By Mike Dickson and Amel Caldwell, members of the eduroam Advisory Committee’s working group on Baseline Expectations
A distributed initiative like eduroam relies on clear shared understandings of what success looks like. Participants come from diverse institutions and bring different perspectives and priorities to the table.
Recognizing this challenge, the eduroam-US Advisory Committee (eAC), made up of representatives from various eduroam institutions, has taken on an ambitious effort: to define and codify our Baseline Expectations (BE) to outline the standards we hold ourselves and each other to as we work together toward seamless, secure wireless access across institutions worldwide. This effort was inspired by the establishment of Baseline Expectations in the InCommon Federation.
In the US, eduroam has reached a scale where we’re no longer just trying to grow the service. We want existing deployments to demonstrate maturity and effective security. Roaming users want a consistent positive experience, and each seamless connection, or each one that fails, reinforces how the whole service is seen. Within eduroam, your site isn’t independent. The work you do is part of a larger community.
eduroam Baseline Expectations, Explained
The eduroam Baseline Expectations initiative emerged from a simple but powerful recognition: ambiguity about roles, responsibilities, and standards can lead to miscommunication, duplicated efforts, and frustration, especially in a decentralized network.
Our community members wanted clarity, not rigid rules that prevent local adaptation. Clear guardrails ensure consistency across the eduroam ecosystem.
eduroam Baseline Expectations are core values in action. They define what we expect of each participating institution and committee member regarding participation, communication, security, accountability, and commitment to the eduroam mission. They help us hold each other accountable in a constructive, supportive way.
The goal is to prevent misunderstandings and create an environment where every institution and individual feels empowered to contribute their best work to advancing eduroam in the US.
How the Community Built These Standards
Over the past year, the eAC has invested significant effort into developing this framework.
Building on that need for clarity, we formed a BE Working Group to draft a document that defines the essentials. This group synthesized its own experience as eduroam administrators into specific, actionable expectations. In December 2025, the document was posted for public comment. After this process, the finalized document was approved by the full eAC.
Putting eduroam Baseline Expectations Into Practice
Looking ahead, our work on eduroam Baseline Expectations is far from finished. In many ways, it is just beginning.
Our immediate priorities require us to:
- Communicate clearly about expectations in eduroam, invite sites to complete a self-evaluation, and work to weave these expectations into your standard operating procedures for identity and wireless infrastructure.
- Actively monitor how well these Baseline Expectations match reality. Are we missing anything? Did we misrepresent an important aspect of the service? We want to build rapport so people feel comfortable speaking up about their challenges, obstacles, and support needs.
- Develop clear, supportive mechanisms for addressing situations where expectations are not being met.
- Discover areas that need additional focus or new expectations as challenges arise and technology evolves year after year.
See How Your Deployment Measures Up
The Baseline Expectations initiative reflects our community’s commitment to intentional, thoughtful collaboration across state borders and organizational lines. By laying a clear foundation now, we are investing in our long-term effectiveness and building an environment where every institution and individual can thrive within the eduroam ecosystem.
You can start today. Read the Baseline Expectations for eduroam-US to see the standards the community set for itself, then open the 2026 State of the Service report and check your site against the five priority areas it lays out. If it surfaces something you need help with, the eduroam-US help desk is ready at help@incommon.org.
