Identity Driving the Future
I participated in a fascinating meeting this afternoon held at the MIT Media Lab under the direction of Dazza Greenwood, who saw my Twitter post on Facebook this morning at 2am when I touched down in Boston and immediately sent me an invitation to join an Identity-focused design session while I was in town.
We in the computer industry tend to think of Digital Identity as purely related to computer systems and software. But the folks I met with at MIT are exploring how Identity can determine how vehicles designed within MIT’s Smart Cities project will be personally configured and securely authorized for use. These compact, folding CityCar vehicles are designed for use within a shared-use concept similar to the shared bicycle system in Paris.
Just imagine approaching one of these little beauties. The car immediate knows who you are and whether you are authorized to use it. Then, the car is automatically configured specifically for you – seat position, driving characteristics, handling modes and even color!
You might enjoy, as I did, taking a look at a couple of videos about the vehicles being developed under this program by MIT:
As you wrap your mind around these stimulating concepts, consider a challenge from one of the meeting participants regarding Digital Identity (paraphrased): “We must think about Identity beyond the desktop, about how it applies tol other things we have in our personal and business lives.”
It’s going to be a great ride!
Technorati Tags: MediaLab, MIT, Smart Cities, CityCar, Identity, Digital Identity, Identity Management
(a) This is so cool. Can’t wait to see those cars on the streets of Manhattan.
(b) How true that we have to think of identity beyond the simplistic parameters we have gotten so used to. I was just on a call about authentication use cases where someone said "When the user wants to log in…", and someone else interrupted with "Well, what if its not a user, but another system…". Typical everyday fare in the identity world.
Nishant:
Thanks for your comments. I think we will see Digital Identity rising in importance and permeating our lives in the years ahead.
Mark