This is the proposed governance structure for steering the work that the Open Data Institute (ODI) does in its work Stewarding Solid. It is open for a 3 week consultation phase, closing at 23:59PM GMT on February 28, 2025.
If you would like to give feedback on this proposal, please open an issue on this repository. We ask that discussions take place in issues, and that no PRs are made to this document. Any required substantive changes to this document will be made after the end of the consultation period.
Last October, ODI took responsibility for the stewardship of Solid. This means that Solid sits as an initiative within the ODI structure.
The ODI is a UK based not for profit organisation founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Nigel Shadbolt. Sir Tim (President) and Sir Nigel (Chair) are the founding members of the ODI. They are supported by a Board of Directors which consists of the following members:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Sir Tim Berners-Lee | President / Co-founder |
| Sir Nigel Shadbolt | Chair / Co-founder |
| Roger Hampson | Senior Non Executive Director |
| Robert Bryan | Company Secretary and Non Executive Director |
| Anna Mazzone | Non Executive Director |
| Justine Robers | Non Executive Director |
| Louise Burke | CEO |
The board of directors are supported by the Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) which consists of the following members:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Anna Mazzone | Non Executive Director / Chair ARC |
| Roger Hampson | Senior Non Executive Director |
| Robert Bryan | Company Secretary and Non Executive Director |
The Executive Leadership Team reports to the Board and consists of the following people:
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Louise Burke | CEO |
| Prof Elena Simperl | Director of Research & Technology |
| Stuart Coleman | Director of Consultancy and Learning |
| Emma Thwaites | Director of Global Public Policy and Corporate Affairs |
The ODI is structured through different disciplines. Solid sits in the Technology Discipline. The Technology Discipline structure delivery of projects / initiatives in the following way:
| Role | Responsibility | Name/Position |
|---|---|---|
| Project/Initiative Sponsor | Provide Oversight | Director of Technology |
| Project/Initiative Lead | Lead of the project | Jesse Wright |
| Project/Initiative Team | Delivery team | Staff / contractors |
Proposed Solid Specific Governance
Advisory Committee
A group of appointed individuals responsible for overseeing Solid, advising on strategic decisions and sustainability.
The recommended members of the Advisory Committee we believe should include:
| Role | Name/Position |
|---|---|
| Lead of the Solid Project | Tim Berners-Lee |
| ODI Representative | ODI |
| W3C Group Representative | W3C Group Chair |
| Solid Community Group Representative | Solid Community Group Chair |
| Government - citizen data | TBA |
| Sustainability representative | TBA |
| Social good representation | TBA |
| Representatives from the commercial sector | 2 TBA positions |
| Commercial implementors | 2 TBA positions |
| Open source implementers representative | 2 TBA positions |
| Civil society organisation to challenge positions | TBA |
| Major funders (at least $1m per annum funding) | 2 TBA positions (Yet to be secured) |
| Chapter leads - Country representatives | Not established as yet |
Selection process
With the exception of the roles specified and linked to particular groups / chapters / funders all other roles will be recruited through an open process. Tim, ODI and the chairs (W3C Working Group and Solid Community Group) will run the selection process. There may be the option to offer some financial support for a member but the general rule is that these roles are voluntary.
Please note that where possible there should only be one representative from organisations outside of the chairs and Tim.
Meetings
There will be four meetings per year. Three half day meetings (3 hours) will be online and the fourth meeting will be in person, full day focusing on strategy. Initially once we establish the Advisory Committee we will have an in person meeting for a full day of orientation. In person meetings will be subject to available funding.
Solid Operations Advisory Group (formerly Solid team)
This group advises on key areas including the solid website, hosting structure for PODs, solidcommunity.net, github.
ODI is happy to help implement this group based on advice from the Advisory Committee. We would suggest that members are in place for a 2 year term.
As ODI gets resources to start supporting the implementation of a roadmap for Solid, and to better help coordinate the community at a technical level on tasks such as codebase creation and maintenance - this advisory group would also feed back into the roadmap prioritisation.
Members - open recruitment but through self nomination and voting from the community.
Other potential groups
Adoption and engagement, policy, advocacy and use cases / deployments - the need for these additional groups will be discussed with the Advisory Committee.
Escalation and conflict resolution
Advisory Committee - is a group that recommends particular courses of action with a focus on strategic direction. In the event of a conflict the matter would be referred to the ODI Board. It should be noted that throughout the time that ODI has stewarded initiatives there has never been an escalation that required intervention from the ODI Board.
Solid Operations Advisory Group - ODI Director / Head of Technology will make a decision in the event of a dispute.
International Solid Chapters
There is likely to be funding available for Solid within different countries around the world. We discussed this at the ODI Board and agreed that we should keep the cost of setting up in some countries to a minimum as we want to concentrate the funding on building Solid. The recommendation therefore is that ODI could open branch offices in other countries.
A branch is not a separate legal entity but merely an extension of the ODI enabling an office to exist within a territory. This model would provide Solid with the benefits of the ODI brand, governance, and compliance processes with support from the existing team / back office. It is a low cost option enabling us to work in different countries especially where local funding is available to support Solid.
The establishment of overseas branches should only be done in the event that we identify real opportunities to unlock funding support to take Solid forward. In the absence of such funding we would encourage those in other countries to feedback their research / use cases / deployments to the W3C Community Group. ODI would provide a Community Manager to support this knowledge sharing.