Pilots Move NSTIC From Theory To Practice

The National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded Sept. 20 five pilot projects worth more than $9 million in grant funding to demonstrate identity solutions under the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC. The pilot proposals were selected among 27 finalists from an original pool of 186 submissions, and span multiple sectors such as health care, retail, banking and higher education.

"There's a common theme among the five pilots, which is they went beyond some of the implications that simply said 'We've got a great idea for a product,'" said Jeremy Grant, senior executive advisor for identity management and head of the NSTIC National Program Office. "The awardees actually came in with specific proposals to take that product and work with a number of partners to actually deploy it," he said. "These will make something happen in the marketplace that otherwise would not."

All five pilots address identity in different ways and federal agencies will want to keep an eye on these emerging solutions, said Grant. Agencies have largely been supportive of moving applications online in a way that aligns with the White House strategy. Unfortunately, there haven't been a wide array of credentialing and authentication options out there for agencies to use, he said...