PKI Partner to Promote FIDO in India

An important new partnership could help to significantly extend the reach of FIDO Alliance authentication standards in India. The cross-industry consortium has announced that it has established “a mutual liaison relationship” with India PKI Forum, a non-profit organization under the auspices of the Indian Ministry of Information Technology’s Controller of Certifying Authorities agency.

IPKI offers information resources about Public Key Infrastructure for applications, and generally acts as an advocate for such technology. In India, where the central government is pushing a rapid digitization program, that’s a particularly important role – especially given the government’s focus on biometric authentication in Aadhaar, its expansive national ID program. As IPKI chairman V. Srinivasan explained in a statement announcing the FIDO partnership, government efforts are “helping make India one of the world’s leading password-less ecosystems.” And so FIDO’s focus on post-password authentication made the organization a natural ally for IPKI Forum.

“This joint initiative will help us accelerate the adoption and use of PKI applications and digital signature certificates, and facilitate interoperability through multi-vendor testing of industry standards and educational outreach—both key missions of our organization,” Srinivasan added.

The organizations will work together to promote FIDO standards, having kicked things off with a presentation entitled “FIDO Story Emphasizing Enhanced Privacy and User Experience” at last week’s India PKI Symposium 2018 event in New Delhi. But the partnership could also help to promote FIDO standards beyond India, with India PKI Forum also being a member of the Hong Kong-based Asia PKI Consortium.