An unconference is a conference without fixed topics, just a rough structure and an overarching motto. The TIIME Unconference has emerged as a central gathering point for the digital identity and trust community.
TIIME unconference
Trust has an enduring significance as a cornerstone for collaboration in research and education, both nationally and globally. At a time when digital transformation continues to reshape the landscape, trust remains the essential glue holding together human and technical interactions across institutions and borders.
TIIME
TIIME facilitates the cooperation between innovative communities in various fields of trans-organizational trust and identity matters. Identity management plays a key role in IT security and data protection. It is an interdisciplinary topic that encompasses many roles and responsibilities. The TIIME provides a forum for experts as well as the necessary training that engineers, technical leaders and managers need to be successful. The conversations and connections made at TIIME directly support the evolution of services that underpin secure, trusted collaboration across the global research and education community.
Challenges and opportunities
The unconference kicked off with a presentation on challenges and opportunities that the R&E community are facing in delivering identity infrastructures at scale from Licia Florio from NORDUnet. Examples included the GÉANT portfolio of trust and identity services, as well as the work done based on the AARC Community Blueprint Architecture, and the work done in European context for the EOSC EU node.
Breakout sessions
The breakout sessions are the core of an unconference, and the breakout rooms bustled with activity as participants deep-dived into a multitude of topics such as eduID, wallets, credentials, how to support EU university alliances and student mobility, passkeys, and interoperability.
AARC TREE side meeting
In connection with the TIIME unconference, the AARC TREE team met to review and discuss findings from interviews conducted with research and e-infrastructures operating AARC BPA-compliant AAIs. There was consensus on the need to refine the identified requirements and explore potential solutions. Additionally, the team agreed to produce a graphical visualization of the results.
FIM4R side meeting
FIM4R (Federated Identity Management for Research) is a collection of research communities and infrastructures with a shared interest in enabling Federated Identity Management for their research cyber infrastructures. Representatives from these communities met at TIIME along with T&I experts for fruitful discussions on developments in the domain.
Amsterdam next
TIIME is a new format and it is still evolving. Having an un-conference event such as this, with a managed process to discuss topics, is a great opportunity to engage the identity practitioners in Europe and beyond. The attendance shows that there is a need for such an event, with high engagement and a bottom up approach. The next TIIME will be held in Amsterdam in 2026.
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