News post: Welcome to 10k AAI users

_posts/2022/2022-07-13-10k-aai-users.md

+---
+title: "We welcome 10.000 Helmholtz AAI Users!"
+title_image: camylla-battani-ABVE1cyT7hk-unsplash.jpg
+data: 2022-07-13
+authors:
+  - jandt
+layout: blogpost
+categories:
+  - News
+tags:
+  - Helmholtz AAI
+  - Helmholtz Cloud
+excerpt: >
+    By mid July 2022, we reached 10.000 user registrations in the central instance of the Helmholtz AAI.
+    A good reason to celebrate the success we achieved!
+---
+
+## Helmholtz AAI — seamless access to Helmholtz Cloud Services
+
+<figure>
+    <img src="{% link assets/img/posts/2022-07-13-10k-aai-users/helmholtz-aai_blue_font_with_hifis_logo.svg %}" alt="Helmholtz AAI" style="float:right;width:30%;padding:5px 5px 20px 20px">
+</figure>
+
+In early 2020, HIFIS implemented a community AAI (Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure) for all Helmholtz,
+thus dubbed "[Helmholtz AAI](https://aai.helmholtz.de)".
+
+Helmholtz AAI allows to transport and mediate user identity information and authorisation between all participating centres and institutions.
+Most prominently, the technology allows users to **log in to remote cloud services with their home username and password**.
+Single-Sign On (SSO) is a convenient side effect of this procedure, as a recently accomplished login can be re-used to access multiple services
+without the need to re-enter the password.
+
+Moreover, access rights to specific resources can be decentrally configured,
+thus **elevating collaboration on shared digital resources to a completely new level**.
+
+
+
+### Helmholtz AAI for Helmholtz Cloud Services: Just try!
+
+In parallel, HIFIS established numerous Helmholtz Cloud Services that are
+connected to and readily accessible via the AAI. These services are provided by Helmholtz Centres for usage within all Helmholtz
+and external collaboration partners -- for details see the specific service descriptions. 
+
+If you haven't tried it yet, there is a solution: **Try it now!**  
+Go to our [**Helmholtz Cloud Portal** <i class="fas fa-external-link-alt"></i>](https://helmholtz.cloud/services), and test the services you need;
+in case of questions, don't hesitate to [**contact our helpdesk**](mailto:support@hifis.net).
+
+Since there are a few things to consider in such a heterogenous landscape of service providers and using methods,
+you are invited to also have a quick look at our
+[illustrated tutorial on AAI login](https://aai.helmholtz.de/tutorial/2021/06/23/how-to-helmholtz-aai.html).
+
+### Participants and Users welcome
+
+{:.treat-as-figure}
+{:.float-right}
+![plot with increasing numbers up to 10 thousand, plus color-coded number of users per centre]({% link assets/img/posts/2022-07-13-10k-aai-users/aai_users_per_centre-plot_cumulated_with_overall.svg %})
+
+The obvious benefits of AAI in combination with useful services
+attracted both centres and users to join in increasing numbers: Meanwhile,
+16 of the 18 Helmholtz Centres, plus the Head Office, [are connected](https://hifis.net/doc/helmholtz-aai/list-of-connected-organisations/#helmholtz-centres)
+with active users being registered in the AAI.
+The remaining two centres are expected to follow soon.
+Users from elsewhere can also use existing ORCID, Github, or Google accounts to log in (with some restrictions).
+
+The user numbers increased drastically over time, basically from **zero to ten thousand within approximately two years**.
+Currently, AAI user accounts grow at a rate of roughly **160 per week**.
+All connected Helmholtz centres have users in the AAI, plus roughly 2.000 users that come from non-Helmholtz identity providers.
+This showcases the increasing significance of HIFIS services, and Helmholtz AAI specifically, for **collaborators outside Helmholtz**.
+
+Once the full-fledged Helmholtz Cloud Regulations are in place, it is expected that even more users will join us.
+Those will be users that are not yet able to put their specific use cases in place with the current status of the Helmholtz Cloud.
+
+### More to come
+
+For the first time, HIFIS fostered practical cross-Helmholtz sharing of digital resources on a large scale, and the Helmholtz AAI
+is an obvious cornerstone to that endeavour. This success increasingly yields practical use cases from the 
+scientific communities, e.g. on group-based sharing of resources in a both flexible and GDPR compliant manner.
+Hence, we are cooperating with standardisation groups such as
+[AEGIS](https://aarc-project.eu/about/aegis/) and
+[CS3](https://www.cs3community.org/)
+to help **put such use cases into reality in
+a sustainable and scalable manner**.
+
+The AAI will be extended to facilitate more complex workflows (e.g., service orchestration) and also to **improve user experience**.
+
+## Questions? Comments? Proposals?
+
+If you have any feedback to tell us, don't hesitate to [contact us](mailto:support@hifis.net).