An Extensible Identity Management Framework for Cloud-Based E-Government Systems

Abstract

Numerous Cloud Identity Management (IdM) systems have been designed and implemented to meet the diverse functional and security requirements of various organizations. These requirements are subjective in nature; for instance, some government organizations require security more than efficiency while others prioritize performance and immediate response over security. However, most of the existing IdM systems are incapable of handling the user-centricity, security & technology requirements and are also domain specific. In this regard, this chapter elaborates the need to use Cloud Computing technology for enhancing the effectiveness and transparency of IdM functions and presents a comprehensive and well-structured Extensible IdM Framework for Cloud based e-government institutions. We present the design and implementation details of the proposed framework, followed by a case study which shows how government organizations of Pakistan would use the proposed framework to improve their IdM processes and achieve diverse IdM services.