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  • EXECUTIVE SPONSOR(S): Mike Barker
  • DEPT OR DIVISION: ITS Infrastructure and Operations
  • TECHNICAL LEAD:  John McGee, Brent Caison, Ethan Kromhout
  • PROJECT MANAGER:  Alison Campbell
  • CHANGE MANAGER:  Jackie Treschl
  • STATUS: In Progress
  • Project Theme: Serving Our Communities

The project goal is to establish a new Secure Research Workspace (SRW) that 1) meets or surpasses the evolving NIST 800-53 Moderate* compliance specifications, and 2) is flexible enough to meet the unique needs of research project teams. The SRW is a secure virtual desktop for collaboration and storing sensitive information related to research studies, for example, patient or clinical trial data.

* NIST 800-53 Moderate is a document describing United States federal government computer security policies, procedures, and guidelines. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is a unit of the Commerce Department.

Currently, the ITS Research Computing team customizes on-premises SRW environments to meet the unique needs of each research team. The implementation of a new cloud-based SRW platform will focus on out-of-the-box solutions that meet current customer needs and are flexible and scalable enough to meet future needs. Project tasks include:

  • Task 1:  Conduct a third-party assessment of the existing SRW platform to provide ongoing compliant environments while the new system is under development.
  • Task 2: Reimagine the infrastructure, design, automation, and end-user capabilities for a new cloud-based SRW. This work will be a collaboration between the ITS Research Computing team, ITS Infrastructure & Operations (I&O), and Data & Reporting Environments & Application Middleware (DREAM) team, along with multiple vendors.
  • Task 3: Develop the NIST 800-53 compliance package documentation as an integral component of ongoing management and maintenance of the new platform