Tampa-based Schellman, a leading provider of attestation and compliance services, announced today that it is joining the Trust over IP Foundation (ToIP) as a Steering Committee member. As the first IT audit firm to join the leadership of ToIP, this move represents Schellman’s belief in the growing suite of digital governance specifications and tools being developed by ToIP Working Groups.
Representing Schellman on the Steering Committee will be Scott Perry, whose firm Scott S. Perry CPA, PLLC, was recently acquired by Schellman. Scott was a founding Contributing Member of ToIP and has served as co-chair of the ToIP Governance Stack Working Group since its inception in May 2020.
“This is the culmination of work that began over six years ago when I started collaborating with Timothy Ruff, co-founder of Evernym and of the Sovrin Foundation, on audit and compliance in the emerging SSI space,” said Scott. “We realized that this could revolutionize how digital trust works everywhere on the Internet, and out of that was born the ToIP Foundation. So it is very gratifying for me to now join the Steering Committee and contribute directly to the success of the ToIP model.”
Scott has authored or co-authored a number of deliverables from the ToIP Governance Stack WG including:
- ToIP Governance Metamodel Specification (PDF) and Companion Guide (PDF)
- ToIP Risk Assessment Worksheet Template (Excel) and Companion Guide (PDF)
- ToIP Trust Assurance and Certification Controlled Document Template (Excel) and Companion Guide (PDF)
- ToIP Trust Criteria Matrix Template (Excel) and Companion Guide (PDF)
Scott saw the acquisition of his firm as a means of harnessing a well-established delivery capability of digital trust audit services from a top CPA Firm; Schellman saw this as a quick entry into an important emerging segment of the compliance marketplace and wanted to cement this commitment by joining the ToIP Steering Committee.
“Holding digital trust actors accountable in any or all layers of the ToIP stack will require independent audit skills and experience in a variety of compliance frameworks,” said Avani Desai, CEO at Schellman. “The deliverables already published by ToIP serve as an audit methodology for trust assurance, so they will nicely complement the services we currently offer as a WebTrust CPA firm, an ISO Certification Body, a PCI Qualified Security Assessor Company, a HITRUST assessor, a FedRAMP 3PAO, and as one of the first CMMC Authorized C3PAOs.”
“I am very happy to see this recognition of the ToIP Foundation’s groundbreaking work in digital governance frameworks,” said Judith Fleenor, ToIP Director of Strategic Engagements. “Scott has been a leader in this work from the start, and the acquisition of his firm and the support of Schellman signals that the ToIP governance metamodel is starting to see serious traction in the market. Look for more evidence coming from several new digital trust ecosystems later this year.”
Visit the Schellman website to learn more about their new Crypto and Digital Trust Service practice.