When a new identity federation applies to join eduGAIN, the eduGAIN Secretariat and business development team will work closely with them to help them prepare and meet all the membership requirements. The following steps will be taken and will be used as a template to manage Candidate applications. Each "step" may run concurrently, depending the on the readiness of the federation.
| Candidate Name | Federation X |
|---|---|
| Ticket Number | TT#2025040334000387 |
eduGAIN New Candidate Process
| Steps | Requirements | Actions | Owner | Timeframe | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Step 1: Initial application meeting / readiness discussion | This initial meeting will talk the candidate through the joining process, get an understanding of the technical infrastructure of the federation and it's maturity and also share information about useful resources for the federation such as the eduGAIN website and wiki and the REFEDS resources. If not already familiar, federations will also be talked through the available document templates and the various eduGAIN tools that can be used for testing compliance and reviewing issues. |
| BD Sec | Set up meeting within 2 weeks of receiving request | First meeting was held on 16/04/25 |
| Step 2: Collect required information for membership application | There are a number of formalities that need to be addressed before a federation can become a membership candidate. These are known as the "joining checklist" and represent the core information that is held about each federation to enable metadata consumption and to start the trust building process. |
| |||
| Sec / OT | TBD - depending on maturity of federation | |||
Step 3: eduGAIN Secretariat review of federation documentation | The eduGAIN Secretariat will undertake an initial review of the federation Policy and MRPS documents and may invite others to help support this process. The aim of this step is to help the federation identify any potential issues that might come up from the community review process and ensure step 5 goes as smoothly as possible. |
| Sec | 4 - 6 weeks | |
| Step 4: Technical review | The purpose of the technical review is to iron out any issues the federation may have with publishing and consuming eduGAIN metadata on a daily basis to ensure that the federation can run successfully with no / low error rate when membership is approved. |
| Sec / OT | Concurrent with Step 5 & 6 | |
| Step 5: membership review of federation documentation | As stated in the eduGAIN Constitution, the eduGAIN Steering Group (eSG) is responsible for: "Reviewing and approving the membership of new Federations". Step 5 and Step 6 support this requirement. |
| Sec | 4 weeks (or 2-3 weeks for assessment + 1-2 weeks for the applicant to process the feedback?) | |
| Step 6: voting | Formalised vote for membership acceptance |
| Sec | 2 weeks | |
| Step 7: formal registration | This final step ensures that the candidate is able to fully utilise the eduGAIN service after the community vote is successful. |
| |||
| Sec |
eduGAIN New Candidate Assessment Feedback
Policy: https://botsren.org.bw/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Botswana-Identity-Federation-Policy.pdfindex.php/botswana-identity-federation/
Metadata URL: https://federation.botsren.org.bw/metadata/botsren-federation-metadata.xml
Assessment Period: DATES
| Comment # | Document (Policy / MRPS) | Document line / reference | Proposed Change or Query | Proposer / Affiliation | Reply Candidate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Policy | Section 6: Legal conditions of use | Articles on jurisdiction and dispute resolution, interfederation and amendments are missing (see REFEDS template). | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #2 | Policy | General comment | The policy seems to be minimalist compared to the REFEDS best practice policy template (for link, please see comment #1). Setting out the rights and responsibilities will provide clarity to all stakeholders. | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #3 | Policy | Section 2a. Governance | Examples of rights and responsibilities that are missing: | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #4 | Policy | Section 2b. Governance | Missing: | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #5 | Policy | Section 2c. Governance | "If a member acts as a home organization, it must: • Manage authentication credentials and digital identities." | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #6 | Policy | Section 2c. Governance | "If a member functions as an attribute authority, it must: • Assign and maintain accurate attribute values." | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #7 | Policy | Section 2c. Governance | "If a member operates as a service provider, it must: • Determine and enforce access rights for end users." | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #8 | Policy | Section 3: Eligibility | I assume that this section refers to https://botsren.org.bw/index.php/member/. The problem here is that these criteria don't take Service Providers into account. | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #9 | Policy | Section 5.b: Legal conditions of use | "The federation operator provides services on an "as-is" basis, with no liability for defects, losses, or damages." In this in case the governing body can still be seen liable. | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #10 | Policy | Section 5.b: Legal conditions of use | "Members assume responsibility for reliance on federation-provided information." | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #11 | Policy | Section 5.b: Legal conditions of use | "Members cannot claim damages due to service interruptions or related issues." | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #12 | MRPS | Definitions and Terminology | I would recommend to stick closer to the terminology as used in MRPS template. | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #13 | MRPS | Entity Eligibility and Validation | A subsection on Scope Format is missing. | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |
| #14 | MRPS | Section 5.1 | Include email address or add reference where the contact email address can be found. | Casper Dreef (GÉANT) | |