After several months of planning, I am pleased to announce that the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) is moving forward on a number of fronts. The next two months will be marked by several major events and initiatives designed to further the implementation of NSTIC’s vision for an Identity Ecosystem!
Pilot Programs:
Today NIST released a new Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) for pilot programs to support the NSTIC. The FFO can be found at http://www.nist.gov/nstic/2012-nstic-ffo-01.pdf and www.grants.gov.
This $10 million pilot program FFO marks a key step towards implementing the Strategy and establishing the Identity Ecosystem. As with all NSTIC activities, the success of these pilot programs will rely heavily on your participation, innovations, and efforts.
The goal of this new grant program is to test or demonstrate new solutions, models or frameworks that do not exist in the marketplace today, and that will advance the NSTIC vision: that individuals and organizations utilize secure, efficient, easy-to-use, and interoperable identity credentials to access online services in a manner that promotes confidence, privacy, choice, and innovation.
Specifically, the NSTIC National Program Office is interested in funding pilot projects with innovative approaches to address some or all of the barriers that have hindered past federated identity efforts, and do so in a way that aligns with and advances the NSTIC’s four guiding principles – that identity solutions will be privacy-enhancing and voluntary, secure and resilient, interoperable, and cost-effective and easy-to-use. These pilots can thus provide a foundation upon which the Identity Ecosystem can be constructed.
There are many ways to get involved with the NSTIC Pilot programs:
Read and review the Federal Funding Opportunity available at http://www.nist.gov/nstic/2012-nstic-ffo-01.pdf, then spread the word to friends, colleagues, and co-workers.
Participate in our Proposer’s Day which will be hosted on February 15, at the Department of Commerce Auditorium from 9:00am-12:00pm. This event will give potential applicants the opportunity to learn more about the new pilot program and to meet and interact with other Stakeholders interested in supporting NSTIC pilots. It will also be webcast live at www.nstic.gov for those who can’t attend in person, with questions being accepted via Twitter (at #nstic) to support long distance Q&A.
Collaborate with fellow stakeholders, either through our Proposer’s Day event, or through outside venues, such as workshops, conferences, and online forums. We highly encourage the creation of consortia and teams to develop wide-reaching and effective pilot programs.
Submit project proposals that will help to build the Identity Ecosystem and accelerate adoption of the NSTIC. The Identity Ecosystem’s success will be built upon the foundation of private sector innovations, technologies, and standards. Abbreviated proposals are due March 7; a limited number of proposers will be selected from these and invited to submit full proposals.
The NSTIC Steering Group:
In the next two weeks, we also expect to release a set of recommendations for establishing a privately-led Steering Group to lead implementation of the Identity Ecosystem. This long-awaited document will detail the results of responses to a Notice of Inquiry we published last year, and lay out a clear path forward for a governance structure to tackle the difficult standards and policy issues associated with creating the Identity Ecosystem.
Events:
In addition to our NSTIC Pilots Proposer’s Day, we will also be holding events on both the east and west coasts over the next 45 days:
RSA Conference: On Wednesday, February 29 from 3-5pm in Room 121 of the Moscone Center in San Francisco, we’ll be holding a NSTIC update featuring White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt and NSTIC National Program Office Manager Jeremy Grant. The event will provide stakeholders with an update on NSTIC implementation activities including the pilots and Steering Group, and offer an opportunity to ask questions.
IDtrust Workshop: NIST will host its annual IDtrust workshop March 13-14 at the NIST Campus in Gaithersburg, MD. More information (including registration details) is at http://www.nist.gov/itl/csd/ct/nstic_idtrust-2012.cfm
For further details on all of our events please visit our website at www.nstic.gov
The next few months will be an exciting and busy time for NSTIC, the NPO, and our stakeholders. We appreciate your continued interest and efforts – and look forward to working with you as we continue to implement NSTIC and the Identity Ecosystem!
Jeremy Grant
Senior Executive Advisor, Identity Management
NIST