ESRA News
Modernizing Public Benefits: NIST’s New Digital Identity Initiative
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is embarking on an innovative collaborative project aimed at enhancing the digital identity guidelines to support public benefits programs. This initiative is designed to aid beneficiaries in accessing essential services such as food, housing, medical care, and other basic living expenses.
Collaborative Partnerships
NIST is partnering with the Digital Benefits Network (DBN) at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation and the nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). This cooperative research and development agreement focuses on developing resources that ensure a balance between security, privacy, equity, and usability in public benefits programs. The partnership underscores the importance of adapting digital identity guidelines to meet the diverse needs of different populations.
Addressing Diverse Needs
Improving benefits delivery requires balancing access and security while considering the different needs, barriers, and circumstances of various populations. This initiative brings together a diverse set of communities to address these challenges effectively.
Digital Identity in Public Benefits
The rise in fraud and cybersecurity threats during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted benefits-administering agencies to implement new safeguards, such as digital accounts and identity verification processes. However, methods involving facial recognition or data brokers have raised significant concerns regarding privacy, data security, due process, and biases that may disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Despite recommendations from NIST and the Government Accountability Office, the adoption of more effective, evidence-based identity verification methods has been slow.
Focusing on Equity and Privacy
This collaborative effort aims to improve security and privacy while making the benefits application process more equitable. By empowering state agencies with stronger implementation resources, the initiative seeks to increase security and privacy in benefits applications and systems, ensuring that the process is fair for all applicants and beneficiaries.
Community Engagement and Public Workshops
NIST’s extensive community engagement process will incorporate input from federal partners, state benefit program administrators, state IT and cybersecurity leaders, digital identity experts, technologists, advocates, and individuals with direct experience navigating the U.S. public benefit landscape. This approach aims to create voluntary resources for public sector organizations administering public benefits.
NIST, DBN, and CDT will host public workshops and working sessions to foster community dialogue, gather input, and deepen the understanding of digital identity risk management in the public benefits ecosystem. The outcome will be a profile of NIST’s Digital Identity Guidelines (Special Publication 800-63), aiding practitioners and public sector leaders in evaluating the necessary authentication and identity proofing practices for their specific benefits delivery needs.
Looking Ahead
This modernization effort represents a significant step forward in ensuring that public benefits programs are secure, equitable, and accessible to all. By addressing the diverse needs of different populations and incorporating extensive community input, NIST and its partners aim to build a more inclusive and effective benefits delivery system.
Stay tuned for updates on this important initiative as it progresses and transforms the landscape of public benefits in the United States. Read more on NIST’s Website.
NIST Launches New ARIA Program to Assess Societal Risks and Impacts of AI
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has introduced a pioneering program, Assessing Risks and Impacts of AI (ARIA), designed to evaluate the societal risks and impacts of artificial intelligence systems. ARIA will focus on understanding the real-world implications of regular interactions between people and AI, providing a comprehensive view of how AI functions within societal contexts once deployed.
The primary goal of the ARIA program is to develop methodologies and metrics that quantify AI systems’ performance and their broader societal impacts. This initiative is crucial to the U.S. AI Safety Institute’s efforts to establish the foundation for trustworthy AI systems.
ARIA aligns with recent NIST announcements, marking the 180-day milestone of the Executive Order on trustworthy AI and the unveiling of the U.S. AI Safety Institute’s strategic vision and international safety network.
Ensuring Safe and Trustworthy AI
Understanding AI’s societal impacts is critical for mitigating risks and maximizing benefits. The ARIA program is designed to meet real-world needs as AI technology usage grows, supporting the U.S. AI Safety Institute and expanding NIST’s engagement with the research community. By establishing reliable methods for testing and evaluating AI’s functionality in real-world scenarios, ARIA aims to ensure AI systems are safe, secure, private, and fair once deployed.
Building on the AI Risk Management Framework
ARIA builds on the AI Risk Management Framework released by NIST in January 2023. This framework recommends using both quantitative and qualitative techniques to analyze and monitor AI risk and impacts. ARIA will operationalize this risk measurement function by developing new methodologies and metrics for assessing AI systems’ safety and functionality within societal contexts.
The program will go beyond evaluating AI models in laboratory settings, considering how AI systems perform in realistic scenarios when used regularly by people. This holistic approach will provide a broader understanding of the net effects of AI technologies on society.
Supporting Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI Systems
The results of the ARIA program will support NIST’s collective efforts, including those of the U.S. AI Safety Institute, in building the foundation for safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems. By offering a detailed understanding of AI’s societal impacts and developing reliable testing methods, ARIA will guide the responsible and beneficial integration of AI into society.
Stay tuned for more updates on AI, like the NIST ARIA program.
House Committee Chairman Frank Lucas Urges OSTP to Release Overdue STEM Education Strategic Plan
House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) sent a letter expressing concerns over the delayed release of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) five-year Federal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Strategic Plan for 2023-2028. Despite the deadline being December 31, 2023, the strategic plan remains unpublished.
Lucas criticized OSTP for failing to deliver legally mandated resources critical to America’s economy. He referenced the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, which requires OSTP to develop and implement a five-year STEM education strategic plan every five years. This strategic plan is essential for establishing clear, timely, and uniform government-wide standards for agencies and researchers as the nation builds a strong STEM workforce.
With the increasing demand for high-wage, high-skill jobs and the widening STEM workforce gap, Lucas emphasized the importance of OSTP’s leadership in coordinating the over 200 programs across more than 20 agencies that rely on timely guidance for STEM education and workforce development. He highlighted that the country’s competitive edge depends on these significant federal investments in STEM education.
Additionally, Lucas underscored the importance of tapping into rural STEM talent, as outlined in the Rural STEM Education programs authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act. He noted that rural areas represent one of the greatest, yet underutilized, opportunities for STEM education to impact workforce development. Despite the 2023 progress report detailing the activities of the Interagency Working Group on Inclusion in STEM, it fails to address geographic diversity.
Lucas expressed hope that the forthcoming five-year STEM strategy will include plans to mobilize STEM talent within America’s rural communities and across the nation, ensuring a more diverse and inclusive STEM workforce for the future.
By emphasizing the urgency of releasing the overdue strategic plan and addressing the needs of rural STEM talent, Chairman Lucas aims to ensure that the OSTP fulfills its mandate and supports the nation’s economic and competitive strength through robust STEM education and workforce development.
Read more on the Committee website.