The GÉANT Project has grown during its iterations (GN1, GN2, GN3, GN3plus, GN4-1, GN4-2 and GN4-3) to include a catalogue of advanced, user-focused services, and a successful programme of innovation that is pushing the boundaries of networking technology to deliver real impact to over 50 million users. Among these activities, Trust & Identity is a significant area of work that comprises the development and operation of services such as eduroam, eduGAIN and InAcademia, plus the T&I Incubator and its mentorship scheme.
Projects
GÉANT staff and community members work in a range of projects that focus on or include Trust & Identity developments.
The EOSC Future project is building on the existing baseline for the European Open Science Cloud to deliver a platform that links other research portals, resources and services to respond to the data needs of a wide range of researchers. As a partner in EOSC Future, the GÉANT Association is contributing to the creation of an Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI) for EOSC Core – the set of enabling services needed to operate EOSC – as well as EOSC-Interoperability framework AAI guidelines for providers wanting to integrate services or data into EOSC.
The European Digital Student Service Infrastructure (EDSSI) is one of the projects supporting the European Commission’s drive to digitalise the Erasmus+ programme under the European Student Card Initiative. One goal is to enable a fully digital student application process, leveraging national e-identities through the EU’s eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) system and student identities through the academic identity federations and the eduGAIN interfederation service. As an EDSSI partner, GÉANT Association is contributing to this work and operating the MyAcademicID IAM service.
Previous Projects
GÉANT Association was a partner in MyAcademic ID, which was funded by the Connecting Europe Facility programme in 2019-2020 within the European Student Card initiative. The project resulted in the creation of an identity and access management platform combining eduGAIN and the EU’s eIDAS (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) system for authentication on e-services related to the Erasmus+ programme. Implementation of the platform combined with release of the European Student Identifier via eduGAIN and ‘Erasmus Without Paper’ should reduce the administrative workload for staff and students. The results are being used in the EDSSI project.
Researchers working in international collaborations need to manage, access and share resources based on their roles within these collaborations. The Authentication and Authorisation for Research and Collaboration (AARC) project, which was led by GÉANT Association from 2015 to 2019, created a Blueprint Architecture based on eduGAIN and a Policy Development Kit, as well as other resources, to support research- and e-infrastructures and research communities in developing authorisation and authentication infrastructures to suit their needs. The community that developed around this work persists in AEGIS, the AARC Engagement Group for Infrastructures.