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Study on AAA (authentication, authorization and accounting) Platforms For Scientific Resources in Europe
In December 2011, a consortium of four partners and a number of external experts was awarded a contract by the European Commission to carry out a study into AAA (authentication, authorisation and accounting) platforms and services for scientific resources. The study, led by TERENA was concluded in September 2012.
The final version of the AAA Study is now available as pdf.
Aim of the AAA Study
The goal of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of delivering an integrated Authentication and Authorisation (and possibly accounting) Infrastructure, AAI, to help the emergence of a robust platform (Scientific Data Infrastructure) for access to and preservation of scientific information.
The targeted actors in the study are the research and education communities, information service providers (data centres, libraries) and e-Infrastructure providers.
The study was organised in two parts (see picture on the righhand side):
- Collection use-cases to derive the AAI requirements;
- Evaluation of existing AA Infrastructure as well as their gap analisys to identify their strenght and their challanges. The legal aspects of the different AAIs was also assessed.
The output of the study consists of a set of recommendations for the delivery of an integrated AAI to be used for SDI.
The recommendations highlight the following priorities:
- the general assumption confirmed by this study is that an AAI for SDI should be built on standard technologies, using mechanisms to translate between various authentication and authorisation technologies, and that federated access plays an important role;
- to fully benefit from federated access, more funding is needed to improve the reach of national identity federations in research an education;
- further research is needed to enhance authorisation and accounting mechanisms;
- a common policy and trust framework for identity management is needed, as well as clarity on data protection laws – these should be coordinated at European level;
- relevant organisations such as eIRG, REFEDS (Research and Education Federations), IGTF, the EC and consortia of libraries and data centres should all work towards these goals.
Read more on the Organisation of the Study...
Results of the Study
The table below summarises the list of high-priority recommendations as identified by the team. The involved stakeholders should act timely to address these points.
Milestones and Meetings
The study will be done in period from January 2012 till August 2012 with the following deliverables and timetable.
| Name | Deadline | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Draft Final Study Report | June 2012 | Draft AAA-Study-Report - To provide the draft final report of the study for comments. This version of the report was used circulated to the Final Workshop (see below) participants and to the partners' liaisons (i.e. REFEDS, TF-EMC2 and other relevant groups). Beside the report the consortium has made available an additional document "FIM and Law"; this document covers legal issues in federated access management. |
| Final Workshop | July 2012 | To present the preliminary results to the study and receive feedback. The workshop was organised at the Commission's premises in Brussels. |
| Final Study Report | Sep 2012 | To include the feedback received during the Final Workshop. |
| Technical Report | Aug 2012 | To report on the use of resources in the performance of the contract including e.g. time-sheets on man/days consumption, travel details, use of consumables, etc. |
Contacts
If you have any question please do not hesitate to contact the study coordinator Licia Florio (florio@terena.org) or TERENA (secretariat@terena.org).