Terms of Engagement

This section presents the Terms of Engagement detailing the features, rights and permissions of entities operating PeerConnect’s suite of services

1.1     Rights and Permissions Associated with PeerConnect’s Suite of Services

1.1.1     PeerConnect is an initiative of and owned by Steve Glovinsky Inc., doing business as Smarter Development, an S-Corp registered in New York USA.  It is a business method offering a suite of services (individual platforms) designed to promote “community-building” – facilitating the organization of professionals into affinity groups (“Communities”) for the purpose of increasing individual effectiveness and collective influence.  It is the intellectual property of Smarter Development, with all rights reserved.  Interested parties should obtain permission from the owner before considering replicating or adapting this proprietary business method. 

1.1.2     The individual platforms included in the suite of services have been adapted from open-source software applications or utilize proprietary software for which licenses have been purchased.  These platforms retain the intellectual property rights associated with their use.

  • SHARE – the platform is the open-source application Discourse.  For terms of service of a Discourse installation see https://meta.discourse.org/tos

  • CONSULT – the platform is Groups.io.  For terms of service see https://groups.io/static/tos

  • COLLABORATE – the platform incorporates multiple proprietary and open-source software applications that launch independently.  For terms of service refer to the relevant page in the application

  • COLLECT – [platform to be determined]

  • Frontline – the platform is derived from a custom-built software application, “Helplinez” created in open-source by the IT company Nutanix, as a pro-bono contribution to support humanitarian interventions carried out by SEEDS, a nationally recognized Non-Governmental Organization.  The code is available at xxxx.  Creative Commons terms of use apply.

  • The Knowledge Mela – consists of a set of processes developed under “Solution Exchange” (see below), adapted and improved over time.  Process notes are freely available; contact the PeerConnect Team for more information.

1.1.3     CONSULT’s business method.  PeerConnect’s CONSULT service shares the knowledge, experiences and insights of its email group members through a structured business method that converts all responses to a member’s query or discussion topic into a knowledge-based product called a “Consolidated Reply,” allowing the knowledge contributed by responders to be indexed, tracked, disseminated and re-used.  The “Query-Consolidated Reply” process was initially developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2002, and was incorporated into the UN initiative “Solution Exchange” which operated in India and other countries between 2005 and 2014.  PeerConnect has revived the Query-Consolidated Reply process, acknowledging that it has been identified as a patentable business method originating with UNDP.  In using this business method, therefore, neither PeerConnect nor other parties are allowed to claim a patent for it.

1.2     Content and Products Generated by PeerConnect’s Services

1.2.1     Unless otherwise specified, Consolidated Replies and other content generated or contributed by Community members over PeerConnect’s interactive forums are freely accessible to all visitors to PeerConnect under the Creative Commons copyright regime “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike” (CC-BY-NC-SA).  For details refer to the “Copyright” section of the Terms of Participation.

1.2.2     PeerConnect’s COLLABORATE service offers Community members workspaces and tools for teams – called “Action Groups” – to develop products identified from queries and discussions on PeerConnect’s interactive forums.  Action Groups are commissioned by a sponsor, who selects the group members, arranges for any financing needed, and commits to take forward the product developed.  Products can include guidelines, policy drafts, action research proposals, and other content which would be included on the COLLECT repository under PeerConnect’s Creative Commons copyright regime.  Products could also include commercially viable technologies or business methods which would warrant a proprietary patent.  Under these circumstances the Action Group sponsor would be able to receive permission from the PeerConnect Team to take ownership of the product, which would be granted on condition either that proceeds it generates are shared with the Community or that it provides the Community a demonstrated direct benefit.  The specific arrangement on how this would be done and what portion of the proceeds or benefits would be shared would be subject to negotiation on a case-by-case basis.  In the interest of parity, the Community’s portion would be shared between the Community’s operating budget, the members of the Action Group developing the product, and, at the discretion of the sponsor, the individuals in the Group who were most directly responsible for the design of the product.

1.3     PeerConnect’s Terms of Client Engagement

1.3.1  Smarter Development authorizes entities the right to set up and operate any or all of PeerConnect’s suite of services on condition that they adhere to the Terms of Engagement specified in Annex 1.  This document spells out the roles and responsibilities of PeerConnect as the provider of the services and of the entity as the owner and operator of the specific PeerConnect installation, PeerConnect’s compensation as the service provider, ownership and retention of the content generated, and infringement actions.