Internet2 Kicks Off 2025 with a Major Cloud Scorecard Update
Malm: That's right. One example I like to give is something that has come up recently, relating to AI. The Cloud Scorecard committee is continuously reviewing the questions we're asking cloud solutions vendors. And we work with other groups within Internet2 as well — for example, there's a business process and legal group that we routinely talk with in the context of developing the questionnaire.
Because of our ongoing oversight and refinement of the questionnaire, along with input from other Internet2 groups, one of the things we knew we needed to ask about in the questionnaire, was AI. We needed a question about AI.
People don't always think about AI — even though AI is everywhere, they don't always focus on it with every solution they're looking at. When I look for a solution in a given space, I might not be thinking about the fact that it's using AI in the background. But a comment that a vendor might make as part of the Cloud Scorecard, could prompt me to think about AI even if I wasn't considering it going in. I think that's the kind of education or discovery process you're asking about.
Grush: Yes, exactly. What is the makeup of the current Cloud Scorecard advisory committee, and what is that group's ongoing responsibility to oversee the Cloud Scorecard?
Malm: One of the important characteristics of the original working group (that's now morphed into an ongoing committee), is that it brings together a highly diverse set of stakeholders to make sure that the questions we build into the questionnaire reflect, to the best of our ability, and encompass all of the things that different campus stakeholders might care about.
So if you look at the current composition of the committee, we have a CIO. We have a director of a university contracting office. We have a chief information security officer. We have the vendors themselves in some disciplines. We tried to cast a wide net for the committee. This ensures that when we're putting together a set of questions, while we try to confine those questions and make it a relatively lightweight task for vendors to fill out the questionnaire, it still truly is representative of what diverse stakeholders would be thinking about across the research and academic enterprises within an institution.
Grush: How did the committee shape the direction for the new Cloud Scorecard Finder?
O'Brien: The advisory committee was instrumental in ensuring that Internet2 — and our members more broadly — maintain control over the Cloud Scorecard's destiny. The new Finder is built on an open source Drupal platform developed by Cornell, offering us the flexibility and autonomy needed to manage the data effectively. Leveraging this open source platform aligns with Internet2's core ethos: investing in community-driven projects that deliver shared benefits across higher education. As we develop new features and functionality for the Cloud Scorecard, we look forward to ongoing collaboration with the Cornell development team to explore opportunities for contributing back to the project.
The new Finder is built on an open source Drupal platform developed by Cornell. Leveraging this open source platform aligns with Internet2's core ethos: investing in community-driven projects that deliver shared benefits across higher education.
Grush: How does Internet2's community-driven approach ensure that the Cloud Scorecard remains relevant to the evolving needs of research and higher education institutions?
Malm: I think that the success of the Cloud Scorecard to date is largely due to the fact that it is community driven. The information that we have is driven essentially by the community. I think going forward, the Cloud Scorecard is going to continue to be relevant because we, the community, have a vested stake and interest in this, and we're going to continue to devote our time, and our resources, and our energy towards making it better and ensuring that it stays relevant — because we're the ones who are going to be using it.