DIGITAL INDIA

2. eGovernance
Under guidance of
Dr. P.V. Kamesam
IBM Research Lab
New Delhi
Ashish Gupta
3rd
Year
B.Tech , Computer Science and Engg.
IIT Delhi

3. Introduction
Definition of eGov
It can be defined as the civil and political conduct
of government, including service provision, using
information and communication technologies.
e-Gov solution
Government Government
Transactions
Citizens
Overview of Presentation
Part 1 : Content Manager
Part 2 : Audit Trails in Distributed Databases

4. Intro to Content Manager
The Problem
 A Major challenge in eGov : Data Management
E.g. Land Records , Citizen Database etc.
 Content Manager : a Possible Solution
What is Content Manager ?
Content Manager (a product from IBM) is a
scalable solution for storing and retrieving
documents of various types.

5. Content Manager
Brief Overview of the features of CM
1. Lets you store content regardless of format.
( Unstructured data )
E.g. text documents, scanned images, audio, video, forms any
binary object
2. Stores data on distributed servers and provides single
point access.
3. Provides many sophisticated features like
 Access control
 Storage management – Archiving , Purging ,
Migration
 User management
 Automated Workflow
 Enterprise wide search from Internet or intranet
clients.
 Streaming audio and video.

6. The Beginners Guide to CM
 Provides an introduction to a layman about
Content Manager
 Covers essential topics of CM
 Relevant Figures to explain important concepts
 All discusses development of Client Application
for CM
 Useful Appendices with extra info like installation,
references etc.

7. Developed an easy to use CM Programming API
Benefits
 Makes it very easy to perform operations
on the CM Database
 Encapsulates the complexity of CM API
 Object Oriented Approach allows easy
integration into new apps
 Speeds up Application Development Time
 Extensibility : Acts like a new layer on top
of CM
 New layers like Custom Access Control ,
Audit Layer can be added Content Manager API
Folder Manager API
Library Client API
SimpleCMAPI
Application
Security Layer
Audit Layer
Developed a new easy to use API on top of
Content Manager Programming API

8. A Prototype Application
Defining the problem
Proposed a prototype solution
Developed an Application in Visual C++ on top of Content Manager
Demonstrates use of our new API with additional layers
Workflow
Security Layer
Audit Layer
Inner Line Permit
for VISITOR
RESIDENTSHIP
Requirements for entering Arunachal Pradesh
OR

9. Some Screenshots of the Application developed
Security Layer
Workflow in CM
Two databases:
•Citizen Database
•Inner Line Permit Database
Main Screen

10.  Definition of Audit Trail
An audit trail is a series of records of computer events,
about an operating system, an application, or user
activities.
 Purpose of Audit Trail
 Individual Accountability: track individual
actions to facilitate audit.
 Reconstructing Events: reconstruct events as
and when required.
 Problem Monitoring: online tools to help
monitor problems
 Intrusion Detection: identifying attempts to
penetrate a system and gain unauthorized
access.
Audit Trails on Distributed Databases

11. The eGov Middleware
Data Virtualization
Isolates logical view
of data storage
available to the
application
developer from the
physical placement
Data Virtualizer
Transaction
Commands
Query processor
and optimizer
Database Database Database Database
M
I
D
D
L
E
W
A
R
E
Application

12. Audit Trail Component : A module responsible for
managing the audit trail of eGov applications across
the entire system.
Problem Description
Where can we place the Audit Trail Component in the
eGov Architecture ?
Possible options:
1. Application
2. In the Middleware , above DV Module
3. In the Component Databases

13. Issues Involved in the Placement
 Security Issues
 Risking security at the hands of applications
 Tamper proofing of Audit Trail
 Implementation Issues
 Application Complexity
 Database design Complexity
 Audit Trail Transparency to the application
developers
 Consistency of Audit Trail across the entire system
 Ease of Audit Policy Management

14. Proposed Solution
Data Virtualizer
Query processor
and optimizer
Database Database Database Database
Audit
Policy
Database
MI
D
D
L
E
W
A
R
E
Transaction
Commands
Audit Trail Agent
Application
S
E
C
U
R
I
T
Y

15. Further Research Issues
Audit Trail Agent Architecture
 Storage of Audit Trail is an issue
 Distributed or Centralized ?
Possible Solution:
A Buffered Distributed - Centralized Architecture
 Amalgamation of audit trail data at the central server
• Timestamping issues to ensure correct chronological sequencing
of audit trail for analysis – Time sync , which time to use
• Proper Categorization of Audit Trail data to facilitate analysis
 Ensuring Tamperproofing of Audit Trail for the Auditor
• Authentication of Distributed Sources
• Encryption
• Access Control
• Secure Transmission
 Audit trail management (Archiving and purging)
 Access Control to Audit Trail

16. Conclusion
 Extensible API developed for Content
Manager along with an application
 Audit Trail Architecture in eGov
Working at IRL
 Team work
 Research Experience
 Responsibility
Thanks

17. Things Learnt
 Enterprise Database Technology
 Visual C++ / Database Interaction
 API Wrapper Technology
 Distributed Database Systems
 Audit Trail Technology and Middleware Tech.
 Security Issues in large scale databases
IIT Education
• File Systems Course
• CS120 and CS130

18. Other Tasks
 Laid down a list of requirements for eGov data
management solutions
 A document on security issues of smart cards
Future Work
Integration of EIP with CM
Further extension of the new CM API with focus on security and
audit trail layers
Development of applications for more real life scenarios

19. Architecture of CM
Library
Server
Multiple Object Servers
Client
Fig: Architecture of Content Manager for a single Implementation