Skip to Content

Wiki source code of Governance

Last modified by Robert Schaub on 2025/12/22 14:32
Show last authors
1 = Governance =
2 FactHarbor governance is **simple, transparent, flat, and focused on enabling automation**.
3 {{include reference="FactHarbor.Organisation.Diagrams.Governance Structure.WebHome"/}}
4 == 1. Governance Philosophy ==
5 **Core Principles**:
6 * **Automation over bureaucracy**: Minimize manual processes
7 * **Transparency by default**: Open decision-making
8 * **Community input**: Listen but decide decisively
9 * **Measured outcomes**: Data drives decisions
10 * **Adaptive structure**: Evolve as needed
11 == 2. Organizational Structure ==
12 **Flat Cooperative Model**:
13 * Small organization with collaborative teamwork
14 * No hierarchical management layers
15 * Decisions by consensus when possible, voting when needed
16 * Everyone contributes across multiple areas
17 **General Assembly** → **Governing Team** → **Team Members** === 2.1 General Assembly (All Members) ===
18 Decides: Governing Team election, statutes, major strategic changes, budget
19 Meets: Annually
20 === 2.2 Governing Team ===
21 Decides: Strategy, policy, budget allocation, hiring
22 Meets: Quarterly
23 Size: small group (Facilitator, Coordinator, Treasurer + others)
24 === 2.3 Team Members ===
25 * **Technical Coordinator**: AKEL & infrastructure
26 * **Community Coordinator**: Moderators & contributors
27 * **Moderators** (part-time): Handle abuse/disputes
28 == 3. Decision Authority ==
29 **Day-to-day**: Technical Coordinator + Community Coordinator
30 **Tactical**: Governing Team (simple majority)
31 **Strategic**: General Assembly (2/3 majority)
32 == 4. Policy Development ==
33 **RFC Process** (Request for Comments):
34 1. Anyone drafts proposal
35 2. Community discussion 3. Governing Team reviews and votes
36 4. Decision published
37 **Emergency changes**: Technical Coordinator can act immediately, Governing Team ratifies later
38 == 5. Financial Governance ==
39 * Annual budget approved by General Assembly
40 * Two-signature requirement for >CHF 5,000
41 * Governing Team approval for >CHF 20,000
42 * Quarterly financial reports
43 * Annual independent audit
44 == 6. Automation Governance ==
45 **Core Principle**: AKEL makes content decisions. Humans make system decisions.
46 === 6.1 Decision Boundary ===
47 **What AKEL Decides (Automated)**:
48 * All claim verdicts and confidence scores
49 * All evidence assessments and relevance scores
50 * All source track record scores
51 * All risk tier classifications
52 * All publication decisions
53 * All scenario extractions
54 **Rationale**: These decisions must be automated for scale, consistency, transparency, and to avoid human bias. Humans cannot process millions of claims reliably.
55 **Human Role**: Monitor aggregate performance metrics, identify systematic issues, improve algorithms.
56 **What Humans Decide**:
57 **Strategic Decisions** (General Assembly, 2/3 majority):
58 * Mission and values
59 * Risk tier policy definitions
60 * Major architectural changes
61 * Budget allocation
62 * Dissolution
63 **Tactical Decisions** (Governing Team, simple majority):
64 * Algorithm parameter ranges (within policy)
65 * Infrastructure investments
66 * Hiring and role assignments
67 * Community policies
68 * Partnership agreements
69 **Operational Decisions** (Domain Owners, autonomous):
70 * Technical Coordinator: AKEL performance optimizations, infrastructure changes
71 * Community Coordinator: Community process improvements, documentation
72 * Moderators: Handling AKEL-flagged items, detection improvement proposals
73 **Emergency Decisions** (any team member, ratified by Governing Team):
74 * Critical security issues
75 * Legal compliance requirements
76 * Immediate safety concerns
77 === 6.2 Principle: Fix the System, Not the Data ===
78 **When AKEL makes a "wrong" decision**:
79 * ❌ Do NOT manually override that specific verdict
80 * ✅ DO investigate: Is this a systematic issue?
81 * ✅ DO improve: Change algorithm/policy to handle such cases better
82 * ✅ DO test: Validate improvement on historical data
83 * ✅ DO deploy: Roll out improved system
84 * ✅ DO monitor: Check if metrics improve
85 **Example**:
86 * Bad: "AKEL rated this source too low, I'll manually boost it"
87 * Good: "AKEL consistently under-rates peer-reviewed sources. Let's adjust the scoring algorithm to weight peer-review more heavily."
88 === 6.3 Governance of AKEL ===
89 **Quarterly Performance Review**:
90 * Who: Governing Team + Technical Coordinator
91 * What: Review AKEL performance metrics, bias audits, user feedback patterns
92 * Output: Performance report, improvement priorities, policy updates if needed
93 **Performance Metrics Monitored**:
94 * Processing speed (P50, P95, P99)
95 * Success rate and error rate
96 * Evidence completeness
97 * Confidence score distribution
98 * User feedback (helpful/unhelpful ratio)
99 * Bias indicators (by domain, source type, etc.)
100 **Triggers for Policy Review**:
101 * Metrics outside acceptable ranges
102 * Systematic bias detected
103 * Major user complaints about fairness
104 * Legal/compliance concerns
105 * New domains requiring special handling
106 **Algorithm Change Process**:
107 1. Identify issue from metrics
108 2. Propose solution (RFC - Request for Comments)
109 3. Test in staging environment
110 4. Measure impact on historical data
111 5. Technical Coordinator approves (or escalates to Governing Team for policy changes)
112 6. Deploy with monitoring
113 7. Evaluate results
114 === 6.4 Human Intervention Criteria ===
115 **Legitimate reasons to intervene**:
116 * ✅ AKEL explicitly flags item for human review
117 * ✅ System metrics show performance degradation
118 * ✅ Legal/safety issue requires immediate action
119 * ✅ User reports reveal systematic bias pattern
120 **Illegitimate reasons** (system improvement needed instead):
121 * ❌ "I disagree with this verdict" → Improve algorithm
122 * ❌ "This source should rank higher" → Improve scoring rules
123 * ❌ "Manual quality gate before publication" → Defeats purpose of automation
124 * ❌ "I know better than the algorithm" → Then improve the algorithm
125 === 6.5 Consent-Based Decision Making ===
126 **For system changes**, use consent not consensus (from Sociocracy 3.0):
127 **Consent** = No principled objections
128 * Faster than consensus
129 * Respects concerns without requiring full agreement
130 * "I can live with this and support it"
131 **Process**:
132 1. Proposal presented (RFC)
133 2. Clarifying questions
134 3. Reactions and concerns
135 4. Proposer integrates feedback
136 5. Consent round: Any principled objections?
137 6. If no objections → Decision made
138 7. If objections → Integrate and repeat
139 **Use for**:
140 * Algorithm changes
141 * Policy updates
142 * Infrastructure investments
143 * Process changes
144 **Not for**:
145 * Strategic decisions (use voting)
146 * Emergency decisions (use autonomous authority)
147 == 7. Transparency & Accountability ==
148 **Always public**: Policies, structure, board membership, financials, quality metrics, major decisions
149 **Published quarterly**: Activity reports, metrics, moderation stats
150 **Internal documentation**: All meetings, decisions, actions retained indefinitely
151 == 7. Conflict Resolution ==
152 **User disputes**: Moderator → Appeal to different moderator → Governing Team (final)
153 **Timeline**: Reasonable timeframe
154 == 8. Moderation Oversight ==
155 **Moderator requirements**: high reputation, 6+ months active, clean record
156 **Review**: Quarterly by Community Coordinator, annually by Governing Team
157 **Appeal**: Any user can appeal promptly
158 == 9. Code of Conduct ==
159 **Governing Team**: Act in org interest, disclose conflicts, maintain confidentiality
160 **Team Members**: Follow procedures, professional conduct, document decisions
161 **Moderators**: Impartial decisions, respect privacy, respond timely
162 == 10. Amendment Process ==
163 **Minor changes**: Governing Team decision
164 **Major changes**: General Assembly (2/3 vote)
165 **Emergency**: Governing Team can act, must ratify at next Assembly
166 == 11. Related Pages ==
167 * [[Organisational Model>>FactHarbor.Organisation.Organisational-Model]]
168 * [[Legal Framework>>FactHarbor.Organisation.Legal-Framework]]
169 * [[Transparency Policy>>FactHarbor.Organisation.How-We-Work-Together.Transparency-Policy]]