Authentication in UK HE
a one day conference to be held at the Policy Studies Institute, London
on the 2nd November 1999
In JISC's 'year of security'
Organised by LITC, South Bank University for the JISC Technology
Applications Programme
Full details: http://www.sbu.ac.uk/litc/candleathens/conference.html
HE needs secure authentication methods for information resources on the
Web. For example the use of remote resources such as bibliographic
databases and electronic journals is inhibited when every publisher uses
a different style of authentication. How good a solution does NISS'
Athens system offer? Locally mounted institutional resources within the
Intranet or maintained by departments such as virtual learning
environments also require authentication. Existing approaches are
insecure and not scaleable.
The problem is squared by the number of users who are working off
campus, but still want services.
* A fundamental underlying problem is the quality of the information
about members of the university we maintain, and the ability to share it
internally. How can this be improved?
* Do proxies offer a workable solution to off site access to information
resources today?
* What technologies are available or emergent ?
* Should UK Higher Education have a PKI, and who should supply this?
* Should achieving Single Sign On be a priority in institutional
information strategies?
* What work is being done in JTAP, EU and other funded projects to
develop solutions?
The purpose of the event is
1.To present recent developments in relevant technology: Digital
Certificates, LDAP, Proxies, Athens.
2.To present research and development work being done for example within
JTAP, European Union and eLib funded projects and by commercial vendors.
3.To point up issues and principles such as Single Sign On and the non
technical obstacles to improved authentication/authorisation.
4.To facilitate the transfer of experience within Higher Education.
The Conference is intended for IT Service Managers, Research project
managers and Librarians, as well as publishers.
This meeting will be a forum for delegates and speakers from across
sectors to share knowledge and experiences, and discuss the issues.
Draft Programme
Chaired AM by Tom Franklin, JTAP Programme Manager
PM John Akeroyd, Head of Learning and Information Services, SBU
09:30 Check in
10.00 Introduction. John Akeroyd / Andrew Cox (LITC)
10.15 Single Secure Sign-On. Dr Andrew Findlay (Brunel University)
10.45 Trust: Establishing a PKI for HE. Dr Tim Chown (University of
Southampton)
11.15 Coffee
11.30 eLib and EC funded projects. John Paschoud (LSE and of Headline
and Decomate)
12.00 Leeds User Registration and Certificate Issuing System. Dr David
Holdsworth (University of Leeds, LURCIS project)
12.30 Unconfirmed speaker
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Problems experienced with single sign-on environments. Martin
Hamilton (Networks Group, Computing Services, Loughborough University)
14.30 Metaconnect. ISOCOR
15.00 Commercial Solution (Unconfirmed speaker)
15.30 Developing the national HE infrastructure for security. Norman
Wiseman (JISC Head of Programmes)
Currently the titles of some of the talks, and precise timings are
awaiting confirmation. Information will be made available on the Web
site as soon as details are known.
Registration
The cost of the conference is 50 pounds, which includes lunch and a copy
of the conference report.
For registration documents go to the Conference Web site,
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/litc/candleathens/conference.html
--
Andrew Cox
LITC
South Bank University
103 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/litc
+44 (0)171 815 7058 phone
+44 (0)171 815 7050 fax
[log in to unmask] email
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|