Monthly Archives: May 2014

Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada Launched


Canada’s Public and Private Sector Leaders Join Together to

Launch World’s First Digital ID and Authentication Partnership

Toronto, Canada – May 6, 2014  Recognizing the increasingly important role that digital security and privacy play in the lives of Canadians, leaders from Canada’s public and private sectors have come together to launch the world’s first digital ID and authentication partnership – the Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC).

“DIACC members know that to meet the needs of all Canadians, the public and private sectors need to work together to develop integrated solutions that are both secure and efficient,” said  David Nikolejsin, DIACC Chair and Deputy Minister at Government of British Columbia. “With a robust and effective digital ID and authentication framework, Canadians from coast to coast to coast will be able to engage with both the public and private sector digitally, in a manner that is safe, secure and efficient – be it to open a bank account or to register for government services”.

Created as a result of the federal government’s Task Force for the Payments System Review, the DIACC is a non-profit coalition of public and private sector leaders committed to developing a Canadian digital identification and authentication framework to enable Canada’s full and secure participation the global digital economy. DIACC members include representatives from both the federal and provincial levels of government as well as private sector leaders.

“This unprecedented collaboration will provide Canadians with a framework to transact with ease and security when and where they want to while maintaining their desire to keep a degree of separation between information shared with the private and public sectors ” Rizwan Khalfan, SVP, Digital Channels, TD Bank Group.

The DIACC’s objective is to unlock economic opportunities for Canadian consumers and businesses by providing the framework to develop a robust, secure, scalable and privacy enhancing digital identification and authentication ecosystem that will decrease costs for governments, consumers, and business while improving service delivery and driving GDP growth.

 

DIACC History

Between 2010-2012, Canadian Finance Minister Flaherty appointed the Task Force for the Payments System Review. One of the key recommendations of that Task Force was that digital ID and authentication are integral to the success of digital payments and to Canada’s digital economy.

A working group was created with representatives from the public and private sectors, privacy commissioners’ offices, and consumer advocates to better understand the subject. The working group developed a vision of a robust, secure, scaleable, and privacy-enhancing structure for transacting online and the DIACC was created to continue the activities of the working group after the wrap-up of the Task Force.

 

DIACC’s Mission Statement

The Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada shall:

  • Catalyze changes and set the strategic direction for digital ID and authentication for the public and private sectors in Canada.
  •  Develop and recommend harmonizing policies, standards, and regulatory changes with international benchmarks that further the strategic direction such as standardization of levels of assurance in digital identity, and liability models for digital ID and authentication
  • Enforce the minimum requirements necessary to enter the digital ID and authentication ecosystem.
  • Promote interoperability between participants in the digital ID and authentication ecosystem, and with international digital ID and authentication schemes.
  • Provide a forum to foster collaboration among digital ID and authentication ecosystem participants, to formalize existing standards and to create new ones.
  • Provide operating guidelines to the marketplace, and set certification processes to ensure that digital ID and authentication is known for delivering efficient, secure, safe, reliable, privacy-enhancing transactions.
  • Ensure that Canada’s digital ID and authentication ecosystem is accessible to all.
  • Promote public understanding and accelerate the adoption of digital ID and authentication in Canada.

 

 

The Board of DIACC includes:

Eros Spadotto – Deputy-Chair, DIACC; Executive Vice-President, Technology Strategy, TELUS

Pierre Boucher – Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Public Works and Government Services Canada

Rizwan Khalfan – Senior Vice President – Digital Channels, TD Bank Group

David Heatherly – COO, North American Retail Payment, BMO Financial Group

Patrice Dagenais – Vice president, Payment and Business Partnerships for Desjardins Cards Services

David Nicholl – Corporate Chief Information and Information Technology Officer, Province of Ontario

Kerry Munro, Group President, Digital Delivery Network, Canada Post

John Jacobson – Deputy Minister, Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, Province of B.C.

Dave Nikolejsin- Chair DIACC; Deputy Minister, Province of BC

 

Members of DIACC include:

 

TD Bank Group

CIBC

BMO

ScotiaBank

Rogers

TELUS

Government of Canada

Province of Ontario

Province of British Columbia

Equitable Bank

RBC

Interac

Equifax

Canada Post

BlackBerry

Desjardins

SecureKey

Central 1 Credit Union

 

For more information, please download the attached press release.

DIACC launch release

Posted in News, Press Releases

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