Contents
Introduction
The Trust and Identity Incubator is a novel way for dealing with new and potentially disruptive topics in the GÉANT project. The incubator concerns itself not only with technical aspects, but may also include other topics around service development and improvement, like business case development, or e.g. improvements in privacy or data protection. During the course of the GÉANT 4.3 project, the Incubator runs a number of sequential cycles called "Activities". An activity typically lasts 6 months, during which a team focuses on a number of topics. Once a topic is selected for an activity cycle, it becomes part of the T&I Incubator Development Process. This document describes how new topics are introduced and how evaluation of the topics takes place.
Methodology
It is the role of the Incubator to engage with new, yet relevant topics in the field of Trust and Identity in Research and Collaboration.
New ideas are introduced by a proposer, who describes the idea to such detail that is can be shared and understood. The Incubator provides a template for recording such new ideas. In this template the proposer is asked to describe various aspects of the idea, including:
- the problem it seeks to resolve,
- relevant stakeholders,
- technical details,
- impact on privacy and data protection,
- a potential business case and
- how the idea may be sustained in case it becomes a service.
Clearly, depending on the idea and its maturity, it may not yet be possible to answer all of the above questions to the same level of detail.
Proposers of new ideas may include Service managers of Tasks in the Trust and Identity task, the Trust and Identity task activity leaders, members of the Main Incubator Board, who we will introduce shortly, and also NRENs may suggest new topics directly. In all cases, it must be clear topics are sufficiently novel and potentially disruptive and as such cannot be developed as part of the regular service improvement work that is already taking place in the service delivery tasks of the Trust and Identity work package. When Service Activities propose new topics it is expected the work in the incubator will be done in close collaboration between the Service activity and the Incubator. In case NRENs suggest a topic, it is required such a suggestion is made by at least 2 collaborating NRENs, who must also provide one or more PI's to the incubator (The PIs time will be supported from the Incubator)
The Incubator collects all topics in what is called the Activity "pipeline". At each end of an incubator cycle, the topics in the pipeline are evaluated by the Main Incubator Board (MIBs), an advisory board made up of a number of senior members from the European NREN community. In addition, the advisory board also has a member from a non EU NREN (Internet2), a university CIO and a representative of the research communities. The MIBs will evaluate and discuss the topics in the pipeline, and based on that prioritize the topics. The Work Package leader will use this prioritized list to select new topics for the upcoming incubator cycle.
Selected topics are then moved into the activity cycle and the work on the topics is executed using the T&I Incubator Development Process. During the development process, monthly intermediate results are showcased in so called Sprint Demo's. PIs, MIBs, and others are welcome to join these meetings to provide feedback on the results so far.
After an activity cycle ends, the results of the topics are evaluated. The results of this evaluation may be one of the below:
- An activity is continued, but with a different focus. The topic, with its new focus, is described in a template, and added to the pipeline;
- The activity is moved into one of the existing Trust & Identity Service activities. Depending on size and impact, the Service Activity Manager may want to introduce this new features by using the GÉANT PLM process. This is out of scope for the T&I Incubator;
- The activity is moved into a new Trust & Identity Service activity. A (newly appointed) Service Activity Manager may want to introduce this new features by using the GÉANT PLM process. This is out of scope for the T&I Incubator;
- The activity is moved out of the GÉANT project to be continued as a separate (open source) software project;
- The activity is stopped and will not be continued. Its results may still be found in
When a new cycle starts topics me be continued, or new topics may be introduced.
Figure 1 present a more detailed view of the various steps in the Incubator Activity
Figure 1: Incubator Activity steps and artifacts
Activity Steps
Propose idea (APT-BUILD)
The MIBs, Activity leads and Service leads will be given the opportunity to add topics. A proposer describes a new idea for the incubator.
The idea is captured in the Activity pipeline by filling in the Incubator Topic Template.
Information gathering (APT-GET)
The information on all topics in the Activity pipeline is validated and if needed completed.
Pitch & discuss idea (APT check)
MIB members will rank topics individually using the MOSCOW methodology. The Activity pipeline items are then discussed by the MIBs. MIBs may modify their MOSCOW score after discussion.
The discussion yields a prioritized list of topics, by counting the number of Must, Could, Should and Wont statements from individual MIB members.
Prepare activity (APT install)
In the preperatory phase of an activity the Incubator management will:
- Identify a PO
- Identify a Mentor
- Assign an activity to a team (Alpha/Blue/Finland)
- Assess if skill set of team is aligned with subject matter
Once selected the PO of an activity will:
- Describe Activity Backlog items, including a definition DOD (Definition of Done)
The backlog will typically consists of a number of items that have been defined to such detail they can be acted upon by the team directly ('stories'). The backlog will also contain items defined in less detail which will need further detail later on as the sprints are progressing ('epics').
As soon as a backlog exists, the team will:
- Discuss the Backlog items with the PO
- Assign each item in the Backlog a number of points to indicate the (relative) amount of work. This is done for BOTH the stories as well as the epics. Clearly, estimating work for epics is indicative, but should give a rough idea of how much work an epic entails.
Onboard new activities
Once the sprint backlog is filled, a PO is selected and the stories all have story points a sprint is started by creating a sprint backlog. The process that starts now is described in the T&I Incubator Development Process.
Sprint
See the T&I Incubator Development Process.