Product and Technology Advisory Council/Charter

This charter sets shared expectations for WMF and PTAC Members for Year 2 of the Council. Establishing clarity around roles and commitments helps ensure alignment and allows each member to thoughtfully consider their capacity to participate. These expectations have been shaped by the learnings and recommendations emerging from Year 1.

Purpose of PTAC

The PTAC serves as an advisory body to the WMF, responsible for developing recommendations on strategic product and technical priorities. By engaging in thoughtful discussion of complex challenges, trade-offs, long-term strategy, and data-informed analysis, the PTAC seeks to produce community-representative recommendations to inform product and technical direction over a 2–3 year horizon. In Year 2 of the council’s continuation, PTAC will also strive to establish regional solutions through affiliates, hubs and other volunteer-supported structures, to prioritize and work on unsupported tools that our communities need.

Scope

• The PTAC operates in an advisory capacity
• The council:
  • Engages with, reviews and provides input on product and technology initiatives and priorities
  • Elevate risks, opportunities, and emerging issues and trends
  • Engages with their respective communities about the PTAC’s discussions and recommendations
• The council does not:
  • Generally focus on discrete and tactical requests such as those coming in through Phabricator and the Wishlist; the focus is on strategic, longer term priorities and decisions

PTAC expectations

Council members are expected to:

• Attend and actively participate in PTAC meetings and working groups (target: ~3–4 hours per month).
• Contribute frequently, constructively, openly, and transparently – both during meetings and in asynchronous discussions.
• Prepare for meetings by reviewing materials in advance and engaging thoughtfully with the topics being discussed.
• Serve as a bridge to their communities by gathering input, sharing updates, and communicating PTAC discussions and recommendations back to relevant groups.
• Volunteer for or rotate into supporting roles, including working group leads, note-takers responsible for publishing notes on Meta, and communications coordination.
• Engage respectfully with diverse perspectives and work collaboratively toward shared outcomes.
• Act in alignment with the PTAC’s advisory mandate, focusing on strategic issues rather than individual feature requests or operational decisions.

WMF expectations

WMF staff support is expected to:

• Clearly communicate roadmaps and active work areas where PTAC recommendations are being implemented, enabling council members to understand how and where their recommendations are applied.
• Share impact-oriented metrics, not just progress updates, so that PTAC can assess the outcomes and effectiveness of their recommendations.
• Show alignment between PTAC recommendations and WMF workstreams and/or the Annual Plan, providing visibility into how recommendations fit within organizational priorities.
• Provide a designated WMF primary point of contact for council members to coordinate questions, updates, and follow-up.
• Define and communicate staff roles for supporting PTAC members, including logistics support, facilitation, note-taking, and communications responsibilities.

Ways of Working - Year 2

In Year 2, the PTAC’s ways of working will follow the structure outlined below, with the understanding that adjustments may be made throughout the year based on what is effective:

• Virtual Workshop (February): PTAC members will provide input into the Annual Planning Process (APP).
• PTAC Representation at Key Convenings: We aim to include PTAC members in WMF offsites and gatherings, such as:
  • Future Labs (January)
  • Product and Tech Annual Planning Offsite (February)
  • WMF Organization-wide Annual Planning (March)
  • Strategy Day (March)
  • Wikimania (August)

As schedules and budgets are finalized, we will actively coordinate PTAC representation. PTAC members attending are expected to report back to the full council on key themes from the event (particularly those most relevant to PTAC), surface potential recommendations or decisions for council consideration, and coordinate the sharing of PTAC perspectives with event stakeholders

• Quarterly Full Council Meetings: 1.5–2 hour sessions will be held depending on the topics to be discussed.
• Bi-Monthly/Monthly Working Group Activities: Synchronous and asynchronous work will be self-organized by working group leads as needed throughout the year. Working Groups are encouraged to meet more frequently (e.g. Monthly/Bi-monthly) to drive the work of the council, especially when working on time-sensitive deliverables
• Asynchronous Input from Product and Tech Teams: PTAC members may be asked to provide feedback and input outside of meetings to inform ongoing discussions.

Term and membership review

Member team length will be 1 - 3 years to allow for both continuity but also introducing new perspectives. Continuous conversations with members, including 1:1s with the CPTO, will inform membership tenure. Membership will be reviewed based on appropriate representation as well as active and constructive engagement.

Success measures

• PTAC Recommendations translate into action and impact
• Member engagement, attendance and participation
• Positive member feedback

Amendments

This charter may be reviewed and updated as needed with approval from the CPTO.