Two weeks have passed since Identity Week in Canada, when leading identity and digital economy experts gathered in Toronto. On Monday June 3rd, DIACC members met at the 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM), ahead of the IdentityNORTH Annual Summit, which was held at MaRS Discovery District on June 4th and 5th.
While last year was a year of growth for DIACC, this was a year of continued growth topped by delivery.
In working towards the vision of being global leaders of the digital economy, and raising Canada’s digital ID innovation profile, the DIACC has seen tremendous progress this year.
- The DIACC community has grown – welcoming 16 new members since July 2018.
- DIACC members have shared their knowledge across multiple established groups, participating in events worldwide, including Money2020, RSA Conference, FWD50 and KNOW 2019.
- Significant headway has been made in the development of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF). Building on global knowledge and experience gained over time and practice, this will enable Canada’s full and secure participation in the global digital economy. Various discussion drafts have been prepared by the DIACC Trust Framework Expert Committee (TFEC), and shared with the community to gather broad Canadian and international input.
At this year’s AGM, a panel featuring Kathleen Fraser, Elizabeth Fanjoy, Allan Foster, Andrew Johnston and Mike Cook, moderated by Pierre Roberge, explored ‘Consent in Identity Networks.’ Kathleen provided an overview on Canada’s new Digital Charter, and the panel discussed how we can regain trust in today’s online world. Data breaches drive the urgent need for the development and adoption of the PCTF.
Delivering an impactful meeting strategy is a large area of focus. With members spread across the country, having opportunities to discuss in person is not always feasible. We are now pleased to have three plenary meetings per year.
The structure of the 2018 AGM consisted primarily of demonstrations and presentations to the wider group. Yet this year, the three committees broke out in deep dive sessions for the majority of the day, giving members the chance to connect and collaborate.
At the meeting, one person from each of our Expert Committees was recognized and rewarded for their continued support and commitment. Once again, thank you to Rene McIver (TFEC), Pierre Roberge (IEC), and Kevin Morris (OEC) for all the hard work so far this year!
Trust Framework Expert Committee (TFEC)
The TFEC works collaboratively to develop components of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF). This past year, the committee released its PCTF Model Draft Recommendation V1.0, as well as Discussion Drafts of Notice and Consent and Verified Login, with more on the way including Privacy, Verified Person, and Verified Organization.
At the AGM, the TFEC saw a terrific turnout, with 23 organizations in attendance, from both the public and private sectors.
Thank you to those who submitted feedback on the PCTF Verified Login Discussion Drafts. The 30-day open review closed on June 17th. Next, the PCTF Community Editing Office and TFEC will review submitted comments and work towards the next iterations of these Discussion Drafts.
The TFEC’s Privacy Design Team is nearing completion of the Privacy Conformance Profile and Component Overview Discussion Drafts, in preparation for their 30-day open review which is scheduled to begin in August.
Innovation Expert Committee (IEC)
Establishment of a committee framework, as well as the creation of a DIACC Member Directory and Innovation Guide, were among the recent accomplishments of the committee.
At the AGM, the committee met to discuss committee issues and forthcoming Innovation Initiatives, and saw a wonderful turnout, with 15 organizations in attendance from both the public and private sectors.
The IEC will begin to progress work on developing 12 Innovation Initiatives in the form of white papers, use cases, proof of concepts and Innovation Challenges. This will continue over the course of the next six months.
The committee continues to grow, welcoming new members from ISED, OneSpan, IDENTOS, and Manulife.
Outreach Expert Committee (OEC)
Ten organizations were in attendance at the OEC meeting, where discussions focused on the development of four Industry Insight Two-Pagers. The papers are to serve as content pieces to close the knowledge gap on the relevance of digital ID in each industry. The Committee discussed their thoughts and made significant progress on the three papers including the importance of digital ID in Financial Services, Healthcare and Government Services, with Commerce undertaken at a follow-up meeting. Scheduled to launch in July will be DIACC Industry Insights: Digital ID in Financial Services, the first in a set of blog series.
The committee continues to grow, welcoming new members from the Province of Saskatchewan.
At the end of the day, all members gathered for a final debrief. “How can we take the PCTF and make it real?” asked Patrick Cormier, Chair of the IEC. Speaking on behalf of the Board, Andre Boysen, DIACC’s Board Treasurer, noted: “The board was pleased with the progress, but now we need action.”
Conversations at the AGM were continued the following two days at the IdentityNORTH Annual Summit. Thank you to all of those who were in attendance, and your support and participation as we continue to move forward in this ever-evolving digital identity landscape. We encourage members to get engaged by joining one of the committees, proposing an impactful project, such as a white paper, or writing a guest blog!