On May 28, 2024, the first Innovation Workshop was held at Identiverse. In a packed room, participants held a lively discussion focused on overcoming obstacles to empower innovators to advance identity and security.

Dr. Tina P. Srivastava, Co-Founder of Badge Inc., and Bob Blakley, Co-Founder of Mimic and former Global Director of Information Security Innovation at Citi, two identity leaders, led the workshop. Pam Dingle, Director of Identity Standards at Microsoft, acted as the facilitator.

Why a Workshop?

Identity is becoming a cornerstone of modern IT infrastructure, serving as a new perimeter. Therefore, the need for cutting-edge innovation is not just a nice-to-have but a need-to-have as identity solutions are safeguarding access to the most important networks, information, systems, and our personal data. Teams tackling identity and security, whether in organizations or companies, need to innovate and draw from a diversity of ideas and include new people in identity projects, and yet there are challenges in bringing in and empowering these innovators. Innovating in the context of intellectual property constraints, national security restrictions, and tight budgets is challenging. Yet it is imperative.

Dr. Srivastava shared research from her book Innovating in a Secret World: The Future of National Security and Global Leadership, including examples from the pharmaceutical industry, an industry cloaked in secrecy given the high costs of R&D and need for intellectual property protection.