[foundation-board] Application for Chapter Status from Swiss Local group

Wed Apr 25 12:51:15 UTC 2012

Following the discussion at the last board meeting and subsequent emails,
we now have a set of questions which local groups wishing to become
chapters answer, to ensure the board has richer information with which to
make a decision.

I present below the application from our Swiss local group for
consideration as a chapter.  They are keen to move ahead and so a prompt
response would be appreciated. If the board would prefer to wait and
discuss this in person, please let me know and I'll add it to the agenda
for the 15th.

Laura

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1) Resolution to approve opendata.ch as a Chapter of the OKFN
Does the board approve this?

2) Approval of alterations to MOU text (see link below)
[if this cannot be approved, please provide feedback for opendata.ch]
Is the board willing to sign an MOU of this revised form?

3) Recommendation around clause 3.1 of MOU, that "OKF will have the right
to nominate a representative to be a member of the OKF-CH board." Does the
board wish to take up this option from the start, and if so, who is
nominated?

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Proposed name of chapter
******************************

Opendata.ch

Jurisdiction
*******************************
Switzerland

Notes on coverage of the group
*******************************
Covers the entire country; works on policies on the federal level;
communicates in German and French.

Names and short bios of the principal organisers
*******************************
See http://opendata.ch/community/board/

Summary of community building to date by the organisation
*******************************
- Relevant mailing lists

https://twitter.com/#!/OpendataCH
http://www.opendata.ch/mailinglist

* 512 followers on Twitter
* 132 members on public mailing list (low traffic, mostly announcements)
* Additional closed/high-traffic lists for local groups organizing
hackdays (Geneva, Zurich etc.)

- events held to date, rough numbers of attendees

* April 2012, 110 participants, Public Transport Hackday,
http://opendata.ch/2012/04/innovationsschub-fuer-den-schienenverkehr-verkehrsdienstleister-und-community-am-selben-tisch/
* September 2011, 150 participants, first general Open Data Hackday,
http://make.opendata.ch/archive/1/home.en.html
* June 2011, 150 participants, first national Open Data Conference at
the Federal Archives in Berne,
http://www.admin.ch/aktuell/00089/index.html?lang=en&msg-id=39827,
http://opendata.ch/2011/06/opendata2011-medienmitteilung/
* General assembly meeting of the association, see
http://opendata.ch/2012/01/verein-opendata-ch-offiziell-gegrundet-manifest-und-agenda-2012/
* lots of smaller but public working group meetings

- any other activities

* Launched 6 inquires in the national parliament, see
http://www.digitale-nachhaltigkeit.ch/2011/10/ogd-vorstoesse-make-open-data/
* Achieved status of a "prioritized plan" for OGD in the national
e-gov strategy, see
http://www.news.admin.ch/message/index.html?lang=de&msg-id=44088
* Initiated official OGD activities at the City of Zurich, continuous
support of the project under the umbrella of http://www.ezuerich.ch
* Creation of a manifesto explaining our goals, signed by several
national policy makers: http://opendata.ch/manifest/
* Speaking at events such as
http://opendata.ch/2011/11/5-egov-symp11-benefit-of-open-government-data/
* Organized
http://liftconference.com/news/lift12-video-rufus-pollock-open-data-how-we-got-here-and-where-were-going
* Media relations resulting in a fair amount of media attention, see
http://opendata.ch/pressearchiv/
* Lots and lots of meetings with policy makers and civil servants of all
levels
* ...

Brief outline of why the local group wishes to become a Chapter
*******************************
As discussed with Rufus et al: we are convinced that our common goal
need a certain level of coordination across countries. OKFN provides
the ideal way to achieve this.

Outline of any specific plans the group has for its first year as a Chapter
*******************************
- Publish first comprehensive study on OGD in Switzerland
(forthcoming, see
http://opendata.ch/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/OGD-Studie_Schweiz_Orientierung_20120119.pdf
)
- Continue national/cantonal policy work
 - help getting legislation passed on open weather data
 - clarify legal situation regarding open public transport data (see
http://transport.opendata.ch)
 - launch initiative for open health data
 - lots of lobbying for  federal open data initiative ("data.admin.ch")
- National conference (with OKFN keynote speakers): http://opendata.ch/2012
- Local hackday in Berne, 27 April, http://make.opendata.ch/bern/
- Open Health Data Hackay: 28/29 September, Basel
- Two hackdays in spring 2013, Geneva and Zurich
- Overall: try to establish some professional structures

Form of incorporation
*******************************
Association under Swiss law.
Articles see
http://opendata.ch/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Statuten_opendata_Version_1.00_19-Januar-2012.pdf

Memorandum of Understanding
*******************************
We requested a small number of changes to the template provided by
OKFN. See
https://docs.google.com/a/opendata.ch/document/d/1rDwK8rKrF2t-EESZyS4yZRMaAeorqhsKdB8udwDfRJU/edit

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Risk assessment of opendata.ch from Chapter Coordinator

I'd say risk: very little, given that the group is already quite
established (and is a good team of folk). The only worry I'd have is that
they are reasonably independent of us - but given how things were in the
region, I think integrating an existing group (opendataCH) into the OKFN
network as a Chapter is a good idea (we won't have the same organisational
problems with them that we've had with OKFN DE, for example, as this group
are already operating autonomously).
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