JISC

Questions from the floor

How will people access subscribed resources when they are off site?
Once you have signed up to the federation you can sign in and gain access to resources from wherever you are, whether they be internal or external resources, and whether you are situated internally or externally.

What about Janet Roaming, how does this fit in?
Janet Roaming is something different, this is about getting external network access when you are at other Janet sites. The Access Management Federation builds on this – giving people flexibility and access to resources wherever then may be.

What about people who have a number of institutions that they are affiliated to?
If you have a number of identities the best bet at the moment is log in and out of these as required.  There are no good standards for this at present, but there is a roadmap for this. There are issues with regard to multiple identities at the moment, but there are developments in the pipeline.

What about resources/providers who haven’t or aren’t going to join the federation?
Many publishers have already joined or are in the process of joining.  But if they haven’t there still isn’t a problem, as they will use the gateways. LSE (London School of Economics & Political Science) has been using this approach and it is working for them very well.  JISC does have a very active programme with regard to encouraging publishers to join the federation and is trying to make the process as seamless as possible.  People won’t just be cut off.

If my institution is going to outsource its access management solution what should I do first - should I join first then negotiate with suppliers?
Sign up to the federation and get this underway and then start talks with consultants with regard to provision, but make sure you start the process as soon as possible.

How do I get my institution to see how important this is and make sure this work is taken forward?
Your SMT really need to be on board.  There are some business cases being developed to help gain buy-in.  Institutions should have an information strategy and this would be part of the strategy.  There are a number of advocacy documents and the animation available through JISC to help support this work.

What about if you are a service provider and identity provider?
There are a number of very good examples of this in the JISC early adopters work.

Once you have everything set up internally will you then need to contact each publisher/service provider individually?
No you shouldn’t have to do this – and we hope most service providers will have signed up anyway.

Is there a single-sign-on solution for other systems, finance etc.
Yes it is possible technically, but you possibly need to consider what level of access/assurance and security is required for these before rushing in - particularly if they require more than username and password access.