Get Involved in the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC)

In April 2011, President Obama signed the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, calling for the public and private sectors to collaborate on the creation of an “Identity Ecosystem” where individuals can choose from multiple identity providers and digital credentials for more convenient, secure, and privacy-enhancing transactions anywhere online. This summer, as NSTIC implementation shifts into high gear with the formation of a privately-led Identity Ecosystem Steering Group and the award of approximately $10 million in pilots, we are soliciting your participation in the creation of the Identity Ecosystem. While NSTIC is a government-initiated strategy, at the end of the day it will depend upon participation from key stakeholders like you to craft a framework for identity solutions that can replace passwords, allow individuals to prove online that they are who they claim to be, and enhance privacy.  The Steering Group will be the most important forum for stakeholders to convene and collaborate on solutions to enable the Identity Ecosystem.  The Steering Group itself will be a private organization – set up as a .org, not a .gov – but funded for an initial 24 month period by the government.  We will soon announce the award of a grant to an organization that will serve as the formal convener and Secretariat for the Steering Group, with that organization convening the initial in-person meeting the week of August 13. We expect the meeting to be held in the central United States for easy travel access from the east or west coasts with online participation available for those who cannot be there in person; more news will follow shortly.  As the Steering Group prepares to convene, we’d like to share with you the next steps ahead, including a sense of what commitment to Steering Group participation entails: Foundational documents We have released the following draft foundational documents for the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group:

• Recommended Charter
• Draft By-Laws
• Draft Membership Agreement

These documents are intended to catalyze discussion and accelerate the work of the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group when it formally convenes.  We welcome your feedback on our blog NSTIC Notes. Time and resource commitment Many stakeholders have asked us what sort of commitment they and their organizations should be prepared to make in order to be an active and constructive member of the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group.  Click here to review our Frequently Asked Questions for more about approximate time and resource commitments. As questions emerge, we want to hear from you; please contact us at nstic [at] nist.gov (nstic[at]nist[dot]gov), or reach out directly to our Senior Advisor for Stakeholder Engagement, Jim Sheire, at james.sheire [at] nist.gov (james[dot]sheire[at]nist[dot]gov). And, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@NSTICNPO) and subscribe to the NSTIC Notes blog to receive announcements on Secretariat and pilot awards and other important updates on the Steering Group. Many thanks for your continued interest in NSTIC – we look forward to seeing you at the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group later this summer!