OSIA officially adopted as ITU standard for interoperable digital identity management

The Open Standards Identity API (OSIA) is now recognized as an international standard by the International Telecommunication Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Section (ITU-T)

OSIA, created by the Secure Identity Alliance (SIA), becomes ITU-T Recommendation X.1281 – APIs for interoperability of identity management systems.

“This milestone demonstrates the maturity of OSIA and its potential to foster interoperability and promote fairness in the identity management systems market,” says Debora Comparin, chair of the OSIA Initiative.

The initiative was launched in 2019 in response to feedback from national ID authorities that digital identity projects were being held back by vendor lock-in and related challenges.

“OSIA establishes equal marketplace conditions, fosters collaboration, and ensures product compatibility post-mergers and acquisitions,” says OSIA Advisory Committee Chair and Nigeria National Identity Management Commission CEO Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote. “The OSIA standardized interfaces drive innovation, enabling new local market models and reducing fraud within multiple ID systems. Additionally, OSIA addresses integrator/vendor lock-in, allowing governments to maintain control over their identity systems and pursue national development agendas seamlessly.”

The SIA was accepted as qualified to provide normative references for digital identity in 2022, paving the way for adoption of the recommendation by ITU-T.

ITU-T Study Group 17 is the UN ICT agency’s security expert group, and has taken responsibility for the Recommendation.  Abbie Barbir, rapporteur for the ITU-T working group on “Identity management and telebiometrics architecture and mechanisms,” says the ITU is continuing to work with the SIA and OSIA on standards development.

Article Topics

digital identity  |  identity management  |  interoperability  |  ITU standards  |  OSIA (Open Standards Identity API)  |  Secure Identity Alliance  |  standards