openIMIS Initiative

Terms of Reference of the openIMIS Steering Group (May 2018)

Purpose of the Steering Group

The main responsibility of the openIMIS Steering Group lies in the strategic orientation and decision taking for the openIMIS Initiative.

Primary Functions

The primary function of the openIMIS Steering Group is to take responsibility for the feasibility, the business case and the achievement of outcomes of the openIMIS Initiative. This includes the budget responsibility for the planned activities. The Steering Group will monitor and review the status of the Initiative, discuss and coordinate on proposals for potential implementations, and provide guidance for the overall strategic direction of the openIMIS product and Initiative. The Steering Group works in conjunction with the Product Committee and Technical Advisory Group, which have separate activities and functions within the openIMIS Initiative. The components of the openIMIS Initiative are defined and further described in the attached document “openIMIS Governance Structure”.

The Steering Group governs in such way that organizational concepts and directions are established and maintained with a visionary and strategic view. The Steering Group provides insight on long-term strategies in support of agreed-upon mandates, and acts as a final review and approval body for major proposals or recommendations made by the Product Committee or Technical Advisory Group. Members of the Steering Group ensure that the Initiative’s overall vision is being addressed, and that the direction of the initiative remains efficient and effective. In practice, these responsibilities are carried out by performing the following functions:

• Monitor and review major activities within the Initiative at regular Steering Group meetings;
• Approve annual budget planning based on activity timeline and major changes in these budgets;
• Discuss and vote, as necessary, on proposed changes to the openIMIS product and recommendations made by the Product Committee and Technical Advisory Group;
• Provide assistance to partners and members of the Initiative through coordination and collaboration;
• Reach consensus on the scope and direction of the Initiative as emergent issues force changes to be considered, ensuring that scope aligns with the agreed vision of the Initiative and key stakeholder groups;
• Assist conflicts and disputes, reconcile differences of opinion and approach;
• Represent the Initiative being responsible for political advocacy.

Approval Responsibilities

The openIMIS Steering Group is responsible for approving major actions within the Initiative, such as:

• Actions or proposals to make essential changes to the existing openIMIS product, either proposed by the Steering Group itself, or presented by the Product Committee or Technical Advisory Group;
• Proposals for additions to the openIMIS product, such as the development of additional reference apps, new functional requirements etc.;
• Decide on copyright, licensing and ownership decisions;
• Actions to revise Initiative processes or make changes to existing Governance structure;
• Identify and approve countries that will benefit from potential “start-up” funding (e.g. for initial scoping missions);
• Approve members of Technical Advisory Group and request new experts for specific Technical Working Groups;
• Proposals for new openIMIS implementations to ensure that the proposal meets Initiative and product standards, and that the proposal strategy addresses potential roadblocks and identifies areas of collaboration effectively;
• Entering into new relationships/partnerships with other donors or relevant stakeholders.

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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The Steering Group should be composed by representatives from donor organizations (all), from countries using openIMIS (2), health / social protection financing experts (2) regional networks (2) and digitalization for development expert institutions (1).

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. 

The Steering Group can pro-actively invite new members to the Steering Group if so decided by the majority. The Project Coordination Desk will support the Steering Group members in the process of inviting new members.

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:

• Understand the strategic implications and outcomes of proposals and initiatives being pursued through various partner organizations;
• Appreciate the significance of the Initiative for some or all major stakeholders and represent their interests;
• Regularly participate in, and contribute to, discussions, forums, proposals and activities within the Initiative;
• Be genuinely interested in the Initiative and be an advocate for broad support for the outcomes being pursued.
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  In practice, this means Steering Group members:

• 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:

1. 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.

The voting process is as follows:

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

Within one year of the development of these TORs, the openIMIS Steering Group should review the membership, admission criteria, responsibilities, chair rotation period and voting structure laid out in the TORs. At that time, the Group can decide whether the existing TORs still meet the needs and expectations of the Group, or whether they require updating.