What are the guidelines for members of the Steering Council?
This page describes the Articles of Association of the Global Steering Council. The electorally appointed members of the Steering Council use these Articles of Association to steer any research program on the digital commons infrastructure. In addition to the Global Statutes and Fiscal Host AoA, Steering Council is an Open Council body that steers the research programs.
These articles are legislated and amended by the democratic process of the Trustee Council i.e. Open Council.
The Steering Council has members for each program of the network.
Each Program Steering Council can have a chairperson, when more than one member is appointed to the Steering Council
Summary: The Steering Council members meet the Executive Council monthly through electronic or in-person meetings, playing a central role in steering the Foundation's roadmap and advocacy. They also nominate and appoint a Core Working Committee for a program project. The Council can convene electronic meetings to review projects and initiatives, with meeting minutes released within 14 days. Appointment to the Steering Council is voluntary and pro bono, typically for one election period.
Members can be nominated by specific council members or request nominations from eligible individuals, but self-nomination is not permitted. Removal proceedings require strong reasons for violation of governing policies and directives, followed by a community referendum for final removal. Resignation from the Steering Council is voluntary. The Independent Board reserves the right to update terms and conditions as per existing rules and regulations.
The Foundation members communicate via cryptographic electronic systems.
Meetings:
The Steering Council members shall meet the Executive Council on an ongoing basis:
Generally recorded on a monthly basis through an electronic meeting with the Executive Council, either exclusively or
When recorded through the member’s presence in the Foundation’s monthly Council meetings, or
When participating through the Independent Board's private mailing list on any Open Council vote, at least once in a month.
The Steering Council plays a central role in steering the Foundation's roadmap and advocacy of its guiding principles. Therefore, a vote of confidence may be scheduled to register the attendance of the Steering Council members.
The members of the Steering Council shall also nominate & appoint Core Working Committee (CWC) of a project.
The Steering Council may choose to meet the Executive Council or other members through an electronic meeting, in addition to the monthly Council meetings, to contribute to their roles and responsibilities.
The Steering Council can convene an electronic meeting, inviting all the Open Council members or all the Foundation's members to conduct an independent documented review of the Foundation’s project and initiatives.
The meeting minutes from any convened “Steering Council meeting” shall be released to the Open Convention within 14 days of the meeting.
The Executive Council reserves the right to reject or release the meeting minutes and documented reviews of this Steering Council to the other members of the Foundation.
Open Constitution Governance Framework:
The Foundation operates a distributed self-governance system. Each decision is recorded on the Open Constitution AI network’s public ledger.
The Steering Council works with all the Open Council members with respect to the Foundation’s programs.
The Steering Council has the authorization to steer community proposals and prioritize activities in any research program’s projects. The Steering Council also legislate on different compliance standards and deployments when any project moves from one stage of Technology Readiness level to another.
The Executive Council ratifies the Steering Council’s Resolutions.
Executive Council shall keep the Independent Board informed, as it is the Independent Boards which legally ratify any Open Governance decisions within the limitations of local statutes, in accordance with the Local law.
An Independent Board ensures the ratification of any amendments to the constitution and the governance and administration of the Foundation's project-based steering decisions.
Consideration & Tenure:
Appointment to this Steering Council is pro bono and voluntary in nature.
Appointments are generally made for one election period.
Appointment, Nomination, Removal and Resignation:
Appointment:
The following members can officially nominate a new or existing member of the Foundation to the Steering Council:
a. An individual member of the Executive Council, the Steering Council, or the Advisory Council.
b. A non-Council member can also request a nomination and the action of nomination shall be officially filed by the only members mentioned in above 6.1 “a”.
Self-nomination by an existing member of one of the organs of the Open Council for his/her/their appointment to the Steering Council is not permitted.
Self-nomination by an existing non-Club member of the Foundation for his/her/their appointment to the Steering Council is not acceptable. Please read more.
Once the nomination is accepted by the Nominee, the Nominee or the member nominating the nominee shall file supporting information, such as the nominee's literature, publications, and demonstration of social activities on the Foundation's Membership Registry.
A Council Resolution, "Vote IN" is then scheduled on the Open Council's electronic ledger.
For the purposes of record keeping on an electronic ledger, Open Convention & Council mailing lists are used.
Appointment to the Steering Council is publicized on the public-facing records of the Foundation.
Removal Proceedings:
Members of the Executive Council or of the Steering Council can only officially nominate the removal of a member from the Steering Council.
Open Council Resolution - “Vote OUT" is considered to be active on the Open Constitution system once it is initiated on the Council’s private mailing list.
A strong reason for violation of the Foundation’s governing policies and directives must be provided by member(s) initiating the resolution to support the Council resolution “Vote OUT”.
Community Referendum: Final removal of a member from the Steering Council is subject to a community referendum on the passed Council resolution “Vote OUT”, stated above.
If a member happens to serve on two organs of the Open Council, then this effectively means that two votes are counted for the same member for the Foundation’s Open Council voting decision proceedings, including on these governing protocols for the appointment of members or their removal.
Resignation:
A member's self-resignation from the Steering Council is a voluntary action.
A member may resign from the Steering Council by stating the reasons for resignation.
Miscellaneous:
The Independent Board reserves the right to update the terms and conditions statutes from time to time in compliance with the existing rules and regulations of the association, including reserving the right to terminate the appointment to this Steering Council at any time, without notice and without the due electoral process of removal, in the following scenario:
If the member is found convicted of criminal, civil and financial crimes in any court of competent jurisdiction across the world, where the Foundation has an active presence, either through a legal body representation or an affiliate network.
Read more on the guiding principles & diversity statement of the Foundation here.
Read more about the Foundation’s Code of Conduct here.
The Foundation's statutes and terms and conditions governing its functioning can be found here. The Election Council reserves the right to dissolve the whole Steering Council and initiate the constitution of a new Steering Council.
Read more on the dissolution of a constitutional body of this Open Constitution.
The Foundation members communicate via cryptographic electronic communications systems in connection to the electronic meetings convened by members of this Council, and the Foundation’s IT infrastructure shall be used.
If the meeting took place outside the Foundation’s communications infrastructure, then the meeting minutes must be brought back to the notice of the Executive Council.
Upon a successful nomination and having received a passed Council Resolution "Vote IN", a new Open Council member should file their supporting documents to Open Constitution Membership Registry. A private link is generated by Open Constitution system.