Greetings folks
This is the running update from the Executive Director. Have questions or comments? Suggest some added information or edits? Contact the ED colin@kantarainitiative.org
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As @katrynadow tweeted, "And that's a wrap on 2016" (adding a lovely pic of the Sydney Harbour bridge and Opera House silhouletted silhouetted against a backdrop of fireworks) there are no better words to offer.
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Then when one adds the historic ructions in the political landscape and the appalling events brought on by war, terror and natural disaster, there's a valid case to be thankful for the end of 2016, so we can focus on doing our part in making 2017 100% positively memorabe for all the right reasons.
And there is a lot we can do.
In the world of identity we have been witness to the rise and rise of the Blockchain phenomenon that might or might not herald a new dimension to counterbalance the rise and rise of identity theft and hacking on a scale hitherto unseen, with seemingly no target immune.
And in the world of privacy and personal data, our electronic connectedness sees a global rippling effect on us all in the industry as the EU prepares for the enforcement of GDPR and the introduction of eID.
Our industry is stacked full of observers, commentators, bloggers, researchers, report writers, tweeters and re-tweeters. Nothing wrong in that and they . They all contribute in their own way.
But there are precious few organizations in the industry that actually develop things, build things and deploy things - things built by the community for the interests of humanity that tangibly help to put tools into the hands of users to make their online activities safer, more private and under their control.
Kantara is one of those precious few in the world. I hope that is why you are here on this site, reading this and identifying yourself with the pivotal role that this organization plays and all that it has to offer.
Often without public accolade or recognition, Kantara's member volunteers - drawn from the Directors, the Assurance Review Board, the Leadership Council, the approved CSPs, the accredited assessors, the organizational and individual members, liaison organizations, plus a long tail of non member participants - put to work their great minds to collaboratively conceive and develop real tools that 'walk' all that 'talk'.
We have UMA - the only profile in the world for distributed authorization and delegation built for the modern, lightweight mobile world - gaining attention and rapid adoption, not only from the tech sector, but increasingly from the legal and health professions, as we do with the Blockchain Smart Contracts DG. We have the Consent Receipt specification about to go to public review - another world first. We have become masters are recognised experts in conformity assessment with our experience in operating the Identity Assurance program , with for the US Federal government's FICAM initiative, and a clutch of partners looking at how we can us to potentially extend it to assess and assure their trust frameworks. And we have the other WGs and DGs working Working Groups and Discussion Groups building towards their goals, such as but not limited to the new paradiym that IRM portends and that the ID Pro program strives to frame up as the Discussion Group's efforts to build a home for digital identity professionals.
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Cheers!
Colin
Around the Houses:.
Liaisons:
- Kantara and EEMA the European Association for e-identity and Security, signed a Memorandum of Understanding Paris on November 15th. The MOU aims to facilitate collaboration between the two organizations in Europe combining EEMA's network of relationships with Kantara's programs and innovation development platforms.
New Activities:
- The Board and several Leadership Council Chairs have commenced 'Tiger Team' meetings to re-craft the organization's strategy for 2017. The teams cover the organization's Mission, Activities and Membership. We expect to be report out on the results of this work late February. It is a time consuming but immensely valuable exercise which is bringing forward some really innovative ideas. I look forward to sharing them with you.
New Members: Kantara welcomes new member Andi Hindle and Eli Fisk. Great to have you aboard Andi and Eli!
Marketing:
- Stand by for a short end-of-year satisfaction survey of members. All we do, we do for you. So please take a little time to complete the survey to tell us we have things right or where we can improve.
Program, Work Group and Discussion Group Updates:
- The WGs and DGs of Leadership Council now operate a blog, so you can read what's going on in groups you are not regularly attending. See it here
- ID Pro DG has split deliverables into 4 project streams: Body Of Knowledge, Governance, Membership and Services, and Code of Practice. ID Pro is aiming to open the DG to further membership in late February once this phase of pre-formation is complete.
- As always if you have a query or question, staff are only to willing to assist. Email them on staff@kantarainitiative.org
Events:
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Governments and policy-makers are attracted to Kantara by what they see at the grass-roots level and want it in the room in other fora - like ITAC and in Vienna earlier this year to observe UNCITRAL - and we welcome their interest.
What we strive to do is not for everyone however. While we have had some folks not renew their membership in 2016, many more have chosen to join us. December's New Members are OneWorldIdentity, Collective Underwriters,Inc and John Macaulay. A very warm welcome folks. We welcome your interest and your investment in time and money. We need all of it and more besides, if we are to do more of what we do 
. With more money and more volunteers we can do more.
Your leadership has been working harder than ever this last quarter of the year to align the organization's positioning in 2017 with the work actually happening.
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to publically thank my hard working dedicated staff Ruth and Oliver, the super team at Virtual Inc and those individuals across the Board and its sub committees, the Leadership Council and Working/Discussion groups who have worked harder than anyone can imagine, to drive the organization forward. You know who you are and I salute each and every one of you!
2017 will be a great year for Kantara. Of that I am certain. Enjoy the last hours of 2016 and prepare yourself for the great ride that 2017 is sure to be.
Cheers!
Colin