Semantics-based Authorization and Access Framework for the Virtual Enterprise (SAAFVE)

Different organizations or groups may come together to form the Virtual Enterprise (VE). Information and data with the Virtual Enterprise resides on host computers that are geographically scattered yet comprise part of the IT of the VE. The members of one organization, when acting in a certain role, may have access to certain data categories that are owned by another organization. A new organization, such as a Coalition partner, may join a Virtual Enterprise for a specific mission. While network technology in general and the Internet and Web technologies such as Web services in particular are allowing Virtual Enterprises to come together and share data, the Information Assurance techniques that mirror the distributed, net-centric enterprise are not yet deployed. The issue is not simply to deny information access to members of one organization; rather, the challenge is to have the right people obtain the right information at the right time. We propose an innovative solution to this challenge, the Semantics-based Authorization and Access Framework for the Virtual Enterprise (SAAFVE). SAAFVE is comprised of Ontologies with which to annotate information stores, Policy instances, Meta-policy constructs, and User Profiles, associated support tools, and an agent-based implementation of the infrastructure.