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CrossRef joins ORCID initiative: Open Researcher & Contributor ID finally in sight
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 14 Dec 2009 - 13:05

Excellent news on the researcher/contributor ID front!

From http://www.crossref.org/01company/orcid.html

CrossRef is pleased to announce that it will be participating in the recently launched Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) initiative to create an unambiguous identifier for scholarly and professional researchers. Our members will be aware that CrossRef has been exploring the possibility of creating an “author DOI” or “contributor ID” system. In doing so, it has become clear that the issues and use-cases involved in identifying researchers span a broad collection of stakeholders including libraries, institutions, funders, publishers and, of course researchers themselves. In short, this is not primarily “a publisher problem.” As such, we believe that the ORCID approach to creating an inclusive and open organization representing all the stakeholders in the scholarly communications process represents the best chance of creating a successful contributor identification system

Discussion on FriendFeed: http://ff.im/cOhuY

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Letter to Darwin
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 22 Oct 2009 - 15:53

Funny, tongue-in-cheek editorial in EMBO reports January that I just came across:

EMBO reports (2009) 10, 1 doi:10.1038/embor.2008.239

Dear Dr Darwin,

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The Venn of identity - cont.
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 11 Oct 2009 - 20:53

Continuing the Venn theme from my previous post - a colleague also pointed this paper out to me:

Maler and Reed. The Venn of Identity: Options and Issues in Federated Identity Management. Security & Privacy, IEEE (2008) vol. 6 (2) http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MSP.2008.50

 

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The Venn of identity
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 11 Oct 2009 - 20:49

From Eva Maler's blog, a Venn diagram for visualizing how the various web service technologies interact in the identity space:

//www.xmlgrrl.com/blog/2009/10/02/a-venn-of-identity-in-web-services-now-with-oauth/

And from Eva's earlier blog post, another Venn diagram for various federated ID technologies:

Venn of identity

 

 

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Complete Compute: An interview with Complete Genomics' Bruce Martin

posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 4 Oct 2009 - 22:58

I just skimmed through Bio-IT World's interview with Complete Genomics' Bruce Martin and was reminded of the massive IT challenges on the horizon in genomics research. The infrastructure these guys are building is just mind-boggling:

[...]
Martin’s latest challenge—building the IT and informatics infrastructure at Complete Genomics (see, “Will the Gene Microscope Change the World,” Bio-IT World, May 2009) to build a human genome sequencing service capable of delivering 1 million genomes in five years—is a doozy! If he’s having sleepless nights, he doesn’t show it. “It’s about crafting the right team with the right mix of skills and knowledge, and trusting them.” Recruited by CEO Cliff Reid, Martin didn’t hesitate. “For about a decade, I’d wanted to find something with a stronger footprint in the sciences, but also where I could contribute. So it seemed like a perfect marriage.” Martin brought the expertise in software development and high-scale computing, and built a team of bioinformatics experts, experts in genomics, assembly, and large-scale scientific computing.
[...]
 We’ll have very reliable, redundantly connected connectivity at hundreds of gigabits at a fraction of the equivalent Internet connection. As we grow, we will be able to scale into hundreds, or multiple hundreds of gigabits per second [gbps] in 2010. That’s a function of how much data the instruments generate. Our cost, scale and reliability analysis indicate that we are better off putting most of our compute offsite. These instruments throw off a lot of data! [...]

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Abysmal state of data sharing: only *one* out of ten authors of published PLoS ONE papers was willing to supply original dataset on request
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 28 Sep 2009 - 11:14

In the wake of the recent Nature special issue on data sharing, I saw Cameron Neylon's blog post on a study published in PLoS ONE last week[fn]Savage and Vickers. Empirical Study of Data Sharing by Authors Publishing in PLoS Journals. PLoS ONE (2009) vol. 4 (9) doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007078[/fn] that I hadn't seen. I heartily agree with Cameron and the numerous commentators on FriendFeed here and here.  As the authors of the paper conclude, journal policies on data sharing clearly are not effective.

 

Empirical Study of Data Sharing by Authors Publishing in PLoS Journals

Caroline J. Savage, Andrew J. Vickers

Abstract

Background: Many journals now require authors share their data with other investigators, either by depositing the data in a public repository or making it freely available upon request. These policies are explicit, but remain largely untested. We sought to determine how well authors comply with such policies by requesting data from authors who had published in one of two journals with clear data sharing policies.

Methods and Findings: We requested data from ten investigators who had published in either PLoS Medicine or PLoS Clinical Trials. All responses were carefully documented. In the event that we were refused data, we reminded authors of the journal’s data sharing guidelines. If we did not receive a response to our initial request, a second request was made. Following the ten requests for raw data, three investigators did not respond, four authors responded and refused to share their data, two email addresses were no longer valid, and one author requested further details. A reminder of PLoS’s explicit requirement that authors share data did not change the reply from the four authors who initially refused. Only one author sent an original data set.

Conclusions: We received only one of ten raw data sets requested. This suggests that journal policies requiring data sharing do not lead to authors making their data sets available to independent investigators.

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7 Things You Should Know About Federated Identity Management

posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 26 Sep 2009 - 20:37

Useful introduction to federated identity management: 

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutFeder/179330

Identity management refers to the policies, processes, and technologies that establish user identities and enforce rules about access to digital resources. With an enterprise identity management system, rather than having separate credentials for each system, a user can use a single digital identity to access all resources to which the user is entitled. Federated identity management permits extending this approach above the enterprise level, creating a trusted authority for digital identities across multiple organizations. It results in greatly simplified administration and streamlined access to resources; eliminating the need to replicate databases of user credentials for separate applications and systems offers improved security. Federated identity management puts the focus on users of information and services rather than on entities that house those resources.

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Real Lives and White Lies in the Funding of Scientific Research

posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 21 Sep 2009 - 09:55

Interesting piece on the sorry state of affair in research funding:

The granting system turns young scientists into bureaucrats and then betrays them

[..]K.'s plight (an authentic one) illustrates how the present funding system in science eats its own seed corn. To expect a young scientist to recruit and train students and postdocs as well as producing and publishing new and original work within two years (in order to fuel the next grant application) is preposterous. It is neither right nor sensible to ask scientists to become astrologists and predict precisely the path their research will follow—and then to judge them on how persuasively they can put over this fiction. It takes far too long to write a grant because the requirements are so complex and demanding. Applications have become so detailed and so technical that trying to select the best proposals has become a dark art. For postdoctoral fellowships, there are so many arcane and restrictive rules that applicants frequently find themselves to be of the wrong nationality, in the wrong lab, too young, or too old. Young scientists who make the career mistake of concentrating on their research may easily miss the deadline for the only grant they might have won. Research institutes with their own funds can solve these problems, but grant holders like K. do not have any flexibility. The real world of science has no tidy banks of pigeonholes, each one occupied for a standard period by an exemplary student or a perfect postdoc.

Discussion on FriendFeed: http://ff.im/881E9

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Improvements in OpenID usability: Yahoo's OpenID + OAuth hybrid signon procedure
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 18 Sep 2009 - 23:57

Looks like further advances are being made to make the OpenID signin procedure smoother for users, following in the footsteps of previous experiments by Plaxo on this front. The mini-popup actually works surprisingly well, compared to complete browser redirect to the ID provider site, and the two-in-one (signin + approve data sharing) approach certainly is smooth (after testing my Yahoo ID on http://www.mysears.com).

http://developer.yahoo.net/blog/archives/2009/09/yahoo_openid_hybrid.html

...
Building on their successful experience with Yahoo! OpenID, Plaxo is experimenting with the Hybrid Protocol: A portion of new users who sign up for Plaxo with their Yahoo! account, are now enabled to sign in to Plaxo with their Yahoo! account and to authorize two-way data sharing of their Yahoo! Contacts and Updates via the Hybrid Protocol.
... 

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Major industry ID providers to participate in pilot programs for open government and open identity
posted by Gudmundur A Thorisson on 18 Sep 2009 - 23:19

Another interesting development around e-Government or Government 2.0 in the US:

Yahoo!, PayPal, Google, Equifax, AOL, VeriSign, Acxiom, Citi, Privo, Wave Systems Pilot Open Identity for Open Government

 Ten industry leaders — Yahoo!, PayPal, Google, Equifax, AOL, VeriSign, Acxiom, Citi, Privo and Wave Systems — announced today they will support the first pilot programs designed for the American public to engage in open government — government that is transparent, participatory, and collaborative. This open identity initiative is a key step in President Obama’s memorandum to make it easy for individuals to register and participate in government websites — without having to create new usernames and passwords. Additionally, members of the public will be able to fully control how much or how little personal information they share with the government at all times.

These companies will act as digital identity providers using OpenID and Information Card technologies. The pilot programs are being conducted by the Center for Information Technology (CIT), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and related agencies. The participating companies are being certified under non-discriminatory open trust frameworks developed under collaboration between the OpenID Foundation (OIDF) and the Information Card Foundation (ICF) and reviewed by the federal government.
... 

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