[Osmf-talk] Some questions about candidates' statements

[Christoph Hormann]

Since i have strongly criticized some of the candidates for their
answers and attitude to the matter of conflicts of interest i wanted to
mention what kind of answer i would have liked to see on this,
especially from those candidates with an OSM/geodata related employment
relationship.

I would have hoped to see candidates to:

a) acknowledge there might be (practically and possibly even frequently)
cases where a CoI exists.
b) acknowledge that a CoI does not only exist if an inpropriety takes
place but already exists if the possibility of this is there. (like the
famous:  "I don't like my wive anyway so i won't try to secure the
contract for her").
c) acknowledge that there might be practical cases where there are
decisions in the interest of the OSM community that would be directly
against the interests of their employer.
d) acknowledge that the matter is not exclusively a legal question but a
moral question and that in a multi-cultural project like OSM they
cannot assume their view of what is morally right and wrong to be
exactly shared by everyone else.
e) accept the fact that they might themselves be limited in their
ability to properly recognize the conflict in all cases and that they
might need depend on others to make this assessment.
f) in light in particular of (d) and (e) convincingly affirm (ideally
pointing to examples from their past involvements in WGs or elsewhere)
to be very careful about this and refrain from participating in
decision making processes in any such cases from the beginning.

What i would have liked to see in addition:

g) offering concrete proposals how to regulate CoI in the OSMF.
h) broader considerations on corruption risks and prevention in the
OSMF.

--
Christoph Hormann
http://www.imagico.de/