Board/Minutes/2025-02
Preliminary agenda and page for draft minutes.
Date and time: Thursday 27 February 2025 at 13:30 UTC.
Time in your time-zone - Countdown.
Location: Video room https://osmvideo.cloud68.co/user/dor-2cd-qah-rim
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The topics of the agenda get locked one week before the meeting.
Participants
Officers and Board Historic
Board member biographies Historic
Absent
Guests
Open to all OSM Foundation members. (Become a member of the Foundation, even for free if you are an active OSM contributor)
You are welcome to ask questions or to comment (via voice or on the chat) at the end of the meeting.
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Administrative
Approval of previous minutes
Circular Resolutions
2025/Res06 Resolution to prioritise Brussels, Belgium in the move of OSMF to the European Union
| Following concerns about poor legal protections of the OSM database in the UK following the UK exit from the EU the OSMFoundation has been considering moving to the European Union where database protections are far stronger.
After a review of many EU countries the two best options were Belgium and Luxembourg. Investigations proceeded in parallel on those two. To economise on the costly legal fees associated with duplicating the advanced preparation and to concentrate our efforts on one task we now propose to focus on relocating to Brussels in Belgium. The Luxembourg process will be paused at its current state and held in reserve. Work on Luxembourg will be resumed if the Belgian option hits serious problems. The previous Board agreed informally to focus on Brussels, Belgium at the SotM 2024 meeting. That decision is not binding on this Board. This Board is asked to formally make a decision to concentrate our resources and efforts on Belgium. The vote 'Agree' is to support concentrating our efforts on Belgium and pausing the work on Luxembourg. To vote 'Disagree' is to say that you think we should change the proposal. To 'Abstain' is to say you have no opinion on the matter. You may optionally provide a reason for your vote. Note that your reasons will be published with the Board minutes. |
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Voting closes on 2025-02-21. |
| Circular by Craig Allan. |
2025/Res07 Approve active contributor membership application #2025020910000094
| The Board currently decides on active contributor membership applications based on non-mapping contributions on a case-by-case basis. |
|
Voting closes on 2025-02-22. |
| Application initially processed by the Membership Working Group. |
2025/Res08 Resolution in support of core infrastructure investment project co-ordinator
| The OSM Foundation has received support from the Sovereign Tech Fund of Germany. The STF has made a considerable investment in the upgrading of our core IT infrastructure.
Our plan has been to appoint a co-ordinator to manage a team of developers who will perform the work. Following a public advertisement and selection process a suitable candidate has been found. Details of the person and payment structure will be discussed in a closed session of the Board. In the short term we would like to get the contract moving as soon as possible so have chosen to use a Loomio vote by circular to give the Personnel Committee historic authority to appoint the candidate and to commence spending of the investment. The same resolution will be put to the Board at the public meeting, mainly to let the members know that we are moving on this project. Resolution: This Board notes and supports the decision of the Personnel Committee to appoint a co-ordinator for the 2025/6 period of the Infrastructure improvement project. The coordinator will to be paid by the OSM Foundation at the hourly rate agreed between the co-ordinator and the Personnel Committee and for no longer than the maximum hours as set by the committee. The Board notes that there are sufficient funds available following the project investment by the STF into upgrading our core infrastructure. The co-ordinator will be managed by Héctor with technical support by Sarah. Vote Agree to support the resolution above. If you have any concerns please contact Craig, Sarah or Héctor on any private channel for further information. |
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Voting closes on 2025-02-27. |
| Circular by Craig Allan. |
Related links:
- 2024-12-20 Sovereign Tech Fund Invests in OpenStreetMap
- 2025-01-07 Apply to be the OSM Core Software Development Facilitator
Action item updates
| Public board action items - About | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filter by assignee | Craig | Dani | Guillaume | Héctor | Laura | Maurizio | Roland | Not assigned |
| Filter by label | Example: any label # labels here (non-clickable) | |||||||
Secretary's report
| Background |
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| Topic presented by Dani Waltersdorfer. |
Treasurer's report
| Previous reports during monthly board meetings and general meetings |
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| See the Treasurer's reports on the finances page. |
| Topic presented by Roland Olbricht. |
Moving the OSMF out of the UK and into the EU
Topic proposed by Héctor Ochoa Ortiz
Related recent circular: 2025/Res06 Resolution to prioritise Brussels, Belgium in the move of OSMF to the European Union
Status of the transfers of the Meta and ESRI sponsorships to OSGeo Oceania and other approved regional SotMs, via OSMF
| Background |
|---|
The board has agreed to facilitate the distributions of sponsorships of two OSMF Corporate Members to 8 regional SotMs via OSMF. More specifically:
-- FOSS4G/SotM Oceania 2024 - Bronze, EUR 1547.54 Meta sponsorships: selection of regional SotMs The list of proposed SotMs and amounts was approved by Meta. Meta will also carry the 5% overhead fee specified in the SotM distribution agreement. On sponsorship processing status
Discussion will be on the status and the processing. About the distribution of sponsorships to regional SotM conferences Previous board discussions:
Related board resolutions:
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| Topic proposed by Dani Waltersdorfer |
Guest comments or questions
| Open to all OSM Foundation members (Become a member of the Foundation). You are welcome to ask questions or to comment (via voice or on the chat) at the end of the meeting.
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Next meetings
Open board meeting: 27 March 2025 at 13:30 UTC
2025 dates of open board meetings: on this Framagenda calendar (green dots), and below.
Please note that on 09 March there is a DST change in the US, most locations.
Please note that on 30 March there is a DST change in Europe, most countries.
- 24 Apr 2025 at 13:30 UTC
- 29 May 2025 at 13:30 UTC
- 26 Jun 2025 at 13:30 UTC
- 31 Jul 2025 at 13:30 UTC
- 28 Aug 2025 at 13:30 UTC
- 25 Sep 2025 at 13:30 UTC
- 23 Oct 2025 at 13:30 UTC
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Mid-month board chat: 13 March 2025 at 13:30 UTC
Not open to observers. About mid-month board chats.
Dates: See this Framagenda calendar (yellow dots), and the board meetings page.
Closed session
This part of the meeting will be closed to observers.
OSM Core Software Development Facilitator - Details of the selected person and payment structure
Topic proposed by Craig Allan
Related to the "OSM Core Software Development Facilitator" position and circular 2025/Res08 Resolution in support of core infrastructure investment project co-ordinator.