Government and Industry Partner on Authentication

An alliance of Federal agencies, state governments, private-sector companies and public interest groups have formed a new group, named the Electronic Authentication Partnership, to develop rules for interoperability of public and private online authentication systems.

The Electronic Authentication Partnership will draft rules for digital credentials that will allow interoperability among different agencies and companies. The Electronic Authentication Partnership was developed by a working group with public and private sector participants assembled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The idea came from two recently released white papers: Managing Identity and Authentication on the Internet, issued by CSIS in May 2003, and Identity Management Systems and Governance in the 21st Century, issued in April 2003 by the Johns Hopkins Universitys Washington Center for the Study of American Government. Both papers called for the creation of a public/private partnership to develop rules and a governance structure for electronic authentication. The first public forum on the Electronic Authentication Partnership is scheduled for Thursday, December 11, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the Inside ID conference. Featured presenters include officials from the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration, along with representatives from state governments and private-sector organizations.