The official “Cardano Improvement Proposal”, CIP-1694, describes a new community governance structure, establishing three user-led governance bodies: the Constitution Committee, Delegates (dReps), and Stake Pool Operators (SPOs). Going forward, Cardano's three founding organizations – the Cardano Foundation, Input Output Global (IOHK), and Emurgo – will no longer hold the keys to trigger chain upgrades or “hard forks”; instead, that responsibility will be delegated to the new governance group.
