The International Digital Electronic Government Society

CONSTITUTION OF THE

INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL/ ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENT SOCIETY (Draft)

Name
Article 1.

The name of the organization is "International Digital Electronic Government Society";** it may also be known as "IDEG Society" or "IDEGS", and hereinafter will be referred to as "the Society".

** This name is not yet finalized

Registered Office
Article 2.

The Society has no registered office at this time. If an office is required, a suitable proposal to amend these Articles will be accepted by the Board.

Purpose
Article 3.

1. The purpose of this document is to constitute the International Digital Electronic Government Society (IDEGS) as it was chartered on [INSERT DATE] according to the laws of [INSERT PLACE].

2. Purposes and mission of the Society:

3. The only financial distributions that may be made to the founders of the Society or to those who are members of its bodies are funds to be used to support the business of the Society, such as organizing workshops, traveling to meetings, performing administrative duties, etc.

Constituency
Article 4.

1. The International Society IDEGS serves anyone interested in the purposes stated in Article 2 clause 2.

2. The Society is formally associated with one or more local or regional or otherwise specialized professional societies or associations dedicated to the research and practice of Digital Government or eGovernment. These societies or associations are called the Constituent Societies hereafter.

3. People who are members of Constituent Societies represented in IDEGS are automatically members of IDEGS as well.

4. People residing in regions without any professional society dedicated to the research and practice of Digital Government or eGovernment may join IDEGS directly. They should be encouraged by the Board to join an appropriate Constituent Society of IDEGS as well.

5. A regional or otherwise specialized professional society or association not affiliated with IDEGS (“the candidate society”) may join IDEGS by the following procedure. Contact is established between the governing board of the candidate and the Board of IDEGS. The obligations and rights of constituent societies with respect to IDEGS (importantly, the constituent contribution described in Article 7 paragraph 1 and the IDEGS Board representatives described in Article 5 paragraph 1) are communicated to the candidate society by the IDEGS Secretary. In return, the goals, membership, and financial and legal status of the candidate society are disclosed in full to IDEGS. After due scrutiny of the proposal by a committee of no fewer than two IDEGS Board members, a proposal is made to the IDEGS Board that the candidate join (or not join) IDEGS. Admission of the candidate is decided by simple majority vote. The candidate then takes a place among the constituent societies of IDEGS, sends representatives as described in Article 5, and otherwise participates in the activities of IDEGS.

6. A constituent society may end affiliation with IDEGS at any time by providing a statement to this effect, duly and properly ratified by the constituent society’s membership. All funds paid by the constituent society to IDEGS shall be forfeit by such action, and remain with IDEGS.

7. The IDEGS Board may sever affiliation with a constituent society by the following procedure. A statement of separation expressing this intention is drawn up by members of the IDEGS Board, and presented to the Board. If passed by simple majority vote, this statement is sent to the governing board or committee of each constituent society. The vote of each constituent society is returned to the IDEGS Board; if no vote is received within six months, it is assumed that the constituent society is in agreement with the statement of separation. Secession is determined by simple majority vote of the constituent societies. If secession takes place, the constituent fee amount (see Article 7 paragraph 1) paid for the most recent year (but no additional funds) is returned to the constituent society by the IDEGS Treasurer.

Board
Article 5.

1. The administration of IDEGS shall be conducted by the Society Board, which shall consist of a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, the most recent past President (provided he or she completed a term of duty), and additional representatives from each constituent society. Unless there is only one constituent society, there shall be no fewer than one and no more than two representatives from each constituent society on the Board at any time, regardless of which position on the Board they hold. All these persons shall be Society Members, as defined in Article 4. Except for the past President they shall be nominated by the constituent societies, an shall serve a two-year term of office. If a vacancy occurs, the Society Board shall request the relevant constituent society to appoint a replacement to serve until the next election. Except for the Treasurer, no Board member shall serve more than two (2) terms in any single elected office, and no more than three (3) terms in any elected office.

2. The President position shall automatically rotate among the constituent societies, in such a way that no constituent society holds the Presidency a subsequent time before all other currently active constituent societies have held the Presidency for one term each. After the first President, every President must have served on the Board for at least one year during the five years prior to their term as President.

3. The Society Treasurer may serve for a maximum of ten (10) years in that position, subject to the satisfaction of the Board and the Members. The Treasurer is empowered to receive, deposit, and disburse any funds received on behalf of the IDEGS and, together with the Secretary, to make arrangements for handling the affairs of the Society.

Duties and Representation
Article 6.

1. The IDEGS Board as defined by Article 5 paragraph 1 shall:

(a) determine the place and time of IDEGS conferences and meetings;
(b) appoint members to be responsible for organizing the programs and local arrangements of such conferences and meetings;
(c) fix registration fees for conferences and meetings;
(d) select the editors of any publications prepared for the Society;
(e) form committees to assist in conducting the activities of the Society;
(f) select representatives to attend meetings of related organizations.

All actions taken by the Board are subject to review at the regular conferences of the constituent societies. The IDEGS Secretary will at the request of the constituent societies prepare reports of IDEGS activities for such review.

2. Board members representing constituent societies will regularly describe to the IDEGS Board the activities, decisions, and planned conferences or workshops of the constituent societies, in a timely manner so as to facilitate international coordination across constituent societies.

3. The Board shall organize an open meeting for all Society Members periodically, typically annually but not less frequently than every principal conference of the Society, during which Board members shall provide an account of their respective activities over the preceding period. This General Meeting shall be chaired by the Board President unless circumstances prevent this.

4. The Board shall have the power to perform all such acts of administration and disposition as it deems necessary or desirable for the realization of the purpose (Article 3) and for the tasks in Article 6 paragraph 1 above. It shall be empowered to enter into any agreements for the acquisition, alienation whereby the Society grants security or becomes several co-debtor, or answers for any third party, or undertakes to grant security for a debt of another.

5. The Society shall be represented by two officers of the Board acting jointly without prejudice to the power of the Board to make special provision for representation if required in unusual circumstances.

Financial Management
Article 7.

1. Each constituent society of IDEGS as defined in Article 4 will pay an annual constituent contribution to IDEGS to support the activities of the international society. This contribution will be the amount of 5% of the constituent society’s income from its annual membership dues (individual, corporate, and all other types). The amount for a year will be payable within three (3) months after the end of that calendar year. The amount will be paid to the Treasurer of IDEGS, together with documentation of the constituent society’s membership dues income.

2. The financial year of IDEGS shall coincide with the calendar year. The Treasurer of IDEGS will be under the obligation to keep account of the financial position of the Society in accordance with the requirements arising therefrom, and to keep the books, records and other data carriers belonging to the accounts in such way that the rights and obligations of the Society can be learned at all times.

3. The Treasurer will supply a current balance sheet and a statement of assets and liabilities to the Board once a year, to be approved and signed by all members of the Board. These records will form part of a report on the activities and operations of the Society, which will be distributed to the Society Members at the same time as the General Meeting described in Article 6 paragraph 2.

4. The Board will be under the obligation to keep the books, records, and other data carriers mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article for ten years. It will ensure that the data is available during that full period, and can be made readable within a reasonable time.

Amendment of Articles
Article 8.

Proposed amendments to the Constitution must either be approved by the Society Board or be proposed by not less than ten (10) Members. The proposed amendments must then be circulated to all Members and ratified by a majority vote of those persons whose ballots are received within two months of circulation. Amendments go into effect upon approval of this vote, within one month after the date of the vote. Proposed amendments may not be presented at a Society meeting unless notice to the effect that a proposed amendment will be discussed had been included in the announcement convening the Board meeting.

Dissolution
Article 9.

1. If the Board is of the opinion that the purposes of the Society as defined in Article 3 cannot or can no longer be sufficiently realized, the Board may resolve to dissolve the Society; such a resolution concerning dissolution shall be passed in accordance with the provisions of the preceding Article.

2. In case of dissolution, the liquidation shall be effected by the Board members then in office.

3. Should the Society have any funds remaining after settlement of all debts, these funds shall be paid to a public charity in which no Board member has any personal connection.

Unspecified Matters
Article 10.

All cases falling within the scope of these Articles but not provided for therein shall be handled by a resolution of the Society Board.

Created by:
Eduard Hovy, Digital Government Research Center, University of Southern California
Stuart Shulman, University of Pittsburgh
Theresa Pardo, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany
as commissioned by a public meeting at the dg.o 2005 conference in Atlanta, GA,
drawing upon the Articles of the North American Chapter of the Association of Computational Linguistics

Ratified by:
[INSERT RATIFICATION BIDY, PLACE, AND DATE]

Amended:

Maintained by the Secretary of the International Digital Electronic Government Society [INSERT URL]
Last updated [INSERT DATE]