Higgins trust framework
Encyclopedia
Higgins is an open source
project dedicated to giving individuals more control over their personal identity, profile and social network data.
The project is organized into three main areas:
in the summer of 2003. In 2004 the effort became part of SocialPhysics.org, a collaboration between Paul and Mary Ruddy, of Azigo, (formerly Parity Communications, Inc.), and Meristic, and John Clippinger, at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Higgins, under its original name Eclipse Trust Framework, was accepted into the Eclipse Foundation
in early 2005. Mary and Paul are the project co-leads. IBM
and Novell's participation in the project was announced in early 2006. Higgins has received technology contributions from IBM
, Novell, Oracle
, CA, Serena, Google
, Corisecio as well as from several other firms and individuals. Version 1.0 was released in February 2008.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
project dedicated to giving individuals more control over their personal identity, profile and social network data.
The project is organized into three main areas:
- Active Clients - An active client integrates with a browser and runs on a computer or mobile device.
- Higgins 1.X: the active client supports the OASIS IMI protocol and performs the functions of an Information CardInformation CardInformation Cards are personal digital identities that people can use online, and the key component of Identity metasystems. Visually, each Information Card has a card-shaped picture and a card name associated with it that enable people to organize their digital identities and to easily select...
selector. - Higgins 2.0: the plan is to move beyond selector functionality to add support for managing passwords, Higgins relationship cards, as well other protocols such as OpenID. It also becomes a client for the Personal Data Store (see below) and thereby provides a kind of dashboard for personal information and a place to manage "permissioning" --deciding who gets access to what slice of the user's data.
- Higgins 1.X: the active client supports the OASIS IMI protocol and performs the functions of an Information Card
- Personal Data Store (PDS) is a new work area under development for Higgins 2.0. A PDS stores local personal data, controls access to remotely hosted personal data, synchronizes personal data to other devices and computers, accessed directly or via a PDS client it allows the user to share selected aspects of their information with people and organizations that they trust.
- Identity Services - Code for (i) an IMI and SAML compatible Identity Provider and (ii) enabling websites to be IMI and OpenID compatible.
History
The initial code for the Higgins Project was written by Paul TrevithickPaul Trevithick
Paul Byers Trevithick is an American inventor, engineer and entrepreneur.Trevithick is a co-founder of , and is currently its CTO. He initiated and is the technical leader of the work that is now the Eclipse Foundation's Higgins project. Supporting this effort, he also co-founded , the , Identity...
in the summer of 2003. In 2004 the effort became part of SocialPhysics.org, a collaboration between Paul and Mary Ruddy, of Azigo, (formerly Parity Communications, Inc.), and Meristic, and John Clippinger, at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Higgins, under its original name Eclipse Trust Framework, was accepted into the Eclipse Foundation
Eclipse Foundation
The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the open-source Eclipse Projects and helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services...
in early 2005. Mary and Paul are the project co-leads. IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Novell's participation in the project was announced in early 2006. Higgins has received technology contributions from IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Novell, Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
, CA, Serena, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Corisecio as well as from several other firms and individuals. Version 1.0 was released in February 2008.
See also
- Windows CardSpaceWindows CardSpaceWindows CardSpace , is Microsoft's now-canceled client software for the Identity Metasystem. CardSpace is an instance of a class of identity client software called an Identity Selector. CardSpace stores references to users' digital identities for them, presenting them to users as visual...
(formerly code-named InfoCard) - I-Card
- Information CardInformation CardInformation Cards are personal digital identities that people can use online, and the key component of Identity metasystems. Visually, each Information Card has a card-shaped picture and a card name associated with it that enable people to organize their digital identities and to easily select...