The Identity Federation for Arab Research and Education (IFARE)
IFARE is a service offered and operated by ASREN to the Arab Research and Education communities. IFARE offers a technical framework for simplifying access to content, services and resources at the national, regional and global levels for the research and education community members. By using a trusted identity, users can access a greater range of services managed and controlled by different administrative domains using a single credential for each user.
Who can benefit from IFARE service?
IFARE service is available to the Arab National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) and their member universities and institutions especially those connected to the ASREN Network.
NRENs, institutions and universities can apply for IFARE membership as:
- An Identity Provider: to manage the authentication of End Users and their digital identities data.
- A Service Provider: to provide resources and services in the IFARE federation.
Why IFARE?
IFARE offers the security enhancement and the facilitation of the authentication in the local applications as well as cloud applications. Listed below are the most common assets to being a member of IFARE:
- Enable scalable and trusted collaborations within the research and education community.
- Enable an easy and a convenient access to End Users.
- Ensure lower administration costs and time saving.
- Enable a secure access to contents.
- Increase the privacy protection with fewer data spills.
- Enable the access to a wider range of services through eduGAIN confederation.
How to becom an IFARE member
The registration into the IFARE federation is free for all institutions that are connected to ASREN (NRENs or others academic/research organizations).
To become an IFARE’s member, please follow the instructions below:
- Read the IFARE Policy and make sure that you can assume the member’s obligations and rights.
- Make sure that your application is technically compatible with IFARE requirements.
- Download, print and fill out the Membership Agreement:
- Sign the Membership Agreement and send a scanned copy to the IFARE team at ifare@mlist.asren.org and a hard copy via postal mail.
- Your application for membership will be evaluated by ASREN. Upon acceptance, your technical representative will be contacted to start the technical integration of your IdP/SP in IFARE following the detailed procedure available on the IFARE Resource Registry.
- The countersigned documents will be sent to you via the provided postal mail address and your administrative and technical correspondents will be notified by email, informing them that your institution has become an IFARE’s member and is registered as an Identity Provider or a Service Provider.
Available resources within IFARE federation
IFARE members can benefit from the resources below:
- ASREN FileSender: FileSender is a web based application that allows authenticated users to securely and easily send arbitrarily large files to other users
- IFARE Resource Registry: The Resource Registry is the central tool to manage information about resources and home organizations participating in IFARE federation.
AAI and eduGAIN
Developed, maintained and operated by the European R&E Network GÉANT, the eduGAIN service interconnects identity federations around the world, simplifying access to content, services and resources for the global research and education community. eduGAIN enables the trustworthy exchange of information related to identity, authentication and authorization (AAI). Through eduGAIN, identity providers offer a greater range of services to their users, delivered by multiple federations in a truly collaborative environment; service providers offer their services to users in different federations, increasing their target market; and users seamlessly benefit from the wider range of services.
