What are identity providers and federations?
Identity providers (IDPs) are organizations that provide user authentication services and enable access to their databases to verify the enrollment status of an individual. In most cases, IDPs are the owners of the student database information. Only authorized databases are considered valid IDPs for purposes of the DreamSpark program. The DreamSpark team reserves the right to authorize or remove IDPs from the system based on the quality and integrity of the data provided to the DreamSpark program. Federations are organized groups of identity providers and service providers. Federations provide an environment where data can be shared between federation members (service providers and identity providers). Countries can set up federations containing a group of school/university databases within its borders. Any group (public, private, non-profit, etc.) can set up a federation that connects databases of participating institutions.
