The identity standards body Liberty Alliance Project
signalled that it expects to have longevity by naming its first
executive director.
Silicon Valley IT consultant Donal O'Shea was formally announced
as the consortium's new head. The group has also announced seven
new members.
O'Shea, who has held positions at IBM and the Open Software
Foundation, is charged with communicating the group's mission,
increasing end-user participation and broadening membership,
Liberty said.
His appointment is aimed at having one person focused on
developing the group's plans, whereas in the past work has been led
by executives from some of the alliance's more than 150 member
companies, who have separate responsibilities and goals.
Liberty Alliance was established in 2001 as a global consortium
aimed at developing and promoting standards for managing user
identities on networks. While much attention has been paid to the
group's specifications for web services, Liberty wants to push its
work into new areas of corporate use, such as digital rights
management.
As it seeks to widen its appeal it has been lining up industry
support from companies such as Intel and Oracle, who have recently
become members.
The group has now signed up Adobe Systems, Telewest Broadband,
security software company Senforce Technologies, identity
management companies OpenNetwork Technologies and M-Tech
Information Technology, French application security company Deny
All and Danish research institute DAI-Labor.
Scarlet Pruitt writes for IDG News Service