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Governance

The Open 3P data standard has been developed to answer the data needs of the packaging industry. To ensure that the standard represents all stakeholders a comprehensive set of governance arrangements has been developed - to maintain trust, integrity and fairness.

Open Data Manchester (ODM) is a not-for-profit organisation that acts as the Data Standard Holding Body (DSHB) for Open 3P. It holds the intellectual property rights (IP) of the Open 3P data standard and is an independent and neutral entity, that has no stake in the packaging industry. It is a Community Interest Company (CIC) that has an ‘asset lock’, a legal mechanism that prevents predatory take over of its assets by third parties.

ODM’s role as the DSHB is four-fold.

  • It holds the standard in an asset-lock.
  • It develops and maintains the standard on behalf of the Standard Custodian Board (SCB).
  • It provides secretariat services to the SCB.
  • It provides support services to individuals and organisations that want to adopt and exploit the potential of the data standard.

The SCB ensures that the standard is developed for and on-behalf of the packaging value chain. The board consists of industry stakeholders, domain and technical experts and is chaired by ODM. The board is elected through an open process with board members holding post for a maximum of three continuous years before stepping down.

Development of the standard follows a strict governance process where changes are either submitted to the board through the DSHB, the SCB itself or through external petition. Changes are assessed and if deemed to be beneficial are circulated for consultation. After the consultation period expires, the changes are then re-assessed and adopted if agreed. The SCB then mandates the DSHB to implement the change.

All proceedings and documents relating to the governance arrangements of the Open 3P standard can be found on the Governance Proceedings page of the Open 3P website. Meetings are quarterly with agenda, related documents circulated to the board 30 days before the meeting.