NIST Launches Collaborative Research Effort on Digital Identity to Support Secure Delivery of Public Benefits

The US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched a collaborative project to adapt NIST’s digital identity guidelines to support public benefits programs, such as those designed to help beneficiaries pay for food, housing, medical, and other basic living expenses. Through a cooperative research and development agreement, NIST will work with the Digital Benefits Network (DBN) at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation and the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) to develop resources that help providers balance security, privacy, equity and usability. The collaboration will rely on NIST’s established process of extensive community engagement to gather input from a variety of voices, including federal partners, state benefit program administrators, state IT and cybersecurity leaders, digital identity experts, technologists, advocates, and those with direct experience navigating the US public benefit landscape.