The Department of Defense announced today that the Defense Manpower Data Center and the Federation for Identity and Cross-Credentialing Systems (FiXs) have won the Government Solution Centers first Successful Public/Private Partnership Award.
These organizations are being recognized for the results of a proof of concept project in which credentials issued by one employer were electronically accepted in other employers work locations. This cross-credentialing is enabled by FiXs interoperable infrastructure and operating rules.
The Federation for Identity and Cross-Credential Systems, partnering with the Department of Defense, has developed a new system to verify credentials via electronic means, said Mike Mestrovich, co-chair of FiXs. This new method provides significant improvements in security and reliability compared to systems using human verification. In addition, the structure allows identity information to be stored by a persons employer, rather than in a master database.
The proof of concept program between FiXs and the DoD demonstrated that there are many benefits to this system:
It is more secure and reliable than current systems;
Privacy of individuals to whom credentials are issued is not compromised because of the use of federated databases;
Validation and authentication processes are consistent and uniform across organizations;
The system is easy to use;
Companies and government agencies can terminate or invalidate an identity credential in a timely, electronic manner;
Each organization maintains its own database - no "master" database;
Fraud is more difficult.
DMDC and FiXs will receive the award at the Government Solutions Center conference on June 2 in Washington, D.C.
