In the era of open science and global collaboration, Research Infrastructures rely on complex digital ecosystems that connect researchers and institutions and distribute resources worldwide. Ensuring secure, efficient, and scalable access to these environments is crucial. This is where EGI Check-in, an Identity and Access Management (IAM) service, comes into play—simplifying and strengthening access management for research infrastructures.

Federated and Unified Access: Researchers can authenticate using their institutional credentials (universities, research organisations, identity federations) without creating new accounts. This improves their user experience and reduces credential management overhead.

Security and Compliance: EGI Check-in implements centralised access control policies, integrating standards such as x509, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, and SAML, ensuring compliance with security and data protection requirements.

Alignment with the AARC Blueprint Architecture (BPA): EGI Check-in follows the best practices defined by the Authentication and Authorisation for Research Collaboration (AARC) Blueprint Architecture, guaranteeing interoperability with other research infrastructures and fostering a federated, scalable, and policy-driven IAM approach.

Technology powering the EOSC EU Node: EGI Check-in uses the same technology as the EOSC EU Node, serving as the access gateway to EOSC Core services. This reinforces Check-in's reliability and scalability in enabling access to pan-European research services.

Granular Authorisation Management: EGI Check-in enables precise role-based access control (RBAC), ensuring that only the right users access the right resources.

Seamless Integration with Research Services: EGI Check-in connects with key platforms for computing, data hubs, container orchestration, and cloud services, facilitating frictionless access to a rich ecosystem of tools.

Scalability and Automation: The service supports many users and services while automating provisioning and de-provisioning, reducing administrative workload.

By adopting an IAM solution like EGI Check-in, Research Infrastructures align with AARC BPA's various guidelines, ensuring a standardised and interoperable authentication and authorisation ecosystem. This approach enhances security, improves user experience, and reduces operational complexity, enabling researchers to focus on science rather than access management. Global collaboration demands simple yet secure access: IAM is the bridge between innovation and security.