The InCommon Federation provides an identity and access management framework for U. S. universities and service partners to share resources and do business together online. During 2007, InCommon’s membership increased to over 70 institutions and their partners, representing a community of more than 1.3 million individuals. To encourage further growth and collaboration among the participants, Internet2 began offering InCommon informational sessions this year at both Member Meetings. These updates provided a face-to-face way to find out about the increasing momentum in the federation and how institutions can work together to take part.
USHER (U.S. Higher Education Root Certificate Authority) is a public key infrastructure (PKI) offered to the higher education community. Under the direction of the USHER Policy Authority, USHER supports PKI for applications and services in research, education, and business transactions in higher education that require security, encryption, or true digital signature technologies. By subscribing to USHER, eligible organizations will be able to base PKI applications and services in a common root with peers and collaborative partners.