Fons Knopjes named Fellow at the University of Texas Center for Identity
The University of Texas Center for Identity at Austin, a leader in multidisciplinary identity security and privacy research and education, has announced the appointment of Fons Knopjes as a Fellow on the Center's Advisory Board.
Fons will rejoin the Center, where he represented the National Office for Identity Data in the Netherlands from 2017 to 2022, initially as Research & Development Advisor and later as Liaison Officer.
In his new role as Center Fellow, he brings years of experience in identity management. He has advised different Governments during the development of many (electronic) passports and identity documents. Fons has performed assessments of the identity infrastructure of countries in Europe, Asia and Africa and advised governments by the redesign of their identity infrastructure. At the national Interpol bureau in the Netherlands, he has initiated and coordinated international investigations into identity crime. He was also a member of the UNODC core group of experts on action against identity related crime. Fons was chairman of the Dutch Biometrics Forum and in that role he made strategic contributions for providers and users of biometrics systems. Participants of Governments of more than 35 nationalities have participated in the Masterclass on ID Management that he has developed. Among numerous publications in the field of identity documents, fraud, etc. he has published “Documents: The Developer’s Toolkit”, a manual about the development of identity documents.
"Fons has a deep understanding of identity infrastructures and the challenges faced by many interest groups at the local, national and international levels. In addition, he has an outstanding track record as an expert on identity infrastructures and is a strong advocate for the security and privacy of personal data," said Dr. Suzanne Barber, director of the center.
"We look forward to Fons' participation as a Center Fellow and know first-hand what valuable experience and leadership he will bring to our organization."
"I have the utmost respect for the work that Dr. Barber and her outstanding team are doing at the center in research, education and educating the public about the risks they face in protecting their personal information," said Fons. “It is an honor to be asked to work with them as Fellow.”
The University of Texas at Austin established the Center for Identity (UT CID) to serve as a center of excellence delivering leadership and interdisciplinary research and educational programs in identity security and privacy. The Center for Identity research and educational programs empower individuals and organizations to make well-informed and intentional decisions regarding the personal data they collect, use, share, and protect with the aim of increasing trust, convenience, security and privacy. The UT CID delivers actionable research advances to forecast threats, analyze personal data valuations and deliver solutions to better protect the data and devices that identify organizations and individuals. The Center is a public-private partnership bringing together the depth and breadth of knowledge and talent at The University of Texas with partners from corporations, government, and academia.