diff --git a/service/providers/utils.py b/service/providers/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41fb8bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/service/providers/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+from flask_login import UserMixin
+import jwt
+
+
+__author__ = 'hanl'
+
+
+def decrypt_openid(secret, token=None):
+    values = {}
+    if token:
+        values = jwt.decode(jwt=token, key=secret)
+        print "decoded values %s" % str(values)
+    return values
+
+
+def encrypt_string(secret, *args):
+    jwt_string = jwt.encode(args, key=secret)
+    print "encoded string %s" % str(jwt_string)
+    return jwt_string
+
+
+
+class User(UserMixin):
+    '''
+    the user object
+    '''
+
+    def __init__(self, username, password=None, email=None, firstName=None, lastName=None, address=None,
+                 institution=None,
+                 phone=None, country=None):
+        if not username:
+            raise ValueError("the username must be set")
+        self.username = username
+        self.password = password
+        self.email = email
+        self.firstName = firstName
+        self.lastName = lastName
+        self.address = address
+        self.institution = institution
+        self.phone = phone
+        self.country = country
+
+    def has_details(self):
+        if self.firstName and self.lastName and self.email:
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def is_admin(self):
+        '''
+        to be used for admin purposes
+        '''
+        return False
+
+    def get_id(self):
+        '''
+        :return: id reference to retrieve user object from middleware
+        '''
+        return unicode(self.username)
+
+    def get_full_name(self):
+        if self.firstName and self.lastName:
+            return u' '.join([self.firstName, self.lastName])
+        return None