---
sheet_format: 1.0
id: 2019-03-mlfnumerique-annuaire-federateur
title: "Un annuaire fédérateur, pour quoi faire ?"
title_en: "A federating directory: what for?"
speaker: Erwan Rougeux
with: []
date: 2019-03-13
event: "1ères Rencontres #mlfnumérique"
place: "Lycée Molière, Zaragoza, Spain"
format: talk
language: fr
duration: "19:10"
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0
slides: null
topics: [identity management, mission laïque française, infrastructure, service catalogue, gdpr, education, schools abroad]
source: "Summary written by Claude (AI) from the auto-generated YouTube captions of a single-voice plenary (the description credits Erwan Rougeux; the date is the upload date, a few days after the event). Not a verbatim transcript; check the recording before quoting."
review: none
---

# Un annuaire fédérateur, pour quoi faire ?

**In one sentence:** As technical director of the Mission laïque française, Erwan Rougeux explains to the network's schools why, after taking back control of infrastructure and identities and reaching a hundred hosted services, the next step is one federating directory, built with the schools and under GDPR.

## TL;DR
A plenary from the first #mlfnumérique meetings in Zaragoza, with questions from the room at the end. Since the 2014 congress that launched the Mlf digital strategy, the IT department and its providers worked in three phases: take back control of the infrastructure, take back control of identities and authentication, then offer services. The service catalogue is not a shopping catalogue: needs are analysed and answered with pre-configured but customisable tools (several Moodles, no two identical sites, one core run by headquarters). After four years the network hosts more than a hundred services instead of the twenty planned, which creates the problem: too many addresses and passwords, no simple way to manage rights. The answer is the "annuaire fédérateur" designed by the French Ministry of Education in the 2000s, a directory of identity records for people and for structures, with the student as the main user. Because it is a database, its life must be organised (who imports, updates, is responsible), all the more since GDPR came into force; French academies feed theirs from SIECLE, the Mlf has no academy and must build the flows itself. Concrete gains: automated September email creation, roles and permissions set by the head of school, a data lifecycle with accounts destroyed at year N+2, access to ministry tools that require user lists, and connection to the national tools the ministry wants for French schools abroad from September 2019, under strict security conditions. The reflection continues in workshops with Anybox and Guillaume Lion. In the Q&A he defends a single mlfmonde professional address, leaves student accounts open pending usage charters, and insists information systems are alive and built with the schools, not by headquarters alone.

## Erwan's key points
- The federating directory is one of the most important technical objectives of these meetings ([0:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=8s)).
- Since the 2014 congress launched the Mlf digital strategy, the IT team worked with two providers, one for the technical side and one for processes, to keep the information system and its services coherent ([0:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=35s)).
- Three phases: take back control of the infrastructure, then of identities and authentication, then provide services ([1:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=83s)).
- A service catalogue is not a La Redoute or Amazon catalogue: needs are analysed and met as homogeneously as possible with pre-configured, then customised tools; several Moodles were deployed, no two school sites are identical, yet the core is the same and run by Mlf services ([1:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=105s)).
- After four years the network hosts more than a hundred services, against the twenty planned, a ramp-up nobody had imagined ([2:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=151s)).
- The turning point: with a hundred services, users juggle addresses and passwords and rights management has to become simple ([3:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=200s)).
- Rather than reinvent the wheel, the Mlf reuses the federating-directory structure matured by the Ministry of Education since the 2000s: identity records for people and for structures (schools, disciplines, domains, networks), with the student as the main user, then school staff ([3:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=223s), [4:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=272s)).
- A directory is a database whose life must be governed (who imports, who updates, who is responsible), and GDPR, in force since May, makes those processes mandatory; workshops will design them ([4:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=296s)).
- French academies feed their directory from SIECLE and connect Pronote and the ENT; the Mlf has no academy, so it has to build those mechanisms, including staff moves from the second year on ([5:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=343s)).
- Headquarters will not impose processes that do not match how data lives in a school; the data is not all in Colibris or Facto, and not everyone uses them ([6:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=413s)).
- Concrete gain: September email addresses, today created by hand from lists sent to headquarters, become automated flows; the head of school updates the directory, which drives account creation, roles and permissions ([7:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=435s)).
- Data protection by design: the data lifecycle is written into procedures, an account no longer needed at year N+2 is destroyed and nothing stored remains retrievable ([8:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=506s)).
- Ministry tools such as Folios cannot be accessed without a reliable directory that supplies user lists ([8:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=529s)).
- The ministry set up a working group with French schools abroad to offer a national tool to all pupils from September 2019, and warned that the Mlf database must be secured because it will connect to interministerial networks and a state identity base ([9:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=553s), [10:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=601s)).
- A single professional address, probably mlfmonde, is the IT department's goal; dedicated workflows remain possible for networks that need other addresses ([12:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=771s), [16:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=965s)).
- Student accounts are conceivable but require usage charters, because a pupil's misuse of an mlfmonde address engages the school's responsibility ([16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=989s)).
- "Our information systems are alive": nothing is fixed, the meetings and congresses exist to improve and harmonise the service with the schools ([14:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=847s)).
- IT is not an end in itself: "we are not here to do IT for the sake of IT"; this is a reflection by headquarters with the schools, not by headquarters alone ([15:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=916s)).
- Connecting to ministry applications is almost there: the upstream work is done, discussions and security approvals are under way, and the Mlf must not be the brake on a project announced for September 2019 ([17:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=1062s), [18:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=1083s)).

## Outline
- [0:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=8s) Why the federating directory is the technical objective of the meetings.
- [0:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=35s) Context since 2014: IT team, two providers, coherence of the information system.
- [1:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=83s) Three phases: infrastructure, identities and authentication, services.
- [1:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=105s) What a service catalogue is and is not; Moodle example; one core, customised front ends.
- [2:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=151s) A hundred services instead of twenty.
- [3:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=200s) The turning point: addresses, passwords, rights.
- [3:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=223s) The ministry's federating-directory model; people and structures; student at the centre.
- [4:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=296s) Governing the database; GDPR; workshops sessions 5 and 6.
- [5:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=343s) First-year import, later staff moves; SIECLE, Pronote, ENT; no academy for the Mlf.
- [6:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=413s) No process imposed that ignores how data lives in schools.
- [7:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=435s) Example: September email addresses, automated flows, roles and permissions.
- [8:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=506s) Data lifecycle and destruction at N+2.
- [8:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=529s) Ministry tools need user lists.
- [9:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=553s) Working group with French schools abroad; September 2019; security requirements.
- [10:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=650s) Workshops with Anybox and Guillaume Lion.
- [11:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=698s) Question: one single email address for everyone? Several existing professional addresses.
- [12:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=771s) Answer: mlfmonde accounts created by the directory; unification under way; why mlfmonde was little used.
- [14:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=847s) Information systems are alive; next edition of the meetings.
- [15:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=941s) Question on local mailboxes; one professional address.
- [16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=989s) Question on student accounts; charters and responsibility.
- [17:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=1036s) Question: will we finally use the ministry's tools? Almost.
- [18:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=1106s) Close: see you in the workshops.

## Notable quotes
> "quand on parle de catalogue de services on ne parle pas de catalogue type Redoute ou Amazon" — Erwan Rougeux, [1:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=105s)
*"When we say service catalogue, we don't mean a La Redoute or Amazon catalogue."*

> "après quatre ans nous sommes arrivés à héberger plus d'une centaine de services, contrairement à ce qu'on avait planifié où on avait prévu seulement une vingtaine" — Erwan Rougeux, [2:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=151s)
*"After four years we host more than a hundred services, against the twenty we had planned."*

> "nos systèmes d'information sont vivants" — Erwan Rougeux, [14:07](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=847s)
*"Our information systems are alive."*

> "on n'est pas là pour faire du SI pour faire du SI, ça sert à rien" — Erwan Rougeux, [15:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=916s)
*"We're not here to do IT for the sake of IT; that's pointless."*

> "c'est pas une réflexion du siège par le siège, c'est une réflexion du siège avec vous" — Erwan Rougeux, [15:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=916s)
*"This isn't headquarters thinking for headquarters; it's headquarters thinking with you."*

## Questions this answers
**Q: What is an "annuaire fédérateur"?**
A: A directory, modelled on the French Ministry of Education's design from the 2000s, that stores identity records for people and for structures (schools, disciplines, domains, networks) and feeds every service with the right accounts, roles and permissions ([3:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=223s)).

**Q: Why did the Mlf need one in 2019?**
A: Because after taking back control of its infrastructure and identities it hosted over a hundred services, and users faced different addresses and passwords everywhere with no simple rights management ([2:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=151s), [3:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=200s)).

**Q: What does GDPR change for the project?**
A: It makes governing the data mandatory: who imports, updates and is responsible, with a written lifecycle under which unused accounts are destroyed at year N+2 ([4:56](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=296s), [8:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=506s)).

**Q: What concrete benefit does a school get?**
A: Automated account creation instead of email lists handled by hand at headquarters each September, roles and permissions set by the head of school, and access to ministry tools that require user lists ([7:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=435s), [8:49](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=529s)).

**Q: Will teachers end up with one single address?**
A: That is the IT department's goal, probably the mlfmonde address; the directory creates those accounts, dedicated workflows stay possible, and unification was already under way in some networks ([12:51](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=771s), [16:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=965s)).

**Q: Will students get accounts?**
A: Conceivable, but only with usage charters, because misuse of an mlfmonde address by a pupil engages the school's responsibility ([16:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=989s)).

**Q: How does the Mlf approach this with its schools?**
A: Workshops design the processes together with the schools and two outside contributors; headquarters refuses to impose flows that do not match how data lives in a school ([6:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=413s), [10:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=650s), [15:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jJKkt7-dV0&t=916s)).

## Mentioned
Mission laïque française, mlfmonde, Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, Anybox, Guillaume Lion, Moodle, SIECLE, Pronote, ENT, Colibris, Facto, Folios, GDPR, Zaragoza, Lebanon, Tripoli