Building Federations in APAN: What’s Worked?

1. Building Federations in APAN: What’s Worked? • Nate Klingenstein • ndk@internet2.edu • Internet2 / Shibboleth Consortium / InCommon • February 2012, APAN 33, Chiang Mai

2. Perspectives from far away Personal experiences and opinions only

3. Federation Components • What are some ingredients? • Technical knowledge and talent • Policy • Consensus and leadership • Compelling applications (Chicken) • Enough users (Egg) • A business model • Ideal mix is different in each country

4. Federations in America and Europe • Very different funding models • Different primary uses • Somewhat different trust structures • EU Privacy Laws • Many mature federations • Nearly complete coverage in some countries

5. General Lessons from America and Europe • Consensus and mandate are important • Almost no federation starts with this • Find a few good early applications • Every country and every situation is different • But we are working towards convergence • Watch for REFEDS recommendations

6. Starting Points in Asia Pacific • Campus identity infrastructure is rare • Usually, there is none • A directory, when lucky • Local infrastructure is a key part of federated identity • Campuses have limited staff • With limited time • And limited money

7. Starting Points in Asia Pacific • Few centralized organizations • Usually just an NREN • And the NREN is focused on networks • But the NREN is often pretty competent • APAN has a smaller focus than TERENA

8. What has worked well in APAN deployments? • Active transfer of knowledge • Technology, policy • Centralized knowledge and talent • There are exceptions to this rule • Compensate for campuses until campuses develop more skills and infrastructure • Might happen soon, might happen never

9. What has worked well in APAN deployments? • Strong mandate • And only one strong mandate; split mandates have derailed several countries • Build it, and they will come • The “killer app” is not necessary • “Critical mass” is much more important • Momentum • Network effects

10. What has worked well in APAN deployments? • Accommodation of special local requirements • Grant-based funding model • So far, at least

11. What has not worked as well for building federations? • Cautious starts and half-interest • Most federation benefits emerge at large scale • Chicken egg problem solved with dedication (and brute force) • Reinventing wheels • We, globally, have many important failures

12. What has not worked as well for building federations? • APAN Middleware Working Group • Very wide focus can include many kinds of activities • Mailing list quiet • Partially my fault • Accommodation of special local requirements

13. How do we grow now? • Get federations started in countries where there are none; grow them where are • Better coverage in Asia means a better deployment for everyone • Find quick identity wins like federation with major SP’s, or certificate services

14. How do we grow now? • Develop international links • We have more and more shared students, shared research, shared applications • They need shared identity • Innovate with the global community • And give back when you do something novel and generally useful

15. How do we grow now? • Begin to develop international collaborations • Shared students, shared research, shared applications

16. My Thanks to NII ndk@internet2.edu http://www.internet2.edu/ http://www.incommon.org/ http://shibboleth.net/