define "independent"

I've recently had cause to discuss what the Process's use of the term "independent" means, as applying to implementation experience.

The term is not defined in the Process, and some folk might want to bend what I consider to be a common sense interpretation to meet their own objectives. (Or maybe they have the common sense and I'm the one bending the interpretation!) There's room for clarification in relation to the following aspects:

• the organisation that has created the implementation (#9 might be related)
• the individuals involved in creating the implementation
• shared dependencies amongst implementations

I'm sure that the Director has some meaning of "independent" in mind; it would be helpful at least to set out some guidance, even if not to lock it down to a tight definition.