Download formatted PDF

CHARTER OF THE

LF EDGE FOUNDATION

End User Solutions Group

As of February 23, 2021

~~~~

The primary mission of the LF Edge Foundation (the “Directed Fund”) is to raise, budget and spend funds in support of various open source projects relating to development of an edge computing software stack, including infrastructure and support initiatives related thereto (each a “Technical Project”). Feedback and input from the community and LF Edge project end-users is crucial to LF Edge’s long-term success. 

1. Mission. The Governing Board of the Directed Fund has established End User Solutions Groups to assist and support the Directed Fund. The role of the End User Solutions Groups shall be purely advisory in nature, and shall not in any way bind the Directed Fund or any member of the Directed Fund. 
2. Responsibilities. The primary responsibilities of the members of the End User Solutions Groups (each, an “Advisor”) include:
   1. Provide advice, feedback and guidance as requested regarding: 
      1. Top of mind issues related to recent or upcoming Technical Project software releases
      2. The identification of functional and/or operational concerns which are inhibiting the adoption of the Technical Project solutions
      3. Areas of focus to address short term business requirements
      4. Project testing environments, test cases, and/or Proof of Concepts
      5. Strategy and long term planning of feature and functionality alignment across the Technical Projects
      6. Providing end user perspectives on value and usability of the Technical Project  technology
   2. Provide an open discussion forum for end users of open source software, to share perspectives on progress and priorities including but not limited to architectures, technical requirements and challenges, common strategy in certain areas to influence relevant open source communities and other forums;
   3. Represent the non-confidential views of the Advisor and the broader user community;
   4. Represent the Advisor’s region and business industry; and
   5. Assist in the recruitment of new Advisors, supporters and other Directed Fund and Technical Project participants.
3. Eligibility. The End User Solutions Groups are to be made of individuals at end-user organizations and technical representatives from LF Edge Technical Projects.  Membership in each End User Solutions Group shall be limited to two (2) individuals from any End User Company, or one (1) individual from an Industry Expert Company. 
   1. Definitions. As used in this Section 3:
      1. “End User Company” means a company that implements solutions and/or services, developed internally or with offerings from partners, for vertical-specific use cases within their organization. Applicable industries include Manufacturing, 
Energy (Oil & Gas, Utilities), 
Commerce/Retail, 
Homes (including B2B2C use cases), 
Automotive, 
Fleet/Transportation, Logistics, 
Building Automation, 
Cities and Government, Agriculture, Healthcare
, and any other verticals the LF Edge Board Strategic Planning Committee may decide to include in the future.
      2. “Industry Expert Company” means a company such as an Industrial OEM or System Integrator designing and deploying vertical use-case specific solutions into End User Company business environments. ”Industry Expert Company” does not include technology vendors offering horizontal tools, frameworks and services for general-purpose use.
   2. Eligibility of Individual
      1. Required to be an Employee of End User Company or Industry Expert Company, and one of the following:
         1. Product Management of relevant service and/or solution portfolios (e.g. for OEM)
         2. Direct accountability for delivering, managing, or troubleshooting production grade services to subscribers
         3. Responsibility for architecting production grade infrastructure
         4. Director or VP level decision making approval of edge software solutions
         5. Technical leadership (LF Edge Project TSC voting members, Project Technical Leads, Maintainers)
   3. Acceptance and exceptions into the EUSG program is subject to approval by the LF Edge Board Strategic Planning Committee.
4. Composition, tenure, and other aspects of membership (including potential fees) in End User Solutions Groups will be determined by the End User Solutions Group members, subject to approval of the Governing Board of the Directed Fund. The cap on a per vertical group is to be determined at a future date. Participants in the End User Solutions Group shall not represent themselves as members of the Directed Fund as a result of such participation, unless they separately enter into a Directed Fund membership agreement.
5. Meetings of End User Solutions Groups.
   1. Regular and Special Meetings. End User Solutions Groups will ordinarily hold regular telephonic meetings each when and as called by the Chair of each End User Solutions Group.  In addition, there may be face-to-face meetings co-located with industry events of interest. 
   2. Notice of Meetings. Notice of the time and location (or access number, as appropriate) of all meetings shall be given to each Advisor at least (7) days prior to such meeting.
   3. Leadership and Participation at Meetings. 
      1. Each End User Solutions Group may elect a Chair and Vice-Chair from the membership. 
      2. The Chair, Vice-Chair or an individual delegated by the Chair shall preside at each meeting of the End User Solutions Group. 
      3. The Chair and/or Vice-Chair will serve until their resignation or replacement, the timing of which will be determined by each End User Solutions Group.
   4. Agenda. The agenda for all meetings of the End User Solutions Groups shall be as determined by the Chair, however, the agenda for each meeting shall provide time for any Advisor to raise any topic or matter of concern within the mission and responsibilities of each End User Solutions Group. 
   5. Minutes. The End User Solutions Groups shall cause minutes to be kept at all meetings of the Advisory Group, which minutes will be posted publicly within a reasonable time after each such meeting.
   6. Attendance. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Charter, the Chair or the Directed Fund Director shall have the right to automatically eliminate and remove an Advisor from an End User Solutions Group if he or she fails to attend three (3) out of any four (4) consecutive in person and/or telephonic meetings of the Advisory Group.
   7. All minutes shall be published on the Directed Fund Wiki or another public venue.
6. Voting: The End User Solutions Groups will operate as a consensus-based community. Where any decision may require a vote, members of the Advisory Group will each have a single vote.
7. Amendments. The Governing Board may amend or modify this Charter or the mission or responsibilities of the Advisors at any time upon notice to the Advisors. This Charter does not convey any rights of any nature to the Advisors except as explicitly provided in this Charter. Advisors may speak publicly about their participation, but are under no obligation to do so.
8. Applicability of the Directed Fund Policies. In carrying out their responsibilities under this Charter, all Advisors shall abide by this Charter and adhere to the policies of the Directed Fund, including without limitation all policies applicable to members of The Linux Foundation, as the same may be adopted and modified from time to time. Without limiting the foregoing, to the extent that any contributions are made to any Technical Projects, each Advisor agrees to comply with the intellectual property policies set forth in the charter of each such Technical Project.