Eduserv Symposium 2009: Evolution or revolution: The future of identity and access management for research May 21, 2009

Note: Registration is free, but is required for this event.

This symposium will be of value to people with an interest in the impact that the social Web is having on research practice and scholarly communication and the resulting implications for identity and access management. Attendees will gain an insight into the way the research landscape is evolving and will be better informed when making future decisions about policy or practice in this area.

The academic community must meet the challenge that this new world presents for research and scholarly communication. Sophisticated, ubiquitous Web technologies are enabling growing numbers of researchers to collaborate across institutional and geographic boundaries. In realising this potential we must deal with complex issues around ownership, trust, access and distribution as both institution-centric and user-centric identity solutions compete for our attention.

The Symposium will include a range of case studies, stories and views on the implications of these issues for academic institutions, researchers, funding bodies, and publishers.

Speakers:

The 2009 Eduserv Symposium draws together key individuals from across the academic and Web space to discuss the state of the art and identify potential future directions in this area.

* James Farnhill, Access and Identity Management Lead, Innovation Group at the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)
* Nate Klingenstein, Senior Technical Analyst at Internet2
* Cameron Neylon, Senior Scientist at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
* Mike Roch, Director of IT Services at the University of Reading
* David Smith, Business Innovations Manager at CABI
* John Watt, Grid Engineer/Support Officer at the National e-Science Centre (NeSC) in Glasgow

The day will include a variety of perspectives, both technological and socio-political, that will provide a firmer understanding of how universities in the UK can develop effective ways of managing the identity of their researchers and access to their services.

* What is the relative importance of the 'organisation' vs. the 'virtual organisation' to research collaboration and what impact does that have on our choice of identity management solutions?
* Has the notion of a researcher's digital identity been fundamentally changed by Web 2.0 and the growth of 'open science'?
* How do we democratise the research environment to include those who are not formally part of an 'institution'?
* What kinds of access and identity management challenges do UK HE institutions face in supporting their researchers who collaborate primarily with peers and colleagues in other organisations, often in other countries?
* What kinds of federations or other groupings of institutions and service providers, in terms of both policy and technology, make sense in such a distributed research world?
* How can we work across multiple federations and multiple technologies?

Who should attend?

* Researchers, research managers and those responsible for guiding research strategy in institutions;
* Computing services staff and information professionals;
* Policy makers, funders and staff in research councils;
* Publishers, scholarly societies and staff in other organisations that provide research-related services to the UK higher education sector.

Register for the Symposium and Evening Reception:

Registration for the event is free and includes access to the day’s talks, lunch and refreshments and an invitation to the wine reception, where you can network with your peers and discuss the issues covered during the day.

Seats are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Official Website: http://www.eduserv.org.uk/events/esym09