Identity experts forming non-profit professional organization
System engineers have one, so do programmers and database administrators.
What they have are professional associations that organize like-minded people who share a specific expertise. And now those working on identity and access management are seeking the same sort of organization and credentials.
"Identity professionals don't have a professional organization," said Ian Glazer, who has worked, advocated and preached in the identity space for nearly two decades. He spoke Wednesday at the RSA Conference, telling the audience "this bugs me. There are thousands of us globally, but we don't have a place to go to interact or to get certified."
Glazer noted the security space has the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and privacy has the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). The hope is that a new identity group will be up and running next month.
Last May, Glazer suggested during the European Identity Conference that a non-profit organization for digital identity professionals be formed. The request netted the signatures of 153 identity pros who said they support the idea. In short order, an incubator was launched within the Kantara Initiative. It was tagged with the name ID Pro.
The ID Pro Discussion Group (DG) is mulling services, community building and other efforts the group would take on to serve identity and access management professionals. There efforts are similar to other associations that typically offer socialization and opportunities for members, such as community, networking, mentorships, and professional development.
Glazer is chair of the group with Sarah Squire, senior identity solution architect at Engage Identity, serving as vice-chair. The group is now actively looking for sponsor members.
In parallel, the ID Pro group is assembling project teams around governance and organization structure, services, codes of conduct and practice, and organizing content topics. The work follows an initial report on the group's proposed structure that was reviewed by Kantara in January.