The National Institute of Standards and Technology has announced plans to award $9 million to five pilot programs as part of its National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.

NSTIC seeks to create a secure "identity ecosystem" for online transactions. The newly funded programs aim to improve consumer confidence in online transactions, prevent identity theft, and give people more control over their personal information.

The investments "will help protect our citizens from identity theft and other types of fraud, while helping our businesses, especially small businesses, reduce their costs," said NIST director Patrick Gallagher in statement on the grants.

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators will implement a program, called the Cross Sector Digital Identity Initiative, to establish a secure online identity ecosystem. Its partners include AT&T, Biometric Signature ID, CA Technologies, Microsoft, and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

[ Federal intelligence agencies' venture investment firm In-Q-Tel looks to 10gen for data analysis. Read more at Intelligence Agency Invests In Big Data Management. ]

A team of companies led by Criterion Systems will let consumers share shopping and other online preferences and information. The pilot will pull together Web services from identity service providers, online auction services, financial services from Broadridge, supply chain management capabilities from General Electric, and first-response management at government agencies and health care service providers.

Grant recipient Daon will develop an identity ecosystem for senior citizens and other consumers that supports trusted interactions among multiple parties online. The pilot will include "user-friendly" identity technologies for smartphones and tablets. AARP is a partner in the program.

Resilient Network Systems plans to show how an encrypted "trust network" can be used for health and education transactions. On the education side, the pilot will demonstrate secure access to online learning for children that is compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Another grant recipient, the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, known as Internet2, will spearhead a program to build a privacy infrastructure that can serve communities. Brown University, Carnegie Mellon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas, and University of Utah are participating.

Cybersecurity, continuity planning, and data records management top the list in our latest Federal IT Priorities Survey. Also in the new, all-digital Focus On The Foundation issue of InformationWeek Government: The FBI's next-gen digital case management system, Sentinel, is finally up and running. (Free registration required.)