Stichting OA Switchboard
The OA Switchboard moved to the operational stage on 1 January 2021, and is now run from the new Stichting OA Switchboard, founded by OASPA in October 2020.
This structural governance and funding model supersedes the organisation and governance of the 2020 project, and the sponsorship model. The new set-up ensures a not-for-profit, collectively controlled collaboration between funders, institutions and publishers, whereby neutrality and independence are preserved by legal structure, governance and articles of incorporation.
The OA Switchboard will be financed via a self-sustaining business model and participation and involvement is open to all who meet the OA Switchboard’s purpose and criteria. The OA Switchboard aims to support all OA business models, policies and types of scholarly output and industry-wide representation and collaboration in developing open source solutions and services is ensured and formalised.
Our principles are here, and the articles of association can be obtained from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under company number 80620698. Read how our objectives are described, and how we aim to realise them, and what the legal entity 'stichting' is all about.
OASPA is supportive and actively involved through a strategic partnership with the Stichting OA Switchboard.
The Board
A 'stichting' is a not-for-profit foundation based in the Netherlands. The directors of the Board are responsible for the governance and the management of the foundation. The directors for the Stichting OA Switchboard are:
-
Michele Avissar-Whiting, HHMI (representing funders)
-
Rachel Bruce, UKRI (representing funders)
-
Curtis Brundy, Iowa State University (representing institutions)
-
Ádám Dér, Max Planck Digital Library (representing institutions)
-
Liam Earney, Jisc (representing institutions)
-
Hannah Hope, Wellcome Trust (representing funders)
-
Susan King (representing publishers)
-
Claire Redhead, OASPA (representing publishers)
-
Marten Stavenga (representing publishers)
The Board delegates the day-to-day management of the OA Switchboard to the appointed Executive Director, Yvonne Campfens.
Past Board members:
-
Ivy Anderson (representing institutions), 2020-2021-2022
-
Paul Peters (representing publishers), 2020-2021
-
Ralf Schimmer (representing institutions), 2020-2021-2022-2023
-
Wim van der Stelt (representing publishers), 2020-2021-2022-2023
-
Stuart Taylor (representing publishers), 2021-2022-2023
Organisation
In line with the principles, the following bodies have been created in 2021:
-
Advisory Group (2023 members here)
Read more about getting involved in the Advisory Group and the Working Groups here.
Our 'Generic Code' applies to each and every organisational body, meeting and initiative:
-
Observe and comply with existing competition/antitrust briefing and guidance.
-
Diversity – Equity – Inclusion.
-
No communication (e.g. on social media) of stakeholder names (e.g. meeting participants) or related meeting details unless explicitly agreed in writing. Nobody will make any public statements about the OA Switchboard or Stichting OA Switchboard, or use or make reference to OA Switchboard’s or Stichting OA Switchboard’s name or logo without the prior written consent of Stichting OA Switchboard.
-
No solicitation.
-
No external representation (unless explicitly agreed in writing).
In general, participation and involvement in all organisational bodies are open to all who meet the respective purpose and criteria. For some bodies, explicit appointment by the Board is required. In case of other/existing members object to a new person/party joining an organisational body, they can indicate this to the Executive Director, stating the Code or criterium that is failed. If the problem is incidental, the Executive Director can request the person/party to leave the meeting for certain agenda items/discussions. If the problem is structural, the Board will decide.
Client Advisory Board
A body with representatives of launch customers, founding partners and live participants (organisations who have a signed Service Agreement and have/get an account). They will meet once every two months and will discuss both strategic, as well as (shared) implementation topics.
Note: If a Client/Participant works with a sub-contractor (or 'delegate' or 'certified integrator') this party can't represent or join the Client/Participant in the CAB meetings.
2024 Advisory Group
The Advisory Group consists of individuals and representatives of stakeholder groups (primary and other) who will contribute by expertise to ensure community representation, involvement and input in product/service development. The members will be appointed for a year (with the option to extend for other year(s)), and the group will meet every two months on average.
Participation and involvement are open to all who meet our purpose and criteria. The members of the 2023 Advisory Group were invited to join also for 2024, and an invitation to others was posted on the ‘Get Involved’ section on the website and was promoted via the mailing list and social media.
-
Tony Alves, SVP, Product Management, HighWire Press
-
Ekaterina Antonova, Scientific Net
-
Peter Anafo, University of Mines & Technology Library
-
Kaveh Bazargan, Director, River Valley Technologies
-
Josh Brown, Co-founder, research and strategy, MoreBrains Cooperative Ltd
-
Jamie Carmichael, Senior Director, Information and Content Solutions, CCC
-
Todd A. Carpenter, Executive Director, NISO
-
Josh Dahl, Senior Director, Product Management, Clarivate
-
Jennifer Fleet, Managing Director, Aries Systems Corporation
-
Amanda French, ROR Technical Community Manager, Crossref
-
Anna Gasking, Taylor & Francis Group
-
Sarah Greaves, Stem Publishing
-
Martin Jagerhorn, Head of Business Development, ChronosHub
-
Anna Jester, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, eJournalPress, Wiley Partner Solutions
-
Alex Kohls, Head Scientific Information Service, CERN
-
Leah Kristensen, Customer Success Manager, Manuscript Manager
-
Dev Kumar, Intelligence Beyond Inc
-
Dugald McGlashan, INLEXIO
-
Bill O'Brien, Senior Director Business Development, Aptara
-
Howard Ratner, Executive Director, CHORUS
-
Rosario Rogel-Salazar, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico
-
Nels Rune Jensen, ConsortiaManager
-
Louise, Russell, Director, Tutton Russell Consulting Ltd
-
Jochen Schirrwagen, University of Bielefeld
-
Chris Shillum, Orcid
-
Laszlo Simon-Nanko, Mohr Siebeck
-
Heather Staines, Delta Think
-
Jessica Thibodeau, CCC
Working Groups
For specific topics or initiatives, Task and Working Groups will be operated. These may have a purpose and lifetime that is time-specific, or may be continuously operational (until further notice). The general purpose is to gather ideas, prepare for further continuous improvement cycles of the OA Switchboard and to ensure we tie-in to existing initiatives and groups.
From our Deed of incorporation
(and Articles of association)
Our objectives are described as:
Streamlining the communication between funders, institutions and publishers regarding multi-lateral Open Access publication-level arrangements; and striving for the research ecosystem to work better for researchers, funders, institutions and publishers, and their business partners, such that Open Access is supported as the predominant model of publication, as well as to do all such things as are incidental or may be conducive to the above, all in the broadest sense.
It is also described how we aim to realise our objectives:
The foundation shall aim at realising its objects by providing to funders, institutions and publishers:
-
a central information exchange hub, connecting parties and systems, streamlining and standardising the communication and neutral exchange of Open Access related publication-level information, and ensuring a financial settlement can be done;
-
services that smoothen out processes and bring down cost; and
-
means to integrate with own systems and author/researcher facing tools and services, and their third party system/solution/service providers.
Furthermore community representation, involvement and input in product/service development is ensured and formalised via: an Advisory Group, which holds regular meetings as part of the framework of the organisation, Task/Working Groups, information on the website regarding the development roadmap, regular reporting (via newsletters or blogs or otherwise), and relevant ‘Codes’.
About the legal entity: 'stichting'
The OA Switchboard moved to the operational stage on 1 January 2021, and is now run from the new Stichting OA Switchboard, founded by OASPA in October 2020.
The Dutch 'stichting', also referred to as 'foundation', is an already widely used type of legal entity... to separate economic interest and control...
A stichting is an orphan entity that only needs to have a board of directors, which has full control of the entity. It does not have, and is therefore not controlled by, any member or shareholder....
Source: https://www.houthoff.com/insights/News/The-Dutch-Stichting
A foundation is an organisation that does not aim to make a profit... Its primarily purpose is to support a social or non-profit cause. It may also be a business, but its profits must be allocated to the foundation's cause or purpose...
The purpose of a foundation may be different from serving as a charity.
For example, professional football clubs, broadcasting companies, hospitals, museums, laboratories and healthcare institutions can also be a stichting.
Source: https://business.gov.nl/starting-your-business/choosing-a-business-structure/foundation/
A stichting's statutes (the articles of association), should include:
-
Name, including the word 'stichting'
-
Purpose/cause
-
Procedures for appointing and removing officers
-
Location
-
Decision-making procedures
-
Procedures and payments in the event of dissolution
Source: https://business.gov.nl/starting-your-business/choosing-a-business-structure/foundation/
From the deed of incorporation of Stichting OA Switchboard, article 16:
“In case of liquidation, the assets can only be distributed to another not for profit entity without owners, who have a similar dissolution and liquidation clause."