As we enter the new year, the Digital ID World "cycle" is running the usual course: we begin by having a bunch of phone calls with vendors and customers to get their "read" on what will (or even should) happen in 2008, and then sift all of that conversation for a "big theme" that will help organize the conference content.
I don't know what that theme is yet, but I currently have two that I'm kicking around:
1. The Identity Big Bang: The phrase "big bang" got associated with identity a few years back when Phil Becker coined it in reference to that moment when a critical event occurs and all else emanates from that. The context was the beginning of the "user-centric identity" discussion (aka, the "identity gang"), and Phil was specifically making an analogy to how the first release of a "browser" was the big bang moment for the internet.
Are we approaching an "identity big bang" -- that moment that will clearly be seen as defining and shaping all that comes after it? I don't know. But my sense is that for five years we've been thinking of identity systems in simple terms of "risk management" or "cost reduction" and maybe - just maybe - we'll finally get around to what identity can *enable* in the next 18-24 months. If that is so, then the "identity big bang" would seem appropriate.
2. Identity in Context: I had a very interesting call with David and Matt from Netvision this morning, and the word "context" keep coming up. For them, it was specifically referencing the "contextualization" of identity for audit and monitoring purposes, but I think that the more general idea of "context" and what that means for entitlements, provisioning, compliance, security and risk management could be "the big issue" of 2008. Identity in context is meaningful, grounded, real and implementable. Identity without it is just smoke and mirrors.
What do you think?
--Eric Norlin
