Workshops

Room key:
NM = Nelson Mandela; RR = Reception Room; RT = Rhodes Trust; ES = Edmond Safra; LT4 = Lecture Theatre 4; SRB = Seminar Room B

01 Up the Steeple: Streamlining Enterprise-Level Podcasting for HE Carl Marshall, OUCS  
16:00
RT		 Podcasting is a cultural and technical phenomenon that has been sweeping into worldwide HE for the last few years, not least with iTunes U. Unfortunately, there isn’t yet a scalable, efficient and user-friendly process or infrastructure for supporting this audio and video activity across departments, institutions and beyond. Steeple is a JISC exemplar project that is investigating the processes supporting podcasting. Here’s what we’ve learnt so far…
02 Libraries' IT: Who does what Neil Jefferies, SERS [PDF]
16:00
ES		 What projects and activities are going on in the field of libraries' IT and who to contact if you are interested in further information. Everything from Online Shops, Electronic Entry Gates, through to Electronic Resources and Perpetual Digital Archives.
03 Best practice key management for enterprise-wide encryption implementations Gabriel Swift, PGP Corporation [PDF]
16:00
LT4

This session will take a deeper look into the most complex aspect of cryptography – key management. Providing a deep technical analysis of the current challenges associated with managing keys across distributed enterprise architectures, it will also present a technical blueprint for best practice key management.

High profile data loss incidents plus fear of non-compliance with regulations and legislation has driven the widespread implementation of encryption as a central defence against data theft. However, many organisations have taken a tactical approach to data protection, permitting individual departments and regions to take control of their own encryption purchasing decisions. This has left enterprises supporting a multitude of encryption solutions – often from different vendors – which are managed independently, with inconsistent policies. Managing encryption keys in such a complex environment is a challenge for data protection teams.

The session will go on to cover:

  • The size of the key management challenge: Drawing on real-life examples, this will examine just how many keys a large multinational organisation, which has undertaken a tactical approach to data encryption, is required to manage. The administrative burden of this approach will be defined with particular emphasis on the impact of key expiry.
  • Security vulnerabilities caused by poor key management: A demonstration showing how sub-standard key management strategies can expose sensitive data to loss or theft will be given.
  • The role of public key cryptography: This will include a technical explanation of how public keys can reduce the administrative burden of key management.
  • Best practice key management over distributed architectures: Finally the session will provide a blueprint for automating a single key management infrastructure across the whole enterprise, encompassing multiple encryption applications from various vendors. The fundamental technical requirements for such a deployment will be explained.

04 Erewhon – Geo-Spatial Services and Mobile Computing in Oxford Tim Fernando, OUCS [PDF]
14:50
ES		 Tim Fernando from the Erewhon project based at OUCS will be talking about Oxford's new geo-spatial database 'OxPoints' and how it can be used by you to easily generate maps and services. He will also be talking about Erewhon's work into improving access to Oxford's services on mobile devices and how you can help.
05 An Introduction to NAT logging David Ford, OUCS [PDF]
14:50
LT4		 David Ford demonstrates the need for network logging, to enable traceability of users and computers, and to ensure proper incident handling is possible. He then explains the problems that NAT poses in ensuring that traffic can be traced, and the limitations of certain methods of logging NAT traffic. Finally he presents several brief case studies of ways of providing acceptable and good logging of a NAT device.
06 Pros & Cons of MySource Matrix Will Hanrott, Earth Sciences [PDF]
14:00
RR		 Introduction - aims of a CMS; Pros and Cons of Matrix features: - One content - two designs - two layouts (shows flexibility of design and paint layouts; separation of content and design) - Metadata everywhere (shows system and user defined metadata in use) - People Database (shows how metadata and asset listing can create smart lists and searchable content) - User friendly editing (shows simplified editing and creation of assets for non-tech users;) - Data extraction (shows retrieval and use of data from a SQL query); Pros & Cons of Matrix Questions.
07 Digital photography and media

Rob Zachlod, OUCS
Kate Lindsay, OUCS

[PPT]
14:00
NM		 Indispensable tips and tricks for photographing common subjects from two very different (yet complimentary!) photographers. This workshop will provide an overview of composition, hardware and post processing to make your photographs stand above the rest with some basic rules of thumb and a splash of technological creativity.
08 Demystifying Plone Jim Leek, Engineering Science
John Pilbeam, International Development (QEH)		 [PDF]
14:00
ES		 This talk will look at the benefits of implementing your websites using a CMS, and will focus on the Plone open source CMS which is widely used within the University. The talk will provide an overview and introduction to Plone, will tackle some of the common misconceptions people have of this CMS. It will also present the benefits of joining the Plone user community both in Oxford and the wider HE community.
09 Room Booking System: MRBS Ashley Woltering, Statistics [PDF]
10:10
ES		 MRBS is a Room Booking system, but can be used for much more. Whatever your imagination requires, really. In short, it is a general purpose booking tool. Written in PHP and using a MySQL back-end, if you have existing LAMP infrastructure, it is remarkably simple to configure and use. Recent updates have provided the capability of authentication against LDAP-based services (like OpenLDAP or Active Directory). Ashley will attempt to do a live installation of MRBS and will discuss authentication against LDAP, showcasing a few features.
10 Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of technology Melissa Highton, OUCS [PDF]
14:50
SRB		 This workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss some of the drivers, opportunities and approaches to using technology to support learning and teaching. During the session participants will consider how and why academic colleagues make the choices of the tools they use and how new technologies can be effectively integrated into traditional teaching.
11 Trusted Computing for Trusted Infrastructure Andrew Martin, Comlab [PDF]
10:10
SRB		 Trusted Computing entails a small change in PC platform design giving rise to significant and useful capabilities for application-level security and stronger network access control. Computers incoroprating the Trusted Platform Module are now widely available and deployed - but few TPMs are turned on. In this talk, we give an overview of the ideas of Trusted Computing, we survey the products coming to the market, and we describe the research being done in Oxford in designing Trusted Grid and Cloud services.
12 Green Desktop Computing Howard Noble, OUCS
Kang Tang, OeRC		 [PDF]
16:00
NM		 Having the facility to switch desktop computers on remotely, should make it possible to switch computers off more often, without negatively effecting people's work. To offer the WOL service within colleges and departments IT Support Staff will need to install WOL Gateway software on each subnet that connects desktop computers to the network.
... read more on http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/wol/index.xml
13 Update of the new HR Information System Heather Skevington, BSP
Anne Harkness, Personnel Services		 [PDF]
16:00
RR		 Last year the University embarked upon a comprehensive and widely consulted review of its current employee-related information processes and systems, including HR, payroll, and other people-related systems, with the aim to replace the now out-of-date OPENdoor system. After a detailed supplier selection process, the various decision-making committees are currently reviewing the recommended solution and supplier. The current position is that the committees have recognised the strength of the case for replacement and have in principal approved the replacement of OPENdoor. On 15 July we will be able to update you further.
14 iPhone Development Overview Stuart Anderson, Senior Systems Engineer, Apple UK  
10:10
RT		 An update on iPhone Software Development using the latest toolsets from Apple to provide rich Native and Web Applications for iPhone and iPod Touch.
15 How to Use Your Supercomputing Centre Jon Lockley, OeRC [PDF]
14:50
RR		 Oxford Supercomputing Centre has been operating its new tranche of high performance computing systems and, in conjunction with the Physics department, a new data centre for just over a year. The facility is open to all University researchers and our workshop will include a technical overview of the service, systems and data centre plus a simple demonstration of how to run some common applications on our parallel computing systems.
16 Windows 7 Steve Lamb, Microsoft Ltd Technical Security Advisor [PDF]
10:10
NM

Microsoft are close to releasing Windows 7 which could revolutionise how people use personal computers - it will only do so if the benefits of upgrading (or switching platform) are clear. Particularly in the current economic environment (described as "depression 2.0" by many) each of us are closely examining the value that potential acquisition of products and services is likely to bring "in the real World".

The purpose of this talk is to both share with you the technical aspects of Windows 7 that will enable you to improve the productivity of your employees (and yourself) plus give you the opportunity to ask questions.

We will include the following topics subject to interest from the audience:

  • Win7 actually requires LESS hardware capabilities than previous platforms - we'll look at performance in some detail
  • Application compatibility - The design goal of Win7 is for at least 95% of applications that worked on Vista to run without modification. What are the options for getting ancient applications to work that only run on XP?
  • Security - we'll take a look at innovative features like "BitLocker To Go" (to encrypt USB memory sticks) and "Direct Access" (which obviates the need for VPN access)
  • Deployment tools - how to minimise the pain and effort to deploy Win7 - there are a gamut of free tools to make the job much easier
  • User Experience - what are the productivity benefits of live preview, gestures and other visual enhancements that are part and parcel of Windows 7

The speaker is highly technical and will encourage questions on any technical aspect of this exciting new operating system so don't be shy. This talk with be demonstration driven hence it won't be an excuse to catch up on Powerpoint induced shut eye!
17 OeRC: Facilities & Services David Wallom, OeRC [PDF]
10:10
RR		 The Oxford e-Research Centre works with research units across the University to enable the use and development of innovative computational and information technology in multidisciplinary collaborations. The OeRC offers various facilities and services to support researchers. This workshop will provide ITSS staff with an overview of services that the OeRC offers including Access Grid video conferencing, High Definition Visualization Wall and a new Cloud computing service (a clone of Amazon EC2 services).
18 Customising Request Tracker Jeremy Rowntree, Biochemistry [PDF]
14:00
RT		 This talk is not so much about how to install and configure RT, as about the approach we took to adapting it to suit our needs. I'll explain how to create custom fields, how to populate them from the request email and how we constructed a web form for request input that uses OAK LDAP to avoid email address typos. I'll also show how we made the Excel spreadsheet export feature more useful, and how to tap into the underlying database to provide users with live updates on job progress.
19 AppleLab at OUCS James Partridge, OUCS  
14:50
RT		 A new Apple teaching room has opened at OUCS. This workshop will describe how we manage the room, focusing in particular on imaging, application packaging and deployment, and power management. I will also look at the case for a dedicated Apple teaching room at OUCS and at our future plans for the room, including training in professional apps such as Logic Pro, Final Cut and Aperture.
20 Identity Management with the Core User Directory Rob Hebron, Independent Consultant [PDF]
14:00
LT4		 Work has progressed on the project since the last ICTF. A pilot is now in place, which is consolidating data from multiple data sources within the University. It provides interfaces to query the consolidated data, and means to sychronise it with consuming applications and databases. This workshop will include a demostration of how the CUD can provide a single, authoritative, view of a person who is represented in many sytems, together with findings from the pilot.
21 Groupware migration Mark Norman, OUCS [PDF]
14:50
NM		 The Groupware Project has moved from budgets, design and planning to real implementation in the last six months. Very soon, Herald email users will be migrated into the new email service, now branded under "the Oxford Nexus", based on Microsoft Exchange.

Come and listen to a little about lessons learned, but also about the plans in detail regarding which users are likely to be migrated and when.

The Groupware team would like you to help your users with a few issues that might surface around the time of migration, and it would be good if we could explain these to you.

Oxford Nexus will comprise far more than email. Document sharing and collaboration (based upon SharePoint) is to follow, and the talk will mention our intended time scales for this and other aspects of the project as well.
22 The New WebLearn Service Adam Marshall, OUCS [PDF]
14:00
SRB

This seminar will present an outline of the new WebLearn service directed specifically at ITSS. This will include:

  • how the old and new systems work together;
  • how a department can acquire administration rights to their own area of the new system;
  • the facilities available in the new system;
  • a quick demo of how an ITSS can administer a department's new WebLearn presence;
  • an outline of the process of moving material from old WebLearn into the new system;
  • guidelines for use of the new system.
23 Sysdev & BSP: Tying together SSO and OSS. Christian Fernau, OUCS
Brett Moore, BSP		 [PDF]
16:00
SRB		 This talk describes how our "Shibboleth" claims based identity management system has been utilised to provide Single Sign-On for students and university staff to Oracle web applications such as Student Systems (OSS).
24 NSMS: VMWare High availability dual-site setup Jon Hutchings, OUCS [PDF]
10:10
LT4		 In July last year, NSMS completed the installation of a dual site, highly available virtual infrastructure for BSP and the ICT Support Team. It was based on VMware ESX servers and iSCSI storage that was synchronised between two sites. The infrastructure is managed by NSMS and the talk will describe its design and management.