¶ Welcome to the DataSHIELD wiki
This wiki contains information about DataSHIELD - that is, about both the different softwares that are involved, and about the community that has developed around the software.
¶ How to use the wiki
Anyone can use the DataSHIELD wiki! Please feel free to browse the site for whatever information you need. If there's something missing, then feel free to just add it, you don't need to ask anyone first (this is one of the beauties of wikis: all changes are stored, so it's easy to revert to a previous version if something is accidentally deleted or otherwise lost). Anyone can edit the wiki, but to do so you'll need to request a wiki account (detailed on the community participation page), then you'll be able to make any changes you like. You do not have to be a Voting Member in order to do this - wiki logins are available to all and, indeed, editing the wiki and helping to update the available resources is a great way of demonstrating your work ethic in order to become a Voting Member.
¶ Organisation of the community
¶ The DataSHIELD Community Strucure
The DataSHIELD community structure is outlined in the image, it comprises themes, core groups, a steering committee and an advisory board.
¶ Themes
The DataSHIELD Community is organised into Themes; Themes are the way the day-to-day work of the community is organised. Themes are classified as either 'Tech' or 'Process' related (the Theme Leads belong to the relevant Core Group as noted below) and there are six altogether, three relating to technical aspects of the project and three relating to process aspects of the project.
Each Theme has a dedicated section of the wiki related to their activities. In general, the Theme's home page states the agreed purpose of the Theme, its working practices and how it will communicate with other Themes. The Themes also each have a dedicated section of the forum, which should be used as the primary means for communication.
- Tech: Infrastructure development
- Tech: Operational management
- Tech: Statistical development
- Process: Education
- Process: Governance
- Process: Communications and outreach
¶ Core groups
There are two Core Groups for the DataSHIELD community: the Tech and Process Core Groups. The primary objective of the Core Groups is to provide coordination across the different Themes. The Technical Core Group is responsible for overseeing the Themes which are categorised as having a predominantly technical purpose, whereas the Process Core Group focuses on overseeing Themes with a non-technical purpose. These bodies have responsibility for ensuring that Themes are complementary to each other and do not overlap or duplicate work. They are also responsible for arbitrating decisions or conflicts between different Themes within their domain; problems may be escalated to the Steering Committee if required.
¶ Steering Committee
The Steering Committee provides overall leadership to the DataSHIELD Community and has day to day responsibility for the project. More information is provided on the following page:
¶ Advisory Board
The advisory board provides external expertise to the steering committe to facilitate governance and sustainability of the DataSHIELD software and community. More information is provided on the following page:
¶ Community governance
The community is governed according to the Constitution which was agreed at the DataSHIELD conference in 2022. One of the core concepts behind the Community organisation is transparency. Individual Voting Members, members of Core Groups, Steering Committee and advisory board are publicly listed in their sections of the wiki.