Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Final draft of Conflict of Interest policy for Wikimedia India

[Yohann Thomas]

Hi Shyamal

Apologies for the delay in replying to the email
The process for creating the Conflict of Interest (CoI) policy had been
going on with the previous EC. The current EC took forward their discussion
with inputs from everyone. We had also floated an email some time back in
this mailing list too

Has there been a discussion of the definition of "political" here or how it
> would be differentiated from "ideological"? Is this based on an assumption
> that a knowledge-gathering project can be achieved without any "bias"
> ("knowledge is neutral")? What if "furthering the interest of WMIN" came in
> conflict with furthering the interests of the larger movement? Is there an
> "Ignore-All-Rules"-style clause?
>

By political, we mainly mean a political party.
Regarding  "Ignore-All-Rules" , there is no such clause. But here, we would
want inputs  again from the community that is such a clause required or
not??

>
> 2) The document notes that (c) voting is a situation that comes under
> "conflict of interest". What about the situation after voting - ie - there
> is a voter-expectation that leads to specific "Covered Persons" to come
> into a position of power and that there could be a conflict when favouring
> specific voting member(s).
>

For the above specified situation, the investigation panel can be
constituted to look into the probable CoI , as mentioned in the policy

>
> 3) The document does not suggest measures to reduce the effects of
> undetected (or undetectable) conflict of interest by such means as
> transparency of deliberations. Or if the organization does not wish to show
> extreme transparency, is there a system for supporting whistleblowers?
>
Currently, we are not at that level, where we need a highly specific
policy..We feel that as the Organizations matures, the CoI policy can
evolve with it..

Regards,
Yohann Thomas
Wikimedia India


> best wishes
> Shyamal
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Shyamal
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 11:52 AM, Yohann Thomas  wrote:
>
>> Dear Community
>>
>> Wikimedia India has made a final draft for the Conflict of Interest
>> policy(attached)
>>
>> We would invite the community to review it & give their inputs
>>
>> Regards,
>> Yohann Thomas
>> Wikimedia India
>>
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>>
>>
>
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Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Final draft of Conflict of Interest policy for Wikimedia India

[Shyamal Lakshminarayanan]

Thanks for creating this document Yohann. It would be nice see the process
and reasoning steps behind the creation of this document (or better still
the document edit history and talk page!) .

A couple of questions:

1) "The Covered Person shall not take any decision based on any political
biases and any connections which he/she might have had or are currently
having with any politically affiliated institution. He/she shall carry out
his/her responsibilities in a manner that will serve to further the
interests of WMIN only."

Has there been a discussion of the definition of "political" here or how it
would be differentiated from "ideological"? Is this based on an assumption
that a knowledge-gathering project can be achieved without any "bias"
("knowledge is neutral")? What if "furthering the interest of WMIN" came in
conflict with furthering the interests of the larger movement? Is there an
"Ignore-All-Rules"-style clause?

2) The document notes that (c) voting is a situation that comes under
"conflict of interest". What about the situation after voting - ie - there
is a voter-expectation that leads to specific "Covered Persons" to come
into a position of power and that there could be a conflict when favouring
specific voting member(s).

3) The document does not suggest measures to reduce the effects of
undetected (or undetectable) conflict of interest by such means as
transparency of deliberations. Or if the organization does not wish to show
extreme transparency, is there a system for supporting whistleblowers?

best wishes
Shyamal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Shyamal


On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 11:52 AM, Yohann Thomas  wrote:

> Dear Community
>
> Wikimedia India has made a final draft for the Conflict of Interest
> policy(attached)
>
> We would invite the community to review it & give their inputs
>
> Regards,
> Yohann Thomas
> Wikimedia India
>
> ___
> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list
> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
>
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