Phil Windley has an uncanny ability to size up new technologies in a single bound. Read his take on relationship providers and how far they can go beyond the role of “identity providers” (a term I have never liked since the moment I first heard it six years ago).

As he concludes:

I’m still trying to understand all the details, but convinced of the necessity of this kind of thing. My work on reputation (PDF) was a start at understanding how trust relationships can be created online. I’ll be writing more about this as I understand it more over the coming weeks.

I can hardly wait to read his further thoughts. Relationship is the pot of real gold at the end of the identity rainbow.