Hello digital identity world!
Digital Identity has never been as relevant as it is today. The need for identity practitioners is felt worldwide and in every sector. However, the path to becoming an identity practitioner is not evenly paved. Seeing this global need, industry leaders, standards organizations, and professional associations have come together to form the Digital Identity Advancement Foundation (DIAF).
DIAF’s goal is to foster global opportunities for people to study and explore digital identity. The Foundation helps address a critical problem in digital identity today: a global lack of diverse talent and knowhow. As a charitable organization, it seeks to grow the practice of digital identity through the issuance of scholarships and grants.
The Origin Story
In the late Spring of 2023, Don Thibeau approached Allan Foster and Ian Glazer, as representatives of IDPro, to discuss the future of the Kim Cameron Award. The OpenID Foundation created the award in 2022 and having operated it for 2 years, wanted to find a more permanent home for it. Don was looking for an organization focused on the career development of digital identity professionals and IDPro seemed to fit the bill. Allan and Ian thought a bit more about the larger needs of the industry and goals of the Award… and decided that a) more organizations than just IDPro needed to be involved and b) a new dedicated organization was needed… and DIAF is that organization!
Wait… another identity-related organization?!
Yeah, I know what you are thinking… why do we need another organization in the industry. Allan and Ian realized a few things:
- beyond the Kim Cameron Award there were likely going to be other such awards
- removing the financial barriers from participating in industry and standards events is great there are more barriers on other places that can be removed
- the audience for the award(s) and the pool of potential award recipients encompasses the entire identity industry and thus larger than the focus of any particular organization
- the awards should benefit the whole industry rather than one particular focus or tied to any one particular organziation
The best outcome for the industry as a whole was to create a new, standalone, nonprofit organization solely focused on the problem. Thus… DIAF!
We knew we needed help in the mission. We quickly added Arynn Crow as our third Board of Directors member, consulted with leaders from the OpenID Foundation, Women in Identity, IDPro, and the Kantara Initiative.
Our First Award: The Kim Cameron Award
DIAF is honored to continue the OpenID Foundations work with the Kim Cameron Award! I strongly recommend you check out the experiences of last year’s winners! We are also very much thankful for the involvement of Kim’s estate; we are thankful for their permission to continue this great award and continue to honor someone who had such impact on our industry. You can read more about the award here! (And you can even apply there too!)
The Vittorio Bertocci Award
In the summer of 2023, we lost an industry luminary and friend – Vittorio Bertocci. With the blessing of his estate, we are honored to offer an award in his memory. You can read about the focus on this award and we’ll open the application process shortly.
Support Our Mission
Lastly, we need your support. We have amazing organizational and event partners whose generosity we could not do without. But we need your support too! If your industry trajectory has been touched by Kim or Vittorio, please consider making a donation. With the deepest gratitude, we say thank you.