Linux Foundation Janssen Project earns digital public good status

The Linux Foundation Janssen Project, a low-code digital ID software platform developed in partnership with Gluu, has been adjudged as a digital public good (DPG) following a review by the Digital Public Good Alliance (DPGA).

According to a press release, the recognition means the Janssen Project initiated in 2020 meets the DPG Standard to ensure that digital ID systems truly encapsulate open-source principles.

The move is part of the DPGA’s objective of promoting digital public goods as a way of creating a more equitable world, and increasing the visibility and prominence of open projects that have the potential to tackle global challenges and provide practicable solutions to daily problems using digital technology.

It also underpins the importance which the DPGA attaches to open-source principles and community governance as key features of digital identity infrastructure.

The Janssen Project, according to the announcement, is consistent with this, as the system is designed to enable governments set up the most secure, user-friendly, and cost-effective platforms for citizen identity while maintaining the flexibility to evolve in the face of the torrential pace of innovation in biometrics, FIDO (device-based) technology, and artificial intelligence.

“We’re thrilled that the Janssen Project was recognized as a DPG by the Digital Public Goods Alliance,” says Mike Schwartz, CEO and founder of Gluu, and chair of the Janssen Project Steering Committee, in a statement. “This recognition validates the governance of our project and the professionalism with which the engineers maintain and innovate the code. Janssen is a serious piece of software with almost 32 thousand commits in the GitHub project. It’s relied on today by governments, financial institutions, and large private-sector enterprises.”

“We’re grateful for the assistance of the DPGA to help us promote our good work at the Linux Foundation. For low and middle-income nations, failure is not an option. If they fail, their citizens will be at a global competitive disadvantage. Like a bridge or tunnel, Janssen software is an important piece of infrastructure for nations to connect their citizens to the online world.”

Gluu says recognizing the Janssen software as a DPG can help governments build advanced security systems such as phone-based authentication using biometrics and machine learning for national ID providers.

Countries can use Janssen Project software to establish safe, trusted, and inclusive public digital identity infrastructure, and address more challenges than any with any other existing commercial or open-source platform, the company says.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital ID infrastructure  |  digital public goods  |  Digital Public Goods Alliance DPGA  |  Gluu  |  Janssen project  |  Linux Foundation