Principles for Remuneration of the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair

Introduction

The RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair (together, the RIPE Chairs) have roles described in “The RIPE Chair”. They are selected according to the process set out in “The RIPE Chair Selection Process”.

Over the years, taking on the role of RIPE Chair has become a significant commitment, as recognized in discussions on the RIPE Discussion List in 2017 and 2018. The role of RIPE Vice- Chair has subsequently been revived, and involves a comparable level of commitment. The sensitivity to conflicts of interest has increased too.

In 2020 the RIPE Nominating Committee selected Mirjam Kühne as RIPE Chair. Mirjam needed to resign from her job with the RIPE NCC before taking on the role. On recommendation by the Nominations Committee the RIPE NCC offered to provide reasonable remuneration while making arrangements so that Mirjam can act without undue influence from the RIPE NCC.

During this process questions were raised from the community about providing remuneration for either or both of the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair, and specifically whether it is appropriate that the RIPE NCC provide such funding.

The RIPE Nominating Committee 2020, in its report, made a recommendation to “document community consensus about remuneration of the RIPE Chairs”.

At the time of writing the community has had some experience with the arrangements mentioned above.

Scope

This document describes the principles of the RIPE community for remuneration of the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair, and makes requests to the RIPE NCC in this regard.

Principles

The community wishes to be sure that the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair are able to put in the necessary effort for their roles and to stay clear of undue influence, whether actual or perceived.

The RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair will disclose to the community all potential conflicts of interest relating to their respective RIPE leadership role as they arise including how they address them. In particular they will disclose their significant means of subsistence. Nominees for either of these roles will make this disclosure to the RIPE Nominating Committee.

The community requests that the RIPE NCC continue to reimburse the expenses incurred by the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair in these roles.

The community requests that, upon request by either or both of the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair, the RIPE NCC provide appropriate remuneration for the time each individual spends performing their respective role.

The community requests that the concrete arrangements for this shall ensure that the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair can perform their duties without undue influence from the RIPE NCC and that the RIPE NCC inform the community how this is arranged.

The community requests that the RIPE NCC Executive Board take responsibility for implementing these concrete arrangements.

The community requests that the RIPE NCC continue to disclose the total cost of support for the RIPE Chair and Vice-Chair including expenses and any remuneration.

Provenance

The RIPE Chairs started working on this document in mid-2022, taking advice from the RIPE NCC. Daniel Karrenberg subsequently made a more concise draft on request of the RIPE Chairs.

The RIPE NCC has indicated that it will consider the requests made in this document once the community reaches consensus on the final text.

Historical timeline

2017-11-25: initial discussion on RIPE Discussion List started by Erik Bais
2018-02-19: call for further discussion by Nigel Titley
late 2022: preparation of draft proposal
2023-03-07: initial draft released for community discussion
2023-03-29: call for consensus issued
2023-04-18: consensus declared

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the encouragement, practical assistance, and valuable suggestions which we received from many members of the RIPE Community, including Joe Abley, Erik Bais, Randy Bush, Rob Evans, Nick Hilliard, Mirjam Kühne, Kurtis Lindqvist, Sander Steffann, Nigel Titley, Leo Vegoda, and Carolien Vos.

We hope that we have not omitted to mention anyone to whom thanks are due, and ask their pardon in case we have.

References

The RIPE Chair
The RIPE Chair Selection Process
Document community consensus about remuneration of the RIPE Chairs
RIPE-list discussion, November 2017 (initial discussion)
RIPE-list discussion, February 2018 (call for further discussion)
RIPE-list announcement, August 2020 (arrangements)
RIPE-list discussion, March 2023 (draft)