A community comment period is now open for proposed changes to the definition for the Research & Scholarship Category. InCommon recently created this category to allow identity providers to release a minimal set of attributes by default to qualifying Service Providers, a simpler and more scalable approach than negotiating with each service provider.
What is the purpose for the proposed changes? Many services in the federation serve multiple goals. A wiki, for example, may support research and scholarship, but may also be used in teaching and learning. The proposed changes are intended to ensure that identity providers are confident that they are releasing a set of default attributes to defined research and scholarship applications, while not being overly restrictive to services that may have additional uses.
The proposed changes, including a DIFF between the current and proposed wording, are available at https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/woDEAQ. Comments may be made using the comment function on the wiki page (which requires logging in) or by emailing info@incommon.org. The comment period is open through March 30, 2012.