TechTalks Event
Using Digital Certificates to Authorize Campus and Resource Services
with guest expert Bill Weems of the University of Texas-Houston�
April 18, 2002
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Howard Strauss and Judith Boettcher quizzed our distinguished guest expert - and asked your questions, emailed in ahead of time and during the Tech Talk, to expert@cren.net.
Guest Expert
Bill
Weems is the Assistant Vice President of Academic Computing
at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Associate
Dean of Information Technology for the U. T. Houston Medical School
and an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology
and Pharmacology, U.T. Houston Medical School. His research interests
include the neurophysiology of sympathetic, prevertebral ganglia,
production and control of intestinal motility and propulsion, and
informatics as a research tool in the study, characterization and
management of complex systems. Useful computational solutions suitable
for biomedical applications require an integrated set of information
systems. This recognition has led to his involvement in the development
of the Texas Medical Center open systems network, participation
in electronic publishing, the integration of academic and health
care information systems at the application layer and the establishment
of the U. T. System Public Key Infrastructure.
Co-Hosts
Howard Strauss (above, left), Manager of Academic Applications
at Princeton University, is TechTalk's Technology Anchor.
Judith Boettcher is CREN's Executive Director.
Together, Judith and Howard will ask the really tough questions—and
relay the questions you email to them at expert@cren.net.
Background & Resources
Your best resource is right here on CREN's website. If you do nothing else, follow this link to the CREN Certificate Authority site where you can find out about PKI-LITE and more!
The next-best background to use in preparing for this Tech Talk is the resource provided by what can be found in the Tech Talk Archives about former, related Tech Talks. Authentication,certificates, directories and related topics have been a focus of CREN's Tech Talks for several years. Here are a few former events somewhat on topic:
- Building a Directory: What Are the
Essentials? with Frank Grewe
Steve Kunz - Certificate Authorities on Campus with Jeff Schiller
- Building Directories: The Fundamentals with Ken Klingenstein and Keith Hazelton
- Campus Directories with Frank Grewe and Jeff Hodges
- Digital Certificates and Identification of Users on Campuses with David Wasley
- Authenticating Users? What are the Issues? with Greg Jackson
- Certificate Authority Services with Jeff Schiller
- Middleware - Authentication, Authorization, and Directory Issues with Ken Klingenstein
You'll hear Bill refer to USB Smart Tokens. Here's information on the specific product his campus is using, including a photo.
He'll also refer to various smart cards, including these - which include thumbprint scanning technology.
Here's a very recent EDUCAUSE Review article by Mark Luker that's on target: A "Bridge" for Trusted Electronic Communications in Higher Education and the Federal Government.
And an interesting EDUCAUSE Quarterly article by John C. Ittelson that illustrates some of the trends in new higher education products and services that will be mandating much better authentication and identification techniques: Building an E-dentity for Each Student.
The EDUCAUSE Information Resources Library is becoming a tremendously useful resource. The following are just a few items that can be found there using its search functionality:
- The CREN CA - Inside the PKI Framework: Activating the Puzzle Pieces by Co-Host Judith Boettcher
- A paper presented by Art Vandenberg of Georgia State University, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
- A document that "encapsulates and organizes the most salient points of the NSF/EDUCAUSE "PKI and Security for Higher Education" meeting held in August 1999 at Snowmass, Colorado," PKI and Security for Higher Education
- What is a Public Key Infrastructure, or PKI? by Mark Luker
- The UCLA Campus-Wide Authentication Project is interesting. And it's been around a while, lots of good stuff to be learned there.
- Digital Certificates: How, Why, What to Do Next? by Gergory A. Jackson from EDUCAUSE Review.
