I typically try to talk about technology in the enterprise which is why I haven't yet mentioned Open ID on this blog - while I approve of the concept and the ideas which the Open ID group are working towards, I don't see that it is something that enterprises looking for staff authentication mechanisms are ever going to have to look into.
However, in the big bad world that is the WWW, a more joined-up approach to user authentication is no longer a nice-to-have. It is an absolute necessity. Personally, I dread to think just how many UserIDs I have online - my last count was ~150 and that is just a record of the ones I have recorded (securely, of course).
According to the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6339813.stm), the Open ID group have been given a boost by the news that Microsoft will give it their backing to the extent that they will share their own technology with the Open ID developers. This has got to be good news if only from the perspective that it will raise awareness of Open ID. After all, an article on the BBC website will only do it the world of good.
Microsoft are to bring their Infocards technology to the Open ID table. (Kim Cameron demonstrates the power of Infocards on MSDN TV: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdntv/episode.aspx?xml=episodes/en/20060209InfoCardKC/manifest.xml). So are we likely to finally get our joined-up-thinking as for as identity and access control on the internet are concerned? Looks that way, but it's still going to take time.
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