~ January 2016 ~

Welcome from the Executive Director

Another Data Privacy Day is upon us. The purpose of the occasion is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. It’s an annual reminder that the quest to safeguard the privacy of our customers and partners is never ending. A recent report from the Pew Research Center reminds us that there is much work to be done. According to the report, 91% of adults surveyed agree or strongly agree that consumers have lost control of how personal information is collected and used by companies. Those surveyed expressed a “consistent lack of confidence” about the security of everyday communication channels and the organizations that control them – particularly when it comes to the use of online tools, and they exhibited a “deep lack of faith” in organizations’ ability to protect the information they collect. It is my hope that our efforts at the IDESG in the year ahead, including activities to operationalize the Identity Ecosystem Framework, help to move the needle, providing customers, partners and consumers with a measure of confidence in the way their information is being handled. I hope you’ll be a part of it.

~ Marc-Anthony Signorino, IDESG Executive Director

Chairperson's Corner

By Kimberly Little Sutherland, Plenary Chair

As an organization, the IDESG is beginning to engage with others in the identity community. Last month, IDESG members participated in a “Power Breakfast” at the Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit in Las Vegas. The panel discussed how IDESG is helping healthcare organizations to deal not only with general privacy and security concerns around digital identity, but also with issues of patient privacy, patient matching and compliance with state and federal requirements - especially HIPAA. Leadership participants included Sal D’Agostino, President, and Matt Thompson, Management Council Chair. They were joined by Tim MacKay of Kaiser Permanente and Healthcare Strategy Consultant Paul Brian Contino. As a leader in the quest for stronger identity credentials, it’s our responsibility to be driving conversations around the topic, engaging in discussions with others in the Identity Ecosystem. To this end, you’ll see more of us out and about in the community in 2016.


Pictured above (l-r) – Ian Glazer, Kimberly Little, Matt Thompson, Sal D’Agostino

From the FMO

IDESG's Framework Management Office (FMO) staff this month developed a wiki-based model of the planned service provider Self-Assessment Listing Service (SALS). The FMO assembled an online demonstration model based upon the various SALS contracts, forms and explanatory documentation which have been recently developed, along with individual wiki pages for each of the IDEF Baseline Requirements. This demonstration model is a precursor to a more user-friendly SALS implementation.

From the NSTIC NPO

The “Applying Measurement Science in the Identity Ecosystem” workshop, held earlier this month on the NIST campus, was a success. Over 220 individuals participated in the two-day event, delving into measurement science in the Identity Ecosystem; brainstorming and evaluating approaches, barriers, implementation considerations and more. The NSTIC NPO will release a proceedings document in the near future summarizing what we heard at the event to share the discussions more broadly—so that our follow-on efforts are aligned with the goals and interests of this community. From there, we’ll be working with you to determine the next steps to advance measurement science in the Identity Ecosystem. This will all be an iterative process and we won’t do anything hastily; getting this right is our priority.

Additional comments, feedback, and guidance on the content or our process can be sent to NSTICworkshop@nist.gov. For more information, please visit the NSTIC Notes blog.

Recent Events

IDESG Executive Director Marc-Anthony Signorino participated in a roundtable discussion on “Security, Privacy and Mobility” at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, NV. Sponsored by NXP Semiconductors, part of the discussion centered on security and privacy issues surrounding the Internet of Things. View a video montage of the discussion here or access the resulting blog post here.

Upcoming Events

Register Now for the Upcoming Plenary

IDESG’s next virtual plenary is scheduled for February 4, 2016. The plenary will feature the introduction of the strategic plan as well as discussions on the IDESG governance document refresh. Mark your calendars and register today.

IDESG Executive Director Marc-Anthony Signorino will be speaking at the Smart Card Alliance’s first Government/Smart Card Industry Day, to be held March 2 at the new National Center for Advanced Payments and Identity Security in Arlington, VA. For additional information, contact the Smart Card Alliance.

Have an Event to Share?

To share your speaking engagements or presentations with IDESG members, send a hyperlink or attachment to idesg@connellyworks.com and a link will be included in the next newsletter.

This newsletter was prepared by the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group, Inc. using Federal funds under award 70NANB14H215 from the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NIST, NSTIC, or the U.S. Department of Commerce.