Current Charter
Downloadable version: IAWG Charter 2017-03-30 .pdf
Approved by IAWG on March 30, 2017
IAWG CHARTER
(1) WG NAME: Identity Assurance Work Group (IAWG)
"The Kantara Initiative Identity Assurance Working Group maintains the methods and
mechanisms that improve the trustworthy use of identity and personal data allowing participants
in the global federated identity and credential marketplace to trust each other for transactions."
(2) PURPOSE: The Kantara Initiative Identity Assurance Work Group (IAWG) undertakes to:
• be the steward for the management and evolution of the good practices contained in the
Kantara Initiative Identity Assurance Framework (IAF);
• determine, as requested by the Board of Directors, the applicability and equivalence of
the Kantara Initiative Identity Assurance Framework and related programs to trade
association, regional, national or international Trust Framework schemes;
• analyze and validate IAF profiles that accommodate other Trust Framework schemes;
and,
• recommend acceptance, recognition or approval of the items listed previously to the
Leadership Council or Board of Directors as appropriate.
NOTE: The definitions of the IAF and IAWG will be reconciled to the versions contained in the
IAF Glossary once the IAF Glossary update is complete.
The IAF encompasses the framework, processes, criteria and program assurance specifications
and tools by which identity federation service providers and their assessors are measured. The
IAF defines the operational parameters and rules of the Kantara Initiative Identity Assurance
Assessment and Approval Program.
The IAWG maintains:
• the standards, processes, practices, guidance and methods by which participants in
identity federations can establish trusted relationships, agreements and connections; and
• the techniques by which identity federation Service Providers, Brokers, Federation
Operators and other participants gain assurance of the reliability, security, thoroughness
and degree of assurance of each others' processes for identity and credential information
verification, validation and exchange.
The IAWG creates value by:
• maintaining the currency and relevance of the IAF in response to regulatory and market
requirements and pressures in order to:
• maintain the viability of Kantara Approvals and Accreditations to enable interparty
trusted transactions;
• maintain a measurable set of criteria against which policies, processes and systems
may be built;
• maintain standardized assessment policy and processes for auditors;
• increase consumer confidence in the federated identity and credential marketplace
by successfully and repeatedly performing actions including, but not limited to,
the ones identifies above;
• being an active forum for discussion of the IAF policies, processes and programs to
increase understanding and uptake of the Kantara Trust Mark.
(3) SCOPE: The scope of IAWG is to:
• manage, maintain and review the IAF document set. The IAF document set can be found
on the main Kantara web site;
• analyze non-Kantara Trust Framework schemes to determine comparability between
those schemes and Kantara IAF;
• support the Kantara Initiative to foster adoption of the Kantara IAF; and
• engage Kantara for expert input and guidance on topics covered by the IAF.
The focus of IAWG will be technology and vendor agnostic while being strategy/policy oriented.
The following are not part of the scope of IAWG:
• evaluation of technology or products to comply with particular identity assurance
specifications – whether this is authentication technology, identity verification services,
credentialing technologies, and the like; and
• management or direct oversight of certification and assessment programs designed to
facilitate compliance with the IAWG output.
(4) DRAFT TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: As per the scope defined above the IAWG will
not produce technical specifications.
(5) OTHER DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS: The proposed Draft Recommendations of the
IAWG are listed and described in the working group wiki space. The proposed Draft
Recommendations list is reviewed no less than semi-annually by the IAWG.
(6) LEADERSHIP: The Kantara-approved Leadership Roles and the processes for elections are
defined in the Kantara Initiative Operating Procedures.
The IAWG will have the following roles:
• IAWG Chair – The responsibilities of the chair are: provide overall coordination,
administrative oversight, public representation and decision-making ability over certain
topics. This position will be elected by the members of the group in accordance with the
Kantara Initiative Operating Procedures and ByLaws.
• IAWG Vice-Chair – The Vice Chair will lead specific areas within the work group as
scoped by the Chair. The Vice Chair will be responsible for successful completion of
work and deliverables within the specific scope of the area of focus. The requirement is
to ensure quality review and feedback to the IAF from a technical implement-ability
perspective and facilitate appropriate liaisons with outside technical groups and to ensure
quality review and feedback to the IAF and facilitate appropriate liaisons with outside
policy groups.
• IAWG Secretary – The duties and responsibilities of the secretary include but are not
limited to:
• preparing and maintaining a summary report of each group meeting which shall
include but are not limited to:
• meeting attendees;
• issues for which sufficient consensus was reached at the meeting;
• dissenting opinions raised regarding consensus issues; and
• an issues list of currently known unresolved issues.
• maintaining an action item list which identifies action assignments and their
status;
• maintaining attendance and membership records; and
• distributing the meeting agenda.
• IAWG Task Leader – There could be as many of these leaders as deemed appropriate
by the group in order to complete specific tasks. These roles will be held by volunteer
group members, appointed by the Chair. The Task Leader is responsible for successful
completion of work and deliverables assigned. The Task Leader's terms of reference and
duration will be established on appointment and will be driven by the focus of the task.
The leadership team as of March 17, 2017 is:
• IAWG Chair: Kenneth Dagg
• Vice-Chair: Scott Shorter
• Secretary: Denny Prvu
(7) AUDIENCE:
• Credential Service Providers
• Federation Operators
• Relying Parties
• Policy Makers
• Assessors
• International standards development organizations focused on identity management
• Industry consortia and communities of interest focused on either a specific identity
management technology or an industry segment building recommendations for identity
management best practice
(8) DURATION: The IAWG is chartered to be an ongoing Work Group in the Kantara Initiative
to maintain the Recommendations it produces over time. The charter will be reviewed and, if
deemed necessary, revised on an annual basis. Its charter may be amended from time to time,
with changes approved by the Leadership Council.
(9) IPR POLICY: Kantara Initiative IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) Option: Patent &
Copyright: Reciprocal Royalty Free with Opt-Out to Reasonable And Non-discriminatory
(RAND)
(10) RELATED WORK AND LIAISONS: Part of the mission and goal of IAWG is the
harmonization and collaboration with other industry and standards organizations that have
synergy with identity assurance concepts. Therefore it is integral to the success of IAWG, that it
maintains active communications, collaboration, contribution and liaison with groups including
but not limited to:
• Industry Consortia: ICF, OIDF, OASIS, GSA-FICAM, EHNAC, DirectTrust, NSTIC
IDESG
• ISO SC27
• ITU-T SG17
• INCITS CS1
• ANSI IDSP (Identity Proofing Standards)
• tScheme
• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
• InCommon
• TERENA – Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association
• ETSI ESI (Electronic Signatures and Infrastructure) Technical Committee
• Kantara Assurance Review Board
• Kantara Work Groups and Discussion Groups
(11) CONTRIBUTIONS (optional): The Kantara IAF used the following documents as original
input:
• Identity Assurance Framework Set (version 1.1 created by Liberty IAEG in 2008)
• Identity Assurance Framework - Read Me (created by Liberty IAEG in 2008)
(12) PROPOSERS: The original proposers were:
• Myisha Frazier-Mcelveen, CitiGroup
• Rich Furr, SAFE Bio-Pharma
• Nigel Tedeschi, British Telecom
• Frank Villavicencio, NetStar-1