Governance Document for Piveau

Introduction

Piveau has emerged as one of the favored solutions for the creation and management of data catalogues in Europe. The platform can harvest and transform data from various sources, making them accessible as data catalogues. Until now, most of the piveau development has been conducted by Fraunhofer FOKUS and supported through various research and development projects.

With increased interest from other actors to join the development and steering of the project, it is sensible to further release the code under an open-source license and establish an open innovation process. Clarifying relationships with the project and addressing intellectual property questions are key to effectively involving these actors in development.

The following guidelines aim to establish a lean structure to regulate the organization and governance of piveau, allowing individuals or institutions to participate and contribute meaningfully to its development. This serves as a pilot for a broader open-source community, with the expectation that the organization and governance structure will evolve as the community grows.

Governance Structure

The governance of piveau is established with Fraunhofer FOKUS assuming an orchestrating role in the development of piveau, making efforts to effectively involve other actors. This governance structure is a first step toward the constitution of a broader platform, understanding that the project's success depends on a healthy ecosystem and transparency among the actors.

To engage with new stakeholders, a piveau working group will be formed. This group will convene regularly to address current issues and drive the ongoing evolution of piveau. Initially, decisions concerning piveau's development will be made by Fraunhofer FOKUS based on discussions within the working group. As the project matures, decision-making processes can evolve in collaboration with established working group members.

In these early stages, Fraunhofer FOKUS will play a significant role by providing essential infrastructure and expertise, facilitating the necessary platforms for piveau's development. Furthermore, Fraunhofer will oversee the organization of the piveau working group and its activities. As a leading applied research institute in Europe, Fraunhofer occupies a unique position in connecting research, public sector entities, civil society organizations, and the private sector in open innovation initiatives like piveau.

Community Call

It is a monthly meeting to discuss both technical issues and the further development of the software. During the meeting the contributors can discuss about current challenges, issues, documentation, and how to address the features planned in the road map. The contributors can also discuss the technical organization of piveau and the tools used. At the end of the meeting some priorities for the development can be recommended.

Working Group Meeting

The working group will hold bi-monthly meetings to discuss the strategic development of piveau. These meetings aim to establish an interchange between the organizations involved to identify common problems and conceive ways to solve them. A central task of the working group is to shape the roadmap of piveau based on the needs and challenges of the members. Features can be developed depending on the capacities of the members.

On a governance level, members can discuss how the organization of piveau can evolve to generate a healthy ecosystem for all members. Members can propose new formats or methods to improve their engagement. The meeting and the organization will evolve based on the discussions of the working group.

How to become a maintener

This process still needs to be defined.