IBM Cares!
IBM claims that international standards for personal identity verification (read: ID cards) are required. They say that this will potentially make IBM a planetoid-sized ball of cash further the interests of all countries.
“Governments have a huge part to play in this, because they have ultimate responsibility for their citizens, and depending on the country, they may have ultimate responsibility for the businesses and e-commerce as well,” Slemp said.
But, current efforts are piecemeal and much more can be done to exploit the potential of the federated environment, added Slemp. During a medical emergency, for instance, the identities of a foreign doctor and a visiting patient need to be established quickly and accurately, in order for the right healthcare to be administered.
What’s missing right now, he noted, is a trusted third party to authenticate trustworthiness. “So we’ve got inconsistent and incomplete implementation [in individual countries], and also no standard approach to the future nor a target to shoot at.”
Make sure to play the “follow the money” game while reading the article, and keep in mind that IBM don’t necessarily have your best interests at heart.