NIMC DG named advisory committee chair for global identity body

Aliyu Aziz, director-general of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), has been named chairman of the advisory committee of the open standards identity API (OSIA) initiative, a programme by the Secure Identity Alliance (SIA).

SIA is the global identity and secure digital services advisory body, which promotes legal, trusted identity.

In a statement, the commission said Aliyu will act as an advisory observer and its representative under the OSIA initiative, a “ground-breaking global programme that set the standards guarding against vendor lock-in for technologies and solutions used by government agencies worldwide in the implementation of their respective identity programmes”.

“The OSIA initiative provides the standardised data formats and open interfaces that eliminate the interoperability challenges which all too frequently hamper the evolution of national Identity systems,” the statement read.

“Supported by the world’s largest identity providers, the Open Standards Identity API (OSIA) would expectedly enable governments and it agencies like the NIMC to eliminate today’s identity silos and extend coverage to provide universal legal identity for all its citizens and residents.

“Injecting new levels of flexibility and openness, the Open Standards Identity API will enable seamless connectivity between all components of the identity management ecosystem – independent of technology, solution architecture or vendor – to assure the seamless interaction of services.

“With these open standards in place, governments can plan and evolve their systems in complete confidence,” the organization said.

The commission said as chairman of the advisory committee, Aziz will play a critical role in overseeing the work carried out by the OSIA GitHub Community and OSIA Workgroup.

Commenting on the appointment, Aziz said: “I’m delighted that the era of vendor lock-in is fast coming to an end, yet many agencies and governments across Africa remain unaware of the potential opportunities that OSIA unlocks— including a reduction in the total cost of ownership of their Identity systems.

“Part of my role will be to spread the word and ensure everyone knows they can access the interconnectivity resources they need to enable high functioning and interoperable Identity ecosystems.”

Also commenting, Frédéric Trojani, board chairman at SIA, expressed confidence in Aziz’s ability to guide and shape the OSIA program.