initiative and providing oversight for the performance of the Charter Network Team; and a broader group of Charter Stewards who inform the direction of the initiative, and support the delivery of the strategy. From its inception, the Charter has collaborated with governments and expert organisations working to open up data, based on a shared set of principles. This is reflected in the governance structure that includes highly committed governments, multilaterals and civil society organizations representatives in our Advisory Board helping guide and shape the work, and a broader Charter Stewards group whose participation is central to deliver the Charter mission.
In summary: ● Power to appoint: existing members of the Advisory Board appoint new or replacement board members, on the recommendations of the Executive Director through an open call and nominations from the Charter Stewards. The Advisory Board appoint and oversee the Executive Director, who hires and manages the Network Team. ● Accountability: the Executive Director is accountable to the Advisory Board. The Executive Director, together with the host organisation, Fund for the City of New York, is accountable for commitments made to funders. ● Responsibility to deliver: the Advisory Board is responsible for providing strategic advice to ensure the team is equipped to deliver the business plan and mission, the team is responsible for delivery, and the Open Government Partnership Open Data Working Group (ODWG) forms part of the delivery mechanism. ● Leveraging the network: the governance reflects the collaborative nature of the Charter and its community of adopters and endorsers. It supports the strategy of working with partners and leveraging the network, such as by chairing the Open Government Partnership Open Data Working Group (ODWG), as a key part of delivering the mission and work plan of the initiative.
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Oct. 2017 Figure 1: Open Data Charter Governance Structure
Advisory Board Description: ● A diverse, multi-stakeholder board, comprised of representatives of government, civil society, private sector who provides oversight of the initiative. Responsibilities: ● Appointing, advising, and providing oversight of, the Charter Executive Director (ED) ● Approving the Charter strategy and ensuring the Charter team is equipped to deliver its business plan and mission, through periodic calls and annual meetings. ● Ensuring there are systems of accountability and a culture of commitment, collaboration, learning, and accepting responsibility ● Commissioning periodic external and independent reviews of governance ● Approving the formation of new Working Groups ● Fixing the maximum term of appointment to the Board ● Appointing a Chair of the Advisory Board, whose responsibilities include: ○ Carrying out the Board’s oversight of the Executive Director
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Working with ED to propose agendas for advisory board meeting Chairing AB meetings and guiding the group through the call Ensure decisions made at meetings are implemented Maintaining communications with the board members
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Coordinating member’s feedback on budgets and financial planning ● Appointing a government host of the Charter, aligned with the International Open Data Conference, whose responsibilities include: ○ Supporting on advocacy and diplomacy ○ Acting as an ambassador for the Open Data Charter at key events ○ Coordinating on strategic alignment with the IODC agenda ● It is noted that the Fund for the City of New York board provides legal accountability, so the Chair will not have these legal requirements Roles (not exhaustive): ● Providing advice to the ED on strategy and direction; organisational issues including HR, and finance; and providing further support and advice as requested ● Providing feedback and support on fundraising, partnership development and broader governance issues ● Promoting / connecting the Charter to potential adopters, endorsers, funders, partners Composition: ● The Chair will conduct review every 12 months to check the Board composition still meets criteria, and with a simple majority vote, or by request of the Chair, agree to refresh or reconfirm existing membership. ● New appointments to the Advisory Board, are approved by existing members, on the recommendation of the Executive Director through an open call and nominations from the Charter Stewards. ● The board is comprised of at least 9 members; appointment of members will seek to maintain regional and gender diversity and fit board member criteria, including to make sure that there is expertise to carry out roles and responsibilities. ● Criteria for board members include: understanding of the ODC mission and passionate about its goals, available time to commit to concrete roles and responsibilities, highest integrity and willingness to work with other members. ● Board members will ordinarily act as individuals, except where they have been specifically selected to represent their government or organisation. In all instances, board members will work in and for the best interests of the Charter. ● The Chairperson will be selected via a call for self-nominations, and a vote in a case where there is more than one nomination. Current Advisory Board members
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Fabrizio Scrollini (ILDA) Jose Alonso/Craig Fagan (Web Foundation) Sander van der Waal (Open Knowledge International) Martin Tisne (Omidyar Network) Richard Stirling (Oxford Insights) Sumandro Chattapadhyay (The Centre for Internet and Society) Fernando Perini (OD4D / IDRC) Allison O'Beirne (Government of Canada)
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Oct. 2017
9. Enrique Zapata (Government of Mexico) 10. Thom Townsend (Government of the United Kingdom)
Executive Director and Charter team Description: The ED is appointed by the Advisory Board, to whom they are solely accountable The ED appoints and manages the staff, which currently includes a Strategy and Programmes Director, a Partnerships and Communication Director, and a Programme Officer ● The team is hosted by the Fund for the City of New York, which provides financial and legal oversight Responsibilities: ● Delivering the strategy in line with the mission of the Charter ● Driving the strategy development process and overseeing day-to-day operations ● Raising funds, managing finances and reporting on funding ● Recruiting new network participants, signing memoranda of understanding with participants Roles (not exhaustive): ● ●
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Supporting effective implementation of commitments through connecting adopters with the expertise that will help them achieve their objectives Managing and connecting with network, coordinating activities, supporting cross-organisational activities, facilitating a community of practice Partnering with sectors to integrate the principles of open data into their work Managing multi-stakeholder and sectoral conversations by convening meetings, workshops, conferences, or other global events Convening key players around core projects, since the work itself is carried out through partnerships with the network Leveraging the Open Government Partnership platform through a thematic partnership
Charter Stewards Description: ● A group of representatives from governments and organisations who support the Charter principles ● Charter Stewards were formed from the Open Data Working Group of the Open Government Partnership, though membership is open to non-OGP members Responsibilities:
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Oct. 2017 Providing feedback on the Charter team’s strategy and planning to ensure that it is ambitious, impactful and realistic ● Supporting the delivery of the Charter’s business plan through the “Implementation” and “Progress and Measurement” working groups (and other task groups as they are formed), the delivery of Open Up Guides and other products ● Providing feedback to support robust open data commitments in OGP National Action Plans. ● Implementing the Principles in their respective organisations and governments ● Promoting and connecting the Charter to potential adopters, endorsers, funders and partners Roles (not exhaustive): ● Participate in working groups, peer support of other adopters, sector pilot projects etc. ● Participate in time bound task groups to deliver Charter programmes and projects ● Offer advice on ODC consultations including around individual programmes of work Composition: ● Individuals from governments and organisations that support the Charter. ●
Working Groups Description: ● The Charter’s Working Groups (WGs) are a time-bound way of convening members of the Charter’s network to discuss issues of common concern and to produce shared resources. ● They are driven by the interests of their members, in line with the overall Charter strategy. Each group has a specific objective it’s working towards. Responsibilities: ● The groups have co-chairs who help to set the agenda and facilitate discussion. ● The Charter team provides support to the chairs in setting up the calls, taking notes and engaging with group members. ● In collaboration with the Charter team, the members of the working groups agree on annual work plans with clear deliverables and objectives which will also identify the resources needed to support this work. ● Resources created by the groups will be available under a Creative Commons licence. Roles (not exhaustive): ● Being a WG member involves regular calls, some preparation work and potentially in-person meetings at the sidelines of open data events. ● The WGs fit within a broader movement of organisations and governments working on open data. The working groups are closely aligned with the work carried out by OD4D network, the IODC Roadmap and the Open Government Partnership Open Data Working Group.
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Oct. 2017 Composition: ● Any member of the Charter network can join the working groups and participation is voluntary, with a chair or maximum of two co-chairs. ● WG are established by recommendation of the charter team, with approval from the Advisory Board and a clear demand from members of the Charter network. Current Working Groups and their objectives: ● Implementation WG: to support governments that are committed to implementing the Charter principles, including by developing resources and sharing best practice. ● Measurement and accountability WG: to develop ways of measuring how well governments are implementing the Charter principles and to reduce inefficiencies in those measurement tools. See ODC Working Groups one-sider
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