Working Group Charter Template

''This is a template for an Identity Commons working group charter. To propose a working group, follow the steps below.''


 * 1) Copy this template page (hint: use a text editor) and fill it out with the specifics for your new working group.
 * 2) Post it as a new page to this wiki by:
 * 3) Adding a link to the new page name to the Working Groups page. The name of this new page should be "Name-Of-Your-Proposed-WG Charter", e.g., OSIS Charter, OpenID Charter.
 * 4) Click on the link to get an editing box for the new page.
 * 5) Paste in your new charter text.
 * 6) Preview and save the new page.
 * 7) Once the charter is posted, send an email to the Stewards mailing list announcing the proposed working group and include a link to the proposed charter.

See the many existing charters listed on the Working Groups page as examples.

Name
Proposed-Name-Here Working Group

Purpose
''This should be a concise summary of the purpose of the working group, similar in function to the summary of Identity Commons itself -- see the PurposeAndPrinciples. Note that the purpose of the working group must be consistent with the overall purpose of Identity Commons.''

Principles
''Every working group 'inherits' the general principles of Identity Commons itself -- see Purpose And Principles. This section should list any additional operating principles of the working group -- IF ANY -- i.e., scope limitations, how membership will be managed, how it will be governed, how Stewards Council representatives are chosen, when its work will be considered complete, etc. Note that these working-group-specific principles cannot be in conflict with the general Identity Commons Purpose And Principles. If there are no working-group specific principles, just say, "This working group will operate by the Identity Commons principles."''

Practices
This section should answer the question: How does the working group go about doing its work together?

Specifically, this section must state the tools/means by which the group will collaborate, i.e., it will use Identity Commons-hosted mailing lists and wiki resources, or it will use Yahoo Groups/Google Groups/other collaboration tools.

Examples:
 * A group that promotes interoperability of a technology may use Google Groups for mailing and document collaboration, host periodic interoperability events, and have a practice of publicly publishing the results.
 * A group might state that it uses public Identity Commons-hosted mailing list and all its meeting notes must be publically published on posts to that list.
 * A group might state that it is an open source foundation with annual dues-paying members and all its work will be on a dedicated public wiki.
 * A group that hosts community events for which it charges fees to cover costs might have a practice that it contributes 15% of money it earns to general operating costs of Identity Commons.

Requirements of Participation and How to Join
''Each working group is required by the Purpose And Principles to state its requirements for participation, if any. It must also provide explicit instructions for how to join the working group.'' Working group participants must read the Identity Commons ByLaws and Articles of Incorporation. Participation in a working group is agreement to abide by these documents.

Licenses and/or Restrictions on Usage of Work Product
Each working group is required by the Purpose And Principles to state any licenses and/or restrictions that may exist for the usage of its work product.

Current Deliverables and Milestones
List any deliverables planned or proposed by the working group together with the current proposed schedule/milestones.

Current Meeting Schedule
List any regular calls or meetings, if any, plus any special upcoming meetings.

Current Membership
''Directly list current participants and participant categories (if any), and keep updated as membership evolves. Or, if the working group is already a formal organization or otherwise maintains its own Web-accessible directory of members, provide a link to that directory.''

Current Stewards Council Representative and Alternate
''List the active and alternative SC representatives. Describe how reps and alternates are chosen.''

Current Links
List links to all Web-accessible resources, i.e., the working group's own wiki front page, website, mailing lists, or other repositories.

Related Groups
List any Identity Commons working group – or any other industry groups – whose work is closely related to the work of this group.

History
This is where the group can share about how/why the group was founded and where will be where quarterly reports will be linked to.