[44net] Update on ARDC Board activities

I want to provide an update on what ARDC's nonprofit board has been doing since Brian's sudden passing last November. Our three priorities have been: 1) Sustainability and continuity of the AMPRnet infrastructure. As I reported to the list 30 Dec 2019, Chris Smith, G1FEF (chris(a)g1fef.co.uk) has taken over AMPRnet portal management among other sysadmin tasks. Chris is now working under paid contract with ARDC, rather than as a volunteer. Besides keeping the infrastructure going, he is also dedicating some paid time to improving the Portal and other software. The process of contracting made us aware that we had never adopted a GDPR-compliant privacy policy, so we've engaged lawyers to write one -- as simple as they'll let us make it, given that we do actually keep personal data about hams who apply for net44 allocations, write for the mailing list or wiki, etc. Actually following this policy then requires us to make staff policies to match it (Record Retention and Data Destruction, Data Custodianship and Access), plus a Terms of Use for the website, which we are still actively trying to shorten and simplify. (I hate this legal stuff as much as anybody, but it has to be done.) 2) Gathering administrative, financial and legal records, investing our funds responsibly, and preparing for our first financial audit. Brian was a meticulous record-keeper, and we do have all his records, but clearly he had no intention of passing so soon. So this was not trivial. The audited financials and our 2019 tax return will be published on the website and announced on the mailing list. 3) Establishing processes for accepting and reviewing grant applications, awarding grants and following up on how our grants are spent. We are steadily adding process and documentation. The board appointed five volunteers to the Grants Advisory Committee for 2020 and it's up and running. They meet (virtually) every two weeks to review, discuss and evaluate the proposals that are now flowing in. The Committee (and the Board) do approve a few grants as originally submitted, but most involve some negotiation. Typically we'll ask an applicant to divide a single request into well-defined sub-projects, each with a clear objective and cost. Although ARDC did fully fund the UCSD Turing Memorial Scholarship in Brian's memory, in general we want to avoid funding other organizations' endowments. So we'll ask applicants to request only what they can usefully spend in one year, and come back next year for more. Then we can see what they've accomplished as we decide whether to grant more. For more information, see: https://www.ampr.org/giving/ Here is a list of all grants made. They total more than a million US dollars so far. https://www.ampr.org/grants/ As the Giving page describes, there is a lot more to do. We hope to increase the pace this year, but we are trying hard to get everything right, or at least not terribly wrong. I never expected to become ARDC President. Brian was a close personal friend and you can't believe how much I wish he still had this job. I have health problems of my own slowing me down, and while I've avoided Covid (so far) the pandemic certainly isn't helping. My original plans to promote ARDC at major ham gatherings like Dayton and Friedrichshafen evaporated months ago. But the entire Board remains committed to realize Brian's vision and honor his long commitment to the AMPRnet infrastructure and community, and to the Internet community. Brian stood at the intersection of both, and ARDC will continue to do the same. 73, Phil Karn, KA9Q ARDC President