Who’s leading the way on digital IDs? Know your consortia
Digital IDs based on blockchain technology hold the potential to solve several difficult identity challenges, including identity fraud, threats to personal data privacy and a lack of identifying documentation for refugees and other at-risk populations.
In addition, a secure, reliable system for digital identification could also help pave the way for more efficient and cost-effective business and government operations.
As the ID2020 Alliance notes: “Companies are increasingly recognising that user-owned and controlled identity could offer benefits to their bottom line. While the nature of these benefits vary widely… commonly cited benefits include drastic reductions in KYC/AML [‘know your customer’ and ‘anti-money laundering’] costs, the ability to reduce the quantity of personally identifiable data stored by the company (and therefore reduce cybersecurity risks), and the promise of a better customer experience.”
So which organisations are currently leading the way in digital ID development? Here’s a look at who’s who:
- The Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) — Formed in May 2017, the DIF is a non-profit organisation launched by Accenture, Avanade and Microsoft. Other members currently include Blockstack, Evernym, IBM, Ideo, the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger, R3, Tierion and uPort. The DIF is working to develop a blockchain-based identity prototype that runs on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.
- ID2020 — First kicked off during a United Nations summit in 2016, the ID2020 Alliance is a public-private partnership encompassing 11 different UN organisations and more than 150 companies. Among the alliance’s 400 participants are Accenture, Barclays, Cisco, Cornell University, Deloitte, the government of Estonia, Forbes, Google, IBM, JP Morgan, Microsoft, the MIT Media Lab and PwC.
- The Sovrin Foundation — Established in 2016, the Sovrin Foundation is a non-profit “dedicated self-sovereign identity platform.” Organisations that have signed on to the Sovrin framework as node operators include US-based Evernym, Italy’s InfoCert, KYC Chain of Hong Kong, Germany’s T-Lab and South Africa-based Global Consent.
- W3C — The global standards organisation for the World Wide Web on March 20 released a draft report on proposed specifications for digital IDs. The report identified two key requirements for digital IDs: the ability to be created and managed without a centralised authority, and the ability to verify ownership and metadata using public/private key cryptography.
- The World Economic Forum — The WEF’s digital ID project is part of its ‘Shaping the Future of Digital Economy and Society’ initiative, which also covers developments on cyber resilience, digital transformation and the Internet of Things. Participating organisations include Accenture, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, the GSMA, Hyperledger and the Linux Foundation, Mastercard, Microsoft, the Omidyar Network, Visa and the World Bank.
