OpenTitan Technical Committee Terms of Reference

Purpose

The OpenTitan Technical Committee (OTTC) is part of the OpenTitan governance structure. It is appointed by the OpenTitan Governing Board (OTGB) and is responsible for technical decision making required to implement the technical roadmap.

Expectations and Conduct

All OpenTitan spaces, including the OTTC, are covered by the OpenTitan code of conduct to ensure a welcoming and respectful community. Beyond this, OTTC members are expected to follow the guidance below:

  • Each OTTC member has a good faith duty to act in the best interests of the OpenTitan Project when performing their role as a OTTC member.
  • Be active participants in development discussions within the OpenTitan Project, including but not limited to OTTC meetings.
  • Consider comments and feedback that have been made on proposals during the Project-wide review process and ensure any concerns are adequately considered and addressed.
  • Ensure that feedback has been sought from all relevant stakeholders, and appropriate effort has been made to find consensus within the OpenTitan contributor community.
  • Put aside sufficient time on a week-by-week basis to review active proposals and give feedback.
  • Collaborate to deliver on the responsibilities of the OTTC.
  • Proactively seek to identify contributors who should be nominated for committer status.

Membership

The OpenTitan Technical Committee membership is below. Individuals marked with a star are included through partner entitlement. Other individuals are directly appointed by the OpenTitan Governing Board.

  • Andreas Kurth (chair, lowRISC)*
  • Eran Meisner (Nuvoton)*
  • Ravi Sahita (Rivos)*
  • Tim Trippel (Google)*
  • Shimeon Greenberg (Nuvoton)
  • Rupert Swarbrick (lowRISC)
  • No current appointee (Giesecke & Devrient)*

Roles

The OTTC Chair facilitates the effective functioning of the OTTC. The role confers no enhanced voting rights. By default the OTTC Chair is the lowRISC representative in the OTTC. Any alternative OTTC member may be appointed to the Chair for a period of three months by OTTC vote.

Appointing members

Membership of the OTTC is defined in the OpenTitan Technical Charter.

Meetings

OTTC meetings will be held regularly on an agreed schedule. The Chair may call additional meetings when a discussion or decision is needed outside the schedule. Minutes should be kept in a form accessible to OTTC members but will be considered confidential to this group. If a meeting has no agenda items (see below), the Chair may cancel it ahead of time.

Notification of meetings

Agenda items should be submitted at least three days in advance of the meeting by adding them to the meeting notes doc. The Chair should circulate the agenda at least two days in advance of the meeting.

Voting and quoracy

Voting uses the following rules unless otherwise specified.

  • Voting may be at a meeting to which all TC members are invited or offline by email on the TC mailing list.
  • If voting is offline, at least two weeks’ notice is required.
  • If a TC member cannot attend a meeting to vote, they may instead vote by email to the TC mailing list before the respective TC meeting.
  • For a vote to be quorate, it requires:
    • At least 60% of OTTC members to respond “Yes” or “No”
  • For a vote to pass, it requires:
    • At least 75% of those OTTC members who vote “Yes” or “No” to be in favour

The chair has no enhanced voting rights as a result of their position. Voting results are recorded in the TC meeting notes. Results may be captured by number (e.g., “5 Yes, 2 No”) or by name (e.g., “Yes: Member A, Member C; No: Member B”).

Communication

Decisions and action points should be recorded and distributed to OTTC members and the OTGB no later than a week after the meeting. Where OTTC decisions affect the broader OpenTitan community, the Chair should ensure that information is sent, or documentation updated, in a timely manner.

Responsibilities

Maintaining the list of OpenTitan Committers.

Committers are individuals with repository write access. While everyone can and is encouraged to contribute by reviewing code, committers are responsible for final approval and merge. New committers are appointed by OTTC vote. The OTTC removes committers who no longer meet the OTTC’s criteria as described in Committers.

Oversight of the RFC process

This includes voting to approve, reject, postpone or revise RFCs in line with the RFC process. In particular this includes:

  • Determining whether an RFC is complete
  • Approving or rejecting an RFC by a OTTC vote.
  • Referring an RFC to the GB for a decision by a OTTC vote.

Creating and managing Commit Escalation Guidelines

These set out the guidance for when Committers should escalate a particular Commit to the OTTC (e.g., cross-cutting changes), and when Committers should recommend a design rationale write-up or RFC for wider feedback from the OTTC.

Proposing changes and/or additions to the Project’s technical roadmap

The OTGB has ownership of the Project roadmap. Proposals can be made by OTTC vote and are referred to the OTGB for consideration.

Framework for compliance & certification

Proposing the technical framework for compliance & certification under the Project’s trademarks. This defines what meets the standards of OpenTitan certification. The OTTC may propose changes to the technical framework by OTTC vote. The OTGB votes to approve or reject the proposed changes. In the absence of a vote, changes proposed by the OTTC are approved one month after notification to the OTGB.

Modifying the terms of reference

The OTTC Terms of Reference are set by the OTGB, and any changes to this document have to be approved by the OTGB. The OTTC can propose changes to the OTGB.