By
Kevin Morooney - Vice President of Trust and Identity and NET+, Internet2
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Reflecting on Futures2, Looking Forward to TechEX24
SUMMARY: Get leadership insight into the InCommon 2023 strategic planning process and what it means for the future of identity and access management in research and education. Join your colleagues at the 2024 Internet2 Technology Exchange in Boston where you will hear first-hand how the power of collective community action continues to move InCommon forward.
Betting on Baltimore: The Anticipation of Triple Crown’s Second Round
For better or worse, my being from Baltimore is as obvious as is me being bald. You can see me being bald from a mile away, and if we have a conversation you knowing I’m from Baltimore is usually only a minute away. I define a good day by how strongly my fingers smell like Old Bay. Fort Mchenry and the Battle of Baltimore is an incredibly underrated moment in U.S. history. Thames Street is pronounced differently in Baltimore than it is in London. Without Lord Baltimore the Maryland flag wouldn’t be the best state flag. The Wire is better than The Sopranos, and one of my kids is named after a Baltimore Oriole.
A huge summer moment for both Baltimore and Maryland is the running of The Preakness Stakes, the second round of horse racing’s Triple Crown. The Preakness is where the coveted Triple Crown chase is at its most compelling. It is at The Preakness where everyone is hopefully anticipating that the Derby winner will pull off a win at Pimlico. The anticipation for the outcome of The Preakness is like few other sporting events. Is the winner going to win? Will there be a surprise upset? All the drama of the third leg of the Triple Crown is created in Baltimore. So much anticipation, so much hope, so much excitement.
By the way, did you know that I am from Baltimore?
Running Our Race: Futures2 and Beyond
About this time last year, we were starting to wrap up a long year of a strategic planning process we affectionately referred to as “Futures2.” In 2009, InCommon community leaders developed a strategic plan that got us where we are today. Fifteen years later and in the year of our 20th birthday, we developed a new plan to get us to where we need to go. We learned a lot in that year. It was a tiring, humbling, and gratifying project. In January of 2024 – this year – we had a report and plan. In February we moved into action.
Our collective moving into action brought The Preakness to mind. If you watch a horse race like The Preakness, you’ll end up watching the handlers get the horses into the gate. It is a highly skilled process requiring lots of experience, preparation, and care. One by one and in post order, the horses are guided into their gates. You watch each horse be guided, looking for cues about the horse’s and rider’s state of mind. Each entry is an interesting and fascinating story within the much larger saga of the race itself.
I get lost in this process, pouring over every little detail. As I watch the last horse enter its gate, still locked in on the process, I forget that the moment the gate closes behind the last horse – BOOM – the gates are all opened, the bell rings, and tens of thousands of pounds of horses bolt out, each straining to get to their typical top speed of 40 mph, jostling for position, wildly switching between responding to their brave jockeys and the millennia of breeding straining to get out ahead of the other horses at great cost. It is an explosive, exciting, sometimes frightening moment. In seconds the explosion dissipates, and the race is on. This is what last January and February felt like as we finished the report and moved into action.
Co-Creating InCommon’s Future: Learn More at TechEX
I’ve led and been a part of many strategic planning efforts. None have moved from publication to action faster than Futures2 at InCommon. It has been explosive, exciting, and sometimes frightening. We’re off and running, co-creating InCommon’s future with many caring, creative, and committed colleagues.
At the 2024 Internet2 Technology Exchange (TechEX) next month in Boston (Dec. 9-13), you’ll be hearing lots about what we’re already doing for our future. And if you don’t, grab any one of us from InCommon, and we’ll be happy to share. You will have many opportunities to meet us at TechEX, including InCommon’s 20th Birthday Celebration.
Of course, we’ll still be bringing you an insightful track of IAM sessions – better known as CAMP Week – developed by a committee of your peers and covering the topics most critical to successful identity and access management today and tomorrow. Following the curated sessions is our not-to-be-missed, and always eagerly anticipated, two days of crowd-sourced content, Advanced CAMP, commonly known as ACAMP.
If you haven’t already made plans to join us at TechEX, I hope you will. By the way, did you know we’re from InCommon?
Meet us at TechEX
Please join us for these special gatherings during TechEX in Boston.
Poster Social Hour
Tuesday, December 10, 5 – 6 p.m.
Explore innovative projects and engage with groundbreaking ideas during this special hour dedicated to our TechEX24
Posters, which include Designing the Identity Infrastructure for the Square Kilometer Array and Beyond
Buzzwords: A Data Driven Approach to IAM Platform Selection.
A Collaborative Lunch for CSP Alum, BaseCAMPers, and Friends!
Wednesday, December 11, 12:10 – 1:40 p.m.
Whether you’re a seasoned alum, just curious, or suffering from FOMO — grab your meal from the usual buffet and
head to our designated room for making connections, sharing insights, and having some cool conversations. Please RSVP and let us know you’ll join us.
InCommon’s 20th Birthday Celebration
Thursday, December 12, 5 – 7 p.m.
Celebrate two decades of collaboration and innovation with us at this special event! Join us for social
festivities and casual conversation. Look for more details about the celebration soon. Learn more.
ICYMI
About the Author(s)
Kevin Morooney currently leads the Trust and Identity and NET+ divisions at Internet2. Prior to coming to Internet2, Kevin was the chief information officer at Penn State. His interests include identity, cloud, privacy, security, and research computing. He was deeply involved with other community members in the development of InCommon.