‘We are expanding our outlook to be more inclusive by really looking at the role Identity plays in the wider securing of services and transaction risk mitigation’

Next month (November 29) Think Digital Identity For Government 2018 will open its doors, ushering a range of delegates from the public sector, the Digital Identity vendor community, policymakers interested in Identity as the lynchpin for better digital services, and others into a special day of high-level debates.

A key speaker on the day is Cheryl Stevens MBE, Deputy Director of Identity and Trust Services at DWP Digital. On the day, Ms Stevens will be delivering her insights into government Digital Identity twice – about the journey of Digital Identity at DWP and then on a cross-central government panel with colleagues from HMRC and DVLA sharing experiences, opportunities and barriers to success around the topic.

We wanted to get a bit more of a sense of what Stevens sees as the main issues in her role, so sat down with her this week to get a flavour:

So who is Cheryl – what is your role and responsibility at your Department? 

I work within Digital and lead on Identity and Trust Services, a role I’ve held for around three years. In terms of role and responsibility, my role is to set and maintain the strategy for Identity and trust for DWP; I lead a team of specialists that work with our services. We enable those digital services to operate securely, but with proportionate, tailored Identity and trust solutions that meet both the customer and the service needs. 

Why such a major government department as DWP interested in Digital Identity?

The secure remote identification of citizens, third parties and organisations is a vital component in enabling the transformation of services, and so keeping customers and their data safe while tackling fraud and error is really important to us. In order to do that, it is important for DWP to have a clear understanding of how we establish a claimant’s absolute or probable identity in the short medium and long term.

What are the challenges to doing this?

With a diverse customer base – we have 22 million customers – the challenges are many, and that’s what I’m going to talk about in more detail at the conference. What I can say in advance, is that we are expanding our outlook to be more inclusive, and are really looking at the role Identity plays in the wider securing of services and transaction risk mitigation’

If we speak to you about all these issues again in six months, what do you think might have changed?

I think we will be seeing more examples of the proportionate enablement of secure digital services with identity playing a key role.

How, ultimately, will all of this work help the citizen – those 22 million users. Is it too early to say anything there?

I think at the very top level the citizen will be able to interact remotely, and at a time of their choosing. The steps that we’ve taken will also ensure that they can feel confident that we’re protecting them, their data, their Identity – because they have seen the steps that we have taken.

What do you want the delegates to Think Digital Identity For Government in November to walk away with after they’ve seen your presentation, or heard you on the panel…What’s the kind of thought you’d like to have in their heads?

Two things, really: that the word of the day could be ‘proportionate’ – that Identity has to be proportionate to the service and proportionate to the transaction, I’d be happy. Secondly, and linked to that, it’s that we can all participate in a meaningful conversation around how, in order to mitigate the risks of a transaction, Identity plays a really vital part but, it isn’t the only component in doing that: that we need to move the conversation along to achieve that secure service through trust, which has started but needs more pace. 

Sounds fascinating, and I think many delegates will be really looking forward now to hearing more. Thanks for your time, Ms Stevens!

If you have not yet secured your place at Think Digital Identity For Government 2018, please do so by going here – and remember, as with all Think Digital Partners events, your place is FREE if you are a practicing public sector professional.