Higher education and research institutions are faced with implementing significant changes to their enterprise technology environments in order to interoperate with NCRIS initiatives such as the AAF, ARCS, ANDS, and AREN. Because these institutions form a critical link in enabling researchers to make the best use of national infrastructure, the Middleware Action Plan and Strategy Project (MAPS) identified the need for several white papers to assist CIOs and senior ICT staff in these efforts:
- Attributes and attribute management
- Identity and access management
- Data hosting and management
- Secure campus networks
Further information on each of these white papers is below.
Each white paper will be developed by a working group and submitted to the CAUDIT Technical Standards Committee and to the relevant steering or executive committees of the AAF, ARCS, ANDS, and AREN. They will be aimed at CIOs, enterprise architects, and senior technical staff at Australian higher education and research inistitutions.
Attributes and attribute management
Agreement on attributes, their definitions, and their use is necessary for the effectiveness of the Australian Access Federation. This white paper sets out these attributes and their definitions and gives guidance on institutional processes for assigning, managing, and revoking them.
The white paper for attributes and attribute management includes:
- A list of international standards for attributes that should be used to ensure interoperability with the AAF and with other federations.
- A list of the attributes to be used with the AAF, including the priority of each attribute, and its syntactic and semantic definitions.
- Guidance on business processes for how each of these attributes should be assigned, used within the context of the AAF, and revoked when appropriate.
This white paper has been completed and is available from http://www.aaf.edu.au/attributes. The working group comprised:
- Patricia McMillan (Chair), The University of Queensland
- Peter Austin, Edith Cowan University
- David Bannon, Victorian Partnership for Advanced Computing (VPAC)
- Anthony Beitz, Monash University
- Victoriano Giralt, University of Málaga, Spain
- Neil James, The University of Otago, New Zealand
- Rodney McDuff, The University of Queensland
- John Paschoud, London School of Economics, UK
- Viviani Paz, AusCERT
- Alex Reid, AARNet
- Leon Troeth, Monash University
- Lyle Winton, The University of Melbourne
- Neil Witheridge, Macquarie University
- Ian Young, The University of Edinburgh, UK
- John Zornig, The University of Queensland
Identity and access management
Institutional identity and access management services are prerequisite to a functional Australian Access Federation and to enabling eResearch in Australia. A 2006 survey of CAUDIT members revealed that virtually all institutions in the sector are undertaking or preparing for major identity management projects. The same survey showed that some institutions are still working on fundamental enterprise-wide identity management. This white paper will provide useful guidance to institutions undertaking identity and access management projects and will facilitate interoperability with the AAF.
The white paper for identity and access management will include the following:
- A roadmap for implementing enterprise identity and access management.
- Elements of an identity management business case to assist CIOs in gaining senior management support for an enterprise identity management project.
- Information on how to interface with the Australian Access Federation at the process, system, and technology layers.
Data hosting and management
Data management is essential for conducting effective research in all disciplines. ANDS (Australian National Data Service) will provide services around managing data, and ARCS (Australian Research Collaboration Services) is establishing a national data grid. However, much of the responsibility for hosting data will continue to lie with individual institutions and local support centres. Therefore, a white paper for data hosting will assist institutions in providing these services and in interoperating with ARCS and ANDS data services.
The white paper for data hosting and management will include the following:
- A roadmap for implementing enterprise research data storage and management.
- Information on how to interface with options for storage, retrieval, and management available to Australian institutions from national and state facilities.
- Elements of a data storage and management business case to assist CIOs in gaining senior management support.
Secure campus networks
The proliferation of new applications for research, federated access management, distributed data hosting, collaboration, and real-time communications has created new challenges for providing effective, secure campus networks. This white paper will provide guidance for institutions on how to make the best use of their networks and the AREN in order to enable their research communities to make use of these services.
The white paper for secure campus networks will include the following:
- A roadmap for implementing a secure campus network.
- Information on how to connect with and make the best use of the AREN.
- Elements of a secure campus networks business case to assist CIOs in gaining senior management support.