In 2011 the OpenID Foundation welcomed Deutsche Telekom as a new member. By joining the Foundation and other industry leaders such as Microsoft, Ping Identity, Google, PayPal, & Symantec, Europe’s largest telecommunications company is supporting decentralized authentication systems for easy online login, such as OpenID. In the development of consumer products, the Deutsche Telekom Group has supported OpenID for some time. Using the OpenID protocol facilitates the integration of centrally developed products into the portfolios of the individual subsidiaries (NatCos). In turn, their customers gain easy and secure access to centrally provided services such as address book and media services.
Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T‑Labs), the innovation and research branch of Deutsche Telekom, played a key role in the Group becoming a member. Axel Nennker, Identity Expert at T-Labs, has recently been reelected to the Board of Directors of the OpenID Foundation. At the upcoming OpenID workshop in London, Ingo Friese from T-Labs will give a presentation on their Cross-Operator Identity Services project.