The nonprofit computer-networking consortium Internet2 launched a redesigned version of its Cloud Scorecard this week, adding new features informed by artificial intelligence trends and community feedback. The scorecard itself has been around since 2021, aggregating vendor-provided data on security, accessibility and technical capabilities of more than 80 services.
According to a January interview with Internet2 Associate Vice President Sean O'Brien by the higher-ed publication Campus Technology, earlier versions of the scorecard were mostly plain text. This week's news release said the redesigned version includes a new search tool called the Cloud Scorecard Finder, built on an open-source platform from Cornell University, that offers dynamic filtering by service category and criteria, as well as side-by-side comparisons of multiple services. With these updates, institutions looking to establish or update their cloud services can narrow their search based on specific needs.
“With a centralized directory of vendor self-assessments, institutions can efficiently evaluate services for security, compliance and access management,” Matthew D’Emilio, director of the University Contracts Office at Carnegie Mellon University, said in a public statement.
The news release said community feedback gathered during a public preview in 2024 guided the redesign, the second major iteration since the scorecard’s initial launch.
“Our goal with the new Cloud Scorecard Finder is to deliver what the community asked for — a more dynamic experience, smarter ways to discover relevant services, and powerful filters built around the most relevant criteria for [research and education],” O’Brien said in a public statement.
The Cloud Scorecard also serves as a signal that vendors are willing to meet the standards of prospective clients in research and higher education, D’Emilio said. Those standards are changing as AI grows in prominence, and so is the scorecard. For example, questionnaires sent to vendors now include new sections on AI. More than 15 new vendors have joined the Cloud Scorecard database since January, including AI-focused services like Grammarly and BoodleBox. Vendors also updated their questionnaire responses to reflect new AI features.
“Ongoing updates to the platform ensure it stays current, helping institutions stay informed of new cloud offerings,” Tom Dugas, associate vice president, deputy CIO and CISO at Duquesne University, said in a public statement.
