In the past several years, certain nations have been more aggressive in their pursuits of cybersecurity standards and regulatory overhauls, while the most active ones have consistently performed the best in terms of protection and mitigation of identity theft crimes. Because the private and public sectors have become more intertwined in the digital era, especially in terms of data and electronic systems, joint efforts are often important to overall security. 

The United States and European Union, as well as certain nations in the Middle East and Asia, have been somewhat aggressive in their pursuits of stronger security, at least in the past few years. However, one can make a relatively valid argument that the majority of actions have been somewhat slow to the punch and carried out in a reactive fashion, not truly helping to decrease the risk of fraud, identity theft and data breaches on a large scale. 

Canada, on the other hand, has been one of the most consistent and proactive nations in terms of public and private sector involvement in new security strategies, leading to a safer digital environment for consumers and businesses to operate within. With government entities from around the globe launching more electronic services and other sensitive industries partaking in similar activities, many nations can take a lesson from Canada in terms of identity and access management. 

Formation of DIACC
​A joint release from organizations in the public and private sectors of Canada recently announced the formation fo the Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada, which will act as a widespread partnership for digital identification and authentication oversight. This is in fact the first organization of its kind, bringing together major financial institutions, the Government of Canada and security service providers such as SecureKey. 

The non-profit coalition has a variety of objectives, and was the product of a government task force that was created to complete reviews of payment systems. Some of the goals of the DIACC include catalyzing change for electronic identification management and authentication within the nation, enforcing requirements and ensuring that the ecosystem is simultaneously accessible for all citizens and comprehensively secure. 

"DIACC members know that to meet the needs of all Canadians, the public and private sectors need to work together to develop integrated solutions that are both secure and efficient," David Nikolejsin, DIACC Chair and Deputy Minister at Government of British Columbia, explained. "With a robust and effective digital ID and authentication framework, Canadians from coast to coast to coast will be able to engage with both the public and private sector digitally, in a manner that is safe, secure and efficient – be it to open a bank account or to register for government services."

Furthermore, the group will work to find economic opportunities within the digital landscape, such as those that would be strengthened by unified electronic ID systems and scalable resources for the average business and consumer. Considering the importance of Internet-based commerce to the overall economy in the modern era, the DIACC's spokespeople affirmed that this is a step in the right direction for the country's gross domestic product. 

A continued force in authentication
​SecureKey, which created the Concierge service already in use by the government and many major banks, is a member of the DIACC. The Concierge has been in action for two roughly two years, and provides secure, intuitive and user-friendly identity and access management services for some of the most sensitive online services in the nation. 

Privacy is maximized as no personal information or passwords are exchanged, while consumers and businesses have already enjoyed the streamlined approach to access controls this service provides.