Schellman Becomes Accredited Identity Credential Assessor for the Kantara Initiative

Tampa-based Schellman, a global provider of attestation and compliance services, announced today that it is now an accredited assessor under the Kantara Initiative. In January 2022, Schellman acquired the practice of Scott Perry, CPA to create a new practice focused on Web 3.0. This new accreditation represents our next move in supporting next-generation audit services.

Under its Identity Assurance Framework, Kantara operates a conformity assessment program for identity credential service providers based on the US NIST 800-63.3 Identity Digital Identity Guidelines. The initiative has also been selected by the UK Ministry for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) to participate in its pilot assessment program for the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.

This accreditation with Kantara strengthens Schellman’s expertise in both independent third-party assessments and crypto and digital trust.

“Identity and credentialing are already critical components of any modern Internet technology, but they will become exponentially more important in the migration to a more distributed Web 3.0 approach,” said Scott Perry, Principal of Crypto and Digital Trust Services at Schellman. “Our deep pool of talented assessors is excited to serve Kantara and its community of identity and credential service providers.”

Schellman joins Kantara’s team representing an elite group of globally-focused, full-service audit firms.

“We are excited for Schellman to join Kantara as an Accredited Assessor,” stated Kay Chopard, Executive Director for the Kantara Initiative. “Their experience in assessing compliance, especially around ISO-based certifications for identity and authentication services, will help support us in meeting the increasing demand we see for identity assurance.”

For its part, Schellman is excited to continue investing in digital trust services.

“We started with the acquisition of Scott’s firm in January, and now we are building further on those capabilities here,” said Doug Barbin, managing principal and chief growth officer for Schellman. “Between our expertise in identity credentialing and our work in federal cybersecurity (FedRAMP) and as a US- and UK-accredited certification body, we are well-positioned to help global identity management and authentication providers while supporting Kantara’s expansion into the UK and beyond.”

For more information about Crypto and Digital Trust Services visit our website.