Out of Africa: A new era of openness

Presentation of the OSIA Initiative at ID4Africa in 2019.

On stage, DG Aziz, DG/CEO of Nigeria NIMC and Debora Comparin, Chair of the OSIA Initiative.

A new era of openness

Directly addressing the lack of standardization, SIA’s pioneering OSIA initiative (Open Standards Identity API – Application Programming Interface, www.osia.io) ushers in a new era of openness and collaboration between identity players, industry, and governments. It eliminates the interoperability and data-sharing challenges created by the current lack of universal technical standards in today’s identity ecosystem — challenges that have, until now, hampered the evolution of national identity systems.

Developed within SIA and endorsed by the world’s leading identity system vendors, this landmark initiative demonstrates an industry-wide commitment to breaking down the technical barriers to achieving the United Nations goal of legal identity for all.

OSIA makes it possible for governments and implementing bodies across the world to invest with confidence — establishing robust identification platforms for their citizens, preserving the value of existing systems, and evolving their environments without fear of vendor lock-in.

The OSIA initiative is governed under a formal structure, including an independent OSIA Advisory Committee, with work carried out by the OSIA GitHub Community and an OSIA Workgroup.