The Secure Identity & Biometrics Association is hosting a one-day forum on June 29 to bring together government officials and private sector executives to stimulate conversation about federal biometric projects.

IdenTrust announced it is a participant in the DirectTrust Partnership for Patients Program that aims to make it easier for patients and health care consumers to securely share personal health information; Evolis and CPI Card Group have extended their partnership to provide U.S. banks with the EMV-capable instant card issuance solutions; Dominion Resources Inc. selected AMAG Technology’s Symmetry Access Control System to secure its offices, plant and operations facilities in Virginia and several other states; Zwipe announced the launch of Zwipe Access 2.0.

Pentagon CIO Terry Halvorsen says the Defense Department plans to get rid of the Common Access Card in favor of a multi-factor authentication system that would include behavioral biometrics.

IT executives are spending money to secure networks and that focus is on the perimeter — firewalls, etc. What would be more effective is focusing on a multi-layered approach including encryption and multi-factor authentication.

PIV smart card usage in the U.S. federal government is growing, according to government officials. Civilian worker PIV usage rose from 42% to 72% as a result of the push to increase usage of smart cards and is now more than 80%.

Gemalto delivered its Sealys Premium Inlay and embedded Sealys eTravel Software for Colombia’s first national electronic passport program; SecureAuth Corp. announced the release of Threat Service; Versasec announced it has added German distributor IDpendant to its list of partners.

The Identity Ecosystem Steering Group announced the Identity Ecosystem Framework Registry, a tool that enables companies to assess their own identity management methods against industry practices.

Single sign-on is just abotu standard for enterprises with a large number of applications. But an overlooked problem for enterprises is making sure employees are logged out of systems. Ping Identity has announced a seed investment in Swirlds to solve the universal logout problem with single sign-on systems.

Ping Identity has been acquired by Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on software, data and technology-enabled businesses; Thursby Software Systems Inc. announced it is providing software and support for two-factor authentication with Common Access Cards on Apple mobile devices for the Defense Logistics Agency; AMAG Technology has added Stone Lock Global as a certified member of its partner program.

The sharing economy plays by different rules but trusted identity is a necessity according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. This new sector may be small but it’s growing — be it renting an apartment, buying something on Craig’s List or agreeing to a car sharing arrangement – it is a new way of doing business for some.