openIMIS Initiative
Terms of Reference of the openIMIS Steering Group (May 2018)
Purpose of the Steering Group
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Primary Functions
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Approval Responsibilities
The openIMIS Steering Group is responsible for approving major actions within the Initiative, such as:
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Steering Group Roles & Responsibilities
Membership
The openIMIS Steering Group currently consists of the following stakeholder members, who each hold a vote on the Group and contribute to the Initiative financially. Each of the following organizations will have a vote in any major voting process. Organizations must designate an alternate in case the primary voting member is unavailable.
- BMZ
- DEZA
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Regularly participate in, and contribute to relevant discussions, forums, proposals and activities of the Initiative;
Regularly participate in the openIMIS Steering Group Meeting
Stakeholder Committee Composition
The Stakeholder Committee is to be composed of representatives from
Organizations providing financial resources directly to the initiative or an implementation (all)
Scheme operators using openIMIS (2 representatives)
Representatives from Implementers Committee (2 representatives)
Representatives Developers Committee (2 representatives)
Unaffiliated health / social protection financing experts (2
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openIMIS Steering Group meetings are closed meetings, with invitations for observers depending on the demands. Notes from the meetings and calls are publicly available on the openIMIS Wiki after approval of the Steering Group. If a new organization or participant wishes to become a voting member of the Steering Group, they must make a request in writing to the Project Coordination Desk (GIZ) or in person during a Steering Group call / meeting, at which time Steering Group members may determine eligibility through a voting process in which the majority of votes determines acceptance.
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representatives)
Representatives from bilateral, multi-lateral organisations with expertise on health / social protection and/or digitalisation
Stakeholder Committee members may nominate an alternate to represent their organisation. The respective nominees are entitled to discuss and advise on direction and activities of the Initiative. The names of the respective nominees are to be presented in writing (email) to the openIMIS Coordination Desk before the commencement of any meeting of the Stakeholder Committee.
A Stakeholder Committee member’s term is to be two (2) years.
The Stakeholder Committee can pro-actively invite new members to the
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Stakeholder Committee if so decided by the majority. The
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openIMIS Coordination Desk will support the
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Stakeholder Committee members in the process of inviting new members.
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Steering Group members may nominate a replacement to represent their organization at all meetings of openIMIS. The respective nominees are entitled to participate in the decision-making process. The names of the respective nominees shall be presented in writing (as original, email or facsimile) to the Project Coordination Desk before the commencement of any meeting of openIMIS.
openIMIS Membership Admission Criteria
- Members must demonstrate clear commitment to the Principles for Digital Development, specifically to the following “Use open standards, open data, open source, and open innovation”;
- Members must have been invited to the Steering Group by an existing member, or must have requested membership to the Steering Group and be accepted by the existing Steering Group;
- Members must accept the Terms of Reference as well as its attachments prior to joining the Steering Group;
- Members must commit to attend regularly and participate actively in the Steering Group meetings;
- Members shall contribute with essential expertise and commitment to the openIMIS Initiative;
- Donors must provide financial support to the openIMIS Initiative;
- Country members must form a mix between user countries and non-user countries, and being supportive of the openIMIS product;
- Health / Social protection financing members should be aware of different financing mechanism and be able to establish the linkage between policy and praxis;
- Members should be aware of broader context and strategic challenges as well as knowledgably of the overall development priorities;
- A desirable balance in quantity and quality based on proven track record in the members structure is intended which takes into account (a) country representation, (b) digitalization expertise, (c) health /social protection financing expertise, (d) regional networks and (e) donor representation.
Termination of participation in the network
Any member may terminate its involvement in the Steering Group by providing written notice to other partners through the Project Coordination Desk. The Project Coordination Desk shall inform the Steering Group to then remove the organization or country in question from the list of collaborating parties accordingly.
An organization or participant may be removed as a voting member of the Group if they are determined to no longer be an active or integral member of the openIMIS Initiative. The Steering Group when necessary will determine this decision, and the Project Coordination Desk will inform the organization or participant of their removal from the voting structure in writing.
Role of an openIMIS Steering Group member
It is intended that the openIMIS Steering Group leverages the experiences, expertise, and insight of key individuals at partner organizations within the openIMIS Initiative. These partners should be committed to building professionalism and collaboration within the Initiative. Steering Group members should:
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- Ensure that the Initiative's outputs meet the requirements of key stakeholders and partners;
- Contribute regularly to the Initiative by actively assisting other members with time, resources, and networks;
- Provide guidance to the other Initiative instances and partners involved in openIMIS projects;
- Foster positive communication within and outside of the Steering Group regarding the Initiative and its outcomes;
- Engage in political advocacy for the Initiative, e.g. by promoting openIMIS in relevant events.
The openIMIS Steering Group Chair
The Steering Group will select a rotating chair. The chair, which will serve during a period of two years, will facilitate Steering Group meeting instances during that period.
The openIMIS Steering Group Facilitator
The openIMIS Project Coordination Desk will serve as the secretariat for the Steering Group until removed or replaced. As Facilitator, the Project Coordination Desk is responsible for the overall documentation of Group activities, including moderating the ongoing discussion; assisting the Chair in facilitating discussion during Group calls; and maintaining transparency and public documentation of Governance activities on the openIMIS Wiki. The Project Coordination Desk will also:
- Record and follow up on action items from calls and discussions;
- Manage recordings and minutes from calls and meetings;
- Facilitate the voting process and ensure communication amongst Steering Group members;
- Coordinate with the Product Committee and Technical Advisory Groups to ensure clear and transparent communication between community instances;
- Be the point-of-contact for the openIMIS Initiative
openIMIS Steering Group Meetings
Meeting Schedule and Process
The Steering Group will meet at least every six months, alternating virtually and face to face.
Meeting Agenda
Prior to each instance of a Steering Group meeting, the elected chair will facilitate a call for agenda items using the openIMIS mailing list. The Facilitator will then update the existing openIMIS Wiki page with the planned agenda items. The agenda should roughly follow the below structure:
- Introductory items such as:
- Introductions (if any)
- Review Agenda
- Minutes and actions from last meeting
2. Main agenda items proposed by Steering Group members
3. Any other business
4. Review and summarize new actions from this meeting
openIMIS Steering Group Agreement Process
Any member of the Steering Group may present an issue or proposal that requires discussion and voting. Additionally, any major change, recommendation, or action in either the Product Committee or Technical Advisory Group must pass to the Steering Group for consideration and discussion. Through discussion during a Steering Group meeting call, the Steering Group will decide whether the issue requires a vote and will then vote on the issue at a time determined by the chair and voting members.
The Steering Group expects regular recommendations from the Product Committee on feature requests that may have reusable content for other implementations. The Project Coordination Desk will bring these recommendations to the Steering Group as they arise.
When a proposal is a feature or change to the existing product that should be done in the current new feature release, the proposal should be accompanied by a technical scheme to solve it.
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Proposals or issues requiring a vote must be made publicly available for discussion on the Steering Group forum prior to the next Steering Group meeting instance. It is the submitter's responsibility to start a vote after this discussion during the next instance of a Steering Group meeting. Voting should always occur in writing on the openIMIS Steering Group forum. The Facilitator will start a topic in the forum with the details and relevant links, and members should vote by replying to that topic. The vote must be open for a minimum of one business week.
Primary voting members of the Steering Group will vote in writing following the process noted above. If the primary voting member is unavailable, the alternate will vote in its place, noting that the primary was unavailable. That vote will be considered valid and binding. If an organization misses a vote due to lack of participation in either the call or on the forum or both, or votes after the period has closed, its vote will not be considered.
Decision-making
Once all votes have been received during the voting period, a proposal will be considered accepted if it receives a majority of votes. Regardless of the outcome of a vote (accepted or rejected), however, the donor group will have the ability to bring that issue back up for discussion, and ultimately veto that outcome if necessary, by providing their reasoning in writing to the forum.
The chair gets a vote and is responsible for adjudicating should there be a voting dispute. Alternative procedures will be defined if and only if there is an important case for it.
There shall be a quorum of at least 50% of Steering Group members for the respective meeting to proceed.
Review Period
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An organisation can be represented only once – either through the Developers or the Implementers Committee |
Stakeholder Committee Meetings & Conference
The Stakeholder Committee will meet at least twice a year (virtually or face to face).
openIMIS Stakeholder Committee Meetings consist of a public meeting (Stakeholder Conference - outreach and advocacy) with guests and a closed reflection meeting. Notes from the Stakeholder Conference are publicly available on the openIMIS Wiki. Notes from the reflection meetings are initially shared with the Stakeholder Committee members and the Steering Group and made publicly available on the openIMIS Wiki only after approval by both.
Eligibility and process to join the Stakeholder Committee
Eligibility Criteria
institutional background as a
donor organisation (all commissioners of the openIMIS Coordination Desk and additional members from the Steering Group),
scheme operator using openIMIS (2 representatives on a rotating basis),
member representing the Implementers’ and Developers’ Committees (2 representatives each[2]),
bilateral or multi-lateral organisation working on digital health and/or social protection and/or digitalisation (xx); or
unaffiliated health financing / social protection expert (2 experts),
Agreeing to (written form) and acting in line with the Terms of Reference for the openIMIS Stakeholder Committee
Agreeing to (written form) the principles of the openIMIS Initiative
Acknowledging (written form) the governance structure of the openIMIS Initiative
Process
Step 1
To join the Stakeholder Committee an institution expresses their interest in written form (email) to the openIMIS Coordination Desk. A short explanation on the motivation to join the Stakeholder Committee and to support the openIMIS initiative should be added.
Step 2
At the point of establishing the Stakeholder Committee the openIMIS Coordination Desk will consult all expressions of interest with the commissioners of the initiative, BMZ and SDC, and inform candidates individually on the decision in a timely manner.
Step 3
Prior to joining as a Stakeholder Committee member, the openIMIS Coordination Desk will contact and ask the candidate organisation or expert to confirm in written form (email):
Secretariat
The openIMIS Initiative’s Coordination Desk is to act as the secretariat of the openIMIS Stakeholder Committee. The secretariat will be responsible for organising the meetings of the Stakeholder Committee, to facilitate the setting of the agenda, and to disseminate information to all Stakeholder Committee members.