Kantara Initiative Joins ISTO's Federation of Programs

Kantara Initiative has become the latest group to join ISTO's expanding federation of member programs. Kantara Initiative is a new global identity, web and developer community made up of enterprise deployers, mobile operators, Web 2.0 service providers, eGovernment agencies, IT vendors, and consumer electronics vendors, along with developers and members of the open source, legal and privacy communities.  Its mission is to foster identity community harmonization, interoperability, innovation, and broad adoption through the development of open identity specifications, operational frameworks, education programs, deployment and usage best practices for privacy-respecting, secure access to online services.  

Kantara Initiative has been co-formed by the DataPortability Project, the Concordia Project, Liberty Alliance, the Internet Society (ISOC), the Information Card Foundation (ICF), OpenLiberty.org and XDI.org. 

The organizations, participants and members coming together within Kantara Initiative understand the urgency involved in eliminating market fragmentation among multiple identity specifications and fostering interoperability between enterprise and Web 2.0 applications and services. The Kantara Initiative membership model will provide the flexibility and organizational support required to ensure maximum collaboration among experts and projects leads that will lead to speeding deliverables to the marketplace. If you would like more information on Kantara, please contact Joan Brennan, ISTO Program Manager and Kantara Initiative Director of Operations.  Visit the Kantara Initiative website here.

ICAP Conference Highlights Conformity Assessment Activities

On 1-2 June 2009 the IEEE Conformity Assessment Program (ICAP) hosted the first IEEE Conference on Product Certification and Conformity Assessment.  

16 presentations and 2 panel discussions were conducted with over 45 participants in attendance during the 1 ½ day event.  Attendees and speakers represented a diverse community of interest including: standards development organizations, consortia supporting IEEE standards (e.g., WiFi Alliance, WiMax Forum, etc.), representatives from global test labs, and interested industry participants. Click here to download the presentations from the event.  

About ICAP:  IEEE Conformity Assessment Program operates as a Program of the ISTO and supports IEEE standards making bodies, consortia, product manufacturers and conformity assessment professionals engaged in demonstrating product conformity to IEEE standards.  If you would like more information about the program, or to be added to the ICAP mailing list, please contact Rudi Schubert, Director, ICAP.

Updated Websites for SCOPE Alliance and VoiceXML Forum Launched This Spring

SCOPE Alliance and VoiceXML Forum, both recently updated their public websites with assistance from ISTO.  The new websites are visually refreshing and have been redisigned to improve navigation, content, and user experience.  You can see the new SCOPE Alliance website here and the new VoiceXML Forum website here.

Staff Spotlight

Rudi Schubert, Director IEEE Conformity Assessment Program, recently gave a presentation at the NIST - ATIS - NCSLI - IEEE Workshop on Synchronization in Telecommunication Systems held 12 March 2009. The Purpose of the Workshop on Synchronization in Telecommunication Systems was to provide an industry-neutral forum for participants to discuss, learn, and interact with colleagues. You can view Rudi's presentation here.

Left the Organization - JoAnn Kilyk, Program Administrator

Follow ISTO on Twitter and LinkedIn

You can now follow ISTO on Twitter and LinkedIn.