Collaboration Solutions for the U.S. GovernmentThese goals were set forth as recommendations in a presentation made to the CIO Council's Architecture and Infrastructure Committee (AIC) on January 21, 2010.CIOC/AIC Services SubcommitteeSS_6a777366-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a_6a77787a-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a_6a77792e-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2aCollaboration EnvironmentEstablish a government-wide collaboration environment of multiple loosely-coupled collaboration services, primarily those services already existing for intra-department use._6a7779ec-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a1The goal should be: To establish a government-wide collaboration environment of multiple loosely-coupled collaboration services, primarily those services already existing for intra-department use. Different services meet different needs. Loose coupling facilitates: extensibility; exploratory usage of new services; support of department historical or preferred services. Loose coupling reduces dependence on single provider. Rather than to simply choose a new collaboration tool aimed at inter-department collaboration. Attempts to choose a single tool (e.g., OMB MAX, CORE.gov) have met with only limited success._6a777a5a-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2aInstitute for Defense AnalysesIDA_6a777ac8-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2aKaren GordonAl BrennerCollaboration ServicesMake the loosely-coupled collaboration services available to users via customizable thin portals, provided to users by their own departments._6a777b36-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a2Scope of Government-Wide Collaboration Environment: Collaboration at All Levels. Intra-Department collaboration Inter-Department collaboration Not only supporting formally established inter-department committees, working groups, etc. in accomplishing shared goals, but also supporting ad hoc inter-department groups of USG employees and contractors in accomplishing shared goals. Supporting individual USG employees and contractors in doing their jobs by facilitating routine inter-department information sharing and communication. Information Sharing. Making data, documents, photos, images, audio recordings, videos, links, ratings, etc., discoverable and accessible. Breadth of sharing can vary widely (e.g., from publically accessible Wikipedia to closed OMB MAX “agency communities”). Communication. Exchanging thoughts, feelings, information, etc. Can be synchronous or asynchronous. Can be one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many. Cooperative Work (i.e., “collaboration in the narrow sense”). Cooperatively working toward a shared goal, e.g., developing a concept, writing a paper, creating web content, formulating a policy, accomplishing a mission, etc. Degree of participation can vary from open to closed. Can transition from closed (e.g., while a draft paper is in development) to open (when it is completed) Degree of interaction can vary from wiki-style (pseudo-simultaneous updating) to Document-Management-System-style (serial updating—checking documents out for updating).PortalsMake Collaboration Services Available to Users Via Customizable Thin Portals_6a777ba4-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a2.1The loosely-coupled collaboration services should be accessible to users through “thin portals” offering single-point access to the services. Thin portals should be provided independently by Departments to employees and contractors. No need to establish portal at U.S. Government level. Thin portals should be customizable; that is, users should be able to search for and add services to the portals (similar to the ideas behind the iPhone, iGoogle, DoD Storefront, etc.) to suit their (changing) needs. Access to services may be controlled for management, security, or privacy purposes.InfrastructureImplement the critical infrastructure necessary for the government-wide sharing of collaboration services and underlying data._6a777c1c-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a3To make intra-department services and underlying data shareable on a government-wide basis, critical infrastructure must be put in place. Critical infrastructure includes Federated identity, credential, and access management (FICAM) and federated search. Applicable technology and standards, which are available and maturing, include PKI cards (e.g., DoD CAC), SAML, XACML, OpenID, OAuth, and OpenSearch. Federal CIO Council should continue to play lead role in identifying critical infrastructure and guiding implementation of it. For example: Publication of “FICAM Roadmap and Implementation Guidance” on November 10, 2009._6a777c9e-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2aStandardsAdopt standards for interoperability and federated operation of collaboration services._6a777d2a-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a4To ensure interoperability and federated operation of intra-department collaboration services, Federal CIO Council should track standards and selectively adopt as they mature. For example: Communication services -- XMPP, used in IM and Google Wave, is maturing. Social networking services -- Standards for profiles, relationships and contacts, activities, and widgets are maturing. The Federal CIO Council should examine ongoing work of other enterprise collaboration efforts (e.g., OMB’s Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA), DoD’s Collaboration Interoperability Working Group (CIWG), IC’s Enterprise Collaboration Service Working Group (ECSWG), etc.) and determine whether and how the various efforts can be synergized._6a777dac-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2aCultureFoster a culture of sharing and collaboration._6a777e2e-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a5The U.S. Government and individual departments should continue to promote and foster a culture of sharing; they need to implement standard operating procedures reflecting need to share policy statements. Keep communities open to the extent that privacy and security allow. Open communities encourage sharing of information, architectural infrastructure, and applications. Closed communities perpetuate the existence of information silos and duplicative infrastructure and applications. Open communities (e.g., Wikipedia) can more easily achieve the user participation necessary for success. Collaboration capabilities depend as much on culture as on technology._6a777eb0-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2aPolicies and TrainingEstablish policies and training for the secure use of collaboration services._6a777f3c-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a6Policies and practices on both the personal and professional use of collaboration tools and services should be established, and training should be implemented to inform users of those policies. Users need to be sensitized to the unique security risks associated with collaboration tools and services, notably those with social networking capabilities._6a777ffa-06ee-11df-9057-f0277a64ea2a2010-01-21OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net