Announcing the VeChain Foundation 2nd Term Steering Committee Election

Objective

A proper blockchain governance system needs transparency and operational efficiency which enables continual and rapid innovation. In order to achieve the main goal of operating a decentralized public blockchain with the capacity to scale and at the same time complying with regulators, governments and to meet the needs of large enterprises, VeChain aims to improve its governance model with the ability for continuous iterations alongside rapid progression in ecosystem development.

It is important that such a governance model is both efficient and cost-effective, while resulting in consensus and decisions that balance the views of all stakeholders of the blockchain. The Steering Committee (“SC”) of the VeChain Foundation, elected by all stakeholders in the ecosystem every two years, facilitates the efficiency of decision making and ensures the fairness and effectiveness of the execution on fundamental matters that require all stakeholders’ decision, as well as executing all other decisions that are vested to the SC as according to the Governance Charter.

At the early stage of the VeChain ecosystem, it is important that Steering Committee Members (“Members”) share the vision of creating a distributed business ecosystem on top of the VeChainThor blockchain and at the same time represent various stakeholders in the ecosystem. Hence, with the first term of the VeChain Foundation Steering Committee coming to an end on June 30th 2020, we introduce the following process of the 2nd term Steering Committee election.

Criteria And Eligibility Of SC Member Candidates

As determined by the current Steering Committee, the size of the 2nd term Steering Committee will remain as seven. According to the VeChain Foundation Governance Charter, SC member candidates are nominated based on three categories:

1. Existing SC members who decide to run for the next term
2. Candidates (up to three) nominated directly by the Foundation nomination committee
3. Candidates who publicly announced their intentions to run for the 2nd term Steering Committee member

The total number of candidates from the above three sources can not exceed 14 in the final all-stakeholders voting.

For candidates in all three categories above, before expressing the intention to run as a candidate to be a Steering Committee member, an applicant must meet the following prerequisites:

• Announce the intention to run for the SC member by publicly disclosing his/her real name
• Minimum age of 21 years old
• Is not a “disqualified person” according to 4.2.1 Size, Composition and Criteria of the Governance Charter

According to the VeChain Foundation Governance Charter, SC member candidates are required to meet the following qualitative criteria:

1. Integrity, objectivity, sound judgment and leadership
2. Relevant expertise and experience required to offer advice and guidance to the development strategy of the Foundation
3. The ability to make independent analytical inquiries, collaborate effectively and contribute productively to the Steering Committee’s discussions and deliberations
4. A commitment to enhancing the long-term value of the VeChainThor Blockchain for stakeholders
5. An understanding of the Foundation and blockchain operation, strategy and challenges
6. The willingness and ability to devote adequate time and effort to Steering Committee responsibilities and to serve on Functional Committees at the request of the Steering Committee

In addition, as part of SC members’ job role, each member is required to oversee a functional committee which fits his/her field of expertise. SC members are expected to provide strategic guidance on the operation and continuous development of the VeChain Foundation organization, blockchain technology and ecosystem. Members usually represent the VeChain Foundation in various occasions such as professional associations, academic organizations, industrial forum, technical conferences and so on, in which they should be capable of elaborating VeChain’s strategy and vision and bringing the resources to help the growth of the ecosystem.

What Is The Role Of Steering Committee Members?

The Steering Committee represents the VeChainThor blockchain stakeholders’ interests in the long-term development of the technical infrastructure, business expansion, and VET value enhancement. The Steering Committee is responsible for establishing the general oversight and framework, including the design of the operating rules of the blockchain that are intended to achieve these goals. The proposed oversight and framework for these goals would then be implemented by the functional committee teams. Steering Committee members except for members from the VeChain team will receive a fixed amount of VTHO tokens as compensation, and the Foundation will cover travel expenses and accommodation for members to attend board meetings, except for members that are located directly at the city in which the meeting would be held.

Principle responsibilities of the Steering Committee are to:

1. Propose and organize all stakeholder voting events for fundamental issues of the VeChainThor Blockchain
2. Execute the on-chain governance operations and ensure proper decision making process is followed
3. Review, approve, and monitor the Foundation’s major strategic, technical, financial, and business activities
4. Provide strategic guidance based on the report of the functional committees in various areas
5. Review, modify and approve the governance principles of the Foundation
6. Review, approve and monitor the Foundation’s annual budget, financial status including VET holdings, use of proceeds and its major transactions
7. Review, approve and monitor the procedure of nomination and election of the Steering Committee members, functional committee chairs and the General Secretary of the Foundation
8. Review, approve and monitor the operation model of VTHO (operating cost basis of the VeChainThor Blockchain) and valuation model of VET

The Steering Committee members meet at least quarterly. In addition to the regularly scheduled meetings, unscheduled meetings may be called, upon proper notice, at any time to address specific needs of the Foundation. Members are expected to attend and participate in the quarterly meetings in person. In case of any special circumstances that do not allow the member to attend in person, the member should attend telephonically and notify the designated supporting administrative staff or the General Secretary in advance of the meeting.

As the governing body of the VeChain Foundation, each Steering Committee member holds a VeKey device which stores one of the addresses that are authorized to conduct on-chain governance operation, such as modification of Authority Masternodes, modification of technical on-chain parameters. Members are responsible to securely keep their VeKey and conduct on-chain governance operations in a timely manner as requested.

On the other hand, as a representative of the VeChain Foundation, SC members are obliged to keep the information discussed in the meetings confidential and not to provide any public comment that could potentially impact the market.

Overview Of The VeChain Foundation Steering Committee Election Process

An election for the VeChain Foundation Steering Committee happens every two years. The next term of the Steering Committee starts from July 1, 2020.

1. The planned timetable of the VeChain Foundation 2nd term Steering Committee election process

• February 2020 — Candidates of all the three categories mentioned above announce their intentions to run and make declaration on the VeChainWorld forum.
• February to March 2020 — Eligible candidates to promote their ideas and vision for the VeChain ecosystem; Candidates or the community may organize AMAs, presentations, debates at this stage.
• March 2020 — The Foundation holds the first phase all stakeholders voting (“first phase voting”) on the VeVote platform to vote on candidates of Category 3 to eliminate extra candidates (if any) based on the Steering Committee composition. The first phase voting also serves the purpose to test the approval rating for Category 3 candidates.
• April 2020 — The Foundation holds the second phase all stakeholders voting (“second phase voting”) on the VeVote platform to determine the category 3 candidates that enter the shortlist for the final phase voting.
• May 2020 — The Foundation holds the final phase all stakeholders voting (“final phase voting”) on the VeVote platform to elect the 2nd term Steering Committee from the shortlist.
• End of May 2020 — The Foundation counts the stakeholder votes and announce the 2nd term VeChain Foundation Steering Committee members.
• June 2020 — Steering Committee handover.
• July 1 2020 — Inauguration Day of the 2nd term VeChain Foundation Steering Committee.
• The actual dates may be subject to change as the Foundation operation team deems appropriate.

2. How do I announce the intention to run?

Starting from today, eligible applicants should announce the intention to run for the 2nd term Steering Committee member candidates by creating a post in the VeChainWorld forum that strictly follows the requirements in the Appendix.

The declaration of intention by eligible candidates should encompass the following matters, of which the Appendix provides detailed templates:

1. A declaration of willingness to enter the election and the association (if any) with Authority Masternodes, developers, enterprise users, and business partners (which determines if the applicant is qualified as an independent member)
2. A detailed resume/CV with information about identification, profile, education, experience, skills, professional certification, accomplishments
3. A personal (strategy/vision) statement

For Category 3 candidate applicants, the declaration of intention should be first posted as a Forum Thread in the “General Discussion” section of the VeChainWorld discussion forum website. The Foundation operation team will review it to ensure the applicant passes the KYC and meet the basic requirements before moving the applicant’s declaration of intention to the “2nd Term Steering Committee Election” section.

The declaration of intention of Category 1 & 2 candidates will be posted directly in the “2nd Term Steering Committee Election” section because their identities and background are pre-assessed by the Foundation team.

3. Declaration of intention, multi phased voting

The election process begins with applicants and candidates in all three categories announce their intentions to run for the 2nd term VeChain Foundation Steering Committee in the VeChainWorld Forum. Candidates of Category 1 & 2 who are pre-assessed by the nomination committee will automatically enter the final election shortlist. The Foundation nomination committee will independently source the candidates of Category 2, and the Foundation team may reach out to applicants who publicly express the intention to run for the SC members to be directly nominated by the Foundation for the final shortlist if the applicant is deemed of high value to the VeChain ecosystem.

Category 3 candidates, after passing the Foundation operation team’s preliminary review, need to be elected in the first phase and second phase voting before entering the shortlist for final phase voting together with the Category 1&2 candidates.

In the first phase, depending on the number of eligible candidates in Category 3 by then, the first phase voting may eliminate a number of candidates in addition to testing the approval rating of the candidates. The Foundation may invite candidates with high approval ratings to join an online debate session following the first phase voting.

Stability is critical in the early stage of the VeChain ecosystem, so the candidates in Category 3 who get elected in the first phase voting need to win at least 15% of the voting authority of the casted votes in the second phase voting before making to the shortlist for the final phase voting. Final rules of the second phase voting will be detailed in the voting requirement which will be announced in advance.

In the final phase, all stakeholders will cast votes on the candidates in the final shortlist and the seven candidates, in accordance with the Steering Committee composition rule, who receive the most voting authority of the casted votes will be elected for the 2nd term Steering Committee.

All the above voting events will follow the all stakeholders voting rules according to the VeChain Foundation Governance Charter. Details of each voting event will be announced one week in advance of the ballot open time.

4. What is the composition of the 2nd term Steering Committee?

As determined by the existing Steering Committee, the size of the 2nd term Steering Committee will remain as seven. Hence, according to 4.2.1 Size, Composition and Criteria of the Governance Charter in the 2nd term VeChain Foundation Steering Committee, stakeholder members that belong to the same entity can not occupy more than 3 seats and there should be at least one seat allocated to an independent member. In addition, the General Secretary of the Steering Committee will be elected by the 2nd term Steering Committee when it is formed.

The election process and the form of the Steering Committee should be interpreted in the context of all applicable laws. The on-boarding of the Steering Committee members will follow the legal requirement of Singapore where the VeChain Foundation is incorporated. The VeChain Foundation reserves the rights of final interpretation of the content herein-above and modification to the process as deemed appropriate.

Click the link below to download the Appendix：

Appendix — Requirements on the Declaration of Intention

第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举即将启动

选举目的

合理适当的区块链链上治理模型必须保持透明、高效，方能实现持续快速创新。唯链始终以打造规模化、合规化、企业友好的区块链平台为目标，通过不断优化链上治理模型，赋予其更灵活的迭代能力，助力唯链生态的快速繁荣发展。

对于治理模型而言，维持高效且节约成本十分重要。在有效达成共识并进行决策的同时，须兼顾到生态内各方的权益。唯链基金会战略决策委员会（简称“委员会”）通过唯链生态中的所有利益相关者选举产生，每两年换届一次。其职责在于进行高效决策，确保在涉及所有利益相关者的核心议题上，执行公平和有效的决策，并执行《唯链基金会治理章程》 中提到的其他事务。

在唯链生态发展的早期，战略决策委员会成员（简称“成员”）拥有共同的愿景至关重要，即基于唯链雷神区块链打造一个去中心化的商业生态，成员们将以此为目标维护所有利益相关者的权益。第一届唯链基金会战略决策委员会将于2020年6月30日到期卸任。因而，我们在此正式公开第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举规则。

战略决策委员会成员候选人资质及要求

根据现届委员会的规定，第二届委员会将维持7人的规模。《唯链基金会治理章程》中明文规定了三类可参选的候选人：

第一类：决定继续参选的现届委员会成员；

第二类：由唯链基金会提名委员会成员提名的候选人（最多3位）；

第三类：个人主动公开表示参选意向的候选人。

在最终的所有利益相关者投票中，来自上述三类的候选人总数不能超过14个。

以上三类候选人，必须符合以下条件：

• 公开披露真实姓名及参选意向；
• 年龄在21周岁以上；
• 不属于《唯链基金会治理章程》4.2.1条例中的“不符合要求人员”。

根据《唯链基金会治理章程》，战略决策委员会成员应具有以下重要特征：

1. 正直、客观，并具备良好的判断力及领导力;
2. 具备相关专业技能、经验，能够为基金会的发展提供战略性建议和指导;
3. 具备独立分析调查、高效协作的能力，并能在战略决策委员会的讨论和商议中作出建设性贡献;
4. 致力于为各利益相关者提升唯链雷神区块链的长期价值;
5. 对唯链基金会及区块链的运营、战略和挑战有深刻认识;
6. 有意向且有能力付出足够的时间和精力履行作为战略决策委员会成员的职责，完成战略决策委员会安排的相应职能委员会的工作。

此外，委员会成员的职能还包括对其专业领域内的职能部门进行管理。成员们须对唯链基金会的运营及可持续发展提供战略性、建设性意见。成员们还须代表基金会出席重要场合，包括专业联盟、学术组织、行业论坛和技术会议等，并在上述场合展示唯链基金会的战略目标及愿景，为唯链生态发展获取资源。

唯链基金会战略决策委员会成员角色及责任

战略决策委员会代表唯链生态内各利益相关者在技术基础架构、业务拓展和VET增值等方面的长期发展和利益。战略决策委员会负责监督和确立基本框架，包括设计唯链雷神区块链运营规则，以实现相应的目标。职能委员会负责实行由战略决策委员会确立的基本框架。基金会会向战略决策委员会成员（除来自唯链基金会的成员）发放固定数额的VTHO作为补贴，并负责报销会议期间战略决策委员会成员的差旅费和住宿费(除在会议举办当地居住的成员）。

唯链基金会战略决策委员会的主要职能包括:

1. 为唯链雷神区块链上的核心议题发起并组织全网投票；
2. 执行链上治理，并负责制定相应的合理决策；
3. 审查、批准及监督基金会的重大战略、技术、财务及业务活动;
4. 根据职能委员会的汇报提供战略性指导；
5. 审查、修改及批准基金会的治理原则;
6. 审查、批准及监督基金会的年度预算、财务状况(包括 VET 持有情况)、所得款项用途及其主要交易;
7. 审查、批准及监督战略决策委员会成员、各职能委员会负责人及基金会秘书长的提名和选举流程;
8. 审查、批准及监督 VTHO 的运营模型(唯链雷神区块链的运营成本基础)和 VET 的估值模型。

战略决策委员会会议至少每季度举办一次。除定期会议外，战略决策委员会可在妥当通知后，随时召开临时会议以解决唯链基金会的特定事项。除非有特殊情况确实无法出席，全体成员均应亲自出席季度会议。确实因特殊原因无法亲自出席会议时，该成员应在会议举行前提前将相应情况告知指定的行政支持人员或秘书长，并通过电话参加会议。

战略决策委员会作为唯链基金会的治理机构，每一位委员会成员将持有VeKey设备，其中存储着授权链上治理活动的地址，可进行包括超级权益节点调整、重要链上技术参数调整等操作。委员会成员有义务妥善保管VeKey并在执行链上治理操作时及时进行授权。

此外，作为基金会的代表，委员会成员有义务对所有会议内容进行保密，不得以任何形式对外公开以免影响市场秩序。

唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举流程概述

唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举每两年进行一次，下一届委员会任期将于2020年7月1日正式开始。

1. 第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举流程如下：

• 2020年2月 — 上述三类候选人在VeChainWorld上公开表达参选意向。
• 2020年2月至3月 — 符合条件的候选人针对唯链生态建设发表观点；候选人或社区可在此阶段组织AMA、演讲或辩论等活动。
• 2020年3月 — 基金会将通过VeVote进行第一阶段所有利益相关者投票（即“第一轮投票”）。针对第三类候选人（即个人主动公开表示参选意向的候选人），该投票将排除不符合《唯链基金会治理章程》要求者。该轮投票同时也是对第三类候选人获得的支持率进行测试。
• 2020年4月 — 基金会将通过VeVote进行第二阶段所有利益相关者投票（即“第二轮投票”），对通过上一轮的第三类候选人进行投票筛选，以确认进入最终候选名单的人员。
• 2020年5月 — 基金会将通过VeVote进行第三轮所有利益相关者投票（即“最后一轮投票”），在最终候选名单内票选第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会成员。
• 2020年5月底 — 基金会统计票数并公开第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会成员名单。
• 2020年6月 — 唯链基金会战略决策委员会交接。
• 2020年7月1日 — 第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会成员正式上任。
• 具体日期或将根据唯链基金会运营团队的实际需求进行调整

2. 如何公开表达参选意向？

即日起，符合条件的候选人可在VeChainWorld论坛上公开发布须符合附录要求的参选意向。

在公开发布参选意向时，须在文章中包含以下内容，具体要求可见附录。

1. 声明参加选举意向，并明确阐述自己与超级权益节点、开发者、企业用户和商业伙伴的关系（用于判断该候选人是否属于独立成员）
2. 详细的个人简历，包括身份、职业、教育程度、个人经历、技能水平、专业证明和成就等。
3. 个人陈述（战略思考、发展愿景）

第三类候选人须在VeChainWorld论坛 General Discussion专区以发帖的形式发表公开参选意向的文章。基金会运营团队将对此进行审核，以确保符合KYC及基本要求，而后将其转发至“2nd Term Steering Committee Election” （第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举专区）。

基于严格客观的背景审核，第一类及第二类候选人可直接在 “2nd Term Steering Committee Election” （第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会选举专区）发帖表达参选意向。

3. 参选声明，三个阶段投票

当所有三类候选人在VeChainWorld论坛发布参选声明后，选举正式开始。经过唯链基金会提名委员会事先筛选的第一类及第二类候选人将直接进入最终候选名单。基金会负责选举事务的提名委员会将独立提供第二类候选人名单，若有可为唯链生态作出巨大贡献的候选者公开表达参选意向，基金会团队或将直接联系该候选者进入最终候选名单。

第三类候选人在通过基金会初审之后，经过第一阶段和第二阶段投票即可进入最终候选名单，与第一类及第二类候选人竞争。

在第一阶段投票过程中，如果符合条件的第三类候选人人数过多，或将根据票数进行筛选。基金会或将在第一阶段投票结束后邀请支持率高的候选人进行线上辩论。

稳定性对唯链生态早期阶段的发展至关重要，因此第三类候选人在通过第一阶段后，须在第二阶段赢得至少15%的投票权重（最终得票权重要求将在第二轮投票规则中说明），而后进入最终候选名单

在第三阶段的所有利益相关者投票仅针对最终候选名单，按票数排序的前7位候选人将组成第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会。

以上所有投票将根据《唯链基金会治理章程》中的所有利益相关者投票规则进行。具体细节将于每轮投票开始前一周公开。

4. 第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会构成

根据现届战略决策委员会的规定，第二届委员会将维持7人的规模。此外，根据《唯链基金会治理章程》4.2.1规定，第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会中，属于同一实体的利益相关者成员不得超过3席，且必须有1个席位归独立成员。并且，第二届唯链基金会战略决策委员会成立时将重新选举秘书长。

选举流程及唯链基金会战略决策委员会制度形式须在相关法律背景下解读。战略决策委员会的任职将根据新加坡法律进行。唯链基金会对以上所有规定保留最终解释权。

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《参选意向声明模板》