Operating Principles

The IDESG shall adhere to the following four operating principles.

1. Openness and Transparency.

The work of the IDESG, including all Committees, shall facilitate broad participation and be publically accessible. The IDESG shall take the following steps to provide openness and transparency in all its proceedings:

• All documents, drafts, and minutes of meetings shall be posted on a publicly available Internet site;
• All meetings of all governing bodies shall be open to public attendance and leverage virtual attendance options to maximize broad and public participation; and,
• Technologies should be leveraged to create user-friendly and broad avenues for participation in all proceedings and administrative functions.

2. Balance.

The IDESG shall strive to achieve balanced representation among all stakeholder categories regardless of the size of their organization, financial status, or sector alignment/affiliation.

3. Consensus.

Consensus—general agreement among members—shall be a core value of the IDESG.  All processes instituted by the IDESG shall require participants to consider all views, proposals and objections, and endeavor to reconcile them. Although positions of leadership, such as committee chairs, are likely to serve as the primary drivers of consensus, all IDESG participants must be (1) cooperative in the consensus process; (2) constructive; and (3) respectful when providing feedback or dissenting opinions. In the event that consensus cannot be reached, voting, by an established method, shall be used to make IDESG decisions.

4. Harmonization.

The IDESG shall encourage harmonization of standards and policies and shall always strive to recognize the impacts of policy and standards on all stakeholders in the Identity Ecosystem. 

Text taken from the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group (IDESG) Rules of Association. Read more about the IDESG in its policy documents.