Identity Issues and Management

Technologies & Applications Spring 2012 Seminar Series

When?

Friday 17 February 2012, 10:00 to 12:00

Where?

39 BB 02

Open to:

Public, Staff, Students

Speaker:

Mr David Birch, Director of Consult Hyperion

The issue of identity, identity management and identity cards is hotly debated in many countries, but it often seems to be an oddly backward-looking debate that presumes outdated "Orwellian" architectures. Is Big Brother the only alternative to anarchy?

In the modern world, surely we should be debating the requirements for national identity management schemes, in which identity cards may or may not be a useful implementation, before we move on to architecture. If so, then, what should a national identity management scheme for the 21st century look like? Can we assemble a set of requirements understandable to politicians, professionals and the public? We've certainly had some difficulty to date. One reason might be that we lack a compelling, narrative vision. As a result, we panic into building legacy systems that will subvert the rational goals of worthwhile scheme or set up "security theatres".

If you understand the technology, I will argue, it can deliver far more than the politicians, professionals and public imagine: In particular, it can deliver the apparently paradoxical result of more security and more privacy by exploiting chip cards, mobile phones, the internet biometrics and cryptography. The UK Cabinet Office "Identity Assurance Architecture" (IDA) and the US Department of Commerce "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" (NSTIC) are a place to start, but I will set out a high-level vision of what the future identity infrastructure should look like: Dr. Who's psychic paper. Not only is this a simple, clear vision that is familiar to the expert and layperson alike, but it's a very useful artistic representation of the capabilities of the technology. I will further suggest that a utility implementation of identity infrastructure can deliver the on this vision in a practical way, and that all of the technology needed to create the identity scheme for the future already exists.

Biography

David G. W. Birch is a Director of Consult Hyperion, the IT management consultancy that specialises in electronic transactions. He provides specialist consultancy support to clients around the world, including all of the leading payment brands, major telecommunications providers, government bodies and international organisations including the OECD. Before helping to found Consult Hyperion in 1986, he spent several years working as a consultant in Europe, the Far East and North America. He graduated from the University of Southampton with a B.Sc (Hons.) in Physics.

Described at the Oxford Internet Institute as “one of Britain’s most acute observers of the internet and social networks”, in The Telegraph as “one of the world’s leading experts on digital money”, in The Independent as a "grade-A geek", by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation as "one of the most user-friendly of the UK's uber-techies" and in Financial World as "mad", Dave is a member of the editorial board of the E-Finance & Payments Law and Policy, a columnist for SPEED and well-known for his thought leadership blogging at Tomorrow’s Transactions.

He has lectured to MBA level on the impact of new information and communications technologies, contributed to publications ranging from the Parliamentary IT Review to Prospect and Financial World. He wrote a Guardian column for many years. He is a media commentator on electronic business issues and has appeared on BBC television and radio, Sky and other channels around the world.