*[Please excuse the cross posting!]*
Announcing a new discussion forum for Service Providers: the *Service Providers Operating Group*
This forum is a mailing list that is open to Service Providers registered in any Federation - i.e., any system that uses Single Sign-On services from universities or other federated identity providers. We expect discussions to be non-technical, and focused on access and authorization topics of interest to services, for example, signing into your service, and using sign-in to gain access to appropriate resources and services.
A small FAQ is included below, and more information can be found at the group's wiki page: https://wiki.refeds.org/display/GROUPS/SPOG
*TO JOIN*: Send an email to the mailing list owners
spog-request@lists.refeds.org <spog-request@lists.refeds.org?subject=Request%20Access%20to%20SPOG%20mailing%20list&body=I'm%20requesting%20membership%20into%20the%20Service%20Provider%20Operating%20Group%3A%0A%0Aemail%3A%20%3Center%20your%20email%20here%3E%0Aservice%20name%3A%20%3Center%20the%20name%20of%20your%20service%20here%3E%0Aevidence%20of%20registered%20service%3A%20%3Csuch%20as%20your%20EntityID%20from%20a%20site%20like%20https%3A%2F%2Fmet.refeds.org%2F%3E> to request access. Also, see the wiki page for more information.
*+=+=+ A SMALL FAQ +=+=+*
*I'm not a Service Provider, how can I help?* If you are a Federation Operator, please share this opportunity with your Sevice Providers. If you are an Identity Provider, please encourage your key services to participate.
*What do you mean, "Service Provider"?* Service Providers use federated sign-on services (for example, from universities and other institutions) to access their services. An important component of Federated Identity Management is the "dance" between Identity Providers and Service Providers that enable Single Sign-On services, and the exchange of information about the individual involved from the Identity to Service Provider.
*But aren't all Service Providers different?* There is great diversity in Service Providers, though, at the core of the FIM integration, significant similarities exist for implementation, need for attributes, assurances, and more.
*Why create a group?* While there are several specific-topic groups that advocate for the needs of Service Providers (e.g., FIM4R, FIM4L), there currently isn't an easy way to share information, understand needs, provide peer support or solicit feedback across the entirety of the Service Provider community. The inability to talk with this community as a whole can lead to assumptions about what this community needs, thinks, and knows, some of which are likely suffering from limited direct interaction. This group hopes to provide a larger, unified voice for topics where there is similarity across providers; we believe this will benefit the community as a whole.
*Why are only Service Providers invited to join?* Participation is open to representatives from Service Providers from any Federation. We will use tools such as the Metadata Explorer Tool (MET) https://met.refeds.org/ to verify participants. Our goal is to make this a safe, collegial and targeted place to have discussions specific to Service Providers. For this reason, it is only open to Service Providers. Those who represent different types of entities are encouraged to include someone who only works on the Service Provider work, or to FIRMLY wear their Service Provider "hat" when interacting in this community. ANY service provider can join. This group includes entities from commercial organizations to virtual organizations.
*How much time is this going to take?* This is a mailing list; there are no specific time requirements to participate, and no work deliverables that you will be expected to contribute to. We expect discussions to be non-technical, and focused on access and authorization topics of interest to services, for example, signing into your service, and using sign-in to gain access to appropriate resources and services.
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions