The OpenID Foundation Needs You
Do you think that open standards, data portability and questions of online identity are important? We do; we think these issues are the foundation upon which many of the most exciting and important online innovations are being built.
That's only going to be more true in the future, so if you'd like to have a say in how it all goes down - now's the time to get involved. The OpenID Foundation is one of the leading organizations in the new standards world and it's having its first ever election of community board members this month. Nominations close Monday and the voting begins on Wednesday.
There are big issues on the table right now and the outcome of the election is going to make a big difference in the future of the internet. The Foundation has had incredible success in the past year but it needs your help to determine its direction in the future.
Individuals will have to pay a $25 Foundation membership fee in order to vote, but this author just paid his and is looking forward to pulling the virtual voter's lever. Nominees so far are listed below.
What Are the Issues?
OpenID usability, getting major players to respect incoming OpenID and not just authenticate their own users elsewhere with OpenID, the personal data payload that travels with OpenID and many other difficult questions remain unanswered, despite all the progress the Foundation and other organizations have made in the last year.
A year ago this week we wrote a post saying that OpenID was in serious trouble. One year later, the situation seems to have improved quite a lot. That's thanks not just to the work of the OpenID Foundation, but they deserve a large part of the credit.
The protocol is far from out of the woods, though, and so this election is going to be an important one.
Who's Been Nominated?
So far twelve people have been nominated. Once you register as a Foundation member, you can see the nominees and their position statements. More nominations will likely occur before this weekend is over. Seven of the following twelve total number of people nominated by Monday will get positions on the board. Here's who's been nominated so far.
Johannes Ernst - founder and CEO of startup Netmesh
David Recordon - is from SixApart and is one of the most publicly visible members of the OpenID community
Mike Kirkwood - CEO of iPhone-centric medical patient data service Polka
Eric Sachs - Product Manager at Google
Snorri Giorgetti - OpenID Foundation's European Representative
Eran Hammer-Lahav - Open Web Evangelist at Yahoo! and OAuth lover
Allen Tom - Architect, Yahoo! Membership
Scott Kveton - Current OpenID Foundation Chair and VP Open Platforms at Vidoop
Nat Sakimura - Identity tech wonk from Japan
Brian Kissel - CEO of JanRain, makers of MyOpenID.com
John Bradley - OpenID security wonk
Martin Atkins - an OpenSocial and identity developer
Which seven of those people do you want driving the future of the OpenID Foundation? Register as a member, read their policy statements and you can have your hopes for this important technology paradigm recognized.
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Don't like this list of candidates? Think you can do a better job? Please join and nominate yourself!
From the article, "Seven of the following twelve people will get positions on the board." Uhm no, not necessarily. Seven people will indeed get positions on the board, but it's important that people realize nominations are still open until this upcoming Monday, December 8, 2008.
Posted by: will.norris.name
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December 3, 2008 5:16 PM
So do only men use OpenID? I don't know the gender of all those folks, but it seems like there are little or no women in the running (so far).
And please don't just tell me to nominate myself. The candidates above have credentials and connections that put them in the running. I'm a zealous user and sometimes evangelist for open standards, but none of you (except Marshall) even know who I am or what I would bring to this task. It's not like strangers can just waltz in to the middle of an established community.
Good point Ruby.
Ruby -- I'm all for users and evangelists getting involved in the organization. Even if someone doesn't have the credentials to run for an elected position, that doesn't mean their voice shouldn't be heard.
The site is more than just elections ... we've built tools for managing and voting on specifications and working groups, and there's been a lot of serious discussion about how the site can be used to make OpenID a community driven technology.
It's an exciting process to be a part of, and I'm keen to see more people participate.
thnks
I've thrown in my hat! Whohoo!
http://tr.im/kind_of_a_big_deal
Posted by: factoryjoe.com
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December 7, 2008 3:39 PM