Identity management collaboration is more than talk
I've mentioned on numerous occassions the significant amount of very important collaboration that is going on in the world of identity management (
here's just one example), exemplified most recently with
the announcement of Microsoft's open specifications promise, driven in no small part by Microsoft's chief identity architect Kim Cameron. Whilst this collaboration is obviously essential if the promise of interoperable identity solutions - within and across organisational boundaries - is to be realised it can all seem somewhat intangible (particularly if you're not party to the discussions). Similarly, although technology demonstrations such as
this from Ping Identity showing interoperable federation help to make things a little more real, there's nothing like trying it out yourself.
Today, I managed to set aside a few minutes (and that's all it took) to experience some of the fruits of all this valuable discussion. In this case the fruit in question concerned Microsoft's CardSpace and more specifically extensions/plug-ins for Firefox/Safari web browsers which perform some of CardSpace's identity selector functions: detecting whether a site is CardSpace enabled and allowing you to create a self-asserted identity and use it to authenticate to the site. Much of this is down to the stirling work of
Chuck Mortimore, who built a Java-based Firefox extension (and has also built a Java-based relying party capable of requesting and accepting cards from CardSpace). All you need to know about installing and using the Firefox extension is
here.
Ian Brown has taken Chuck's Java implementation and wrapped it as a plug-in for the Safari browser for Apple Macs. The plug-in performs the same functions as the Firefox extension with the addition of populating the self-asserted card from Apple's AddressBook application. See
here for the installation details.
If you haven't looked at CardSpace at all, then it is worth investing the small amount of time required to get a feel for the identity selector experience. Even if you have, its worth the time anyway to show that all this collaobration is more than just talk.
