Sitting on the flight home, I have a bit of quiet to think about the week that has just passed. I am returning home from KuppingerCole’s European Identity Conference (EIC) - the 19th year of this event. It was a full week of talks, friends, thoughts, and reminders… notably that the work isn’t done.
Which work? Well, certainly the work of identity practitioners is not done. We are being asked to not only accommodate, but be facile with, use cases that were hazy, if not unimaginable, just 24 months ago. Our systems are being asked to wrangle a geometric explosion of complexity for which they were never designed. Among the good news is that we have seen similar patterns, albeit at a different order of magnitude. And we have some tools which need to be stretched to reach the highest we must reach.
And also we have each other. This community continues to be a not so secret weapon. Our employers may compete but we do not. We share; we collaborate. Sure we argue and we differ… sometimes a great deal. But We make each other stronger. And events like EIC continue to offer both a demonstration of our ability to collaborate and an opportunities to do so.
We also have organizations like IDPro. It was pointed out to me, much to my surprise, that is has been 10 years since I announced for the creation of a professional association for digital identity management from the keynote stage of EIC.My sense of time has been so warped by COVID that I couldn’t say whether it feels like yesterday or a million years ago. Regardless, it was so very awesome to sit in the IDPro workshop at EIC and hear from new Board members and participants. One of the clear takeaways I heard was that identity has become too big and too complex and is moving so rapidly for anyone person to keep up with. This was expressed, not by people newer to the profession, but from wizard-level mainstays in the industry. And if they can’t keep up (myself very much included)…. well, the only way to even remotely keep up is to have a group of people who you can ask, who can translate things for you, who can point you in the right direction.
And that is just one of the reasons that IDPro’s work will never be done. The need for a community and for the community to strengthen its members will not cease. The need for a safe place to ask a question and to turn to advice will not cease.
In fact, the need is greater than ever. I couldn’t help but notice the gray hairs on attendees. The “usual” speakers aren’t getting any younger. And I fear that AI will negatively stress that situation in that I fear we wil see fewer people entering identity mangement because organizations wil falsely believe that they don’t need identity professionals given enough tokens.
Now that fear was mitigated, at least to same extent, at EIC by seeing not only so many IDPro members but also DIAF award winners. Meeting Ferdinand! Seeing Sachin present! DIAF is focused on removing barriers to participation while IDPro gives those participants a welcoming , supportive community.
I would be lying if I said that I am not proud of effort I have put in to get IDPro and DIAF off the ground. But I have never been alone in these efforts. Ever. So to Sarah, Olaf, Lance, George, Hutch, Andi, Allan, Arynn, Colin, Martin, Kay, Jorge, Elizabeth, Heather, the current and emeritus IDPro board members, and every single person who has put their shoulder against the wheel and pushed, I thank you. More importantly, this community thanks you. The work isn’t done; it never will be.
If you aren’t an IDPro member, you should be! If you believe in DIAF’s mission, you can help expand its reach!