Greetings folks
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It's been both an honor and a pleasure to oversee Kantara build velocity and momentum across all its initiatives - both new ones like ID Pro and Blockchain Smart Contracts as well as more established ones like UMA and Consent Receipt. It is not going unnoticed. The community is reacting and positioning in a very positive way. More announcements are coming that will bring greater value to members and participants alike.
Our transition is nearing completion, with only a handful of members still to confirm their intentions with their members dues still held by IEEE-ISTO, and our application lodged with the IRS for confirThermed non profit status. The organization is in good financial health, with membership and GPA sign ups on the rise, no doubt helped by he supporting Marcomms.
I am writing this as we complete two very successful conference appearances, first at IIW at the end of April and then the European Identity Conference in Munich last week. UMA's strong roots inside Kantara are being increasingly supported by the Consent Receipt and User Submitted Terms work being led by Mark Lizar, John Wunderlich, Iain Henderson and Mary Hodder, that was such a feature at IIW. As this work takes shape, Kantara's proud to be part of the collaborative effort alongside Customer Commons and Project VRM, to put the customer back in control of their data, and the part that Consent Receipt plays in achieving that shared goal.
Last week's EIC has often been the event that Kantara has used to launch something new, and this year was no exception. Ian Glazer's call for the professionalization of the identity industry in his keynote just before the EIC Awards ceremony last Wednesday night capped off a quite incredible 48 hours of team effort operationalize that notion and Kantara as the initial home, while folks discuss what they want from 'ID Pro' (attribution Andrew Hughes for that short name) and where they want it. Pledge your support and sign up here Membership and participation is up, as are program applications for Identity Assurance and KIPI (Kantara Identity & Privacy Incubator) our new name for the R&D funding program. A big shout out of thanks to Ken Dagg in Canada for that suggestion.
Our Workshop at the Cloud Identity Summit was very well attended. Folks seem to enjoy our fluid agenda with multiple speakers even if the logistics can get the better of us as we showcase our highly respected membership to others new to the space. When I asked for a show of hands as who was new to Kantara (not a participant or member) around two thirds of the room put their hand up. So inspiring! LC Chair Andrew Hughes's idea of the 'Team Kantara' breakfast table was a huge hit. New members, prospective members, longstanding members, friends, spouses, children - they all came!
Have you pledged your support and signed up here for ID Pro? Please do! Around 270 folks from 29 countries already have: https://kantarainitiative.org/digital_identity_professional/
As we look ahead further into May we have the Digital Contracts, Identities and Blockchain workshop at MIT Media Labs in Cambridge MA, coming up May 23-24 (see details below) where Kantara's latest Discussion Group, Smart Contracts and Blockchain, makes its debut. And in 3 weeks' time, the Cloud Identity Summit takes place in New Orleans where Kantara will again host a pre-conference workshop.
So you can see it's another busy month or so ahead before we look forward to holidays in the northern hemisphere. Thank you again for your efforts to support your fellow members and the organization as a whole. An organization is nothing without its members.Not a member and reading this? Join us and your friends & colleagues from around the world. Take a look at the member menu here and complete the online form. Yes, we do take credit cards 
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Thank you again for your support. Kantara is nothing without its volunteer members. Look out for news on how we can recognize your efforts in the next few months.
Cheers
Colin
Liaisons:
- ISO/ITU-T: ISO SC27's meeting was held in Tampa FL, and we were fortunate to have a number of Kantara members to attend, speak to our Liaison Statement to Working Group 5, Identity Management and Privacy. Of particular interest is ISO 29184, Guidelines for online privacy notices and consent along with reviews of 29115 Entity Authentication Assurance, and 24760-1 A framework for Identity Management.
- Two further liaisons remain in progress, with an announcement expected in June.
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