Bankrolling Privacy and Things

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has announced a pre-solicitation for SBIR funds. Topics include Privacy Protecting Analytics for the Internet of Things (Privacy of Things?), A Wearable Communications Hub Designed to Streamline and Improve First Responder Communication Capabilities (Jarvis from Iron Man?), Canine Mounted Track and Transmit Device (Bionic Dog?) and more.

• The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is an opportunity to get the U.S. gov to fund startup ideas up to $1.15M over a period of about 2 1/2 years. In a lot of ways, this is the government at its best - “… SBIR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization”.

The user at the centre of it all?

• UK Government Digital Service (GDS) presentation on how they do User Research.

• Smashing Magazine article on the tension inherent in balancing the perspective of designers and control given to users.

• D5, a “… group of some of the most digitally advanced governments in the world”. Founding members are United Kingdom, South Korea, Estonia, Israel and New Zealand. “D5 is not a talking shop” says Liam Maxwell, GDS CTO. I think that’s a message. Yup, cue Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back music …

cyberLinks: random and relevant

• Tom Smedinghoff on the need for business models and legal frameworks to make internet scale federated identity real.

• So, is there anyone other than OIX.UK toiling and expending treasure to explore the business side of the identity house? Anyone?