Working version of the IT Platform and ITbased support tools for scenario development

Transcription

1 Foresight Security Scenarios Mapping Research to a Comprehensive Approach to Exogenous EU Roles Working version of the IT Platform and ITbased support tools for scenario development Deliverable 2.2 BOC Asset Management GmbH November 2011 FOCUS is co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme, theme "security", call FP7-SEC , work programme topic "Fore sighting the contribution of security research to meet the future EU roles".

2 2 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS Imprint Responsible project partner: BOC Asset Management GmbH (BOC) Authors: Wilfrid Utz Robert Woitsch Vedran Hrgovcic Contact information: Wilfrid Utz; Robert Woitsch; Vedran Hrgovcic; FOCUS Website Version history Version Date Change/Remark Responsible (person, beneficiary/function) Initial Structure and Content Wilfrid Utz, BOC First REVIEW Version Wilfrid Utz, BOC Review Feedback Project Management Team Finalisation according review comments Robert Woitsch, BOC

3 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 3

4 4 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IT-PLATFORM IT PLATFORM STRUCTURE IT PLATFORM APPEARANCE IT PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY IT-BASED SUPPORT TOOLS QUESTIONNAIRE: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK QUESTIONNAIRE: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK DATA PROTECTION/INFORMED CONSENT HANDBOOK CONCLUSION... 18

5 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 5 FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1 FOCUS Tool Repertory... 7 Figure 2 IT Platform Structure... 8 Figure 3 IT Platform Appearance Landing Page Figure 4 IT Platform Appearance Scenario View Figure 5 Questionnaire: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK - Structure Figure 6 Questionnaire: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK - Appearance Figure 7 Questionnaire: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK - Structure Figure 8 Questionnaire: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK - Appearance Figure 9 Informed Consent Figure 10 Tool Introduction Example Figure 11 Tool Handbook Collection... 17

6 6 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Deliverable 2.2 provides the working version as of PM7 of the IT-platform and the IT-based support tools for scenario development. The deliverable is provided as an online platform containing and showing the initial state of development of the platform. This accompanying document is regarded as the current version of the handbook supporting the IT-platform and providing explanation on application of tools and usage of the platform. The IT-platform as well as all support tools are accessible under: Focus and Scope: The main focus on the first iteration of development of the IT-platform is to establish a structure where tools can be integrated and made accessible. The platform is regarded as the central entry point/landing page and knowledge management platform for IT-related tools and support environments for scenario development building upon the project methodology definition performed in D2.1. As a first step the analysis of D2.1 is reflected initially in the working version of the platform. Continuous validation is enabled by a model-driven platform a integrating user feedback in the structural design of platform. The IT based support tools are made accessible via the platform for the specific scenario and user context. In the section related to the support tools of this document, a detailed description of the questionnaire environment is provided, which will be continuously extended and enhanced during the project lifetime. The platform is accessible without user/password restrictions. For validation purpose and in compliance with the data-protection regulation, a token-based system has been introduced for participants in the questionnaire to avoid misuse by crawling agents or the like. The system complies with the data protection rules defined in D1.2 of the project re-introduced in chapter 4 of this deliverable. This document is structured as follows: the following chapter provides an introduction to the ITplatform for FOCUS from a structural and appearance perspective, chapter 3 introduces the tools integrated and accessible via the platform with a focus on both questionnaires developed both tools are described in detail, also providing information on how to access them. Chapter 4 stresses the importance of results documented in D1.2 related to data protection and its implication on the technical implementation, whereas chapter 5 focuses on the related handbooks for tools. The document concludes by establishing the iterative approach for the development of the platform to the final version.

7 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 7 2 IT-PLATFORM The IT platform for FOCUS has been developed following a model-driven approach to identify the structure and building blocks of the components to be realized on the platform. The structure follows the working areas of the project namely the specific scenario domains related to workpackages. As an input for structuring of the IT-platform, the collection of scenario tools performed and documented on the project s website is used the FOCUS Tool Repertory. The tool repertory is accessible online at Currently the collection includes tools and tool categories to be aligned and monitored for the inclusion on the IT-platform and applicability in the defined scenario domains. Figure 1 FOCUS Tool Repertory 2.1 IT PLATFORM STRUCTURE Figure 2 shows the current status of the platform and its hierarchical structure. Currently 5 scenario domains are made available and for each category an identical list of service containers has been established to hold concrete IT-support tools developed and identified in the course of the project.

8 8 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS Figure 2 IT Platform Structure The 5 scenario domains are (Figure 2 Aggregation 1): Comprehensive Approach (in relation to WP3 results of the project) Natural Disasters and Global Environmental Change (in relation to WP4 results of the project) Critical Infrastructure and Supply Chain Protection (in relation to WP5 results in the project) EU as a Global Actor based on Wider Petersberg Tasks (in relation to WP6 results in the project) EU Internal Framework (in relation to WP7 results in the project) Based on this classification, a common structure for services/tools is established as containers. The structure is presented in Figure 2 Aggregation 2. The objective in the course of the project is on one hand a validation of the containers initially suggested (incl. a possible adaptation and modification to feedback and/or domain specific areas), on the other hand an alignment of defined and used tools to the categories to externalize the methods and functions in a public manner. For the alignment of tools and services a distinction between scenario/domain-specific tools and generic tools is made. Additionally cross-cutting mechanisms for generic tools are investigated from a technical perspective. The containers as identified in this working version are: News Feeds/Aggregator: as an aggregation service for news feeds and streams from external expert partners and self-written by FOCUS. As an aggregator, the news streams are configurable for specific views and aspects.

9 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 9 Shared Bookmarks: as a facility to collect and share bookmarks/urls/documents that are of interest for the domain. Similar as for the aggregator, view configuration and aspect filtering is foreseen. Scenario Wiki: as a collaborative environment to share/externalize information on the scenario development approach in the domain Questionnaires: as a tool to involve experts and end-users in the specific scenario, a model-drive questionnaire environment is provided. Scenario Reference Processes: as a collection of process and activities on a type-level to describe the steps and activities performed by a scenario developer. Scenario Chat: Synchronized communication channel between participants in the specific domain. User Guide: as a cross-cutting environment, for each scenario the user handbooks as well supporting material is collected. The concrete tools and services are integrated and related to one or more service containers (respecting the cross-cutting requirement as described above) as shown above in Figure 2 Aggregation 3. A specific questionnaire to guide the Comprehensive Approach domain is assigned to the questionnaire environment, a generic/initial questionnaire is provided across all domains simultaneously. 2.2 IT PLATFORM APPEARANCE The IT platform is accessible at The structure as defined in the above chapter is dynamically interpreted and rendered for web-access. Figure 3 shows the landing page, representing the categories as defined above (Aggregation 1 in Figure 2 corresponds to Aggregation 1 in Figure 2. Each category is briefly introduced and referenced with relevant resources. By selecting a tab on top or the domain title in the content panel, a detailed view is presented as shown in Figure 4. This view contains the service/tool categories (Aggregation 2) and already introduces concretely the links to the service/tool (Aggregation 3). By clicking on a service, the functionality is provided in a pop-up window (Aggregation 4).

10 10 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS Figure 3 IT Platform Appearance Landing Page Figure 4 IT Platform Appearance Scenario View

11 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development IT PLATFORM TECHNOLOGY The IT platform builds upon technology developed for aggregation of online services supporting a dynamic rendering of modelled information. Deployment The backend of the platform builds upon the ADOxx modelling environment and is deployed on the infrastructure used for the FOCUS website and project internal environement. For content rendering, an application running in the Tomcat Application Server is deployed. For static content, an Apache HTTP Server is used to handle the requests by the user. Monitoring A continuous monitoring of the IT-platform is established twofold: - External monitoring and usage statistics through Google Analytics that allows the analysis of click stream statistics and anonymous user statistics. - Internal monitoring and performance testing using the Jenkins (formerly Hudson) Framework for daily performance tests and warning mechanisms. This internal monitoring addresses the technical availability of the site and raises alerts in case technical failures on infrastructure level.

12 12 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS 3 IT-BASED SUPPORT TOOLS This chapter introduces the services and tools provided via the platform as support tools for scenario development. The collection presented here relates to the current state of tools provided and is continuously updated and improved building on the analysis of project results from related workpackages. Currently the following tools are available: Questionnaire: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK: this questionnaire is made available in all scenario domains. Questionnaire: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK: this questionnaire is made available in the Comprehensive Approach scenario domain. Details on the support tools can be found in the following chapters. 3.1 QUESTIONNAIRE: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK Access: 49ca-b633-6ef0d Functionality: This questionnaire aims at gathering initial expert feedback for FOCUS. As a generic questionnaire it is cross-referenced by all scenario domains and made accessible to a wide-range of experts in the area. Abstract: It is one of the main objectives of the FOCUS project to identify - based on scenario foresight - alternative sets of future tracks for security research in FP7 and subsequent programmes, supporting civil EU roles to deal with exogenous threats, risks and vulnerabilities. The purpose of this questionnaire is to collect anonymous initial expert feedback on first thoughts/indicative basic analyses of the FOCUS consortium related to scenarios for future EU roles in civil security and to general end-user specifications for the IT Platform that FOCUS will develop. The provision of a dense format and limited space is intentional because we are looking for general first assessments at this stage of the project. Security/Data Protection: Token based system is implemented, providing a anonymous expert feedback. Participants are informed and have intentionally agreed to the informed consent discussed in D1.2 and as a screen shot in the following chapter. Deployment: Model-based questionnaire design building on top of a common FOCUS questionnaire repository (pool of designed questions and sequential structure of questionnaire, data/answer storage on server, separation of answer data and user information. Structure: The questionnaire consists of 21 questions and 2 text areas split up on 6 pages of questions and an introduction page. Statistics: 21 questions 6 question types defined of type Grade and Demographic question

13 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 13 Figure 5 Questionnaire: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK - Structure Appearance: Figure 6 presents the end-user view of the questionnaire automatically rendered from the structure modelled and presented in Figure 5. Figure 6 Questionnaire: INITIAL EXPERT FEEDBACK - Appearance

14 14 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS Result: The results of the questionnaire are provided in 3 different formats. The questionnaire analytics is done by the system and provides a report for further result interpretation. CSV: as a comma-separated value file for platform independent processing. XLS: as an Microsoft Excel based representation for spread sheet processing. ZIP/RAW: as a raw package of all collected information. 3.2 QUESTIONNAIRE: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK Access: ad4c-ca f5 Functionality: This questionnaire aims at gathering initial expert feedback for the comprehensive approach domain as defined in WP3. As a specific questionnaire it is cross-references by the comprehensive approach category in the IT-platform. Abstract: It is one of the main objectives of the FOCUS project to identify - based on scenario foresight - alternative sets of future tracks for security research in FP7 and subsequent programmes, supporting civil EU roles to deal with exogenous threats, risks and vulnerabilities. The purpose of this questionnaire is to collect anonymous expert feedback on comprehensive approach in FOCUS. Security/Data Protection: Token based system is implemented, providing a anonymous expert feedback. Participants are informed and have intentionally agreed to the informed consent discussed in D1.2 and as a screen shot in the following chapter. Deployment: Model-based questionnaire design building on top of a common FOCUS questionnaire repository (pool of designed questions and sequential structure of questionnaire, data/answer storage on server, separation of answer data and user information. Structure: The questionnaire consists of 9 questions and 1 text area split up on 1 page of questions and an introduction page. Statistics: 9 questions 8 question types defined of type Grade and Demographic question, and Open question

15 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 15 Figure 7 Questionnaire: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK - Structure Appearance: Figure 8 presents the end-user view of the questionnaire automatically rendered from the structure modelled and presented in Figure 7. Figure 8 Questionnaire: COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH EXPERT FEEDBACK - Appearance Result: The results of the questionnaire are provided in 3 different formats. The questionnaire analytics is done by the system and provides a report for further result interpretation. CSV: as a comma-separated value file for platform independent processing. XLS: as an Microsoft Excel based representation for spread sheet processing. ZIP/RAW: as a raw package of all collected information.

16 16 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS 4 DATA PROTECTION/INFORMED CONSENT All data-sensitive tools provided via the platform to end-users need to comply with the Informed consent form as presented in D1.2. For this purpose the user of a questionnaire has to actively: - Accept that she/he agrees to the informed consent, cross-linked or integrated into the tools/service - Provide a token to access the tool/service which is not related to feedback provided. This means that the token is independent of the data stored and is only used to validate. Token validation is built on a single use principle meaning the token is deleted from the system as soon as validated and the user has access to the tool until the session ends. Confirmation and Token System Figure 9 Informed Consent Figure 9 shows the integration of the informed consent in the startup/introduction page if the initial expert feedback questionnaire. With reference to D1.2, registration data if needed for personalisation of tools - (mainly identification data such as name, address or ) will not include sex, religion etc. and will not be stored or processed. Technically speaking, registration will be token-based and it will only be checked by the system if the token is valid. Token and answers will neither be stored and nor be subject to any further procedure or analysis. All registration and collection of information will be based on informed consent and data protection notice as defined in the annex of D1.2. Technically the informed consent is included in the terms and conditions to be agreed during the self-registration procedure.

17 FOCUS D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development 17 5 HANDBOOK Support and help information for the IT-platform and related tools and services is provided online as part of the specific tool or service. The support mechanism is twofold: Tool Introduction: Introductory help is made accessible for each scenario domain, for each category, and for each tool cross-linked. In a short paragraph the item on the platform is briefly introduced and described. Figure 10 shows an example of a help window of the IT platform Figure 10 Tool Introduction Example Tool Specific Handbooks: as mentioned in the first chapter, user guides and manuals are collected as a specific, cross-cutting category. The content and format of the handbook corresponds to the tool itself. For the generic tools to be user, an initial collection of handbooks is available. Figure 11 shows the collection page for manuals/handbook for tools and services of the project. Figure 11 Tool Handbook Collection

18 18 D2.2 Working Version of the IT Platform and IT-based Support Tools for Scenario Development FOCUS 6 CONCLUSION The document at hand provides, as explanatory notes, an initial view on the IT platform and support tools in a working version. A main focus of this first iteration relates to structuring the platform and integrating already available tools in the platform. As explanatory notes to a software artefact the document contains considerations on the conceptual approach how to structure the knowledge platform, technology/implementation facts and also end-user information regarding the usability and application of platform and tools. As a continuous and iterative process, the platform is continuously validated and extended with respect to the availability of services and tools.