ODE Governance: Shaping Our Collective Future

Community
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Dear Community Friends,

We are at an exciting point in our journey with scaling and sustaining the ODE tools and community, and we need YOUR insights, perspectives, and collaborative spirit to help define the way forward. The core questions emerging from our community conversations are fundamental: How do we govern ourselves? What structures will best support ODE’s mission and growth?

:red_question_mark: The Big Questions We Are Exploring

In different ODE Community calls, the community members have raised some essential governance considerations:

  1. Technical Stewardship
  • Who gets to make technical changes prioritisation to ODE?
  • How do we determine and expand the ODE group of maintainers/committers?
  • Will the decision making process be based on contributions or will it be democratic?
  1. Community Dynamics
  • How do we cultivate a vibrant, inclusive community?
  • How do we resolve conflicts?
  • What is the vision of the community?
  1. Structural Considerations
  • What gap does a formal governance structure fill?
  • How can we create a framework that empowers rather than constrains?
  • What decisions truly require community-wide input?

:yellow_heart: We Want to Hear From YOU

We are not interested in creating bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake. We want a governance model that:

  • Reflects the ODE community’s collaborative spirit
  • Ensures transparent decision-making
  • Provides clear pathways for contribution
  • Supports innovation and community growth

Your Input Matters!

We invite you to share your thoughts on:

  • Do we need a formal governance structure?
  • What gaps would that governance structure fill in?
  • What should such a structure look like?
  • Would you be willing to participate in governance activities?
  • What are your hopes and concerns?

:memo: How to Participate

  1. Comment Below: Share your perspectives directly in this thread.
  2. Upcoming Community Meetups: Join one of our next Community Meetups and share your thoughts and ideas.

We believe the ODE’s potential is limitless when we work together. This isn’t about creating layers of management, but about creating meaningful mechanisms for collective decision-making and innovation.

With community spirit,
The ODE Governance Exploration Team :blush:

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Thanks for opening this discussion Admin.

I think having some level of governance structure would help, especially as ODE grows and more people get involved. Not something too formal or heavy, but something that gives clarity on how decisions are made, how contributors can grow into maintainer roles, and how disagreements are handled.

For technical decisions, I think contribution and experience should matter, while bigger direction and community decisions should stay open and transparent.

My main hope is that whatever structure we choose keeps ODE welcoming, easy to contribute to, and avoids creating unnecessary barriers.

Happy to participate in these kinds of discussions and see where the community lands.

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Governance update: the ODE Governance Framework is in place

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts in this thread and in our community calls. Here is where we landed.

What happened

  • During Community Days in Kampala, the core team met as the first Governance Council (19 September 2026).
  • The ODE Governance Framework v1.0 was reviewed and voted into effect.
  • The first council members were appointed by consensus for a 2-year term starting 17 September 2026.
  • We agreed to publish council minutes publicly (read-only).

How ODE is now organised

Council Looks after
Governance Rules, council structure and elections, strategy, disputes, sustainability
Product What we build and why: vision, roadmap, requirements, user and implementer needs
Technical How we build it: architecture, standards, security, testing, releases, infrastructure
Community People and participation: onboarding, mentoring, events, community health
So.Me. Visibility: social media, announcements, storytelling, website content

Each council has 5 seats. Responsibility is earned through contribution: eligibility through merit, selection through voting.

Read more

Several councils still have open seats. We will share how to apply in a separate post shortly.

Questions are welcome here.

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