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
...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
As the first days of July appear, with the Bank Holidays for Canada Day and Independence Day now behind us, the vacation season is already in evidence.
And that is great!
The digital identity and privacy industry is incredibly vibrant and active, with an often punishing schedule of events and related opportunities to showcase and participate across the world.
There is so much to learn, consume and ponder over, yet the time 'in the heat of the moment' is so short. The northern hemisphere summer offers its citizens the chance to bring out those great ideas that were relegated to the cerebral 'parking lot' in earlier months and give them the due consideration they deserve. At last, there's time to reflect, refresh, review and plan. Certainly that's how we see it at Kantara .
For you, perhaps this is the time to go and join that Kantara Work Group of Discussion Group you has always planned to, but never quite got around to doing.
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 to going.
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.