Managing digital identity is crucial for both research and education, serving as a foundation for secure and seamless access to digital resources. Trust and Identity (T&I) infrastructure and services form a core pillar of National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), enabling collaboration and innovation across institutions and borders.
This essential work is driven by a vibrant European and global community, showcasing the power of collective effort. It stands as a prime example of how NRENs unite through both funded projects and voluntary initiatives to develop, deliver, and sustain the infrastructure that underpins the digital ecosystem of research and education.
TIIME 2025
The TIIME Unconference – the Trust and Internet Identity Meeting Europe – has emerged as a central gathering point for the digital identity and trust community. It offers a unique, participant-driven forum where experts, practitioners, and innovators come together to address current challenges, explore emerging technologies, and shape the future of Trust and Identity (T&I). The unconference format promotes open discussion, consensus building, and collaborative problem-solving, making it a highly engaging and impactful event for those working at the intersection of research, education, and digital identity.
At NORDUnet, we view TIIME as a vital catalyst for the ongoing development of foundational NREN infrastructure. The conversations and connections made at TIIME directly support the evolution of services that underpin secure, trusted collaboration across the global research and education community. As a longtime contributor, we are proud to this year also be a sponsor of TIIME, reinforcing our commitment to the shared advancement of Trust and Identity services.
Keynote Address by Licia Florio
This year, NORDUnet is honored to have Licia Florio, Senior Policy and Strategy Officer, deliver the opening keynote at the TIIME Unconference. Her talk, titled “Does trust still matter?”, will delve into the enduring significance of trust as a cornerstone for collaboration in research and education, both nationally and globally. At a time when digital transformation continues to reshape the landscape, trust remains the essential glue holding together human and technical interactions across institutions and borders.
The keynote will explore how trust underpins the sharing of data, resources, and knowledge—a practice long embedded in research collaboration and now accelerated by the push toward open science. As scientific data and outputs become increasingly accessible to broader society, the demand for robust, scalable, and trustworthy identity infrastructures grows. Licia’s talk will highlight both the challenges and opportunities the research and education community faces in delivering identity infrastructures at scale, setting the tone for a week of deep discussions at TIIME.
AARC3 partner meeting
TIIME has traditionally served as a hub for side meetings and collaborative gatherings across the Trust and Identity landscape, and this year is no exception. A key highlight will be the all-hands meeting of the AARC TREE project consortium, bringing together partners to assess the project’s current status and future direction. The agenda will include in-depth discussions on use case analysis, the ongoing evolution of the AARC blueprint architecture, and strategies for increasing adoption. Additionally, the meeting will focus on refining the AARC compendium and updating its recommendations, reinforcing the project’s role in shaping interoperable and scalable identity solutions for the research and education community.
Other notable side meetings at TIIME are FIM4R, which brings together research communities and infrastructures focused on advancing Federated Identity Management for Research, and REFEDS, the global collaboration group that represents the shared interests and evolving needs of research and education identity federations. These gatherings further underscore TIIME’s role in coordination and innovation in the Trust and Identity space.
The 2025 TIIME Unconference is held in Reading, UK, 31 March – 3 April, hosted by the University of Reading
