Hoping to start a healthy discussion on transparency. I think it’s important for an organization like OpenDroneMap to be transparent. I noticed that there was a meeting a few days ago:
Do other people think it’s important to have a transparent org? If you want more transparency about the org funds and operations, voice your opinion by replying to this thread. Your opinion matters.
There’s also a board election coming up. How are board members selected? How is the community represented? I think it’s important to have an independent board that is representative of the community.
I believe that boards like this one have a responsibility to be as transparent as practicable. While there are a few topics that may merit executive sessions, the vast majority of the board’s business should be open. With regard to elections, I would hope that sort of thing would be covered in the board’s founding documents, which also should be publicly available (I confess I haven’t searched for them yet). My personal involvement with the project has waxed and waned – I recall the initial selection of board members involved forum posts and self-nominations and the like, but I’ve lost touch since then. One additional note: the more open and transparent the board is, the easier sell the project will be to potential donors.
Hmm. The bottom two documents seem to be the org-specific versions of the templates. The bylaws were a quick read and are somewhat behind the times – lots of attention to checks, keeping the addresses of all members, allowing for telephone meetings in addition to in-person ones – but they have no explicit references to the board composition or community representation or to any open-ness with regard to meetings or reports other than that legally required by Ohio or the feds for all non-profits. That’s my not-a-lawyer interpretation.
I think the “Open” in Opendronemap should give a clue to the answer there. Transparency is key.
A lot of people are starting to rely on this over expensive alternatives, but people need to know they can trust that this will be around for a long time.
ODM needs something similar. Why is this important?
OpenDroneMap generates revenue by selling the WebODM installers. These brought in an estimated $1 million dollars in the last three years (according to 2023 filings which are public). How was this money spent?
We need transparency, because without transparency there’s no accountability.
And without accountability, bug fixes go unresolved and software falls out of date.
Thanks for starting this thread. The board meeting in question got moved back 2 weeks for logistical reasons. We aim to have the notes available as soon as possible after each meeting, and the board meeting minutes link that Piero identified is the correct one.
Let’s get to the nitty gritty first. Here is a link to the 2024 990:
We have committed to increase transparency, starting with the public release the 2026 budget expected to be approved at the next board meeting in 2 weeks. Stay tuned as we continue to grow into our role.
Cool. I’m basically bootstrapping an internal program to ensure the open source software I’m using and deploying gets appropriately compensated.
As OpenDroneMap is likely to become integral to our operations, it’s included on the list. I’ve reviewed lots of different software and there’s definitely a lot of value being provided compared to commercial options. Here’s a description of what we’re doing: Kandiyohi County Landfill
Its a good resource to see how other projects are doing it. QGIS seems the gold standard but just having a github funding page doesn’t seem like it’s going to pass mustard. Obviously, I still need to make a proper case for it, but the more nebulous the donation seems, the less likely it gets funded. Whatever we do has to pass auditing.
We have maybe $1 million a year for our facility, depending on construction, so it’s not hard to justify these software costs that we expect to use weekly/monthly and displace commercial software.
At the end of the day, a link that looks official and contains the relevant organizational details and probably a recommended $ value & donation link would be good. Having the correct paper work is good for the auditors but not the managers who would file it away, so in my mind, you gotta know your audience.
I support openness and sharing of governing information. I feel that OpenStreetMap could be a good example to model.
As more folks and corporations use the program for their lively hood they will want to know that this effort will continue to evolve, improve and stay relevant.
External pressures will mount as more people become aware of the capabilities and the competitors try convince the consumers that their offerings are superior.
This great work must continue and be supported. If you can see the historical activities of the organization (budgets, meeting minutes, motions passed, foward outlook) and thus it’s legitemacy, sponsors will be more inclined to contribute finacially. IMHO.
Could a pinned thread be created for reporting board meetings (documented meeting minutes, descision records, and financials)? Does the org have the resources to do this and maintain it?
First of all, good that this thread is opened and things can be discussed. Nice to see response from the board members as well.
Let me start by saying that I think it’s a very good thing (absolute necessary) that there is a board, for a ‘futureproof’ organisation. And let me say thank you to everybody who puts in their (free) time to make (Web)ODM what it is today. Without knowing the complete background in depth, it feels really like a community where “from the users, for the users” can be applied. I know it takes lots of time, discussions and sometimes frustrations to go where you want to go. And that deserves a big thank you.
In the Netherlands I had the opportunity to work for some years as a volunteer for DARPAS (Dutch Association for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems), not to be mistaken for DARPA We tried to bring the professional use of drones to a higher level in the Netherlands. Eventually, after some years, the association was forced to stop since (new) replacements for board members couldn’t be found. One of the things that always stayed with me was that there was so much work moved by the active board (and some members), but somehow this wasn’t communicated (enough) back to the members.
As mentioned above, I think “Transparency” and “Open” more or less intertwined. You can think about things like roadmap, meetings, (I learned today that you can find them back at MeetingNotes - OpenDroneMap Hub), funding and other things as mentioned above. IMHO I think lot’s of information regarding WebODM can be found if you know where to look. On the other hand… (talking from my own experience) users can be quite lazy and don’t know where to find all this info This forum is a valuable place for information to be a ‘starting point’.
board ‘selection’ / introduction / new members wanted
funding matters
other board ‘things’
requests (how can users help you)
a newsletter (every 6 months?)
(active) ODM users
I think for board members to ‘steer the ship’ it’s important to get (valuable) feedback. So from us as users we should be (more) involved with things like testing / providing feedback and helping you (the board).
How to put topics / ideas on the agenda?
And if there is any way I can help, please let me know!
That is the full filing for 2024. For 2025 onward, we’ll be filing additional pages in order provide additional context, clarity, and transparency.
Upcoming board election is in April, not the coming meeting. We’ll report back on this after we discuss on January 23rd.
Regarding the additional insights and recommendations from this thread: there are great proposed ways to improve visibility and sustainability of the work being done. We will be adding a discussion point on this topic to the next board meeting agenda.
Another thing that I think is currently missing: projects / initiatives funded by the org should have a few basic statements communicated:
Who’s the recipient of funding / doing the work
How much is being funded
What are the deliverables
And what is the delivery date
So many (good) initiatives have been announced, but often deadlines are vague (next year, soon, in the next few months, …), funding amounts are undisclosed and recipients are often unnamed.
We tried to bring the professional use of drones to a higher level in the Netherlands. Eventually, after some years, the association was forced to stop since (new) replacements for board members couldn’t be found. One of the things that always stayed with me was that there was so much work moved by the active board (and some members), but somehow this wasn’t communicated (enough) back to the members.