Community

The Task Force on Distributed Ledger Technologies – TF-DLT – is a working group within the GÉANT Community Programme, initiated in May 2021 with an initial 18-month lifespan. The group will explore the use of distributed ledger technologies and distributed identity, as well as Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) in the context of the research and the education community. This is a forum for gathering and exchanging experiences, ideas, knowledge and best practices, and for exploring related technologies, protocols and standards.

The T&I Incubator, which is part of the GÉANT Project (GN4-3), uses an agile approach to explore new ideas in the space of Trust and Identity for research and education and investigate new technologies that do not yet have a place in the project’s services ecosystem. This work can include testing or experimenting with potential new features for existing GÉANT services or developing business cases for potential new services and developments that would improve data protection and privacy aspects in services or software. The work is largely based on suggestions from the GÉANT community and regular demonstration events provide the opportunity for engagement.

The Trust and Identity Incubator Mentorship programme, known as ‘TIM’, brings together ambitious young professionals from across Europe with subject matter experts within the GÉANT Project’s T&I Incubator. This collaboration with the GÉANT Learning And Development team (GLAD) and National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) aims to contribute to a viable and sustainable pipeline of T&I products and services for the GÉANT project and the European NREN community, by pioneering and prototyping new ideas in the Trust and Identity field.

The REFEDS (Research and Education FEDerations) group evolved in close cooperation with the GÉANT community and its programme of Task Forces and Special Interest Groups, and its secretariat is coordinated by a member of GÉANT Association staff. As the ‘voice’ that articulates the needs of research and education identity federations worldwide, REFEDS represents their requirements in the ever-growing space of access and identity management, working with and influencing the direction of other organisations and initiatives in developing access and identity management technology, policies and processes.

AEGIS brings together representatives from research- and e-infrastructures, operators of Authentication & Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) services and Trust & Identity experts from the GÉANT community. The group enhances the wider and more effective uptake of AAI recommendations by research- and e-infrastructures in their federated access solutions, so that they can focus on providing other support for research activities. A legacy of the AARC project, AEGIS (AARC Engagement Group for Infrastructures) promotes a consistent vision for federated access and consults the needs and expertise of participants regarding AAI activities to support these infrastructure communities.

FIM4R (Federated Identity Management for Research) is a collection of research communities and infrastructures with a shared interest in enabling Federated Identity Management for their research cyber-infrastructures. FIM4R develops requirements bearing on technical architecture, federated identity management, and operational policies needed to achieve a harmonious integration between research cyber-infrastructures and R&E federations. FIM4R recommendations contributed to the creation of the AARC project, in which the group was well represented, and its members continue to have a close relationship with GÉANT through AEGIS and REFEDS.

FIM4L – Federated Identity Management for Libraries – is a library-led working group that aims to further the use of Federated Identity Management technologies by libraries, by providing guidelines on deployment while preserving user privacy. FIM4L was initiated in the AARC project and now has members from at least four continents, with the European branch also organising itself as a LIBER working group. Representatives from libraries, national academic identity federations, eduGAIN, REFEDS, Internet2, and library service providers dealing with federated authentication for library services are welcome to participate.