On November 29th, 2007, the Office of the Chief Information Technology Architect (OCITA) and the Center for Information Technology (CIT) hosted the NIH Federated AuthenticationTown Hall. Over 100 people attended this Town Hall in person, and over 180 people watched the broadcast live online.
Federated Authentication provides NIH staff the means to collaborate with colleagues from outside NIH including those from universities, other Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and other Federal agencies. Unlike current access methods, under Federation, outside collaborators who are authorized by NIH research, grants or administrative groups can use their credentials from their own organization for authentication.
OCITA and CIT designed the Town Hall to inform NIH stakeholders of the important role that Federated Identity plays in cross-organizational identity management and to ensure they understand both the benefits and the risks of using this service. It provided software application program managers, lead customer contacts and application developers an overview of the services offered by the Federated Authentication project at NIH. It also presented the audience technical details and information on how to use these features and what their responsibilities are with respect to keeping their data secure.
The meeting began with opening remarks by Jack Jack F. Jones, Ph.D., Acting NIH Chief Information Officer (CIO), followed by a high level overview of Federated Identity. The overview talks included:
A technical session followed with a NIH Login Federated Authentication Technical Overview and Demo (PowerPoint) by Debbie Bucci, CIT/DECA, and a Panel Discussion with a Q&A Session. In addition to the speakers, the panel included Jim Seach, Division of Information Technology, electronic Research Administration (eRA)/Office of Research Information Systems (ORIS)/Office of Extramural Research (OER)/Office of the Director (OD)/NIH, and Deborah Blanchard, Senior Consultant and Program Manager, Verizon Business Security Solutions.
The benefits of Federated Authentication include that application owners no longer need to maintain credentials for this potentially very large user base. This value results in a significant decrease in the time needed to setup and use applications collaboratively. Consequently, NIH has the added responsibility to certify applications provide access only to those who have been authorized.
The Town Hall encouraged the audience, as they think about using Federated Identity for collaborations, to consider:
- What does this mean to me?
- How can I take advantage of this?
- What do I need to do to secure my application appropriately?
For additional information on Federated Authentication at NIH, please email nihfederationrequest@mail.nih.gov.
Watch the Federated Authentication Town Hall Videocast
