MaSSSoftech

-Government Embraces Innovative Technology to Support Citizen Participation-
WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
Ten industry leaders - Yahoo!, PayPal, Google, Equifax, AOL, VeriSign, Acxiom,
Citi, Privo and Wave Systems - announced today they will support the first pilot
programs designed for the American public to engage in open government -
government that is transparent, participatory, and collaborative. This open
identity initiative is a key step in President Obama's memorandum to make it
easy for individuals to register and participate in government websites -
without having to create new usernames and passwords. Additionally, members of
the public will be able to fully control how much or how little personal
information they share with the government at all times.

These companies will act as digital identity providers using OpenID and
Information Card technologies. The pilot programs are being conducted by the
Center for Information Technology (CIT), National Institutes of Health (NIH),
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and related agencies. The
participating companies are being certified under non-discriminatory open trust
frameworks developed under collaboration between the OpenID Foundation (OIDF)
and the Information Card Foundation (ICF) per the federal government Trust
Framework Provider Adoption Process.

"We are pleased with the caliber of organizations who have signed on to be
active participants in this initiative," said Judy Spencer, Co-Chair of the
Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management Steering Committee (ICAM).
"They represent some of the best thinking and innovation in the private sector.
We also value the ongoing support and guidance of the OpenID Foundation and the
Information Card Foundation in facilitating digital identity for open
government."

Since President Obama's open government memorandum earlier this year, federal
agencies have been embracing Web 2.0 technologies to interact with members of
the public via means such as blogs, surveys, social networks, and video casts.
Today's announcement paves the way for individuals to use these new services and
customize their experience on government websites without needing to reveal any
personally identifiable information - including passwords. It also takes
advantage of best practices from the private sector for protecting privacy and
security, including making it easier for citizens to have pseudononymous
interactions with government sites when desired.

In essence, this initiative will help transform government websites from basic
"brochureware" into interactive resources, saving individuals time and
increasing their direct involvement in governmental decision making. OpenID and
Information Card technologies make such interactive access simple and safe. For
example, in the coming months the NIH intends to use OpenID and Information
Cards to support a number of services including customized library searches,
access to training resources, registration for conferences, and use of medical
research wikis, all with strong privacy protections.

Dr. Jack Jones, NIH CIO and Acting Director, CIT, notes, "As a world leader in
science and research, NIH is pleased to participate in this next step for
promoting collaboration among Assurance Level 1 applications. Initially, the NIH
Single Sign-on service will accept credentials as part of an "Open For Testing"
phase, with full production expected within the next several weeks. At that
time, OpenID credentials will join those currently in use from InCommon, the
higher education identity management federation, as external credentials trusted
by NIH."

In digital identity systems, certification programs that enable a site - such as
a government agency - to trust the identity, security, and privacy assurances
from an identity provider are called trust frameworks. The OIDF and ICF have
worked closely with the federal government to meet the security, privacy, and
reliability requirements set forth by the ICAM Trust Framework Adoption Process
(TFAP), published on the IDManagement.gov website. By adopting OpenID and
Information Card technologies, government agencies can cost effectively serve
their constituencies in a more personalized and user friendly way.

"It's good to see government taking a leadership role in moving identity
technology forward. It's also good to see government working with experts from
private sector and especially with the Information Card Foundation and the
OpenID Foundation because identity is not a technical phenomenon -- it`s a
social phenomenon. And technological support for identity requires the
participation of a broad community and of representatives of government who
define the legal framework within which identity will operate," said Bob
Blakley, Vice President and Research Director, Identity and Privacy Strategies,
Burton Group. "Today's announcement supplies the most important missing
ingredient of the open identity infrastructure, mainly the trust framework.
Without a trust framework it's impossible to know whether a received identity is
reliable."

Under the OIDF and ICF's open trust frameworks, any organization that meets the
technical and operational requirements of the framework will be able to apply
for certification as an identity provider (IdP). These IdPs can then supply
authentication credentials on behalf of their users. For some activities these
credentials will enable the user to be completely anonymous; for others they may
require personal information such as name, email address, age, gender, and so
on. (Note: The Office of Management and Budget memorandum M-04-04 offers
guidance on which authentication levels are appropriate for certain
applications.) Open trust frameworks enable citizens to choose the identity
technology, identity provider, and credential with which they are most
comfortable, while enabling government websites to accept and trust these
credentials. This approach leads to better innovation and lower costs for both
government and citizens.

"Open government cannot and will not compromise either security or privacy,"
said Drummond Reed, Executive Director of the Information Card Foundation. "By
working with private industry, the U.S. government is harnessing the innovation
and efficiencies of the open market and letting citizens choose their preferred
means of engaging with government agencies."

"This is a significant leap in participatory democracy," said Don Thibeau,
executive director of the OpenID Foundation. "Following President Obama's
directive, our government has worked with market leading companies to leverage
modern, open standards to engage with its citizens. When the government adopts
open identity standards and trust frameworks, the result is better service, more
transparency, and greater accountability."

Industry Leaders Weigh in on the Open Identity for Open Government Initiative

"The joint work between the US Government, OpenID Foundation, and Information
Card Foundation to enable the use of commercial identities on government web
sites is groundbreaking," said Kim Cameron, Microsoft's Chief Identity
Architect. "These pilot projects will provide invaluable insights about how
these systems are actually used in practice, enabling people to build upon this
seminal work both for government and private sector sites, further extending the
reach of interoperable Internet identity."

"Information Cards and OpenID technologies have the potential to improve
consumer experiences online tremendously," said Michael Barrett, Chief
Information Security Officer for PayPal. "As an identity provider, we believe
that this technology has enormous potential to improve the safety of Internet
commerce."

"The ability to enable individualized interaction through tools and technologies
that citizens use every day represents a tremendous opportunity for federal
agencies with citizen-facing missions," said Lloyd Howell, Sr. Vice President of
Booz Allen Hamilton. "Because this Trust Framework can be applied with a common
experience across all federal websites, every agency can take advantage of this
approach to improve operational effectiveness and reduce costs."

"Equifax brings unmatched expertise in identity management and verification to
the open trust framework initiative," said Ron Carpinella, vice president of
Identity Management, Equifax. "The opportunity to deliver our proven technology
and its privacy features to the government sector is truly exciting. This pilot
program is the catalyst that will enable better, more secure, and user-centric
capabilities in government and industry digital services."

"Open standards like OpenID create a better Internet for everyone. As the
largest single provider of OpenID accounts, Yahoo! is eager to pave the way for
further OpenID adoption. That is why Yahoo! has led the effort to make OpenID
easy to use and understand for consumers around the world. And by meeting the
government`s standards for security and reliability, we believe OpenID will
continue to be the most convenient and trustworthy open identity standard on the
Web." said Allen Tom, Membership Architect, Yahoo!.

"VeriSign is excited to be a part of the U.S. Government's initiative to further
President Obama's call for a more open and participatory government," said
Nicolas Popp, vice president of Innovation at VeriSign. "Based on our experience
with bringing trust to the Internet, we look forward to playing a role in the
development of an identity trust framework that will enable citizens to
communicate with the government openly with confidence."

"AOL has always focused on helping consumers get safe and easy access to the
content and services they want online. That's why we're proud to be part of the
government's pilot program to allow citizens to access government websites using
identities they already own. As an early supporter of OpenID, we recognize the
tremendous value this service can offer consumers and applaud the government for
its vision," says George Fletcher, Chief Architect for Identity Services at AOL.


"As a champion of consumer privacy and a long-time provider of identity
management, we at Acxiom are privileged to provide identity technologies to this
effort," said Tim Christin, senior vice president of Acxiom`s Identity Solutions
group. "U.S. citizens can now be assured an easier and safer Internet experience
with the government."

"It's exciting to see the United States government embracing innovative
web-based technologies to serve its citizens in a more convenient, secure, and
personalized way," said Brian Kissel, CEO of JanRain and Chairman of the OpenID
Foundation. "This further validates the broad range of applications and market
segments where OpenID is having a positive impact on users' web experiences."

"The open identity initiative illustrates how identity technologies have moved
beyond theory to solve real-world challenges and highlights the potential for
opportunities in the private, as well as the public sector," noted Jeff Carter,
CEO of Azigo. "Hosted Information Cards let web sites issue Information Cards
quickly and easily - a key step forward for the future of digital identities."

"Open Government represents a significant step forward in modernizing our
nation`s democratic system." said Patrick Harding, CTO of Ping Identity and ICF
board member. "We are thrilled to be involved in establishing the Internet
identity security and privacy standards necessary to ensuring the long term
success of using 2.0 innovations to improve governmental transparency and
encourage citizen involvement."

"Citi is a huge proponent of driving alignment within the public sector to
collaborate in the development of accepted standards that promote
interoperability for common processes." says Hilary L. Ward, Director, Identity
Business Manger, Citi. "We are excited to be a part of this initiative and being
able to bring our innovation and expertise to this program. This is a tremendous
first step in creating a broader identity and trust framework that can work
across applications, communities and borders to the benefit of citizens
everywhere."

"Privo is pleased to be an identity provider under the open trust frameworks to
support access by any citizen who desires to interact with participating
government sites, while still protecting their identity," said Denise Tayloe,
Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Privo. "We see tremendous
parallels between the work we do with children and parents to verify and protect
their identities using our existing, and available, Identity Card technology and
the work the government is doing to interact with its citizens in a safe online
environment."

"Opening the U.S. government to direct citizen involvement using OpenID and
Information Card identities is a major step for the trust fabric of the
Internet", said Steven Sprague, President and CEO, Wave Systems Corp. "Wave is
innovating ways for both these technologies to take advantage of trusted
computing infrastructure so OpenID and Information Card users can enjoy
unparalleled access and interaction with government websites with maximum
security and privacy."

"Interoperable and trusted identities are foundations to building a smarter
planet that includes the systems that run, the way we live and work as a
society. In order to build such a smarter planet, it is important for
governments, communities and industries to work together in building a smarter
planet." said Nataraj Nagaratnam, IBM's Chief Identity Architect. "This
initiative around pilot projects that bring these three groups together is a
significant milestone in the journey of identity metasystem, and in the
evolution of open, interoperable identities"

"The US Government taking real steps to adopt open technologies has the
potential to enhance and simplify citizen engagement," said Chris Messina, an
advocate of open technologies and CEO of Citizen Agency, LLC. "This effort sets
in motion a shift in how individuals can interact with the public sector and
makes progress on the Obama administration's promise for a more open,
transparent, and participatory government."

"Information Card technology and OpenID specifications have co-evolved at the
Internet Identity Workshop since 2005. The launch of this open trust framework
is an exciting major development in the evolution of an open identity layer for
the Web," said Kaliya Hamlin of Identitywoman.net and co-producer and
facilitator of the Internet Identity Workshop.

"The synchronicity between the U.S. and Japanese government is quite
interesting," said Nat Sakimura, Senior Researcher at Nomura Research Institute,
Ltd. "The Japanese government is going forward with DigitalCivil Life Project
that also embraces open identity systems and trust frameworks. We believe they
are showing the changing tide towards more open and citizen centric government
throughout the world. Today's announcement by the U.S. government is an
important step towards it."

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is an international non-profit, open source
community organization whose mission is to drive the broad adoption of OpenID
technology. The Foundation fosters and promotes the development and adoption of
OpenID as a framework for user-centric identity on the Internet. Corporate
supporters include AARP, BBC, Booz Allen Hamilton, Facebook, Google, IBM,
Microsoft, Nomura Research Institute, PayPal, VeriSign, Yahoo! and many others.
OpenID allows users to register and sign in to multiple websites using an
existing identity managed by a preferred identity provider significantly
increasing registration and login success rates. OIDF is headquartered in San
Ramon, CA. www.openid.net

About the Information Card Foundation

The Information Card Foundation is an international non-profit whose mission is
to advance simpler, more secure, and more portable digital identity on the
Internet. Information Card technology gives users greater control over personal
information while at the same time enabling more beneficial digital
relationships with businesses. Steering members of the foundation include Booz
Allen Hamilton, Deutsche Telecom, Equifax, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Novell,
Oracle, and PayPal. ICF is headquartered in Boston, MA. Visit the ICF website at
www.informationcard.net.