Lobbyists want digital ID tech assurance from DC. NIST considers granular guidance

Washington’s approach to civilian technology has never been as important as it is at the moment.

It is so crucial that two industry lobby groups have asked Biden administration officials to recommit to technology neutrality on digital identity. Not to put too fine a point on it but matters like that should have been settled two years into a President’s term.

An evolving perspective is more typical for an agency deeply embedded in technology standards. Indeed, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, apparently is telegraphing a possible shift toward AI guidance written for specific industries.

Trade publication FedScoop is reporting that clarification about Biden’s posture on identity tools has been sought by the policy director of the Business Software Alliance and an executive director of the Enterprise Cloud Coalition.

In a statement to officials that might startle some in the U.S. business community, the BSA’s Henry Young and the coalition’s Andrew Howell wrote that, “Neither industry nor government alone can solve an ever-evolving set of challenges.”

The core of their concern is government purchases. The associations want the U.S. government to take a strict cost/benefit approach to digital identity tools and services, like Login.gov, Washington’s purpose-built identity verification platform.

Young and Howell made their request of Chris Inglis, national cyber director; Anne Neuberger, a national security adviser; and Gene Sperling, a senior administration adviser.

Meanwhile, technology trade publication Nextgov is reporting that a NIST chief of staff has said risk management methods for AI should reflect the varying environments among industries, under consultation with relevant experts.

The agency just debuted its AI risk management framework. It is a bit of a blanket right now, apparently and some differentiation probably is needed, said Elham Tabassi, chief of staff for NIST’s Information Technology Lab.

Article Topics

AI  |  digital identity  |  NIST  |  standards  |  U.S. Government