In Development
Currently in development, launching early 2021.
Executive Board Guidelines
These Guidelines were adopted by the Executive Board on October 22nd 2024.
1. Introduction
2. Principle duties of the Executive Board
2.1 To uphold the Global.health Values
2.2 To define strategy and guide and oversee Global.health activities
2.3 To monitor the effectiveness of Executive Board governance practices
2.4 To oversee social, ethical, and governance matters
3. Board Procedures
3.1 Scheduling of Board meetings and attendance
3.2 Agenda and minutes
3.3 Communications with the Executive Board
3.4 Resolving conflict
1. Introduction
The Executive Board is defined in the Global.health Governance Articles, and the Articles are the complete and final document that governs the Executive Board. This document, the Global.health Executive Board Guidelines (“the Guidelines”), serves to provide more structure to some of the Board’s duties and functions. However, the Guidelines are always superseded by the Articles in any point of contention.
The Executive Board can modify and make changes to this document via a 2/3 majority vote of the entire Executive Board. If the Executive Board has 5 members, this is interpreted as 4/5 votes in favor.
2. Principal Duties of the Executive Board
The Executive Board is responsible for overseeing the effective and ethical running of Global.health. This involves Executive Board members adopting a proactive and concentrated approach in their roles to assure Global.health dedication to upholding elevated standards of responsibility, integrity and ethics while serving the global health community.
2.1 To Uphold the Global.health values
The Executive Board is guided in their decisions and role by the tenets in the Global.health Values (see below), with the aim to preserve and further the mission, purpose, and commitments.
2.2 The Global.health values are
- Following the FAIR Principles
Improve findability, accessibility, interoperability, and reuse of digital data and assets. The FAIR guidelines are outlined here: https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/
- Open data and science
Global.health is committed to open-access data and digital tools. We believe that data we collate and tools we develop should be open for all to use. That is why we make efforts that all of the data we collect is accessible under Creative Commons Attribution license (in our case CC-BY-4.0) and that our technology stack is available under permissive license (MIT License). Reasons that data is not made openly available is when data confidentiality or protection prohibit wider sharing. We further make efforts to advocate for more open data sharing practices and appropriate recognition of contributions, including attribution.
- Academic excellence and research integrity
At Global.health we thrive to perform research to the highest academic standards and integrity. We follow the code of practice and preventing misconduct guidelines outlined by the UK Research Integrity Office and Concordat to Support Research Integrity with its main commitments outlined below:
- upholding the highest standards of rigour and integrity in all aspects of research
- ensuring that research is conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards
- supporting a research environment that is underpinned by a culture of integrity and based on good governance, best practice, and support for the development of researchers
- using transparent, timely, robust and fair processes to deal with allegations of research misconduct should they arise
- working together to strengthen the integrity of research and to review progress regularly and openly
- Global equity, collaboration and benefit sharing
To encourage global collaboration and equitable sharing of data, capacity, tools, and knowledge for improving health and access to therapeutics, prevention, and vaccines for all. Global.health shall always have a diverse and active executive board with participation from multiple continents.
- Transparency
To clearly outline how the board operates, which decision making powers they have, how they are elected and can be dismissed, how conflicts are resolved, and to publish minutes after each meeting.
2.2 To Define Strategy and Guide and Oversee Globaal.health Activities
The fundamental purpose of the Executive Board is to exercise their judgment to act in what they reasonably believe to be in the best interests of the global public health community. It is their duty to guide and oversee the Global.health project and databases. This includes the addition of new supported pathogens, clarifications of the Data Use Terms, and directing the improvement and expansion of Global.health database features, analytical pipelines and functionality.
2.3 To Monitor the Effectiveness of Executive Board Governance Practices
The Executive Board will review and evaluate the effectiveness of the governance practices under which the Board operates and make changes to these practices as needed.
2.4 To Oversee Social, Ethical, and Governance Matters
The Executive Board is responsible for providing oversight in considering and reviewing actual and potential matters relating social, ethical and governance within the Global.health project.
3. Board Procedures
3.1 Scheduling of Board Meetings and Attendance
Regular meetings of the Executive Board shall be held at times and places as determined by the Board. The Executive Board can schedule additional Executive Board meetings, or communicate on Global.health business via other means, as it chooses. Executive Board members are expected to prepare for, attend, and contribute meaningfully in all Executive Board meetings in order to discharge their obligations.
3.2 Agenda and Minutes
An agenda for each Global.health Executive Board meeting, along with minutes of the previous meeting; information and data that is important to the understanding of the tasks to be conducted at the meeting, will be distributed by the Executive Board in advance of the meeting. A summary of minutes of the Global.health Executive Board meeting shall be made public after they are approved by board; sensitive points such as names of people and organisations may be redacted. In addition, for Executive Board activities, minutes must be kept of all resolutions passed by the Executive Board, whether via meeting or through other communications, and must be made available on the website. A summary of these minutes will also be made publicly available.
3.3 Communications with the Executive Board
The community (any person) may contact the Executive Board to provide comments, report concerns or to ask questions. Such communications shall be directly directed to the Executive Board via email info@global.health.
3.4 Resolving Conflict
The Executive Board shall serve as an arbitrator and decision maker when conflicts arise between users with regards to appropriate use of data or tools. Such conflicts should be resolved through the Global.health Values, and should encourage Users to find mutually agreeable resolutions where possible. After a resolution or decision has been made about a conflict, the Data Use Terms examples and clarifications should be expanded, if appropriate, to avoid similar conflicts in the future.