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Data Package Standard

Governance

The Data Package Standard is governed by a working group made of Frictionless community members coming from different disciplines. The composition of the working group is publicly accessible on GitHub.

The working group works asynchronously, using a review model for any changes in the specifications. We also hold monthly update calls for the working group, which are of course not compulsory, and which are also open to the broader community.

How we decide

For every GitHub issue on the specs submitted by the community throughout the years, a working group member will propose a recommended action to the working group. The action proposed will be accepted if consensus with the working group is reached, meaning we have arrived at a decision, or at least a compromise, that everyone can live with.

The working group will be invited to share their view in a devoted GitHub issue. If a broader conversation is needed, the proposal discussion can be elevated to the monthly call for deliberation. The working group will be given a reasonable amount of time to review the proposed action.

Consensus is reached and the issue is closed if at least ⅔ of the working group members participate in the discussion and express their favourable opinion. In case of serious and explicitly stated concerns, working group members who are core library investors (at the moment: Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN), the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Datopian) may veto a proposed action.

The community manager at OKFN will reach out to working group members who did not participate in the discussion to make sure their opinion is also captured. Reminders of your participation will be handled with care. Members of the working group can expect a gentle and considerate approach, such as receiving an email once every two weeks highlighting any issues where your vote is pending. The goal is to keep them informed without causing any unnecessary inconvenience.

Decision-making on the technical maintenance of the specs will be centralised by OKFN.