GSA Requires Interoperability Testing

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- Liberty Alliance, the global identity consortium working to build a more trusted Internet for consumers, governments and businesses worldwide, today announced that the E-Authentication Solution program of the US General Services Administration (GSA) now mandates passing Liberty Alliance SAML 2.0 interoperability testing as a prerequisite for participating in the US E-Authentication Identity Federation. This news comes as governments around the world build and deploy SAML 2.0-based applications to offer millions of citizens secure and privacy-respecting online services and to provide businesses and public sector trading partners with an open, proven interoperable and trusted platform for conducting and managing a wide variety of identity-based transactions.

Countries building and deploying identity-based applications using Liberty Federation, which consists of ID-FF 1.1, 1.2 and SAML 2.0 specifications, include Austria, Australia, France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, countries in the Middle East, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are relying on Liberty Federation to better meet business goals and regulatory requirements and to ensure users are provided with the highest levels of security and privacy protection across federations spanning sectors and regional, national and international boundaries. Liberty Alliance maintains a digital map and listing of countries deploying Liberty Federation at http://projectliberty.org/liberty/adoption/egovernment/egov_world_map

GSA Sets the Pace for Advancing Trusted SAML 2.0 Federations

The decision by the E-Authentication Solution to require Liberty Alliance SAML 2.0 interoperability testing for vendors participating in the US E-Authentication Identity Federation is furthering the deployment of trusted inter-federations among governments and private sector organizations worldwide. Originally launched in 2002 as part of the President's Management Agenda, the E-Authentication Solution assists federal agencies in mitigating the security and privacy risks associated with e-government and helps control government costs associated with authenticating large numbers of end users. E-Authentication Solution’s move to have vendors pass Liberty Alliance testing recognizes the important role interoperability plays in advancing the deployment of trusted identity federations. More information about E-Authentication Solution’s SAML 2.0 interoperability requirements is available at http://www.cio.gov/eauthentication/

“Proven interoperability of vendor products is critical to advancing trusted identity federations quickly and on the widest possible scale,” said Tom Kireilis, Acting Program Executive, E-Authentication Solution, GSA. “The E-Authentication Solution is requiring vendors to pass Liberty Alliance SAML 2.0 interoperability testing to help ensure products interoperate from day one and provide immediate and long-term business value to US Government Agencies.”

The Liberty Alliance Project