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Where Technical Excellence Meets Real-World Impact

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) brings together IAM implementers and architects to solve the federation’s most complex technical challenges

Every line of code, every configuration, every technical decision you make affects how researchers collaborate and students access resources. TAC is where practitioners like you transform hands-on experience into federation-wide improvements. We tackle the technical challenges that no single institution can solve alone—from scalability issues to emerging security threats. Your expertise directly shapes how 6,200+ institutions implement identity management.

 

Join TAC

Technical Leadership for the Federation

Our Mission: TAC provides expert recommendations on the technical operation and management of the InCommon Federation. We ensure technical decisions are grounded in real-world implementation experience.

What We Cover:

  • FVederation architecture and protocols
  • Technical standards and specifications
  • Security frameworks and best practices
  • Integration patterns and solutions
  • Performance and scalability
  • Emerging technology evaluation

Our Impact

99.99%

Federation uptime through our reliability recommendations

A group discuss

40%

Reduction in integration time with TAC-developed patterns

A group of students sitting on bleachers with their laptops.

200+

Institutions using our implementation guides

Photo illustration of a young man wearing headphones and working on his laptop.

15

Major technical standards influenced or created

University students collaborating on project using laptop and notebooks

Projects That Need Your Expertise

Hot Project:

Federation 2.0 Architecture

Designing next-generation federation capabilities for cloud-native environments

Skills Needed: Cloud architecture, containerization, API design

Status: Design phase – Join now to shape direction

 

Active:

Automated Onboarding Framework

Building tools to reduce federation onboarding from weeks to hours

Skills Needed: SAML, automation, scripting

Status: Implementation phase – Need developers

 

Priority: Zero-Trust Integration Pattern

Developing reference architectures for zero-trust environments

Skills Needed: Security architecture, microsegmentation

Status: Research phase – Need architects

 

Ongoing:

Performance Metrics Dashboard

Creating real-time federation health monitoring

Skills Needed: Monitoring tools, data visualization

Status: Testing phase – Need reviewers

“I volunteered for the InCommon Technical Advisory Committee because of its mission-critical tasks in developing new paradigms in federated identity management. I want to be a part of the committee to assist in this effort and bring this information back to my institution.”

– Kathy E. Wright, systems programmer/developer at Clemson University

Accelerate Your Technical Career

Professional Growth:

  • Deep Technical Knowledge – Learn from experts across institutions
  • Architecture Skills – Design solutions at enterprise scale
  • Industry Recognition – TAC membership enhances your reputation
  • Speaking Opportunities – Present at TechEx and other conferences
  • Publication Credits – Co-author technical standards and guides

What Members Gain: “TAC participation led directly to my promotion to Chief Architect. The experience designing federation-scale solutions was invaluable.” – Former Member

Unique Benefits:

Early access to emerging technologies

  • Direct influence on technical standards
  • Networking with top IAM technologists
  • Vendor briefings on new solutions

What Happens in TAC Meetings

Typical Agenda:

  • 0-10 min: Quick wins and updates
  • 10-40 min: Deep dive on current project
  • 40-50 min: Problem-solving session
  • 50-60 min: Action items and next steps

Meeting Style:

  • Hands-on and practical
  • Whiteboarding and demos
  • Collaborative problem-solving
  • No PowerPoint death!

Recent Topics:

  • Debugging federation timeout issues
  • Reviewing zero-trust architecture proposal
  • Testing automated onboarding scripts
  • Evaluating new SAML libraries

Join as Observer: Attend next meeting to see if TAC is right for you

Start Contributing Today

Multiple Entry Points:

Option 1: Jump into a Project

Pick a current initiative and start contributing. No formal membership required initially 

Option 2: Attend Meetings

Join as observer, then contribute to discussions. Thursdays 1-2 PM ET bi-weekly

Option 3: Formal Nomination

Become voting member with full participation. Nominations open each fall 

Fast Track: Have urgent expertise to share?

Mentorship Available: New to committees? We’ll pair you with an experienced member.

Stay Connected Between Meetings

TAC Slack Channel: #tac-general. Daily technical discussions and quick questions

Wiki & Documentation: TAC Confluence Space. All our guides, meeting notes, and decisions

Code Repository: GitHub/InCommon-TAC. Contribute to tools and review code 

Email List: tac-discuss@incommon.org. Official announcements and async discussions 

Office Hours: Monthly open sessions. Get help with technical challenges 

The Details

Meeting Schedule: Bi-weekly Thursdays, 1:00-2:00 PM ET

Time Commitment: 3-4 hours/month

Term Length: 2 years

Technical Level: Intermediate to Advanced

Next Opening: January 2026

Your Technical Expertise Can Transform the Federation

Stop solving the same problems in isolation. Join TAC and help build solutions that scale across thousands of institutions.

Join TAC Project

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