According to the Eclipse Foundation Working Group Process, the Incubation stage is described as...

Once the Working Group is created, a notification will be sent to the Members with the initial list of Participants and an invitation to other Members to participate. At this time, the communication infrastructure for the Working Group will be established.

The Incubation Phase provides an opportunity to further evolve the Working Group Charter, recruit additional Participants, and start building and executing on the Marketing Plan.

If the Working Group engages in specification work, the Steering Committee must formally agree by super-majority (two-thirds) vote to adopt the EFSP. They may opt to engage the Specification Committee to parameterize or otherwise specialize the process to suit the specific needs of the Working Group.

Success criteria:

• Communication infrastructure established;

• Charter published;

• Working Group committees (as defined by the Charter) operational;

• When the Working Group engages in specification development:

• Formally adopt the Eclipse Foundation Specification Process or a derivative thereof;

• Formally adopt the choice of Patent License for Specifications;

• Program Plan defined;

• Budget approved;

• Minimum of five Participants committed; and

• Executive Director approval.

Upon completion of these criteria, the Working Group enters the Operational Phase.