As I sit in Melbourne airport thinking about the next few days I am reminded that sometimes getting some distance from a problem in the best way to see a way forward.
I am in Australia for a RSA Securities Expert’s Forum, a two day conference in Sydney to discuss all things RSA. While I think of myself as technology agnostic, I am really excited about the opportunities that the coming days may bring.
I have been busy lately, really busy. And that makes it hard to reflect on where my thinking is at and to spend any time on research and development of new ideas. Luckily the four hour flight (and a really bad movie) have helped to put some things in perspective. One thing that has become very clear to me, again, is that I need to make time to reflect on articles I have read, problems I have solved, conversations I have had. This is not a new lesson. But an important one, and one that I need to pay more heed to.
It has been some time since I last posted to my blog and much has happened. One event of particular note was my first ever public presentation on Identity and the Internet. It was a back to basics talk on the fundamental issues presented by the lack of a dedicated identity layer in the internet. This is not ground breaking information, and the presentation did not attempt to put a new spin on it.
The primary point I was attempting to make in my presentation was that identity needs to be a cornerstone of new and emerging uses of the internet rather than an after thought. In my experience working in the software industry, authentication and user management are the last sections added to online solutions, not the first. With an approach like that how can we hope to build secure, trustworthy solutions?
