Balancing the growth in global travel against the escalating threat of identity fraud, illegal immigration, international crime and global terrorism has driven many nations to invest in measures to improve identity management. The increasing demands of globalization – in which products and services, and the people who provide them, must move expeditiously across international borders – have prompted a closer examination of the effectiveness of some of these programs. Many governments have invested in "smarter" drivers' licenses, passports, automated border control systems and visas, resulting in more secure forms of identification, but have often done so without much consideration for their impact on a nation's overall identity strategy. Additionally, identity management programs ideally include safeguards for public health and safety – as well as creating mechanisms for enhanced government services and the preservation of individual liberties, such as privacy and individual data security. But in reality, many governments are finding their programs ill-equipped to provide the various protections and services for which they were supposedly designed. As part of our research to identify the challenges and opportunities in creating more comprehensive national identity management programs, the IBM Institute for Business Value conducted a study of identity management policies of various governments around the world. Employing a carefully structured survey document, IBM executives interviewed a wide range of government thought leaders in the Americas, Europe and Asia to ascertain their views on identity management leading practices In addition, IBM subject matter experts augmented the primary research by consulting scholarly papers on identity management topics published by government, academic and industry experts. Our findings tell us that despite significant strides in improving and standardizing identification documentation, governments today still have difficulty ascertaining the true identities and legitimacy of those who hold these documents. Political concerns, organizational inefficiency, privacy and legal issues, and legacy technology systems all impede the effectiveness and efficiency of identity management programs (see Figure 1). 
Figure 1: Roadblocks to implementation of identity management programs - respondents rate the severity of various barriers to improving identity management strategy. A cohesive national identity management strategy is not common among the countries that participated in the survey. Most have seen their identity management strategies evolve out of a variety of legislative initiatives and regulatory decisions implemented by multiple and disparate government agencies. Consequently, these programs lack a cohesive structure and face challenges in collaboration and communications – both internally and internationally. In the absence of a comprehensive national strategy, governments also cannot be certain the identity data entrusted to their care is either secure or private. Based on our survey findings, we believe it is time for both governments and the private sector throughout the world to take a new look at identity management and explore ways to facilitate communication and collaboration among government, industry and society. Maintenance of the status quo – taking no action to address the shortcomings and gaps in various disharmonized national identity management programs – creates increased risk and exposure to international crime, identity fraud and illegal immigration. The establishment of a cohesive national identity strategy requires clearly delineated goals and expectations supported by the right mix of people, processes and technology, both in the public and private sectors. Whether or not such a strategy currently exists – or is in the process of being formulated – we believe governments should take immediate action to improve data integrity, system security and constituent privacy. How can IBM help?
Strategy and Change: Help to define your identity management strategy, business case and roadmap
Government Trusted Identity Services: Help with implementation of identity management solutions, from design through to implementation, including supplying IT infrastructure, privacy enhancing technologies and systems integration, using approaches such as component business modeling (CBM) and services oriented architectures (SOA).
Selected consulting services: Support in designing and implementing changes to organization operating models, detailed processes and training services to support the transition to a trusted organization. To read the full report, download the PDF file at the top of this page | 
