Content Management Solutions for Collaborative International Projects

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Content Management Solutions for Collaborative
International Projects

• InterLab 2007
• October 1-3

Karl Horak, PhD Deborah Haycraft Cooperative
International Programs Sandia National
Laboratories
SAND Number 2007-5929C
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Cooperative International Programs

• Technical collaborations that enhance national,
  regional, and global security
• Involve a wide range of activities with our USG
  sponsors, other national labs, and international
  partners

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Requires Advanced Internet Infrastructure

• Critical need is for Internet access to shared
  resources and information

Increasing

• Growth of international projects
• Pace of website construction
• Sophistication of functional requirements

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Typical Use-Case

• Engage regional partners
• Develop concepts, tools, and joint solutions
• Encourage sustainable collaboration
• Project infrastructure turned over to partners

• Requires
• Nonexport controlled technologies
• Platform independence
• Low cost

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Mindmaps of Potential Solutions
Buzzwords or differentiating capabilities?
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Our Solution CMS

• A content management framework
• Increases active participation by our partners
• Reduces implementation costs
• Dramatically accelerates site deployment
• Relieves our customers of the "tyranny of the
  webmaster"

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Key Requirements

• Nonexport controlled
• Platform independence
• Full-featured internationalization for foreign
  language support
• Fine-grained security model
• Low cost
• Easily customizable workflows
• Broad standards compliance
• Flexibility and extensibility
• Strong through-the-web development model

i18N

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Plone

• Open-source
• Python-based
• Windows-UNIX-Mac
• Through-the-web control of content
• Fine-grained security
• Role-based workflow
• Out-of-the-box functionality
• Highly customizable
• Runs behind SNL firewalls, web servers

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Out-of-the-box with minimal customizations
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With some customizations
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Highly customized
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Directly Extensible through UML
State diagram
Custom forms and workflow
Class diagram
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Information Sharing within Groups

• CMS forms a platform to deliver content
• Integrates information for decision support and
  policy analysis
• Replaces the tyranny of the webmaster
• Self-maintaining information owners
• Comprises a differentiating capability that
  augments
• E-mail
• File sharing systems
• Provides content that is
• User-supplied
• Self-aggregating
• Self-updating
• Integrates with and augments conferencing tools
  like WebEx and Centra

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Lessons Learned

• Out-of-the-box feature set is very attractive
• Calendar, file sharing, thru-the-web editing,
  automatic content indexing, automatic site map
• Reduces e-mail blight, problems with version
  control, and configuration management headaches
• Fine-grained security model and workflow control
• Plone 3.0 has six built-in workflow
  configurations to choose from
• Benefits outweigh costs
• Open source
• Scalable
• Highly extensible
• Python and ArchGenXML give developers rapid
  productivity
• Life-cycle maintenance costs are low

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Barriers

• Fairly steep learning curve
• Training needed for administrators developers
• Short orientation needed for content owners
• Site visitors usually find the interface
  intuitive
• Some hesitancy in use
• New and different, strange and unfamiliar in some
  ways
• Sometimes too much for Connected but hassled
  users

Successful result is a strong community of shared
interest
http//www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_ICT_Typology
.pdf
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Benefits

• Very rapid deployment
• Days instead of weeks or months
• Strong separation of content, format, and
  function
• XML
• CSS
• Object-Oriented Database

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Key Question

• Can it be integrated within your IT environment?
• Trivial Windows installation creates a localhost
  testbed
• Willingness to leave the LAMP comfort zone
• Resources
• Involve yourself in the Plone online community
• Commercial training and consulting resources
  available
• NM Plone Users Group

Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl
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Conclusions

• Requirements-driven process leads to sound tools
• Platform independence
• i18N capabilities
• Fine-grain security
• Customizable workflows
• Low life-cycle costs
• Standards compliant
• Flexible and extensible
• Through-the-web development
• Content Management Framework using Plone
• Open-source (Plone Foundation)
• Mature (current stable release is 3.0)
• UML modeling of custom content
• Allows timely and cost-effective delivery of
  complex online functionality

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Additional slides follow for discussion of
various case studies, if time permits.
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Examples

• LDRD Day Symposium Website
• Warhead Safety Security Exchange Portal
• Emergency Management Inventory Website
• Training Course on Cooperative Monitoring Portal
• Anti-Neutrino Detection System Website
• Tamper-Indicating Devices Portal
• NNSA ITC Online Training Database Portal
• Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
  Working Group
• DP January 07 Process Portal
• NA-42 Strategic Vision Statement Working Group
  Portal
• DP National Work Breakdown Structure Portal

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Northeast Asia Examples

• Quantitative Proliferation Resistance
  Methodologies for Reprocessing Scenarios Portal
• Material Accountancy Process Monitoring Portal
• East Asia Forum

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Middle East Applications

• International Water Portal (https//waterportal.sa
  ndia.gov)
• Web Access for Civil Society Improvements
  (http//wacsi.unm.edu)
• Annual Middle East Symposium intranet