Creating an identity infrastructure
A technology industry view

Published: March 2009
Type: Intellect report
Area: Identity and Information Management

Summary 

This position paper has been produced to help inform government, industry and the wider, interested community at a time when the first of these is considering setting standards and appropriate regulation in identity systems. We are at a critical point in the creation of an ‘identity infrastructure’ in the UK, the effective operation of which will, we believe, yield benefits in many different domains.

While it does not claim to be exhaustive, the paper does seek to explain identity management and identity assurance, what they are and where they came from, where else they can assist in meeting challenges, and how they are evolving – all subjects that remain poorly understood beyond relatively small groups of ‘experts’. It is also apparent that there may be an imbalance in current technical capability to address a wide range of increasingly urgent official and commercial requirements to meet what are increasingly global challenges, with ‘interoperability’ and ‘agility’ being but two examples that warrant attention.

This report addresses several major topics from the perspective of the technology industry, aiming to show where else identity systems are needed beyond the traditional or obvious, what is currently the art of the possible and where technology offers opportunity in the near future. Where possible, we have aimed to capture the industry consensus or to pose questions where political and philosophical issues must be resolved before good-value and enduring technical solutions can be designed and deployed.

In producing this document, the Intellect Identity Management Group has aimed to address a wide audience, including government and business decision makers, commentators in the media and colleagues in the technology industry.

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