Greetings folks

This is the running update from Kantara Initiative, Inc's Executive Director. Have questions or comments? Suggest some added information or edits? Contact the ED colin@kantarainitiative.org

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Last week at the Cloud Identity Summit in New Orleans, on Tuesday June 7th in fact, I reached a personal milestone. It signalled my first 100 days in the role. What a ride!   

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.  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 to Ken Dagg in Canada for that re-naming 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 sometimes challenge us, as we showcase our highly respected membership to others new to the space. When I asked for a 'hands up' as to who was new to Kantara, around two thirds of the room put their hand up.  So inspiring!  LC Chair Andrew Hughes' 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/

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 .

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 

Around the House:

Liaisons: 

• ISO/ITU-T: Nothing ground breaking to report here, but remember a significant Kantara member-only benefit is access to the Kantara's Category C liaison with ISO/IEC JTC1 SC27 Working Group 5 (Identity and Privacy). This means you can review and comment on WG5's standard drafts. Of particular interest is ISO 29184, Guidelines for online privacy notices and consent co-edited by our own Kantara Board member Nat Sakimura. 
• Kantara's long standing Liaison with IDESG that sees significant cross membership, has been active these past weeks as the mapping between the Kantara Identity Assurance Framework and the Identity Ecosystem Framework (IDEF) Registry for folks self attesting their compliance, was completed and launched at the Cloud Identity Summit. 
• Further liaisons are progressing, with announcements expected soon. 

New Activities:

• I've mentioned the ID Pro initiative and Blockchain Smart Contracts above, with both of these are enjoying sign-ups in the hundreds. And in Kantara's R&D funding program, KIPI, we have another proposal through the first gate, with several more in preparation. Keep 'em coming! 

New Members:

• Kantara welcomes Brian Shimek and Joanne Cooper as new members.  

Marketing:

• Folks really love our snazzy graphics on our website sliders, so kudos to our web guru Oliver and Virtual's Marketing team. They were also responsible for the 'I signed the pledge' badge ribbons and the device case stickers we gave away at Cloud Identity Summit. If you have more ideas please contact the ED.

Work Group and Discussion Group Updates:

• CIS WG: The Consent Receipt spec has undergone more surgery and tracking well towards its release later in the year.
• Identity Assurance WG: An ad hoc call schedule has been set up to review and comment on the new draft 800-63-3. Rock up to contribute and learn.
• Smart Contracts and Blockchain DG: This ground breaking work takes some elements of the Common Accord development, together with Distributed Ledger Technology to explore a step-change in the way online services contracts might be structured.  

Events:

• You can find the events we hope to see you at here on the events page on the website.