*MACE Conference Call*
May 21, 2001

*Attendees*

Bob Morgan (chair) - Washington
Ellen Vaughan - Internet2
David Wasley - UCOP
Michael Gettes - Georgetown
Ken Klingenstein - Colorado/Internet2
Steven Carmody - Brown
Mark Poepping - CMU
Paul Hill - MIT
Ben Chinowsky (scribe) - Internet2

*Discussion*

The call opened with a short report from the TERENA meeting. Ken noted that there was great interest in Europe in I2-MI projects, especially PKI and directories; in particular, there is much interest in adapting eduPerson for European use. Michael (who is on the program committee for next year's meeting) noted that there were an average of about 60 people in the middleware sessions, out of a total attendance of around 350. Online proceedings are at http://www.terena.nl/conf/tnc2001/proceedings/.

Next was a discussion of future directions for MACE. There is much interest in broadening the group to include, for example, people from non-CSG schools within the US, and people from European countries. There was general agreement that while so far MACE has primarily served an informational function, keeping members posted on external events and providing a forum for project updates, as the range of work underway (e.g. upper middleware, Grid, VidMid) continues to grow, MACE will need to perform more of a priority-setting and integrating function. This will likely require more specialization, but no agreement was reached on how to go about this; this new role will also require that MACE recruit more members. [AI] All will send their suggestions for new MACE members to Ken and Bob, for discussion on the next call. [AI] Ken will ask Ian Foster if Steve Tuecke can replace Von Welch as the Grid's MACE participant. There was also a short discussion of the idea of a series of "Joint Architechs" middleware workshops modeled on the Joint Techs network-engineering workshops. It was agreed that it would be be best to get started by setting up a Joint Architects list; if there is sufficient interest and commitment, workshops will follow. [AI] Ken will send MACE a proposal for a Joint Architects list, to be discussed on the next call.

Ken gave a short status report on the NSF solicitation, which closed May 10. 38 proposals were submitted; NSF wants to select an integrator in June, have the integrator participate in selecting a service provider, and then have both participate in the selection of the other awardees. Corporate response was disappointing; neither Microsoft nor IBM submitted a proposal. It's not clear whether NSF will seek to involve the broad high-performance networking community, or whether they will adopt a narrower focus on the needs of physical scientists.

Bob asked what could be done to improve Internet2 support for the middleware work; while stressing that he was not complaining, he cited a need for greater timelineness in tasks such as setting up mailing lists and updating web pages. [AI] Ken will organize an Internet2 middleware staff conference call to discuss how to improve support for the middleware work.

Finally there were short discussions of assorted topics.
- Shibboleth coding is set to begin June 5.
- [AI] Bob will send mail announcing the launch of the WebISO working group.
- [AI] Ken will contact the P2P workshop planners to discuss the relationship of P2P to middleware, and the possibility of P2P participation in middleware sessions at and around the Fall Internet2 Member Meeting. [AI] On the next MACE call, Ken will make a proposal for middleware activities at and around the Fall Internet2 Member Meeting.
- Michael noted that Blackboard is hoping to participate in the October 1 Shibboleth demo; in this connection, he is trying to find out how they would be willing to contribute to the WebISO effort. [AI] Steven will see if he can get WebCT involved in the October 1 Shibboleth demo.

*Action Items*

[AI] All will send their suggestions for new MACE members to Ken and Bob, for discussion on the next call.
[AI] Ken will ask Ian Foster if Steve Tuecke can replace Von Welch as the Grid's MACE participant.
[AI] Ken will send MACE a proposal for a Joint Architects list, to be discussed on the next call.
[AI] Ken will organize an Internet2 middleware staff conference call to discuss how to improve support for the middleware work.
[AI] Bob will send mail announcing the launch of the WebISO working group.
[AI] Ken will contact the P2P workshop planners to discuss the relationship of P2P to middleware, and the possibility of P2P participation in middleware sessions at and around the Fall Internet2 Member Meeting.
[AI] On the next MACE call, Ken will make a proposal for middleware activities at and around the Fall Internet2 Member Meeting.
[AI] Steven will see if he can get WebCT involved in the October 1 Shibboleth demo.