Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 1 Why Standards? Campus Perspective Bernard W. Gleason XML Forum Alexandria, VA May 8, 2003
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 2 Executive Concerns Return on investment and expanding budgets Recreational use of network and de-personalization Slow adoption of technology in instruction Limited fiscal resources to train and support faculty & staff Containment of “out of the blue” & spiraling licensing costs Viruses, spam, hacks, identity theft, music downloads Inter-institutional collaboration and resource sharing
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 3 Collaboration and Resource Sharing “It seems to me that we can’t do it alone and that progress, or may be even survival, might be dependent on collaborating and sharing resources with other institutions. It doesn’t make sense for every institution, big and small, to be duplicating resources and services.” Quote from the President of a small college
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 4 Middleware Middleware is the collection of software standards that will facilitate the secure, private, transparent and real- time interconnection of distributed people and applications and the exchange of information over the Internet.
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 5 Elements of Middleware Identity Management & Directory Services Data Interchange Single Sign On & Transitive Trust Security and Privacy Web services
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 6 Personal Observations Extended Campus and New Trust Relationships
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 7 Trust Relationships Scenarios Transitive Trust Portal Model Liberty Alliance Trusted Intermediary Internet2 Shibboleth
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 8 Transitive Trust
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 9 Portal Model
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 10 Liberty Alliance My customer number 123 is your customer number 789
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 11 Trusted Intermediary
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 12 Internet2 - Shibboleth Uses institutional credentials Supports anonymity User-determined release of data (privacy) Home directory authentication & authorization
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 13 Personal Observations Extended Campus and New Trust Relationships Grid Computing Mobile and external access may exceed on-campus traffic Privacy on an equal level security Open Source and Open Standards
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 14 Personal Observations Virtual Enterprise Applications Vertical and Specialized Applications Service Providers and Intermediaries Universal Identity Web Services Architecture
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 15 How, When, What? Maturation of Standards Demonstrations of new business and trust models Recognition of fiscal and functional advantages Compliance with mandated policies and regulations Commitment to improved convenience to customers Demand from inspired and influential group of colleges
Information Technology © 2001 The Trustees of Boston College 5/8/2003 Slide 16 Questions ?