FACIS supports the development of digital ecosystems across Europe by delivering standardized templates for operating collaborative data ecosystems. With these blueprints, called Federation Architecture Patterns (FAPs), FACIS introduces a trend-setting concept for secure and competitive collaboration in the European digital space. Why the project team was inspired by the concept of Enterprise Architecture Patterns (EAP) for development and what practical advantages do federations and FAPs hold ready for the industry? In this FACES of FACIS interview, Hossein Rafieekhah, Lead of Work Package FAPs, gives the answers you need to know.
FACIS is an 8ra project that aims to strengthen the seamless collaboration between cloud/edge providers and service consumers in Europe. Hossein, why is this so important these days?
Hossein Rafieekhah: Today, cloud and edge services form the backbone of many digital offerings. Their rapid growth has made secure, interoperable, and trusted collaboration between providers and consumers more critical than ever. Strict privacy and data protection regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), rising cybersecurity threats, and Europe’s ambition to maintain digital sovereignty – all of these factors contribute to the need for frictionless interaction based on common trust frameworks.
Why do we need federations to simplify digital collaboration between cloud providers and consumers? And what exactly is a federation?
Hossein Rafieekhah: A federation is a group of organizations that, while retaining their independence, collaborate under a shared trust framework and a common set of standards and policies. This model simplifies, secures, and streamlines how different actors connect and interact. Particularly important: In a federation, each member remains in control of its own data and systems, yet can exchange data and services with others in a standardized and trusted way.
Can you give concrete examples of cases in which it makes sense to start working in a federation?
Hossein Rafieekhah: A federation can basically be set up by anyone, but there are usually three main reasons why organizations decide to start one. First, a group may have identified a common domain problem. Second, they might face legal or other requirements that are hard to meet on their own. And third, they may see a business opportunity.
The important point is that the trigger for cooperation has to be strong enough for everyone to realize that the benefit of solving a shared challenge outweighs any hesitation about working with competitors.
Let me tell you examples: Think of an international network of hospitals and healthcare centers that need to exchange patient medical records with each other. Or an automotive supply chain with dozens of suppliers spread across different countries. Or even a consortium of universities and research centers sharing confidential data and research results. In all these cases, a federation provides the trust framework that makes collaboration possible – without compromising data sovereignty.
What do companies need to set up a federation?
Hossein Rafieekhah: To build a federation, companies need the following elements: First, legal and governance agreements between the members. Second, a shared trust framework along with common security policies. Third, a digital identity infrastructure – such as decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials (VCs). They also need technical components for identity management, credential issuance, and verification. These can often be selected or adapted from reference components developed under the Eclipse XFSC project, such as OCM, PCM, TSA, and TRAIN. And finally, secure and standardized communication tools are required to enable the exchange of data and services.
What can Federation Architecture Patterns (FAPs) contribute to building a federation quickly and efficiently? Why was there a need to create FAPs?
Hossein Rafieekhah: The need for FAPs arise because building a federation is typically complex and time-consuming. Aligning technical, governance, and standards aspects is a major challenge.That is why we came up with the concept of ready to use blueprints: FAPs. They are a collection of patterns, modules, standards, and practical guidelines that streamline and accelerate the process of building a federation. FAPs allow organizations to reuse ready-made components, proven instructions, and previous experiences instead of designing everything from scratch.
What are the main advantages when using a FAP?
Hossein Rafieekhah: The main advantages of using a FAP emerge in several areas. First of all, it significantly reduces the time required to set up a federation. It also provides assurance of compliance with established standards and trust frameworks, which lowers both technical and security risks. In addition, a FAP makes it easier to scale and maintain federations over time, while at the same time enhancing interoperability and cross-organizational collaboration.
Enterprise Architecture Patterns (EAP) are already a proven concept in the corporate context. Was the project based on this concept when developing the FAPs?
Hossein Rafieekhah: Yes, FAPs are partly inspired by the EAP approach which provides a reusable framework and best-practice guidance for designing and organizing systems, processes, and technologies across an organization. However, we customized and extended the concept to federated environments and multi-stakeholder ecosystems.
To put it briefly: The main difference is that FAPs not only cover enterprise architecture aspects but also incorporate characteristics specific to federations such as decentralized identity standards, trust frameworks, and technical modules.
FAPs allow organizations to reuse ready-made components, proven instructions, and previous experiences instead of designing everything from scratch.
Can you briefly explain how the concept of FAPs works?
Hossein Rafieekhah: A FAP is a modular pattern that provides a set of technical components, including reference components from the Eclipse XFSC project, such as OCM, PCM, TSA, and TRAIN, along with implementation guidelines, policies, and interoperability standards. Together, these elements form a blueprint for a federated architecture that can be applied across various domains and industries with minimal adjustments. It is, however, important to emphasize that a FAP represents specific processes within an ecosystem; it does not provide the means to establish the ecosystem as a whole. Thus, FAP simplifies the federation setup process through composable, quickly deployable components.
To demonstrate a concrete use case, FACIS is now developing a FAP for the process of onboarding a partner into a federation. Can you outline this use case in more detail please? How will the industry benefit from it?
Hossein Rafieekhah: In this use case, the FAP standardizes and automates the process of onboarding a new partner into the federation. This includes steps such as identity verification, trust condition checks, issuance of digital credentials, and registration in the federation’s member list. For the industry, this means reduced onboarding time, fewer human errors, increased security and trust, and a consistent experience for all new partners. Our team is thrilled to be working on this case and experience the benefits in practice!
What other use cases are conceivable?
Hossein Rafieekhah: Due to their flexible and scalable nature, FAPs enable a wide range of federation use cases. Beyond the ones we have already discussed, other scenarios are also conceivable. For example, they can support secure data exchange in multinational supply chains, allow cloud and edge providers to collaborate in running distributed applications, and enable cross-country healthcare networks to share medical records securely.The also provide a framework for open data marketplaces to operate under trusted conditions and for financial institutions to exchange customer credit verification information. In short, FAPs open the door to many practical applications across industries where trust and interoperability are essential.
