EDUCAUSE, NIH, and Identrus Demonstrate PKI Interoperability Between the Federal Government and Higher Education

For Release: Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Contact: Geoff Kahler Identrus geoff.kahler@identrus.com (801) 326-5359

Contact: Peter DeBlois Director of Communication Services EDUCAUSE pdeblois@educause.edu 303-544-5665

EDUCAUSE, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Identrus LLC today announced the completion of a successful proof-of-concept project showing interoperability between federal government and higher education systems for signing and validating electronic forms. The proof of concept was phase three of the federal government's Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Interoperability Project to enable online efficiencies for government transactions.

"As the federal government extends its transactions with citizens and businesses into the digital realm, it becomes valuable for federal agencies and institutions of higher education to sign and validate electronic forms in order to move business transactions online," said Dr. Peter Alterman, NIH assistant chief information officer for electronic authentication. "Phase three of our PKI Interoperability Project demonstrated not only our ability to simplify transactions between government and higher education, but also the benefits of this approach."

To demonstrate PKI interoperability, the proof-of-concept project tested the ability of universities to file government forms with the NIH electronically, using different technologies and standards. Participating colleges and universities included the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dartmouth College, the University of California, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, The University of Texas–Houston Health Science Center, and the University of Virginia. Each school filled out an XML version of a standard government form and then digitally signed and cosigned the form with two institution-issued digital certificates. These digitally signed electronic forms were then submitted to NIH, which received them and automatically validated the digital certificates through the Federal Bridge and Higher Education Bridge PKI infrastructures. The files, signatures, and transaction information were then stored in a signed record in a NARA-compliant archive.

"Participating schools will be able to use different PKI products and services, demonstrating the broad capabilities of the federal-higher education interoperability infrastructure for exchanging secure electronic transactions over the Internet," said Mark Luker, EDUCAUSE vice president. He continued, "This technology holds great promise for improved security for e-commerce in higher education and for transactions between institutions and government agencies, between institutions and businesses, and between institutions themselves."

NIH used ACES digital certificates issued by Digital Signature Trust, a subsidiary of Identrus, to enable secure sharing of information between the agency and participating academic institutions. The universities each used different types of digital certificates and PKI services, demonstrating interoperability with the federal system.

"Phase three of the PKI Interoperability Project clearly shows how digital certificates can streamline interaction between agencies and higher education," said Keren Cummins, Identrus vice president of federal services. "Furthermore, interoperability has been a background concern and the success of phase three should put these issues to rest."

To learn more about phase three of the PKI Interoperability Project, visit http://pki.od.nih.gov/NIHpilot/default.asp. For information about earlier phases of the project, press releases, testimonials, and a video overview, visit http://www.educause.edu/netatedu/groups/pki/.

About EDUCAUSE

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The current membership comprises more than 2,200 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 250 corporations, with 17,000 active members. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at www.educause.edu.

About Identrus

Identrus has established a regulated policy framework that provides the global standard for digital identity authentication. The Identrus platform provides the legal and technical infrastructure for financial institutions, governments and commercial entities to effectively manage the risks associated with identity authentication in digital transactions. Identrus provides managed identity authentication services combining hosting, professional services and extensive PKI implementation experience and, through its subsidiary Digital Signature Trust, is the leading provider of federally sponsored and interoperable electronic identity credentials under the GSA's ACES program and DoD's IECA program. Identrus partners with systems integrators, software developers, smart card and token providers, as well as experts on identity management, security and fraud to help organizations achieve greater application security and meet their e-government objectives. For more information on Identrus, visit http://www.identrus.com. Information on Digital Signature Trust is available at http://www.trustdst.com.

About The National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institutes of Health has been working for more than a decade to extend digital technology to government business processes. Sponsored by the Federal PKI initiatives, NIH has pioneered the technologies and solutions necessary to enable digital signing of electronic documents across the Internet. The Interoperability Project's Web site is http://pki.od.nih.gov.