The Importance of Identities and, why we need solutions now…

Agenda • What’s an identity? • Why are identities important? • Some examples. • Some challenges

First, What’s an Identity? • There are any number of definitions. • And any number of debates. • and that’s probably part of the problem. • Bryan’s definition: • A unique representation in data of a particular object that we care about and want to track and/or manage within automated systems. • The object may be something that exists in the physical world (a person, place or thing), or… • It may be something virtual (a data object, a document, a service, an agent) • This different from “identity credentials” which are a form of token (or tokens) used to assert an identity for the purposes of authentication.

Why are identities important? • Identities are foundational to the things we have to do to: • Protect our homelands. • Extend and enrich our economies. • Catch bad guys… • Some examples….

Why are identities important?Information Sharing • I’ll start here because it’s indicative of the systemic set of issues. • It’s not as simple as: • Searching • Publishing • Subscribing • Notifying… • We manage access to information that we care about, to: • Protect our privacy • Protect our assets • Protect our secrets Search engines and subscriptions haven’t solved the issues surrounding information sharing… But they are good start }

Why are identities important?Information Sharing An Identity Simple enough, right? But the real world is much more complex… A Policy

Why are identities important?Information Sharing As the number of data repositories increase, so does the need for a coherent strategy for creation and management of identities.

Why are identities important?Services Sharing • Within the Federal sector, OMB and Agencies are building enterprise architects: • The intent is foster effective use of our resources to improve services to citizens. • The drive is toward reuse. • Services Oriented Architectures (broadly defined) are also becoming a prevalent design approach within the private sector. • Again, the drive is toward reuse. • Leveraging investments in “Legacy”. • Build Once, Use Many • There are a number of implications…

Today’s World • Is built around network enclaves • Enclaves contain entire application stack. • The Internet is used as transport between enclaves. • Enclaves are protected by a DMZ • Portals, and an increasing number of services exposed through the enclave DMZs

One Emerging View… • A common approach to identities is a precursor to making such a vision work. • . • We need identities for all “actors”, not just people. . . . Shared Services Enclave(s) Shared Transport(s) Segregation of Services • Web & Web Service Interfaces • Access managed at the enclave boundary Data Enclaves

Why are identities important?Integration of Tracking and Management • A number of factors are driving us toward process and data integration across increasingly large constellations of people and organizations: • Globalization of our economies(integration as competitive advantage) • Terrorism • The need for resiliency • How do we uniquely identify the things we hold in common interest? • Actors leave a wake in digital space: • How do we track the bad actors? • How do we protect the rights, property and privacy of actors.

Some Challenges for You! • How do we “frame the debate”? • Can we establish a common, standard high level construct for identities that will guide us in asking the right questions? OBJECT • Focus on Semantic Interoperability • Focus on near-term questions, like: • How do we authenticate an actor within a SOA? ACTOR NON-ACTOR PERSON

Some Challenges for You! • Is it possible to define a small number of standards for objects we all care about? • People • Places • Assets • Events, etc. • Can we foster a colloquium for thought about identities that bridges the full range of the endeavor?

Questions?

The Importance of Identities and, why we need solutions now…