~ November 2015 ~

Welcome from the Executive Director

Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, is quoted as saying feedback is "the breakfast of champions." Indeed, customer feedback is the lifeline of successful companies, helping them determine what's important and what's not, what works and what doesn't and identifying trends before they've started. At IDESG, the strength of our organization is in the depth and breadth of our member base. We understand that the success of our work - including the recently released Identity Ecosystem Framework (IDEF) - is largely dependent upon support and feedback from the membership. To that end, we'll be looking for commercial and government entities alike to look at their identity-related processes and see how they align against the core areas outlined in the framework. All feedback will be considered and evaluated for use in building successive versions of the framework. Want to help shape the future of the identity ecosystem? Contact me at MarcAnthony@idesg.org and let me know how we can improve our product. I look forward to your input!

~ Marc-Anthony Signorino, IDESG Executive Director

Chairperson's Corner

By Kimberly Little Sutherland, Plenary Chair

It's hard to believe that the holidays are almost upon on. This time of year is a good time to reflect on the year just past - our successes, challenges and the many reasons we have to be thankful.

It's been a break out year for our organization. Last month's release of the IDEF was an ambitious effort and major step forward in privacy, security, interoperability and usability. I'm thankful for the numerous IDESG volunteers whose time and effort brought the IDEF to fruition. I'm also thankful for the IDESG's diverse and experienced membership that allowed us to bring the document to light and will continue to guide us through future iterations of the framework.

As we move into the new year, we look to the release of the Self-Assessment Listing Service (SALS) registry - a single web presence where online identity service providers and owners or operators applications that authenticate identity credentials can report their status through self-assessment with a set of common standards. The release of the SALS will bring us that much closer to the Administration's vision of a secure online environment where individuals can transact business online with more choice, privacy and security and fewer credentials and passwords. The future is bright. Wishing you and yours the joys of Thanksgiving.

From the FMO

IDESG's Framework Management Office (FMO) staff worked with IDESG leadership and its Management Council in November to complete the official IDEF Work Plan naming key deliverables for next year. Those deliverables include a 2016 outreach plan for the SALS self-assessment program, taking in market feedback that will help refine the IDESG Requirements for identity providers; significant additions to the roster of approved open standards in the IDESG Standards Registry; and expanded and revised User Experience Guidelines.

FMO staff also are supporting IDESG's Trust Framework and TrustMark (TFTM) Committee in completing and publishing the contracts, forms and explanatory documentation that supports the Self-Assessment Listing Service (SALS), set to launch in January.

From the NSTIC NPO

We are pleased to announce our upcoming 'Advanced Identity Workshop: Applying Measurement Science in the Identity Ecosystem' on January 12-13, 2016 at the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, MD.

This two-day technical workshop seeks to bring together a diverse community of technology vendors, cybersecurity researchers, policy makers, and other experts from the public and commercial sectors to tackle tough issues in identity and access management. The event is results-oriented, with a jam-packed agenda of working sessions meant to define the input for future standards and guidance. Our focus is on three specific challenges that organizations have identified as the Identity Ecosystem has matured: strength of identity proofing (both remote and in-person), strength of authentication with a focus on biometrics, and attribute confidence to assist in effective authorization decision making.

This technical workshop will include a mix of moderated panels and facilitated working sessions. This will help determine meaningful and actionable next steps that NIST and its partners will undertake in establishing measurement science applications in identity and access management. During the workshop, attendees will be asked to provide objective feedback, ideas, methodologies, best practices, metrics and data, and recommendations for scenarios affecting both government and industry. This exercise will provide insight into how to better manage risk in order to evaluate and select processes and technologies strong enough to protect high-value transactions. Without meaningful, testable metrics, participants in the Identity Ecosystem lack the tools needed to make informed risk decisions-which could prevent mitigation of the cyber threats facing consumers today.

Very shortly we will be releasing three whitepapers on our NSTIC events page-one for each area of focus at the event-intended to stimulate discussion and guide dialogue.

To register for the event, please visit the NIST events page today!

Upcoming Events

IDESG members will participate in a healthcare panel at the Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit, December 7-9, 2015. The panel will focus on 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. Panel members include:

https://www.gartner.com/events/na/identity-access-management#!section_agenda

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.