Foundation/AGM2024/Election to Board/Answers and manifestos/Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
Conflict of Interest Management
Do you currently have any conflicts of interest that might affect your role on the Board? If so, what are they and how would you manage them? Can you share examples of how you have handled conflicts of interest in the past?
Craig Allan - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
I am fortunate to have few conflicts of interest. The one conflict I have declared is when the board recently discussed elections and I was already candidate. I would expect (and do ask) Board members who have any sort of conflict to declare the COI to the board and then to withdraw from discussion and decision making on related topics. The Board (but not the member) can decide that a declared conflict is so minor that the member can continue to sit in on the discussion but without making any comments.
Brazil Singh - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
I do not have any conflicts of interest that would affect my role on the OSMF Board. I am committed to the principles of transparency and integrity, and I would take every measure to ensure that my actions on the board are in the best interest of the OpenStreetMap Foundation and the broader community. If any potential conflict of interest were to arise during my period on the board, I would immediately disclose it to my fellow board members and the community. Full transparency is essential to maintaining trust and accountability. In situations where a conflict of interest might influence my judgment or decision-making, I would recuse myself from any discussions or votes related to the matter. This ensures that the board’s decisions are unbiased and made in the best interest of OSM. In my previous roles, particularly as a President in the YouthMappers community and in various mapping projects, I have occasionally encountered situations where conflicts of interest could arise. For instance, when working with different organizations that had overlapping goals but differing priorities, I made sure to clearly communicate my role and responsibilities to each party. By doing so, I ensured that my actions remained impartial and aligned with the objectives of the projects I was involved in. I am fully aware of the importance of managing conflicts of interest and I am committed to handling any potential issues with the utmost integrity and transparency if they arise during my time on the OSMF Board.
Courtney Cook Williamson - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
I do not know of any conflicts of interest.
Maurizio Napolitano - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
At present, I do not have any conflicts of interest that would affect my role on the OSMF Board. Throughout my career, I have worked in various roles that required me to manage relationships with multiple stakeholders, including public institutions, private companies, and the open data community. I have always prioritized transparency and impartiality, particularly when working with public institutions or developing projects with a broad impact on the open data and geospatial communities. In the past, when managing projects that involved multiple stakeholders with potentially diverging interests, I ensured that all parties were aware of my roles and responsibilities and maintained open communication. Additionally, the organization I currently work for, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), has strict guidelines regarding conflicts of interest. Should I be appointed to the Board and a potential conflict arise, FBK reserves the right to intervene and request appropriate measures to manage the situation. This additional layer of oversight ensures that I approach my duties with the highest level of ethical responsibility. If any potential conflict of interest were to arise in the future, I would immediately disclose it to the Board and recuse myself from any decision-making processes where my impartiality might be questioned. My approach has always been to act with integrity and ensure that transparency is maintained in all my professional dealings.
Can Ünen - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
I currently don’t have any conflicts of interest that would affect my role on the board. I am currently exploring new job opportunities, and depending on where my next job would be, that statement might be revisited. And if those new arrangements happen to cause any potential conflict of interest, I will do my best to declare them along with any mitigatory measures necessary. In the past I had a potential conflict of interest which in the end did not turn into a conflict. With Yer Cizenler, where I was the chair of board, we have conducted projects between 2017 and 2021 with funds granted by HOT. In 2022 when I had become a staff member of HOT, I have declared that any potential monetary interaction in between the organizations would be a conflict of interest on my side, since I was the legal representative of Yer Cizenler still. As a mitigatory action, all board members of Yer Cizenler were delegated representative authority officially and I declared I would refrain from representing Yer Cizenler in any potential interaction with HOT and would also refrain from managing those funds within Yer Cizenler. No monetary action happened during this period and no conflict has taken place.
Michael Montani - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
Yes, I do have conflicts of interest that might affect my decisions as a member of the Board.
Since the beginning of 2020 I am working as a GIS Consultant at the United Nations Global Service Centre, the logistics base of the United Nations. To be honest, I never threw my name for the Board elections until now mostly because of my current status as a corporate contributor to OSM, but I decided to apply anyway after conversations with some OSMF Board members.
In my case, I can identify conflicts of interest with any decision involved in giving visibility to UNGSC or discussing agreements with the UN Secretariat or UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes as well as on the usage of OSMF Treasury funds to participate to conferences of the UN.
If elected as a OSMF Board member, I will refrain to express my opinion and votes on any of these matters, especially in any situation in which the UN could benefit at the expenses of the OSMF. As a disclaimer, I could state that being a consultant and not a UN staff relieves me from a big chunk of conflicts of interest on the UN side.
I also happened to solve some conflicts of interest during my work for the UN, for example in the situation in which other consultants, running parallel GIS activities external to the UN, may take advantage of prospective UN clients, during exploratory interactions with the Secretariat. In my opinion the way these conflicts have to be dealt with is quite straightforward:
- Ensure to prioritize the interests of the affected entity over personal interests of any kind, in all the decisions that involve said entity.
- Highlight personal conflicts of interest beforehand and abstain to express opinions if directly involved.
- Ensure transparency and availability of information across all the involved parties and the general public (it usually helps in highlighting and understanding incoming conflicts).
- At very least, if conflicts of interest are involved, try to ensure an equal benefit for both organizations.
Possibly something more on Q5.
Andrés Gómez Casanova - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
No, I don't have any conflict of Interest. My current role in my company is not related to OSM or GIS. Also, my OSM contributions have been as a volunteer.
However, suppose I have a conflict of interest for any other reason. In that case, the most important thing is to report it early so there will be no problems, step aside when decisions are made, and avoid interfering.
Laura Mugeha - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
At the moment, I do not have any conflicts of interest that would affect my role on the OSMF Board. My current full-time role actively leverages the OpenStreetMap project.
While I don't have specific examples of handling conflicts of interest within the OSM context, I have encountered similar situations in my community leadership roles. In those instances, I always prioritized the interests of the community and the organization by being transparent and seeking guidance on handling those situations.
Héctor Ochoa Ortiz - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
I am currently a PhD Student at the University of Camerino (Italy), researching commercial organizations’ role in the OpenStreetMap Ecosystem. Because of this, I am in direct contact with commercial organizations to conduct interviews, case studies, and organize events.
If I get elected, moving forward, during my communication with these organizations, I will clearly state that I am not representing the board but my university and research project. Communications with commercial organizations representing the board will be limited to those through the advisory board, or outside of it when other board members consider it appropriate, and always stating who am I representing.
My ideas on improving the OSM landscape are based on my years-long experience in mapping, local communities, and academia. I have always tried to be independent in all the positions I have undertaken and follow the convictions I feel are logical and fair, regardless of my employer’s or any other actor’s views.
Español
Actualmente soy estudiante de doctorado en la Universidad de Camerino (Italia), investigando el papel de las organizaciones comerciales en el ecosistema de OpenStreetMap. Debido a esto, estoy en contacto directo con organizaciones comerciales para realizar entrevistas, casos de estudio y organizar eventos.
Si soy elegido, en adelante, durante mi comunicación con estas organizaciones, dejaré claro que no represento a la junta sino a mi universidad y proyecto de investigación. Las comunicaciones con organizaciones comerciales representando a la junta se limitarán a aquellas a través de la junta asesora, o fuera de ella cuando otros miembros de la junta lo consideren apropiado, y siempre indicando a quién represento.
Mis ideas sobre cómo mejorar el panorama de OSM se basan en mi experiencia de años como mapeador, en comunidades locales y el mundo académico. Siempre he tratado de ser independiente en todas las posiciones que he asumido y seguir las convicciones que siento son lógicas y justas, independientemente de las opiniones de mi empleador o de cualquier otro actor.
Arun Ganesh - Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
My employer is Mapbox, which has been my first and only full-time employer over my career in map data spanning 9 years. OSM is an important data source for Mapbox and the health of the project is obviously of top concern to the business.
While my income is fully dependent on building map products, my role does not involve the use of any OSM data. During 2015-2018 I was involved in building a paid mapping team within Mapbox, but outside of that time all my contributions to OSM have been for purely personal reasons.
Being on the board will be independent of my day job and additionally I will abstain from influencing any motions that would give my employer any kind of undue advantage over another contributor to the project.
In the past, my best strategy was to be transparent about any bias I could have so that one could interpret my perspective appropriately.
OSM Foundation's board election 2024: official questions
Q01 Motivation and Objectives
| Q02 Conflict of Interest Management
| Q03 Transparency and Accountability
| Q04 Strategic Vision and Sustainability
| Q05 Decision-Making and Collaboration
| Q06 Fundraising and Resource Development
| Q07 Handling Legal and Political Challenges
| Q08 State of the Map
| Q09 Your Community Contributions
| Q10 Promoting Community and Attracting Volunteers
| Q11 Technology and Innovation
| Q12 Data Quality and Protection
| Q13 Perspective on Open Source
| Q14 Perspective on Overture Maps
All board candidates' manifestos
2024 OpenStreetMap Foundation's: Board election - Voting information and instructions - Annual General Meeting
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