InCommon BaseCAMP Program

Welcome to BaseCAMP + InCommon 101

Welcome to BaseCAMP! Learn what to expect this week and beyond. Plus, get an introduction to InCommon, how it came to be, what it does today, and how the community drives what we do — together.

Building Foundations

A mini-course that provides an overview of the key concepts and terminology for identity and access management programs and systems in higher education and research.

Grady Bailey 

Drew Aschenbrener

Paul Caskey

IAM in Context

A successful IAM program doesn’t operate in isolation. Understand how IAM’s fits within the structure of a higher education institution including its functions, roles, and responsibilities. Learn how IAM intersects with security, HR, and other divisions. We’ll also review centralized and decentralized IAM programs.

Collin McCarthy 

Richard Frovarp

2 Fast 2 Federation(s)

Explore the concept of federation. This session will break down federated identity, how authentication and authorization work in a federation, the key roles of Identity Providers (IdPs), Service Providers (SPs), and the Federation Operator. Learn why institutions join and the benefits for research and collaboration. We’ll see examples from two real federations: eduroam and InCommon Federation. If you’re new to IAM or just starting to explore federation, this session will give you the basics to get started.

Romy Bolton

Ann West

Concurrent Sessions:

Session 1: XBAC- An Overview of Access Control

A practical walk through the modern access control landscape. From RBAC and ABAC to newer policy and relationship-driven approaches, this session will unpack how they can fit together instead of competing. Come see how access control within the larger higher-ed IAM context can integrate governance, grouping, and federated authentication into a model that’s both flexible and defensible.

Session 2: The Real World: Collaboration in IAM

This session is the true story of IAM. In the world of research and higher education, IAM teams facilitate collaborative projects, manage complex access requirements, and support privacy and security of data often between institutions. Featuring real world examples, this session will examine the unique IAM considerations that arise in R&E and how IAM policy, architecture, and data governance decisions enable science and discovery.

Session 1:

Kellen Murphy

Session 2:

Amanda Ferrante

Steve Lovaas

Scotty Strachan

Amanda Burris

Erik Coleman

We Need To Talk About AI

Hear peer and expert perspectives about this emerging technology and the implications for identity and access management in higher education and research. This panel discussion will help sort the hype cycle from real implications and offer practical considerations as the landscape of agentic and non-agentic AI evolves.

Chris Hyzer 

Chris Bongaarts

Kirk Walker

Matt Campbell 

Grady Bailey

Kevin Morooney

Practical Considerations for Modernizing IAM Infrastructure

Many organizations are currently facing the complex challenge of modernizing their IAM infrastructure. This session will provide practical considerations for how to navigate the process. Whether it’s integrating commercial products with legacy systems, moving from on prem to cloud, or working with vendors, you’ll hear about common pain points and strategies to successfully navigate them.

Margaret Cullen

Derek Limoseth 

Mark Earnest

Concurrent Sessions:

Session 1: eduroam Wasn’t Built In A Day

eduroam is a federated Wi-Fi authentication service. How do organizations go from understanding the vision to implementing the reality? Learn about the typical challenges and opportunities faced by newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. This session is useful to site admins who might participate in their organization’s eduroam deployment, but is also appropriate for anyone just wanting to understand this famous service better.

Session 2: Up, Down, Left Right: Tips for Communicating Across an Organization

Communication is vital to the large-scale collaboration happening in the world of research and education. However, a common challenge for identity practitioners is communicating the value of IAM, especially to the wide variety of audiences at an institution. This session provides tips and guidance on communicating up and across your organization so you can begin to bridge cultural gaps between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Session 1:

John Blohm

Mary Bull

Session 2:

Dameion Brown

Andrew Hiltz

Concurrent Sessions:

Session 1: IAM by Design: Getting hands-on w/ Sketch

Whether you’re designing an IAM program from scratch or refining an existing one, understanding your institution’s components is key. This session will explore the common components and functions of an IAM system while providing an introduction to using IAM Sketch. We’ll create a mock sketch live!

Session 2: WTF- Why the (InCommon) Federation

Get acquainted with the InCommon Federation – the secure and scalable foundation for cross-institutional collaboration in research and education. Whether you’re sharing resources across institutions, integrating with commercial cloud services, or enabling research at scale, the InCommon Federation is your gateway. Hear how InCommon Federation works to enable and empower access at scale — using standards-based trust, flexible control, and community-driven governance.

Session 1:

Tommy Doan 

Grady Bailey

Session 2:

Johnny Lasker

Matthew Economou

The Struggle is Real

IAM isn’t just about technology, it’s about people and processes. Whether you’re part of a small team, working with a tight budget, or facing organizational roadblocks, you’re not alone. This interactive session will bring together IAM professionals to share real-world struggles and creative solutions. Get practical insights, peer-driven strategies, and the reassurance that no one has it all figured out. See community in action as we navigate the struggles together!

Julian Anderson

Brendan Post

Hannah Short

Vanessa Lees-Currence

Terry Haygood

Protocols vs. products: Developing your authentication strategy based on requirements, not product names

Options for authentication and authorization have expanded in the last decade. This session will review how to define your authentication and authorization requirements and the protocols that enable them. Learn how to think through selecting products and services that support your specific needs and allow you to build a cohesive system that aligns with industry standards.

Concurrent Sessions:

Session 1: Operations Field Guide

An overview of operational considerations for IAM programs. We’ll dive into the principles and practices of a DevOps approach and related topics such as containerization, a workbench for testing, and identifying a starting point for your roadmap.

Session 2: Exploring Zero Trust

Modern IAM systems are most secure when they can respond in real-time to changes in the environment. Zero Trust security models enable this by considering dynamic attributes such as workstation security posture, trustworthiness of origin, deviation from common baseline behavior and many other factors. Zero Trust deployments often incorporate trusted external sources of threat intelligence (botnet IP ranges, known bad actors, etc). This session will explore how you can add these techniques to your security toolbox for a more automated, responsive security infrastructure.

Session 1:

Steven Premeau

David Hutchins

Session 2:

Rob Carter

Tom Jordan

Concurrent Sessions:

Session 1: The Hot Topic Roundup
A panel discussion of current and emerging hot topics in IAM. Hear from IAM practitioners about what key issues they are currently facing and what concerns are on the horizon. We’ll a range of topics tackle including verifiable credentials, guidance for identifiers, and identity proofing.

Session 2: eduroam: When in eduroam: Best Practices and Baseline Expectations

How do you make sure that an ambitious idea – sharing Wi-Fi authentications across the Internet – actually works? As a community, we all benefit when everyone follows the rules, and the best version of the rules, but organizations differ in meaningful ways. Hear an open and honest discussion about the challenges of designing and validating both best practices and baseline expectations.

Session 1:

Chris Phillips

Charise Arrowood

Joanne Boomer

Patrick Radtke

Session 2:

Adam Ferrero

Dr. Gloria Stephenson

Mary Bull

Community in Action: Ethos and Opportunity

In IAM, community is a verb. This session will explore community as a methodology to solve challenges, develop new technologies, and support best practices in higher education and research. We’ll share common professional development pathways for IAM practitioners, discuss mentorship, and provide an overview of advisory groups and committees that you can participate in. Come to this session to learn how to get plugged into the community!

Marta Lang

Joanne Boomer

Closing Ceremony

We’ll wrap up BaseCAMP and launch you into what’s next on your IAM journey!

Kevin Morooney

Romy Bolton