Summary: Participants from a number of organizations have been collaborating on creating a coherent set of open-source Identity and Access Management (IAM) software packages to meet the needs of Higher Education and Research. In the development phase the initiative is called "Open Source Identity Management for Higher Education", OSIdM4HE (while seeking a better name). The activity arose in response to concerns raised by many institutions that current products, both open-source and commercial, are not meeting their IAM needs effectively and affordably. A recent workshop resulted Several weeks of analysis have identified requirements in a clearer understanding of the current state of affairs and commitments from all participants to work intensively to develop proposals for well-defined, fundable projects and collaboration vehicles. Next-phase reports are due by mid-September 2011. For now the activity remains invitation-onlynumber of functional areas, and an assessment of some candidate products. The group has also developed proposals for organizational and funding structures to support development and integration projects. Input is now being sought from the community in various forums regarding next steps.
For more information contact osidm4he-info@internet2.edu .
The team's working materials can be found in the OSIdM4HE Team space.
The story so far (August 2011)
If you've followed the research and higher-education (R&HE) IT scene in recent years you know that there is a lot of concern about the state of institutional Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems. IAM services are increasingly recognized as key to institutional security and efficiency, but building comprehensive systems from either commercial or open-source offerings is complicated and expensive. Many new requirements are creating pressure on currently deployed systems:
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