News
Kantara Initiative Announces a Joint Identity Access Management Research Project for Emergency First Responders
May 2016 by Marc Jacob
Kantara Initiative, which provides strategic vision and real-world innovation elements for the digital identity transformation, today announced a joint identity access management research project to develop smartphone technology enabling emergency first responders’ identities and credentials to be instantly and safely verified onsite.
The project is called Mobile Device and Attribute Validation (MDAV) and is a joint effort of Kantara and the Command, Control and Interoperability Center for Advanced Data Analysis (CCICADA). CCICADA is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security University Center of Excellence that uses advanced data analysis and systems to address natural and manmade threats to the safety and security of the American people. The MDAV project is the first effort of its kind and aims to speed disaster response efforts, resulting in the potential to save more lives and property.
The identity access management system includes software that allows local authorities to access a certificate authority database containing certificate information supplied by agencies sending emergency responders to a disaster site. Responders’ smartphones will hold their credentials or attributes. Once securely verified, local authorities would be assured of who was onsite and their expertise. Today, first responders present their badges or other forms of ID to check-in with local authorities in a disaster situation. This is a time-consuming process and doesn’t truly verify who the individual is, the agency represented or the first responder’s expertise.
