The Internet2 Middleware Initiative brings together leading IT architects from Internet2 member organizations to address critical issues in interoperable identity and access management to enable practical and secure inter-institutional collaboration and resource sharing. The services and open-source tools—developed in conjunction with Internet2 members—simplify the management of access to services, reduce the complexity for the end-user, and enable operations to scale securely by integrating an enterprise identity management infrastructure with services provided by both central and distributed IT as well as off-site partners.
When thinking of cyberinfrastructure resources for researchers, one thinks of the traditional grid components of computing, storage, and software for performing analysis, simulation, and visualization. This distributed world of resources adds complexity in control, access, and security. Middleware is a critical component of the cyberinfrastructure required by the research and education community.