Presence and IntComm WG

["Ben Chinowsky" <>]

*Action Items as of December 15*

[ACTION] On the December 16 call, the group will continue its discussion of
where to focus its efforts.
[ACTION] Jeremy will start recording the PIC calls on December 16, and come 
back
to the group for a consensus on posting the recordings.
[ACTION] Ben T. will post Candace's new features matrix to pic.internet2.edu.
[ACTION] Jeremy will outline a high-level paper on the PIC WG's experiences 
and
lessons learned.
[ACTION] Ben T. will write a short document describing the motivation for the
paths-in-the-snow approach to PIC development.
[ACTION] Jamey will update the interface requirements document.
[ACTION] Jeremy will notify Paul Love that PIC will not be doing a session at
the Salt Lake City Joint Techs.
[ACTION] Jamey will continue working on the future of the skiffs, and solicit
opinions from PIC members as needed.
[ACTION] The group will continue its discussion of what kind
of package to provide for paths-in-the-snow-engineering trials.

*Attendees*

Jeremy George (chair) - Yale
Rodger Will - Ford
Joe Rork - Ford
Steve Blair - Penn
Jamey Hicks - HP
Ben Teitelbaum - Internet2
Ben Chinowsky (scribe) - Internet2

*Discussion*

The group discussed plans for the Spring 2005 Internet2 Member Meeting, which
will take place May 2-4 in Arlington, VA. Rodger stressed the importance of
getting decisionmakers in higher education to understand the value of PIC.
In particular, Rodger stressed the need to draw lessons from the recent
experience of the I2IM group (http://middleware.internet2.edu/i2im/). I2IM's
initial focus was on how to do authentication for IM, rather than the larger
question of why this is needed; it failed to gain traction and is now dormant.

The group agreed to focus on organizing one or more talks and/or panels, with
the goals of 1) conveying the big-picture need for PIC, with details on 
specific
sectors (hospitals, campuses, etc.) and 2) recruiting participants for
paths-in-the-snow-engineering trials. The MM Call for Proposals is at
http://events.internet2.edu/2005/spring-mm/callforproposals.html; the deadline
is Friday, January 21. Ben T. noted that we could get a double-length slot if 
we
need it; there is also a separate CIO meeting which we might be able to 
present
at. There will probably not be a PIC trial at the MM, but no final decision 
was
reached on this.

Ben T. observed that the group needs to decide on a new focus for its 
activities
in time for the MM. Jeremy and Rodger noted advantages of focusing on 
hospitals:
they already know they have a need for the technology, and they have the money
to implement it. [ACTION] On the December 16 call, the group will continue its
discussion of where to focus its efforts.

Jeremy and Ben T. reported on a recent discussion with Niraj Jain, Director of
Business Development at Vocera. Vocera is very focused on vertical markets,
especially healthcare; they are interested in working with PIC, but only if 
PIC
becomes active in one of their chosen vertical markets. They are not 
interested
in building a customizable platform. A recent infusion of venture capital is
enabling Vocera to expand into new markets; see
http://www.vocera.com/news/press102704.shtm.