Following is the charter for this OIX Working Group as defined and governed by Part IV of the OIX Member Rules. For more information, or to join this Working Group, please send email to jehrig [at] inventures [dot] com (John Ehrig, OIX Program Manager).
The purpose of this Working Group is to draft the OIX Attribute Exchange Trust Framework Specification to be posted on the OIX website. The Attribute Exchange Trust Framework is intended to facilitate the exchange of identity attributes or claims between attribute providers and relying parties utilizing consumer consent and control of these exchanges.
The proposed deliverables of this Working Group are:
A Working Group Charter acceptable by the OIX Board.
OIX Attribute Exchange Trust Framework Specification, prepared according to the OIX Trust Framework Requirements and Guidelines.
Acknowledgement of Principles of Openness for the above—a self-assessment of the accountability, transparency, open competition and other characteristics of this Trust Framework as required by the OIX Trust Framework Listing Application and Agreement.
This Working Group will operate under the IPR rules defined in Part III of the OIX Member Rules. Except as licensed to OIX under those rules, Participants in Working Groups will retain all rights to their Contributions of pre-existing works, and works to which they contribute while participating in a Working Group. In addition, this Working Group will operate under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license. This means all deliverables of this Working Group must be unrestricted and royalty-free with the exception of attribution.
This Working Group is open to all OIX Members and Contributors as defined in the OIX Member Rules. Participation by a broad variety of stakeholders is strongly encouraged. The Working Group may create rules for participation in the group as long as these are based on objective criteria, such as relevant experience, knowledge, credentials, or other available skills that support the work.
The activities of this Working Group are limited to the purpose and deliverables stated above.
This Working Group expects to complete its initial deliverable by the Q2 2012. At that time the Working Group will decide if it will remain active to maintain revisions to the OIX Attribute Exchange Trust Framework, or be re-chartered when the next revision is needed.
The organizer(s) of this Working Group are:
The initial members of this Working Group are:
The first meeting of the Working Group was held on December 12th, 2011, at Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy, Mountain View, CA 94043 at 1:00 pm, PST.
The Working Group expects to hold periodic conference call meetings supplemented with in-person meetings and quorum calls via email until the deliverables are complete.
What is the deadline for joining the Working Group?
There is no deadline. But we are starting work now, so if you want to contribute or monitor progress, we recommend that you join now.
Is the organization related to another Working Group or Organization?
The OIX Attribute Exchange Working Group (AX WG) is one of several in the OIX WG community. As an IRC 501(c)(6) organization, OIX is dedicated to improving conditions in the online identity and data sectors. One way in which it does this is by supporting WGs of various types to advance collaboration, innovation and interoperability for online data/identity products.
OIX WGs draft and final output and materials will be available to all members and contributors of the WG, and all finalized materials will be available to the public. It is expected that different groups in the public and private sectors, in the US and elsewhere will benefit from using the materials, in their respective future product and service and Trust Framework development efforts.
What are the objectives of the working group?
The working group supports participation of interested parties in the design, development and deployment of technology, legal and policy requirements for Trust Frameworks enabling reliable, predictable, interoperable and scalable attribute-based services. This may include verification, authentication and authorization related services.
Is there a testing program?
No. The AX WG will not itself create standards, specifications or other criteria against which products and services may be tested and will not perform any such tests. The WG is intended to foster market and system research, and to produce requirements be applied by multiple third parties in the creation of new attribute-based products and services. The working group may review system elements as part of its work, but it will not do so with the intention of making comparisons among third party offerings.
Is the organization incorporated?
No. The AX WG is not a separate legal entity; it is a part of the WG program of OIX. Under that program, every WG has a charter that acts as its “operating rules” for that WG. Section 6 of the OIX standard member rules provides the default rules if no special charter provisions are sought by WG participants and approved by the OIX board.
Once an OIX WG charter is approved by the OIX board, the work group can carry on its work with relative independence, as long as their activities are not inconsistent with OIX member rules.
Is a copy of the charter available on the website?
The default rules are available currently at section 6 of the Member rules. One purpose of the charter is to identity whether any different rules are needed from the default OIX rules.
Will the AXN WG maintain a separate website?
The OIX WG will have a series of pages on the OIX website and others locations the WG may select. One of the benefits of OIX membership is that the work of other WGs can be leveraged to save time and resources for all participants. By use of the OIX tools and WG platform on the OIX website, opportunities for collaboration, common approaches to common problems, and interoperability are enhanced. OIX plans to improve these collaboration tools over the course of 2012.
Are there any drafts/existing materials?
Materials that have been presented at prior meetings and other related materials are available at the Google Groups sites selected by the OC Chairmen. We are expecting that WG participants will contribute additional materials and proposals, so that we can work together to create some ongoing threads regarding cost saving, risk reducing solutions to identity attribute exchange systems.
Contributed content and discussions work can be broken down into sub groups and three categories. These include technology specification, legal terms of agreements and business policies and protocols. These categories are typically addressed in a comprehensive set of Trust Framework documents.
What types of entities might benefit from participating in the development of the materials?
Relying parties (RP) (and parties that directly or indirectly reflect their interests) can benefit by being able to clearly express their attribute-based services needs. RPs are important customers of attribute leverage systems. A broad set of use-cases and value propositions will be examined for each participant as a deliverable for the AX WG.
What is the scope of the AX WG?
There are already several WGs in the OIX WG community, with more expected to be formed to address different stakeholder needs across the Internet. As such, it is helpful to consider a scope for the work to avoid overlap and duplication of effort. It is intended that the WG will focus on particular issues associated with the use and exchange of attributes in online identification, authentication and authorization transactions. This can be informed by analogous work in the OIX Telco Data Working Group chaired by Scott Rice and Paul Florak.
What contribution would participants be expected to make to the WG?
It is common in standards development that WG include thought leaders, domain experts or “workers and lurkers”, i.e., active participants and passive observers who only occasionally contribute. The goal of the WG is to bring together as many voices and points of view as possible so that the pilots can be as valuable to as many stakeholders as possible. As such, we hope that all participants will take as active role as is possible and actively solicit diverse contributions, consistent participation and constructive debate.
How does the WG help to promote technology and legal standards, and what are the benefits of those standards?
The research, discussion and pilots are all directed toward implementations of broadly scalable, commercially viable, near term solutions to attribute-based exchange needs across shareholder groups and across the Internet. Broad deployment is enhanced through the adoption of open standards.
If the WG will not itself produce Trust Frameworks, why do we need to sign a contribution agreement to participate in the WG?
The contribution agreement covers topics that are useful in an effort to avoid misunderstandings and assure constructive and open engagement among competitors and those with differing points of view. We hope that by making governance, IP and other issues clear, OIX can create a space for frank and efficient collaboration to move quickly from talk to action, from pilots to products, from problem identification to the implementation of solutions.