A national Trust & Identity program for research

Trust and identity (T&I) is a key enabler of a more integrated national research infrastructure ecosystem. The Australian Access Federation (AAF) is building a foundation that includes common policies, standards and technologies to support the NRI ecosystem which will provide seamless and cyber secure access for researchers. This NCRIS-supported program will focus on partnerships with NRIs to develop a globally aligned T&I Framework for research.

Through a national Trust and Identify program we can deliver:

  • Seamless access to instrumentation, data and compute

Research occurs across disciplinary boundaries requiring integrated global access to data and compute in a seamless and timely way. A national T&I strategy will enable a more integrated NRI system through a national trust framework, standards for interoperability, and cutting-edge technology solutions.

  • Research translation

The T&I program will support greater translation and commercialisation of research through closer integration with industry and other partners.

  • Cyber security

Secure research infrastructures are critical. The T&I program will create more secure research infrastructure and allow access to international tools and services for Australian researchers. The program will develop cutting-edge trust and identity solutions with cyber security at the forefront.

  • Secure access to sensitive data

Granting access to sensitive data for approved users is important to many research initiatives. An international best practice policy toolkit, and innovative software solutions will be implemented to support Australian research infrastructure service providers to implement appropriate authentication systems.

  • Access to international infrastructure

The program will leverage the international architecture framework that underpins world leading research infrastructure programs at CERN, Elixir, LIGO and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid. By reusing this architectural framework and policies, Australian researchers will have more interoperability across national and global research infrastructures.

  • Support

Access to a skilled workforce that can provide advice, technical assistance, and policy advice for T&I.

What we will deliver in the next two years:

Trust and Identity Accelerator

  1. A standardised Australian T&I Framework that is interoperable with international research infrastructure
  2. Infrastructure that employs best practice cyber security practices
  3. A team of identity and access specialists that understand the Australian research landscape, who can work with NCRIS facilities and their researchers to implement secure trust and identity systems
  4. A suite of reusable tools and modules that the T&I team can work with you to implement. These solutions will enable standardisation, enhanced security and deliver savings and efficiencies for the research system.

Trust and Identity Incubators

We will work closely with the NCRIS community to identify six incubators – programs developed in collaboration with NCRIS facilities to demonstrate and implement exemplar T&I solutions. A team of T&I specialists will be available to work with incubator partners. They will work with partners to:

  • enhance cybersecurity
  • enhance connectivity across NRI
  • improve access to sensitive data
  • enhance research translation.

Contact

Sarah Nisbet, Head of eResearch, AAF

Trust and Identity Pathfinder Project Website

Learn more about the Trust and Identity Pathfinder Project at our dedicated website.