Collaboration at Scale: Welcome to the Internet 

There is a saying that if a thing isn't written down, it never really happened. Technologists rely on the fact that others have written down their ideas as technical specifications, best practice standards, how-to documentation, and more. Creating this material, though, requires more than just technical expertise, a willingness to collaborate, and the ability to write clearly. It also requires an understanding of how standards in organizations work and what process is required to have material published.

Join me to look into the world of standards development and the various contribution and publication processes. Learn about the differences between community-based and treaty-based standards organizations and if, when, and how consensus-building happens. Internet-scale collaboration is amazing, and you can be a part of it. 

Heather Flanagan, Principal, and Owner at Spherical Cow Consulting come from a position that the Internet is led by people, powered by words, and inspired by technology. She has been involved in leadership roles with some of the most technical, volunteer-driven organizations on the Internet, including IDPro as Principal Editor, the IETF, the IAB, and the IRTF as RFC Series Editor, ICANN as Technical Writer, and REFEDS as Coordinator, to name a few.

Heather’s goal is to work with organisations to make the Internet a more functional, diverse, and less biased platform for the world. This involves hands-on engagement in developing and expanding business and administrative processes, designing technology strategies, forming and leading teams, and technical writing and editing.

If there is work going on to develop new Internet standards, or discussions around the future of digital identity, she is interested in engaging in that work.