MedMid conference call November 10, 2005

*Attendees*

Jack Buchanan, U. Tennessee - Memphis (Chair)
Chad La Joie, Georgetown / Project Sentinel
RL "Bob" Morgan, U. Washington
Kirke Lawton, AAMC
Ann West, EDUCAUSE/Internet2
Renee Frost, Internet2
Mike McGill, Internet2
Steve Olshansky, Internet2
Jessica Bibbee, Internet2 (scribe)

New *Action Items*

[AI] Steve will send a link to the {MedMid} list as CAMPMed (January 25-27, 2006) information is made available.

Carryover *Action Items*

[AI] Anyone interested in testing the feasibility of inter-institutional collaboration on courseware via Shibboleth please contact Dave Damassa <david.damassa@tufts.edu>.
[AI] Comments on the VistA program, especially related to identity and access management middleware, are encouraged. Please direct them to the list. (See mail from SteveO to the list 22-July-05 for related links).
[AI] {SteveO} will follow up with Keith about the AAMC identifier proposal. [AI] {Keith} will post a note to the MACE list inquiring about MedMid related activities in Europe.

*Discussion* Bob and Mike shared their impressions of the recent BRIITE meeting they attended. One of the more interesting research projects, Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN), provides the use of storage resource broker technology, with success. One of the newer trends in security of collaborative systems is the more widespread use of certificates. There were folks from all parts of organizations – large and small – and this pointed to the attention which management is paying towards centralized Identity Management systems. Discussion focused on IdM, not just the security aspects of distributed research and collaboration tools – AuthZ architecture, managing information about users, best policies about managing and protecting resources, etc.

Reference links:
<http://www.nbirn.net/>
<http://www.stjuderesearch.org/briite/web/registration/viewPage.php?meetingId=Mjh8eHl6&pageId=NjJ8eHl6 >

How is the idea of federations integrated into the planning for these sorts of collaborative systems? These (federation) concepts are pushing boundaries in multiple elements.

[AI] Steve will send a link to the {MedMid} list as CAMPMed (January 25-27, 2006) information is made available.

The Group discussed the following "Internet2 Medical Middleware (MedMid) Working Group: Workplan Scenarios", found at <http://middleware.internet2.edu/medmid/#Docs> and <http://middleware.internet2.edu/medmid/draft-internet2-medmid-workplan-scenarios-latest.html>. These scenarios guide the work of the MedMid WG, and provide examples that express how middleware tools can be put to use in the medical environment, as opposed to the university setting. Any suggestions for refinement of the existing scenarios, or proposals for new ones, are welcome and should be discussed on the list.

The next MedMid conference call will be on Thursday, December 8, 2005 at 2pm ET.