The benefits identity federations, and specifically eduGAIN, bring to scientific cyberecosystems was the subject of a recent article in HPCwire. …

Testing an Identity Provider The most obvious way to test an Identity Provider is to make use of SAFIRE’s Test Service Provider (https://testsp.safire.ac.za/). This SP is always aware of SAFIRE’s full attribute set and emulates a locally connected SP. By logging in, Identity Provider administrators are able to test their integration with SAFIRE as well as their own attribute release. (Likewise, end users can use it to see what attributes their home institution releases about them.) …

eduGAIN logo The eduGAIN steering group voted last week to admit the South African Identity Federation, SAFIRE, as its 41st member and the first fully participating member from Africa. In simple terms, eduGAIN it is the web equivalent of the eduroam wireless roaming service — it is an academic inter-federation with 41 member countries from around the world. South Africa’s membership of eduGAIN will provide local academics and researchers with an easy way to log into over a thousand participating services worldwide using their home organisation’s username and password. Federated identity services play an increasingly critical role in facilitating access to big science projects, and so South Africa’s participation in this space is an important milestone towards allowing South African scientists to collaborate in international research. …