TAG Meeting 2016-01-13

Owned by Eric Jansson (inactive account)
Jan 20, 2016

Attending

Neal Schuh
Erik Gomez
Don Dailey
Richard Charlesworth
Mark Walls
Josh Allen
Geoff McElhannon
Duy Nguyen
Chris Moffat
Eric Jansson

The main goal of the call was to review the updated /wiki/spaces/TT/pages/18645825 before publication. The main discussion points raised were:

Vendor-to-vendor APIs and control of data by agencies. There was concern that as Composite APIs support vendor to vendor exchanges, Ed-Fi technology begins to move away from agency aggregation and control of data. It was brought up that Ed-Fi's certification - particularly the initial SIS certification for ODS interfaces - is designed to help ensure agencies keep this control by providing for a clear way to reference (in procurement language or elsewhere) the technical capability to aggregate data vis the current ODS interfaces. The discussion turned to making sure that the language for each certification was clear, so that the ownership desired by agencies would not be lost. In other words, terms like "support Ed-Fi standards" or "conform to Ed-Fi" were about to become broader, and it is therefore critical that names of certifications are clear to help eliminate confusion in the community. Eric and Chris took this as feedback and input in the design of Ed-Fi certification.

Compatibility of implementations and vendor work across states. This discussion focused on if state implementations of Ed-Fi standards and technologies were being modified such that work of vendors to support Ed-Fi's standards and ODS interfaces could not efficiently be used across states. A number of people agreed that this was a key danger point to Ed-Fi's technology. A number of points and suggestions were made:

  • Eric and Chris discussed the Alliance's plan to study SEA use of extensions and fidelity to the standards and interfaces, starting in Q1 of the current year
  • The role potential automated testing was brought up. Automated testing
  • The possibility of ODS architecture changes to make clearer distinctions between the "standard" ODS APIs and extended versions of those APIs. Eric agreed to gather info an summarize this idea for the group.

The TAG itself. Brief discussion on the TAG itself, including how to get deeper input and feedback. Eric agreed to send emails when publishing past meeting notes, and also to send out agenda earlier, particularly when there is information to review.