standards

Mountain View, CA – November 2, 2009 – Avoco Secure, a leading security, digital identity, and digital signature vendor based in the U.K., announced at the OpenID Summit today that it is releasing the first commercially available Information Card selector software that operates completely “in the cloud”. Called CloudCard, it is a standard Information Card selector implementation that requires no installation and works from any conventional browser on a desktop, laptop, or mobile device.

Susan Morrow, Product Manager for CloudCard, demonstrated today how it eliminates the need for local client software, which is one of the barriers to widespread adoption of the Information Card digital identity standard. CloudCard uses the standard IMI 1.0 Information Card format and protocol so it works immediately with any Information Card issuer. Websites that wish to accept Information Cards from CloudCard currently need to add some simple custom HTML code to their web page, but according to Ms. Morrow this step is easy compared to the hurdle of requiring users to install a desktop selector, and Avoco plans to standardize this special code so it can be used with any cloud selector.

Avoco will demonstrate CloudCard again tomorrow at the Internet Identity Workshop in Mountain View.

For more information, see the Avoco Secure press release or visit the CloudCard demonstration page on their website.

Although a formal announcement from OASIS is not expected until next week, the Identity Metasystem Interoperability Version 1.0 specification was approved as an OASIS standard today by a unanimous vote of the OASIS members participating in the vote. According to IMI Technical Committee editor Mike Jones of Microsoft, "This is a wonderful endorsement of the work of the IMC TC. The standard benefitted substantially from the input received during the process. Numerous clarifications were incorporated as a result, while still maintaining compatibility with the earlier Identity Selector Interoperability Profile V1.5 (ISIP 1.5) specification."

Mr. Jones acknowledged this was a broad community effort, spanning many individuals and organizations. Many Information Card Foundation members were involved, and others are currently implementing products and services based on the specification. Said ICF Chairman Paul Trevithick of Azigo, "Reaching the level of an OASIS Standard is a major milestone for the Information Card community. It attests to the maturity of the IMI 1.0 specification. Now ICF can place more emphasis on the other elements necessary for widespread adoption, including reference implementations, best practices, trust frameworks, and market education."