Open Knowledge Foundation
Board of Directors

Board Meeting Minutes, September 2010

Present: Martin Keegan (MK), Paula le Dieu (PlD), Jordan Hatcher (JH), Rufus Pollock (RP), Becky Hogge (BH), James Casbon (JC) (phone). Apologies Jo Walsh (JW) and Ian Brown (IB)

  • RP was elected chair of the meeting
  • Review of minutes from last board meeting: Minutes approved - the minutes have already received approval on list.
  • Review of action items from last board meeting:
    • JH - Standard contractor contract is done and we will circulate among key contractors and RP for feedback.
    • RP - Repository of contracts done in Google docs.
    • JH to become signatory on account - progressing. After discussion, Board decides MK should also become a signatory.
    • BH to draft job description - done subject to Board approval, held over to agenda items.
    • JW/RP to publish minutes. Ongoing. Board elects BH to help with this action.
  • Contracts: The Board discussed the possibility of making all contracts entered into by the OKF available for public scrutiny, but agreed not to do so because of concerns around individual privacy and commercial competitiveness.
  • Financial report:
    • The Board reviewed and discussed the financial report.
    • The Board requested a cashflow report for the next meeting.
    • The Board took measures to ensure timely invoicing from contractors.
    • The Board agreed to get extra support in using the Xero accounting system from specialists Urban Ledgers.
    • The Board emphasised the need to push harder for clients to settle invoices on time.
  • Establishing a public okfn board mailing list: The Chair proposed postponing discussion of an open board list until the next meeting and the Board agreed.
  • Project coordinator: Following discussion on the Board list, the Board re-opened the issue of the need to recruit a Project Coordinator. The Board reiterated that this is not an Executive Director role, and agreed to progress recruitment in order to address reporting and accountability concerns. A brief discussion of a potential trading funds model was set aside as a practical matter.
  • Coordination Committee Chair: JW's proposal to convert the role of Coordination Committee Chair to a paid role was discussed and dismissed on the grounds that it was not the intention of this role to be a paid role, not least because we would like the Coordination Committee Chair to be a member of the Board, and no Board member can be paid for Board member/general governance related work. The Board recognised JW's contribution as the current Coordination Committee Chair and expressed concern that she is feeling over-committed.
  • Local Chapters: The Board discussed the issues related to establishing local chapters. A sub-committee formed of JH and PlD was created to put forward a proposal to the Board to explore and address these issues.
  • Approach to commercial work This discussion was held over to the next meeting due to lack of time.
  • ePSI bid: The Board approved OKF's involvement in the ePSI bid.