# Author of pysaml2 and pyoidc

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/experts/roland-hedberg/
Last updated: 2026-09-20
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

---

## Bio

Roland Hedberg has worked in the research and education community since 1987. He wrote pysaml2, the Python [SAML 2.0](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/saml-2-0/) implementation still packaged by many operating systems, and later pyoidc, a certified Python [OpenID Connect](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/openid-connect/) implementation, alongside work on the OpenID Connect conformance test suite and an identity provider proxy for Swedish federation.

Profile built from public project, certification, and university records.

## Where their work shows up

Research and education federation runs on open-source code written by people inside it, because no vendor was going to serve thousands of universities with no common budget. pysaml2 and pyoidc are that code for the Python ecosystem, and the conformance test work matters just as much: certification is what turns "we implemented the spec" into something a federation operator can verify. See [SAML vs OIDC](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/fundamentals/saml-vs-oidc/) and the [standards deep-dives](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/).