What does it mean to be a “peer” in your peer-based organization? Who gets to initiate teleconferences? How are opinions and criticism handled? What active feedback do you collect? Who gets to see this? In what ways can your peers self-identify with your organization?
At the center of your project, PIs, Co PIs, and staff are tasked (and paid) to do work. How much extra (unpaid) work is required to actually move the project along? How are the other people of the organization (advisory committees, workshop participants, developer community members) attached to the work of the core? Why should they contribute their time and expertise?
You’ve just gotten a multi-year grant to create a “community-based, collaborative” research VO. Do you know how to recognize “community” within the population you have targeted to collaborate in this effort? Do you know how much and what type of community is sufficient to support your “community-based” effort? If you need to build community, do you know how to do this and when to start?
Your cyberinfrastructure VO has a stated goal of creating a sustainable software service layer to support virtual collaboratories. You need to choose from among four possible software standards to start this effort. How do you make this choice? Why should the final user community agree with you?
photo credit: Timothy Volmer
Virtual Democracy 