Hello everyone
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I begin this final Director's Corner of 2020 with 2021 just a few hours away. Many of our members in both hemispheres are taking time out for Holidays, so I hope hope this update finds you safe, well, rested and recharging for what is to be a pivotal 2021 - globally, nationally, locally and individually. It certainly will To those active member and non-member volunteers that keep doing the doing, and the Credential Service Providers and Accredited Assessors driving the assurance Trust Framework that is the beating heart of Kantara, my sincere and grateful thanks.
2021 will certainly be pivotal for Kantara , as we wrestle with increased global interest in our capabilities and demand for our services. Our resource pool however remains largely comprised of the same familiar voices that participate on our calls and in emails in on our group discussion threads. What I encourage everyone to ask what can you do to champion Kantara further within your organization, and what can we do to help you do that successfully?
f s remain How was November for you? If you are actively involved in Kantara, it won't have escaped your attention just how busy all facets of Kantara have been. We concluded November with the Members' Annual General Meeting. It was the most well attended ever. In past years we have piggybacked on international conferences in the US and Europe as a venue. While this was great for face to face interaction, it was necessarily restricted in attendee numbers by its very nature. I guess this is one positive for stay-at-home 2020. During the jam packed meeting:
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Thinking about our resources, it is with sadness that we bid farewell to ForgeRock's Allan Foster and the Internet Society's Robin Wilton from the Board. Their operational support, evangelism and strategic insight over the last 8+ years will be missed. We also bid farewell to Catherine Schulten from Staff. While between jobs later in 2020, Catherine has, on a modest contract, been helping out primarily with Board and Staff support but also extending into Group support at times. To Catherine, on behalf of the Board, Staff and membership, we wish you the very best for your exciting and enormously challenging new role with Change Healthcare. We will miss your strategic insight, your 'can do' attitude to turn your hand to anything that needed doing and your sense of humor. But as one door closes, another opens. We're hiring! If you, or someone you know, is experienced in the things that Kantara operates and supports, please let me know.
Looking back into December, I want to start with the call for nominations for Directors at Large. For the two positions provided for by current Bylaws, we had four organization nominations - one from Canada, one from Germany and two from the US. This was a great result; in fact so great, that the Board is proposing to accept all four. But to do so, a minor amendment to the Bylaws is required. And to make that amendment Kantara needs to notify members thirty days prior to it being enacted. Once enacted Kantara will conduct an all-Member Ballot for the slate. Members will see an email with all the details soon.
Also in December, we welcomed Origo Services Limited from Scotland as members. For several years now Origo has been fascinated with the functionality of the UMA protocol and has been internally working on a Profile of UMA related to the UK Government's Pension Dashboard Programme. And upon joining, Origo offered its profile to the UMA Working Group for consideration as a contribution and onwards to a Kantara publication, the form of which has not yet been decided. The last couple of UMA calls have been largely dedicated to the first phase of this review by the UMA WG participants. We understand that the Pensions Dashboard Programme is expected to make considerable progress during 2021, so the contribution proposal is timely. Thank you Origo! And while thinking about members, welcome back Accredited Assessor, The The Slandala Company Company - thank you for renewing!
Reflecting on the past year, I'm proud of what Kantara has achieved.
- By the numbers we
- received double the expressions of interest in conformity assessment, assurance and grant of trust mark in our Trust Framework Operations program - both our existing classes of approval and to operate others,
- doubled our publications,
- doubled our responses to requests for comment on consultations on digital identity around the world, and
- slightly increased our Membership; and
- We launched the Privacy & Identity for mDL Discussion Group.
All up, a satisfactory year and you can see the AGM materials here on the website. But wait, there's more! 
. It was a delight to announce the winners of the inaugural Exemplary Contribution Awards to individuals, regardless of their membership standing, who have tirelessly volunteered with group work, attended calls and promoted Kantara's unique qualities to the world as judged by Working Group Officers. It was great to be able to recognize the efforts of
and thank them in a meaningful way for their service and unflagging dedication.
November also had other activities. I was a panelist on the UK's Think Digital Identity for Government virtual conference which is always great value, and was on three panels for Identity Week UK the week after.
Members received emails on the call for nominations for the two Directors at Large positions for 2021 from the general organization membership. There will be more information of a new 'view' of our membership coming early in the New Year.
It was great to welcome new member Tim Reiniger as well as membership renewals from Wedacon in Germany, 2Keys in Canada, ITIM Consulting in Canada and Individual Contributors Silvia Knittl, Sal D'Agostino and Vitor Jesus.
December will be very busy for Staff as we prepare a new, fresh look for the website with improved navigation as we continually improve the information architecture for the increasing amount and range of material Kantara publishes.
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- which attracts an ever-growing and influential following as the draft Report begins to take shape. Thank you AAMVA, TSA and others for your support there.
Looking forward to 2021, we have, in the near term, the Directors at Large to seat of course and our fresh new website for review and comment. We also have increasing interest for our Trust Framework mapping and governance capabilities from the public sector largely, from all corners of the world, so we look forward to translating that interest into funded work projects. Last, but certainly not least, is the Board's priority work areas that President Matt summarized at the AGM on November 30th. Together with the work areas, comes several quite significant strategic changes - some have been in the oven for a couple of years, others are very recent products of the Board's 2021-2025 strategic review during the mid-year. While different in detail, they are all common in supporting the unique and open Kantara community that you are a part of. Whether it is conformity assessment and assurance at the heart of operating Trust Frameworks agnostic to any scheme or standard, or mapping gaps and deltas between standards, schemes and trust Frameworks or digital identity related RFP support or sponsored publications arising out of working and discussion group collaboration, existing work and new opportunities are designed to blend nicely together in a re-organized and re-energized Kantara.
New for 2021! Reduce your already modest membership fee even further by introducing new members! Each existing Individual or Organization level member in good standing that introduces a prospective Organization level member that subsequently pays its member dues before the introducing member's next renewal anniversary, gets 25% of the new member's membership level rebated off the introducing member's membership renewal to a maximum of 100% of the introducing member's membership level.
Happy New Year! See you on the other side .Onwards to 2021 and all that it has in store for us personally and our expanding and diverse community.
Kind regards,
Colin
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