Why Federate?
The business of adopting federated access management
Nicole Harris
JISC Executive
Joint Information Systems Committee 06/11/2007 | | Slide 1

Background
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Some Background
1995: Athens developed by NISS (National Information Services and Systems) at University of
Bath as an in-house system.
1996: eLib Study ‘Technologies to Support Authentication in Higher Education’ identified Athens
as a potential solution for all JISC Services.
1997: Athens in use in all JISC Data Centres and rolled out across HEIs / FEIs over the next two
years.
1998: CNI White Paper on AAA requirements. JISC commits to using as a basis for next-
generation technologies.
1997 – 2000: three year contract for Athens provision with University of Bath and then Eduserv.
2000 – 2008: two three year plus one two year contract with Eduserv for Athens provision.
2000: Alan Robiette and JCAS scope requirements for next generation access management
system (ANGEL project starts testing Shibboleth and PAPI technologies).
2002 – 2004: AAA Programme – audit of next generation technologies and ratification of
requirements.
2004 – 2007: Core Middleware Programmes. JISC decision to support federated access
management.
2006 – 2009: Access Management: Transition Programme. Roll-out and embedding.
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The Requirements
A single access management system for:
– Intra-institutional resources.
– Third party digital library type resources.
– Inter-institutional resources for secure long-term collaboration.
– Inter-institutional resources for ad-hoc (virtual organisation) collaboration.
Evolving strategy:
– Where possible, JISC should focus on fostering development and use of standards rather
than specific technologies.
– Institutions should have the widest possible range of options, from full open source to
commercial support.
– Solutions should be in line with international developments in the field.
– Solution must provide real benefits to institutions and service providers.
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What We Announced
In March 2006, JISC formally announced its intention to support federated
access management as the preferred access management solution for UK
Further and Higher Education
JISC will continue funding the Athens service until July 2008
Athens will be available via a subscription model post July 2008
The UK Access Management Federation will launch in November 2006, with
early adopters joining in August 2006
The Federation is a combined venture between JISC and BECTA
All members of the successful pilot federation (SDSS) will be seamlessly moved
to the UK Access Management Federation
A full support service will be made available to the JISC community to support
the transition to the new service
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UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research
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Not just about preventing..
Copyright: Getty Images from the Education Image Gallery
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..but about collaborating and sharing
Copyright: Getty Images from the Education Image Gallery
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Some notes on change
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The beginnings of technology transfer
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Technology Transfer
is
the process of developing practical applications
for the results of scientific research
finding a home for stuff
We want to do more than this
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Where JISC has proven that a technology works
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Where JISC has proven there is a community need
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Where JISC has changed funding models
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Issues of Change
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Managing Business Change
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The Business Case
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Strategic Case: Example – Kings College London
VISION STATEMENT: “Using a single password,
postgraduate students can access not only King’s
own electronic resources but also those of other
universities and institutions by co-operative
agreements.
VISION STATEMENT: “Provide services which
reduce the burden of administration and
information management.”
VISION STATEMENT: “Provide services which
facilitate scholarly communication, collaboration
and research
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Cultural Changes: Bridging the Divide
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Schools
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Outsourcing
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Changing the Market
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Cutting out the noise: clear options
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Accepting Criticism
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Changing to Meet Requirements
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Ability to Trust the Decision
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Futures - 1.5 to 2.0
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Multiple Affiliations
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Attributes and Personalisation
Copyright: HEFCE
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e-Research
Access Management for complex data
Flexible Service Provider models for
virtual organisations
Ongoing work with the National Grid
Service, including the CA
Copyright: Getty Images
Education Image Gallery
Joint Information Systems Committee 06/11/2007 | slide 30

Federated Tools such as ShARPE
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www.jisc.ac.uk/federation
n.harris@jisc.ac.uk
All pictures © Getty Images from Education Image Gallery and SCRAN.
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