Bazinga! Minutes from the CKAN Association Steering Group - 1 April (no joke)

Readme.txt

The following minutes represent what the Steering Group discussed today but please remember its also just a meeting (context: no real work is ever done in a meeting). The objective is to discuss and assign actions when needed, to make decisions when needed and to generally align everyone in the various ways each member is already supporting the CKAN project. Reading between the lines of this update there are a few points to call out and make mention of.

1. The Steering Group (SG) are renewed with energy and determination. While the last meeting might have been some time ago we have set ourselves the objective of meeting weekly (after next week) because it is clear that the CKAN project is advancing rapidly and support from the SG needs to align with the velocity of the project without any risk of holding it back. Let's add some buzzwords and suggest that the SG is aiming to bootstrap the project and intersect on multiple vectors to achieve maximum lift via regular and meaningful engagement with its project stakeholders (Please don't take that last sentence seriously).
2. 'Distill out a 1-3 pager' in relation to the business plan means getting lean and putting focus on the most essential parts of the CKAN Association business plan. Long docs with much wordage are great in some situations but in the case of the CKAN project we have an avid community of exceptionally bright people who are fine with the key objectives, strategies and tactics put forward in the most succinct way possible.
3. If there is to be an operating model for the SG then it will be this: Say what is going to get done. Get it done+. Let everyone know it is done.
4. Some awesome questions are answered at the end of this post.

+ In some cases things might not actually get done but we will strive to do the best we can. Yes, we'll be transparent with goals. Yes, we'll be happy to take any and all feedback. Yes, we are working for the CKAN project and are ultimately governed via public peer review by the project's community.

CKAN Association Steering Group Meeting 1 April 2015

• Present: Ashley Casovan (Chair), Steven De Costa, Rufus Pollock (Secretary)
• Apologies: Antonio Acuna

Minutes

1. Steering Group Goals (next quarter)
   1. Announce more clearly existence and purpose of Steering Group
      1. steering group email alias: steering-group@ckan.org (goes to group)
   2. Announce objectives which are
      1. Finalise business plan (have now had out for consultation for some time)
         1. Distill out a 1-3 pager
         2. Finalise and announce to list
         3. hangout on air to announce
      2. Community meetings
         1. Technical team run one at least one (general) developer community meeting in next 2m
         2. At least one users community meeting in next 2m
2. Responsibilities of the SG
   1. Like a board - see http://ckan.org/about/steering-group/
   2. Similarities to Drupal Board: job is to support the community in moving the project forward - self-determination
3. Review Actions
   1. https://trello.com/b/D6zxiuFJ/ckan-association-steering-group - primarily business plan and response to questions [note this Trello board is private]
4. CKAN Event at IODC
   1. CIOs and CTO - CKAN is part of national and regional infrastructure
   2. efficiency gains on open data
   3. https://github.com/ckan/ideas-and-roadmap/issues/120
   4. Technical capability
5. Review of student position description
   1. Ashley to send out to SG members for comment
6. Meeting schedule: SG will meet weekly (for present) every Thursday at 12 noon UK (for 30m)
7. Publishing minutes from this meeting - will aim to send asap

Your questions answered

Q: Is the SG interested in increasing transparency of the SG meetings? How will this be achieved? SG: Yes. This was discussed and we would like to propose the next meeting be run in two parts. One part will be closed to attend to some regular business of the group with regard to coordinating efforts. The second half will be broadcast as a Hangout on Air for people to watch. We'll aim to collect questions ahead of the meetings and address them during the broadcast with further options for an active Q&A session from the audience. Q: Have the SG determined whether members of the association are yet contributing funds, or developers to the project? What are they? What happens if members don’t? SG: There is ongoing work in this area. Most members are contributing in-kind (not exclusively developers). We'd be happy to make the pledged contributions public via the members listing on CKAN.org. At this time it is an honour system with regard to meeting membership obligations that are provided in-kind. If a member is suspected of not providing the expected level of in-kind contribution then the Steering Group will investigate and consider appropriate actions upon conclusion of such investigations. Q: How does the SG see its role with respect to providing direction for the project? SG: Support the community of both technical stakeholders and users in ways which allow them to act in concert to move the project forward in the direction these stakeholders determine to be best for the project. Q: How is the SG raising more funds, other than membership, to further fund development of CKAN? SG: This is a question the Steering Group is working through currently. Our focus is on the Business Plan and putting strategic objectives down for all to see via that document. Grant applications and the coordination of requirements to meet the needs of a group of platform owners is also being considered. With the latter the proposed approach is to release an expression of interest for funding support against specific development activities. Those who highly value such activities would be asked to help contribute to a pool of funds that would then see the development work paid for.