About the Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure (AAI)
The objective of the AAI is, in a nutshell, to simplify inter-organizational access to web resources. It is deployed by most Swiss universities. With a single login a student can access e-learning systems at multiple universities, for example. The AAI makes use of a concept called Federated Identity Management.
These are the benefits
All parties profit from a standards-based AAI:
- Thanks to the 'virtualized' ID, resources can save the effort of registering and administering users based on paperwork.
- Because of standardized interfaces, resources can integrate users of other organizations without much effort.
- Due to a standardized authentication mechanism, users are granted access to various resources of a number of organizations with a single password, irrespective of location.