NIH embraces OpenID

The National Institutes of Health is one of the first federal agencies to use OpenID to make it easier for users to switch among secure federal websites without having to log in repeatedly. The success of this procedure may become the forerunner for how the federal government intends to wrestle to the ground the problem of accessing privacy-protected pages on multiple sites.

"It's a real advantage for the user, who doesn't have to get another password and try to remember it," Peter Alterman, senior adviser to the NIH chief information officer for strategic initiatives, tells nextgov.com.

The National Library of Medicine this week began offering a single sign-on page called the NIH Federated Identity Service to access about 10 applications, including the NIH library. The long-term goal of using this technology is to make sure citizens can log on to an identity management company certified by the federal government and complete a variety of transactions during one online session.

For more on OpenID:
- see this nextgov.com article

Related Article:
OpenID will make government websites more accessible