Hi @mrkvon,
Great set of questions - thanks for asking!
What’s the scope of the ODI’s involvement? Is it primarily a legal entity and potential funding source for the Solid team’s efforts, or is there more to their role?
We are still working on the details of the scope of ODIs involvement and how we will work with the community. Long-time volunteers in leadership roles will now have the dedicated support of an institution well-regarded for running complex community projects. This means everything from practical support, organising meetings, updating websites and applying for grant funding, to more visibility for their valuable work from policymakers, governments and non-profits. This will, of course, be subject to us securing funding. In the long term, it will likely lead to more opportunities for Solid community members to work on Solid projects. We are supporting several open community initiatives, including - now - Solid, but also Croissant as part of our programmes of work in PETs, participatory data and data-centric AI. We will continue fundraising for these programmes, including, where appropriate additional resources to steward the Solid Project and conduct original research into user-centric, legal, ethical, and organisational aspects of decentralised data management.
Moving forward we are very open to ideas on how to do this best. We are committed to setting up a governance structure that supports, and preserves the independence of the Solid community - this may, for instance, include having advisory groups that work with the ODI to ensure effective coordination with the community. Please contact me (@jeswr) using solid@theodi.org if you have any ideas, suggestions or ideas.
What does this change mean for the wider Solid community practically? Should we expect any shifts in Solid’s direction, or will it maintain its current mission, independence, and governance style?
There are no changes to the current mission or independence that will be imposed by the ODI. The Solid Community will stay central to Solid’s stewardship going forward, and the ODI is looking forward to working with the network in the weeks and months ahead. ODI will work with the Solid Community to establish good, collaborative ways of working, including taking on responsibility for the website’s technical infrastructure and engaging with the Solid Community, including running the regular Solid World events. We will continue to work with the Solid Project Team, especially in the period immediately following the move of Solid to the ODI.
Are there any upcoming changes in ownership or control of the core Solid infrastructure? (repositories, website(s), solidcommunity.net pod provider, etc.)
At the moment the core Solid team manage most of this infrastructure. The idea is that for any infrastructure managed by the Solid team, there will be a responsible transition to having the infrastructure managed by the ODI. At present this transition and maintenance will be my (@jeswr) responsibility within the ODI and I am more than happy to discuss any detailed concerns or questions you have about this.
As always, it is a pleasure to work with this community, and I look forward to continued collaboration.