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People-Centred Technologies

Usable Policy Configuration

The aim of the Usable Policy Configuration project is to develop a new type of tool for system configuration and administration. Using visualization and direct manipulation, this tool is expected to achieve significant improvements in efficiency and correctness. Current partners in this project include researchers from the Faculty of Computer Science of the University of New Brunswick (UNB), as well as researchers from other NRC-IIT groups and locations.

The project, which started in late summer 2003 and which is expected to end in 2006, tackles the problem of how to make unwieldy configuration systems more manageable. Systems have become so complex that even talented and experienced system administrators have difficulty configuring their systems correctly. The objective of this project is to make a significant contribution towards simplifying configuration and maintenance tasks, especially in the areas of access control and other security policy.

The Usable Policy Configuration project will develop and refine a novel approach to the configuration and administration of complex systems, and will develop tools that dramatically simplify configuration tasks such as firewall configuration and management of access control policy.

Opportunities

Research opportunities: Research opportunities related to this project include possible partnerships with private sector companies in Fredericton and Saint John, and with one or more New Brunswick regional health authorities. Researchers who are interested in collaborating in the Usable Policy Configuration project are asked to contact the research contact listed below.
Technical transfer opportunities: Our research results could have an impact on the following sectors:
- Security software products
- Electronic health records (EHR), where accurate and fine-grained policy management is of paramount importance.

Possible applications include firewall management software and other network configuration tools, and access control management solutions in areas ranging from file systems, Web sites and Web applications, up to complex distributed record systems such as an EHR system.

Please contact the Business Development Officer listed below to discuss these opportunities.

Research Contact

Dr. Irina Kondratova
Group Leader
People-Centred Technologies
NRC Institute for Information Technology
46 Dineen Drive
Fredericton, NB E3B 9W4
Telephone: +1 (506) 444-0489
Fax: +1 (506) 452-3859
E-mail: Irina.Kondratova@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Business Contact

Marc-Alain Mallet
Business Development Officer
Business Development Office, New Brunswick
NRC Institute for Information Technology
46 Dineen Drive
Fredericton, NB E3B 9W4
Telephone: +1 (506) 444-0394
Fax: +1 (506) 452-3859
E-mail: Marc-Alain.Mallet@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca