[okfn-advisory] Open Knowledge International Advisory Council - reaching out

Thu Mar 1 10:41:46 UTC 2018

Thank you all,
I have been thinking about the reboot and would love it if it happened.
Part of my soul is attached to OKF (sic) and so some of my commitment is
emotional and historical rather than logical. Because I have been largely
out of touch with OKI for these years I don't know what its main focus is ,
what it does, what the issues are, etc. If I am not clear before the reboot
discussion, then I am not sure whether the discussion will be focussed
enough for me to help.

I support OKF as a whole and try to highlight some of the dynamics which
made it so successful.
* a high concentration of volunteers who brought energy and time to the
organization.
* several committed passionate people "in" the organization - I'm thinking
of Rufus and Jonathan in particular. Jonathan catalysed my create of the
OKF-Panton Fellows.
* very high profile in the Open movement/practice
* needed by and trusted by governments
* setting up special interest groups which had clear, limited aims and were
able to change the world. My own involvement was in Open-Science, Open
Access, The Open Definition (which I still feel is one of the greatest
achievements of OKF) and bits of School of OpenData.
* going to meetings in London and the continent, which enriched me

I also partnered with OKF, both as UnivCam (on JISC, Open Bibliography -
again a massive achievement, not appreciated enough, and more recently as
ContentMine with Sander for H2020. I even tried to build CKAN into my
products and workflow .

We've all moved on. But I think we need to know before the meeting:
* what sort of things is OKI doing
* what does it *want* to do
* who is going to drive it.

When I worked with OKF I was a modest part of the driving force, certainly
over Panton Principles and Panton Fellows (which IMO could be resurrected
as young people are so important). But I have no ideas what drives OKI now.
* do the staff push the agenda?
* does the Board push?
* are there volunteers (like I used to be) who come with ideas, and get
resources and make them happen
* does it seek contracts from gov and NGOs. Is this the primary aim? If so,
I am probably not relevant.

In December Sander wrote to Jenny and me about revitalising Open Science.
I'm receptive to the idea but I would want to see it driven by ideas and
projects. (I don't think OKI should have a science group just for balance
or because it had one historically or because it can attract funding - I
think it needs a purpose.) Here's a snippet of the discussion with Sander:

> PMR: An idea which I would like to see promoted and could partake in, but
> not lead, is the idea of creating a redistributable collection of all Open
> scientific literature, transformed into a coherent searchable form. I think
> this would have to be lead by a development funder - like UNESCO (although
> I think they don't have much money???).
>

SvdW: I love that idea - will ponder more over this during the holidays,
and look forward to connecting again to discuss this more in the new year.

PMR ... I am actually pursuing this idea with Wikimedia - we have a grant
in - but it is potentially much larger and would be a great, unique ,
doable project for OKI. But I have no idea whether this is what is wanted -
have yet to hear from Sander.

P.

On Thu, Mar 1, 2018 at 9:57 AM, Naomi Lillie <naomi.lillie at okfn.org> wrote:

> Thank you all for your prompt and thoughtful responses.
>
> Paul and Mark will be in touch soon, but in the meantime if there are
> further responses to come then please do send along, they are much
> appreciated.
>
> Best wishes to all from a snowy Edinburgh,
> Naomi
>
>
>
> On 26 February 2018 at 10:16, John Naughton <jjn1 at cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> Dear Naomi
>>
>> Thank you for your email.
>>
>> I’m open to a March call.  I’d welcome clarification and agree with many
>> of Peter Murray-Rust’s comments.  I’ve served on a number (too many)of
>>  Advisory Boards, from which experience I’ve inferred that the last thing
>> that many organisations actually want is advice!
>>
>> But maybe this time is different.
>>
>> Best
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>> …..
>> Professor John Naughton
>> Senior Research Fellow, CRASSH
>> University of Cambridge
>> Director, Wolfson Press Fellowship Programme
>> e: jjn1 at cam.ac.uk
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 23 Feb 2018, at 13:32, Naomi Lillie <naomi.lillie at okfn.org> wrote:
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> May I introduce you to Mark Gibbs (COO) and Paul Walsh (CPO), in CC, who
>> are undertaking the overall leadership of the organisation since Pavel's
>> departure late last year.
>>
>> Paul and Mark are looking to reboot OKI - particularly our Advisory
>> Council, where we are very keen to re-engage. They would like to reach out
>> to you to look at how the Advisory Council can guide OKI through this
>> period of change, refocusing on our vision and mission, and looking ahead
>> to new opportunities.
>>
>> We wondered whether you would be interested in joining a call in March,
>> to touch base and consider how we connect in future. Do let us know if you
>> would be interested in this, either as a group or individually.
>> Best wishes,
>> Naomi
>>
>>
>> --
>> Naomi Lillie
>> Executive Assistant
>>
>> skype: n.lillie  |  @naomilillie <https://twitter.com/NaomiLillie>
>>
>> Open Knowledge International <http://okfn.org/>    -    See how data can
>> change the world
>> http://okfn.org/  |  @okfn <http://twitter.com/OKFN>  |  Facebook
>> <https://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork>  |  Blog <http://blog.okfn.org/>
>>
>>
>> Open Knowledge International Community Network | http://planet.okfn.org/
>> | see how people are changing the world
>>
>>
>> Open Knowledge is a not-for-profit organisation.  It is incorporated in
>> England & Wales as a company limited by guarantee, with company number
>> 05133759.  VAT Registration № GB 984404989. Registered office address: Open
>> Knowledge International, 86 - 90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE
>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=86+-+90+Paul+Street,+London+EC2A+4NE,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>,
>> UK
>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=86+-+90+Paul+Street,+London+EC2A+4NE,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>> .
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> okfn-advisory mailing list
>> okfn-advisory at lists.okfn.org
>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-advisory
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-advisory
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> Naomi Lillie
>
> Executive Assistant
>
> skype: n.lillie  |  @naomilillie <https://twitter.com/NaomiLillie>
>
> Open Knowledge International <http://okfn.org/>    -    See how data can
> change the world
>
> http://okfn.org/  |  @okfn <http://twitter.com/OKFN>  |  Facebook
> <https://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork>  |  Blog <http://blog.okfn.org/>
>
>
>
> Open Knowledge International Community Network | http://planet.okfn.org/ |
> see how people are changing the world
>
>
> Open Knowledge is a not-for-profit organisation.  It is incorporated in
> England & Wales as a company limited by guarantee, with company number
> 05133759.  VAT Registration № GB 984404989. Registered office address: Open
> Knowledge International, 86 - 90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE, UK.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-advisory mailing list
> okfn-advisory at lists.okfn.org
> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-advisory
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-advisory
>
>

-- 
Peter Murray-Rust
Reader Emeritus in Molecular Informatics
Unilever Centre, Dept. Of Chemistry
University of Cambridge
CB2 1EW, UK
+44-1223-763069
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/private/okfn-advisory/attachments/20180301/fd202088/attachment-0003.html>