Advisory Board

What is the Advisory Board?

The Advisory Board is a group of individuals that the OpenStreetMap Foundation Board of Directors may consult on important decisions (either as a group, or as individuals). The Advisory Board can also raise their own issues or suggestions to the OSMF board. Much like an OSMF working group, the Advisory Board does not have a formal role or structure defined by the Articles of Association; to a large degree, the Advisory Board governs itself. The scope of what the Advisory Board discusses and how it organizes is a work in progress.

The Advisory Board consists of one representative each of our Gold and Platinum level corporate members of the OpenStreetMap Foundation, as well as one representative each of all properly established Local Chapters of the Foundation. Membership is optional, organizations may opt out of taking a seat on the Advisory Board.

The OSMF board will also keep a presence on the Advisory Board through one or more OSMF board members. OSMF board will also consider inviting individuals whose knowledge or experience is deemed beneficial to the group. The OSMF Board of Directors has the ultimate say about who may participate in the Advisory Board, and may use this discretion to ensure a positive environment.

Communications

Advisory Board members communicate via a dedicated mailing list. Unless and until the Advisory Board itself determines otherwise, discussions in the Advisory Board are private.

However, to ensure transparency, the OSMF Board of Directors will publicly minute, in their board meeting minutes, any communication sent to, or received from, the Advisory Board.

Overview of communications

Current Members of the Advisory Board and their Affiliations

Affiliation	Reason for addition	Name of representative
Bing	Gold Corporate Member	Harsh Govind
Esri	Gold Corporate Member	Andrew Turner
Facebook	Gold Corporate Member	Drishtie Patel on leave, Marc Prioleau
Grab	Gold Corporate Member	Vinay Jayanthi
GraphHopper	Gold Corporate Member	Peter Karich
Mapbox	Gold Corporate Member	Tom Lee
OpenStreetMap á Íslandi	Local Chapter	Jóhannes Birgir Jensson
OpenStreetMap Belgium	Local Chapter	Ben Abelshausen
OpenStreetMap Deutschland / FOSSGIS	Local Chapter	Christoph Hormann
OpenStreetMap France	Local Chapter	Christian Quest
OpenStreetMap Italia	Local Chapter	Stefano Sabatini
OpenStreetMap Ireland	Local Chapter	Dermot McNally
OpenStreetMap United Kingdom	Local Chapter	Rob Nickerson
Swiss OpenStreetMap Association	Local Chapter	Patrick Stählin