IDESG absorbed into Kantara Initiative
Former NIST-funded group’s efforts toward strong online digital identity to continue
25 June, 2018
category: Corporate, Digital ID, Government
Kantara Initiative and the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group (IDESG) jointly announced that Kantara will take on the work artifacts, current efforts, committees and membership of the IDESG.
The IDESG was funded through a series of NIST grants, but funding ended in 2018 and the group has been scrambling to chart its future course.
The mission of the expanded Kantara Initiative – now with both an international and a newly acquired domestic focus – continues to focus on improving trustworthy use of identity and personal data through innovation, standardization and good practice.
Incorporated in 2012, IDESG is a voluntary, public-private partnership dedicated to developing an Identity Ecosystem Framework (IDEF) and services to better secure online digital identity. The group was funded through a series of NIST grants, but funding ended in 2018 and the group has been scrambling to chart its future course.
With the new home inside Kantara, the work of IDESG will continue and the IDESG brand will be retained for key US facing activities. IDESG members will automatically become members of Kantara, with full access to Kantara resources, workgroups and technical materials.
“Welcoming IDESG to Kantara is a logical next step as the organizations share a very similar ethos, mission, vision and artifacts,” says Colin Wallis, executive director, Kantara Initiative.
Kantara has collaborated with IDESG since 2013, and in January 2018 the two organizations committed to work together to drive further adoption of IDESG’s Trust Framework.
“Kantara’s inclusion of IDESG’s valuable assets creates a stronger return on investment made to date by NIST and our working members,” says Wallis.
“This transition is the critical next step for (IDESG) as we need to take the message to the street and drive the adoption of these great assets in order to achieve the results envisioned when IDESG was formed,” said Mark DiFraia, president IDESG. “We will continue executing IDESG’s mission of growing a healthy and secure online identity ecosystem under the leadership of Kantara.”
After the transition of assets is complete, IDESG will be dissolved by the end of 2018.