The National Institute of Standards and Technology said today it has awarded $15 million of pilot grants to six organizations to support the goals of NIST’s National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), which seeks to improve online identity technologies.

The six new pilot grants, NIST said, are aimed at fostering more secure access to online services provided by states and healthcare providers.

Recipients of the grants are the Florida Department of Revenue’s Child Support Program, with a grant of $3.55 million which aims to increase the number of online services available to customers;  ID.me, Inc., of McLean, Va., with a grant of $3.75 million for the development of a city-level blueprint for increased trust in the sharing economy; the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, with a grant of $2.96 million to implement a range of identity-related capabilities; Yubico, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., with a grant of $2.27 million for a universal second factor authentication for government services project; Gemalto, Inc., of Austin, Texas, with a grant of $2.0 million for its interoperable, trusted ecosystem for drivers licenses and ID cards on mobile devices for U.S. jurisdictions project; and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with a grant of $999,836 for its single federated identity log-in project.

NIST said the state government projects will receive funding for up to three years, and the healthcare pilot will run for 18 months

“These grants are playing an important role in creating options for proving identity online and ensuring the privacy and security of our personal data,” commented Willie May, NIST’s director, in a statement.  Added Mike Garcia, acting director of the NIST National Program Office, “Our goal is to foster innovation that can make critical services more convenient and trustworthy for consumers while strengthening online security.” – John Curran, john.curran@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily