The flagship contribution of the Kantara Initiative is the Identity Assurance Framework (IAF). This comprehensive set of requirements provides a rigorous standard for organizations that issue and verify digital identities. The IAF assesses identity solutions based on three critical dimensions:
User-Managed Access (UMA) Profile of OAuth 2.0 - Kantara Initiative kantarainitiative.org
The name was deliberate, almost mystical. "Kantara" is a Sanskrit word meaning "bridge" or "threshold." It also evokes a "sacred grove"—a protected space. The founders, a coalition including the Liberty Alliance, the Information Card Foundation, and various open-source identity projects, believed that the internet needed a neutral ground. Not another standards body like the W3C or OASIS, which could be slow and bureaucratic. Not a tech giant’s walled garden. Something leaner, meaner, and more pragmatic. The flagship contribution of the Kantara Initiative is