RP "principles of membership"

[sarahcleary]

As per Minutes: #50
@APSIMInitiative/reference-panel - to review current role.
Key clauses can be found in the AI-Reference Panel Doc. Agreement (Variation 4 and 7 attached for reference)
https://csiroau-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/r/personal/cle11c_csiro_au/Documents/APSIM_RP%20Shared%20Folder/Innovation%20Agreement?csf=1&e=JMpO5D

[sno036]

@sarahcleary - for the few among us who don't live and breath legal documents, could you point to the specific PDF (there are three) and page? Thanks, Val

[sarahcleary]

https://csiroau-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/personal/cle11c_csiro_au/Documents/APSIM_RP%20Shared%20Folder/Innovation%20Agreement/AI%20-%20Reference%20Panel.pdf?csf=1&e=D7h85w - this document has the key clauses/schedule. The main docs were for reference/interest/definitions etc..
The Steering Committee were interested in the RP considering the following:
ACTION: RP to provide views on the following:
• Purpose; Role of the RP – potentially a Principles of membership/Terms of reference Doc.
• View on consensus decision making / quorum
• Individual performance reviews (metrics, collaboration – and what these should be)
• Ability for an RP representative to replaced
• Inclusion of RP into SC meetings. Value, frequency, content

[sarahcleary]

As per Agenda item 6 RP Roles and Responsibilities from #67 and Action from AI SC July meeting. @APSIMInitiative/reference-panel - draft RP role for review:

RP Role

Membership

• The Reference Panel shall consist of at least one individual, preferably two individuals but no more, from each of the AI member organisations.
• The Reference Panel Representatives should be active developers and/or advanced users and are expected to have cross domain interest in APSIM

RP Role and Function

Science Quality

The RP shall oversee all major science modifications to APSIM including new science functionality. This function reviews all science changes to APSIM, being cognisant of the wider APSIM functionality. On request, the RP shall advise the Steering Committee on acceptance or rejection of proposed science changes.

Software Engineering

The RP shall oversee all substantial software changes and development activities dealing with APSIM, including release management, reengineering source code and actively improving software process, reviewing all source code modifications and changes and, where appropriate, advising the Steering Committee on acceptance or rejection of same.

It is envisaged that membership of The Reference Panel would be a prestigious appointment akin to a journal editorial board.

• The Reference Panel shall consist of individuals who will advise the Steering Committee on technical and commercial matters including:
  1. APSIM source code changes and development;
  2. Acceptance or rejection of substantial science or software improvements
  3. Legal, financial, and strategic issues including intellectual property commercialisation, licensing proposals and relationships with third parties
  4. Other activities and other functions as agreed to by the AI SC
• The Reference Panel Representatives shall strengthen the APSIM community via face-to-face informal interactions, conferences, the APSIM GitHub Organisation, the APSIM ResearchGate project, other online forums.
• The Reference Panel Representatives shall have an active role in the organisation and delivery of APSIM Symposiums and Training.

Decision Making

• The Reference Panel shall have decision making capacity only in relation to those matters delegated to it by the Steering Committee.
• Decisions on delegated matters are only valid if the following criteria are met:
  1. majority agreement by the Reference Panel Representatives
• The Reference Panel may meet, adjourn, and regulate its meetings as necessary to fulfil its obligations and support the APSIM Initiative by advising the Steering Committee and making decisions on matters delegated

Reference Panel Operations

• The Reference Panel shall elect from its members a chair for 12 months. The Chair shall rotate each 12 months.

• The Reference Panel shall attempt to reach consensus but will develop clear processes to acknowledge dissenting opinions and/or no response.

• The Reference panel shall meet a minimum of 4 times per year.

  1. The meeting length and timing are agreed to by the Reference Panel for the purposes of achieving the Reference Panel's role
  2. In general, a meeting will be held approx. 4-6 weeks prior to a Steering Committee Meeting.
  3. One meeting a year will be an APSIM Strategy Meeting, preferably held in Q1 and if possible, face to face.
  4. Meetings are not restricted to RP representatives but may include non-RP Representatives who can contribute to the discussions on the agenda. RP Representatives coordinate the invitee list with the Project Officer.
  5. It is envisaged that RP meetings are strategic in nature and focus on the Science Quality aspects of APSIM.
  6. The Science Quality and Software Engineering role is predominately conducted online via the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation.

Science and Software Review and other Procedural decisions

• Membership of the RP requires active involvement from the RP representatives
• There is an expectation that RP members will review (at least weekly) the GitHub major issues and comment on RP relevant issues
  *. For each substantial change:
• GitHub peer-review processes are used.
• 2 weeks are provided for review and comment on 'major' changes. If no comment is made by and representative, it is deemed, by default, to be accepted by that representative. A majority of acceptances (either explicit or by default) are required before a change is merged into the APSIM release.. If no majority is reached, a RP "meeting slot" will be used for discussion. This meeting slot may include non-RP Representatives. If a decision cannot be made by the RP on whether a substantial change should be included in APSIM, the issue will be ‘pushed’ to the SC.

Other issues

-- Should there be an FTE commitment?
Organisations should support RP and SC membership by allocating a 10% FTE. Organisations should require measurable, concrete, individual milestones be met for the 10% allocation. These milestones be aligned with RP goals and activities.

Reference Panel Guiding Principles:

1. Access to APSIM source code and science will be through the agreed Terms and Conditions of the Non-Commercial R&D Licence Agreement or Commercial Licence, whichever is applicable. The APSIM Initiative will control the distribution of modifications, promote central control for quality assurance purposes and guarantee structured innovation. The framework will not allow free commercial use and/or distribution.
2. All APSIM source code will be made available through the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation (or an alternate software platform if agreed to by the Reference Panela and Steering Committee). By visiting the GitHub APSIM repositories, users agree to the Non-Commerical R&D Licence Terms.
3. A user may access and modify all source code freely. However, there will be an obligation under the Licence Terms to register and submit any modifications (along with associated validation evidence) to the APSIM Initiative for quality assurance and approval. When modified science/source code is submitted to the APSIM Initiative, it must be approved by the Reference Panel. The Reference Panel oversees and approves all Science and Software improvements. Any modifications to existing modules will not be available for general use and as part of the APSIM code until accepted by these quality assurance processes.
4. Organisations outside the APSIM Initiative may develop new modules that run in APSIM. However, there will be an obligation under the Licence Terms to register and submit such new modules (along with validation tests) to the APSIM Initiative for potential inclusion in APSIM. This means new components can be developed and run using the APSIM infrastructure/protocol. These new modules will be treated as an integral part of APSIM at the sole discretion of the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement. New components or other Improvements are owned by the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement, however if the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement determine that the new components or improvements are not to be incorporated into APSIM, the parties may assign ownership back to the external organisation or person that created them.
5. If a third party wishes to use APSIM to develop entirely new modules but does not want to have these new modules integrated into APSIM, approval of the Parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement is required. The form of licence to facilitate such work is subject to agreement between that third party and the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement.
6. The APSIM Initiative will provide regular official releases of APSIM free of charge for non-commercial use to those parties who agree to the Licence Terms under the APSIM Innovation Agreement.
7. Any third party may use APSIM for commercial purposes once they acquire a Commercial Licence, accept its Terms and pay the required annual fee.

[sarahcleary]

Outstanding Action: @APSIMInitiative/reference-panel to provide any further comments.

[sarahcleary]

Outstanding Action: @APSIMInitiative/reference-panel to provide any further comments.

Meeting on Tuesday - sign off and plan for implementation of new Reference Panel Operations

[sno036]

One suggestion - refer to the new development guidelines in items 3 and 4 in Reference Panel Guiding Principles:

[sarahcleary]

RP Role

Membership

• The Reference Panel shall consist of at least one individual, preferably two individuals but no more, from each of the AI member organisations.
• The Reference Panel Representatives should be active developers and/or advanced users and are expected to have cross domain interest in APSIM

RP Role and Function

Science Quality

The RP shall oversee and review all major science additions and modifications to APSIM, being cognisant of APSIM functionality across science domains. On request, the RP shall advise the Steering Committee on acceptance or rejection of proposed science changes.

Software Engineering

The RP shall oversee all substantial software changes and development activities dealing with APSIM, including release management, reengineering source code, reviewing source code modifications and, where appropriate, advising the Steering Committee on acceptance or rejection of same. The RP should actively seek to improve AI software process wherever possible.

It is envisaged that membership of The Reference Panel would be a prestigious appointment akin to a journal editorial board.

• The Reference Panel shall consist of individuals who will advise the Steering Committee on technical and commercial matters including:
  1. APSIM source code changes and development;
  2. Acceptance or rejection of substantial science or software improvements
  3. Legal, financial, and strategic issues including intellectual property commercialisation and relationships with third parties
  4. Other activities and other functions as agreed to by the AI SC
• The Reference Panel Representatives shall strengthen the APSIM community via face-to-face informal interactions, conferences, the APSIM GitHub Organisation, the APSIM ResearchGate project, and other online forums.
• The Reference Panel Representatives shall have an active role in the organisation and delivery of APSIM Symposiums and Training.

Decision Making

• The Reference Panel shall have decision making capacity only in relation to those matters delegated to it by the Steering Committee.
• Decisions on delegated matters are only valid if the following criteria are met:
  1. majority agreement by the Reference Panel. Each APSIM Initiative Organisation is allocated one vote.
• The Reference Panel may meet, adjourn, and regulate its meetings as necessary to fulfil its obligations and support the APSIM Initiative by advising the Steering Committee and making decisions on matters delegated

Reference Panel Operations

• The Reference Panel shall elect from its representatives a chair for 12 months. The Chair shall rotate each 12 months.

• The Reference Panel shall attempt to reach consensus but will develop clear processes to acknowledge dissenting opinions and/or no response.

• The Reference panel shall meet a minimum of 4 times per year.

  1. The meeting length and timing are agreed to by the Reference Panel for the purposes of achieving the Reference Panel's role
  2. In general, a meeting will be held approx. 4-6 weeks prior to a Steering Committee Meeting.
  3. One meeting a year will be an APSIM Strategy Meeting, preferably held in Q1 and if possible, face to face.
  4. Meetings are not restricted to RP representatives but may include non-RP Representatives who can contribute to the discussions on the agenda. RP Representatives shall coordinate the invitee list with the Project Officer.
  5. It is envisaged that RP meetings are strategic in nature and focus on the Science Quality aspects of APSIM.
  6. The Science Quality and Software Engineering role is predominately conducted online via the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation.

Science and Software Review and other Procedural decisions

• Membership of the RP requires active involvement from the RP representatives
• There is an expectation that RP members will review (at least weekly) the GitHub major issues and comment on RP relevant issues
• For each substantial change:
  • Review activities - for both internal and external contributors - occur on the GitHub issue platform
  • 2 weeks are provided for review and comment on 'major' changes. If no comment is made by any representative, it is deemed, by default, to be accepted by that representative. A majority of acceptances (either explicit or by default by the AI member organisations) are required before a change is merged into the APSIM release. If there are explicit objections and are unable to be resolved in an online forum, the change is paused and a RP "meeting slot" will be used for discussion. This meeting slot may include non-RP Representatives. If a decision cannot be made by the RP on whether a substantial change should be made to APSIM, the issue will be ‘pushed’ to the SC.

Other issues

• FTE commitment: Organisations should support RP and SC membership by allocating up to a 10% FTE to each member. Organisations should require measurable, concrete, individual milestones be met for the 10% allocation. These milestones be aligned with RP goals and activities and communicated to the APSIM Initiative.

Reference Panel Guiding Principles:

(Note these may need to be modified depending on APSIM IP discussion)

1. Access to APSIM source code and science will be through the agreed Terms and Conditions of the Non-Commercial R&D Licence Agreement or Commercial Licence, whichever is applicable. The APSIM Initiative will control the distribution of modifications, promote central control for quality assurance purposes and guarantee structured innovation. Commercial use and/or distribution will be for a fee.
2. All APSIM source code will be made available through the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation (or an alternate software platform if agreed to by the Reference Panel and Steering Committee). By visiting the GitHub APSIM repositories, users agree to the Non-Commercial R&D Licence Terms.
3. A user may access and modify all source code freely. However, there will be an obligation under the Licence Terms to register and submit modifications (along with associated validation evidence) to the APSIM Initiative for quality assurance and approval - acceptance criteria for which will be clearly described on the APSIM website. When modified science/source code is submitted to the APSIM Initiative, it must be approved by the Reference Panel. The Reference Panel oversees and approves all Science and Software improvements. Any modifications to existing modules will not be available for general use and as part of the APSIM code until accepted by these quality assurance processes.
4. Organisations outside the APSIM Initiative may develop new modules that run in APSIM. However, there will be an obligation under the Licence Terms to register and submit such new modules (along with validation tests) to the APSIM Initiative for potential inclusion in APSIM. This means new components can be developed and run using the APSIM infrastructure/protocol. These new modules will be treated as an integral part of APSIM at the sole discretion of the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement. New components or other Improvements are owned by the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement, however if the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement determine that the new components or improvements are not to be incorporated into APSIM, the parties may assign ownership back to the external organisation or person that created them.
5. If a third party wishes to use APSIM to develop entirely new modules but does not want to have these new modules integrated into APSIM, approval of the Parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement is required. The form of licence to facilitate such work is subject to agreement between that third party and the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement.
6. The APSIM Initiative will provide regular official releases of APSIM free of charge for non-commercial use to those parties who agree to the Licence Terms under the APSIM Innovation Agreement.
7. Any third party may use APSIM for commercial purposes once they acquire a Commercial Licence, accept its Terms and pay the required annual fee.

[sno036]

"Membership of the RP requires active involvement from the RP representatives" - needs some clarification that this is active involvement in APSIM (e.g. developer, experienced / pushing-the-boundaries user) in order to contribute meaningfully to RP processes.

"Organisations should support RP and SC membership by allocating up to a 10% FTE to each member" :-) my organisation has supported my involvement for many years by allocating <= 10% FTE (because 0 < 10 = true)! Do you mean approximately 10%?

Not explicitly mentioned in the principles section is stuff that is not actually a module. So a third party could wrap all or part of APSIM in their model. The other things we've been seeing in a third party using our file format and generating a commercial service on transferring data from their database to APSIM and charging for that. Do we see both of these as fitting in the non-commercial space? Neither provide benefit/returns to APSIM.

[peter-devoil]

I would expect "active involvement" refers to RP activities, not apsim development activities. Users aren't necessarily developers.

FTE: yes, the actual percentage is meaningless; but the expectation here is that the organisation supports AI activities which include an amount of time, meetings/workshops & travel (eventually).

[sarahcleary]

"Membership of the RP requires active involvement from the RP representatives" - needs some clarification that this is active involvement in APSIM (e.g. developer, experienced / pushing-the-boundaries user) in order to contribute meaningfully to RP processes - Agree with @peter-devoil - this is capturing RP activities - as defined above in the RP Role and Responsibility.

"Organisations should support RP and SC membership by allocating up to a 10% FTE to each member" :-) my organisation has supported my involvement for many years by allocating <= 10% FTE (because 0 < 10 = true)! Do you mean approximately 10%? This is for discussion and engagement with the SC reps. Discussion should also be around "milestones be aligned with RP goals and activities and communicated to the APSIM Initiative"

Some of the "Principles" discussion will be wrapped in the IP discussion as well as the what constitutes commercial use which is under discussion with the AI SC at the moment. Happy to brief the RP on this during the meeting - or have a chat with your AI SC rep for further information.

[yashvirchauhan]

Agree with Val on the FTE commitments of supporting organisation.
The other requirement is that RP members are recognised nationally or internationally in the modelling field and should be actively publishing on development and application of models. RP should endvour to identify such talented persons and include them either as guest or as a formal representative of their organisation if their organsiation is a member of AI.
Have strong advocacy for modelling science within their organisations for ensuring continuing support.

[peter-devoil]

There's been some discussion within UQ that I'll mention here:

We'd like to change the Science Quality statement to "The RP shall oversee coordinate and review all major science additions and modifications to APSIM" - the RP actually don’t review the changes but send it to reviewers and then makes the final decision.

And later, in the Operations section, we would like to emphasise the need for formative science discussions:

v. It is envisaged that RP meetings are mostly strategic in nature, intending a focus on major/strategic improvements and the coordination of science developments in APSIM; fostering interaction between (invited) implementors and the broader APSIM community.

The change of wording to "coordination" reflects misgivings about the online development process being reactive - opportunities for the RP to discuss and become involved at the design stage of science development are limited if the panel meets infrequently.

[sarahcleary]

Updated document hopefully addressing comments and other discussions.
Let me know if you have any comments, inputs etc..

RP Role

Membership

• The Reference Panel shall consist of at least one individual, preferably two individuals but no more, from each of the AI member organisations.
• The Reference Panel Representatives should be active developers and/or advanced users and are expected to have cross domain interest in APSIM

RP Role and Function

Science Quality

The RP shall coordinate and review all major science additions and modifications to APSIM, being cognisant of APSIM functionality across science domains. On request, the RP shall advise the Steering Committee on acceptance or rejection of proposed science changes.

Software Engineering

The RP shall oversee all substantial software changes and development activities dealing with APSIM, including release management, reengineering source code, reviewing source code modifications and, where appropriate, advising the Steering Committee on acceptance or rejection of same. The RP should actively seek to improve AI software process wherever possible.
It is envisaged that membership of The Reference Panel would be a prestigious appointment akin to a journal editorial board.
• The Reference Panel shall consist of individuals who will advise the Steering Committee on technical and commercial matters including:
i. APSIM source code changes and development;
ii. Acceptance or rejection of substantial science or software improvements
iii. Legal, financial, and strategic issues including intellectual property commercialisation and relationships with third parties
iv. Other activities and other functions as agreed to by the AI SC
• The Reference Panel Representatives shall strengthen the APSIM community via face-to-face informal interactions, conferences, the APSIM GitHub Organisation, the APSIM ResearchGate project, and other online forums.
• The Reference Panel Representatives shall have an active role in the organisation and delivery of APSIM Symposiums, Training and related events

Decision Making

• The Reference Panel shall have decision making capacity only in relation to those matters delegated to it by the Steering Committee.
• Decisions on delegated matters are only valid if the following criteria are met:
i. majority agreement by the Reference Panel. Each APSIM Initiative Organisation is allocated one vote.
• The Reference Panel may meet, adjourn, and regulate its meetings as necessary to fulfil its obligations and support the APSIM Initiative by advising the Steering Committee and making decisions on matters delegated

Reference Panel Operations

• The Reference Panel shall elect from its representatives a chair for 12 months. The Chair shall rotate each 12 months.
• The Reference Panel shall attempt to reach consensus but will develop clear processes to acknowledge dissenting opinions and/or no response.
• The Reference panel shall meet a minimum of 4 times per year.
i. The meeting length and timing are agreed to by the Reference Panel for the purposes of achieving the Reference Panel's role
ii. In general, a meeting will be held approx. 4-6 weeks prior to a Steering Committee Meeting.
iii. One meeting a year will be an APSIM Strategy Meeting, preferably held in Q1 and if possible, face to face.
iv. Meetings are not restricted to RP representatives but may include non-RP Representatives who can contribute to the discussions on the agenda. RP Representatives shall coordinate the invitee list with the Project Officer.
v. It is envisaged that RP meetings are strategic in nature, intending to focus on major/strategic improvements and the coordination of science developments in APSIM; fostering interaction between (invited) implementors and the broader APSIM community.
vi. The Science Quality and Software Engineering role is predominately conducted online via the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation or similar mechanism. If an issue cannot be resolved online, then the Project Officer will organise a face to face or virtual meeting. To facilitate this process, the Project Officer will arrange pre-agreed meeting times for this purpose. If no issues arise, then these ‘Meeting Slots’ will be cancelled.

Science and Software Review and other Procedural decisions

• Membership of the RP requires active involvement in AI Activities from all of the RP representatives
• There is an expectation that RP members will review (at least weekly) the GitHub major issues and comment on RP relevant issues. If the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation is moved to another platform, the RP will develop a set of new processes and expectations for the RP review.
• For each substantial change:
o Review activities - for both internal and external contributors - occur on the GitHub issue platform
o 2 weeks are provided for review and comment on 'major' changes. If no comment is made by any representative, it is deemed, by default, to be accepted by that representative. A majority of acceptances (either explicit or by default by the AI member organisations) are required before a change is merged into the APSIM release. If there are explicit objections and these are unable to be resolved in an online forum, the change is paused and the RP will meet to discuss.. A meeting slot may include non-RP Representatives. If a decision cannot be made by the RP on whether a substantial change should be made to APSIM, the issue will be ‘pushed’ to the SC.

Other issues

• FTE commitment: It is anticipated that organisations support RP and SC membership, acknowledging that effective participation would entail in the order of 10% FTE, and that participation is defined by concrete milestones (aligned with RP goals and activities) that can be reported to both the organisation and the AI.

Reference Panel Guiding Principles:

1. Access to APSIM source code and science will be through the agreed Terms and Conditions of the Non-Commercial R&D Licence Agreement or Commercial Licence, whichever is applicable. The APSIM Initiative will control the distribution of modifications, promote central control for quality assurance purposes and guarantee structured innovation. Commercial use and/or distribution will be for a fee.
2. All APSIM source code will be made available through the APSIM Initiative GitHub Organisation (or an alternate software platform if agreed to by the Reference Panel and Steering Committee). By visiting the GitHub APSIM repositories, users agree to either the Non-Commercial R&D Licence Terms or the Commercial Licence Terms.
3. A user may access and modify all source code freely. However, there will be an obligation under the Licence Terms to register and submit modifications (along with associated validation evidence) to the APSIM Initiative for quality assurance and approval - acceptance criteria for which will be clearly described on the APSIM website. When modified science/source code is submitted to the APSIM Initiative, it must be approved by the Reference Panel. The Reference Panel coordinates, oversees and approves all major Science and Software improvements. Any modifications to existing modules will not be available for general use and as part of the APSIM code until accepted by these quality assurance processes.
4. Organisations outside the APSIM Initiative may develop new modules that run in APSIM or change existing APSIM Software. However, there will be an obligation under the Licence Terms to register and submit such new modules (along with validation tests) to the APSIM Initiative for potential inclusion in APSIM. This means new components can be developed and run using the APSIM infrastructure/protocol. These changes will be treated as an integral part of APSIM at the sole discretion of the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement. New components or other Improvements are owned by the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement, however if the parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement determine that the new components or improvements are not to be incorporated into APSIM, the parties may assign ownership back to the external organisation or person that created them.
5. If a third party wishes to use APSIM to develop entirely new modules but does not want to have these new modules integrated into APSIM, approval of the Parties to the APSIM Innovation Agreement is required. The third party would agree to Commercial Licence (IP Improvement) Terms
6. The APSIM Initiative will provide regular official releases of APSIM free of charge for non-commercial use to those parties who agree to the Licence Terms under the APSIM Innovation Agreement.
7. Any third party may use APSIM for commercial purposes once they acquire a Commercial Licence (Commercial Licence or Commercial Licence (IP Improvement), accept its Terms and pay the required annual fee.

[sno036]

Fine with me.