United Kingdom
Service failures such as the NHS COVID Pass experienced last week (on August 18) will hurt user confidence, according to a leading analyst.
“Digital identity has gained impetus worldwide because apps like the NHS COVID Pass enabled people to prove they had been vaccinated so they could travel. Since UK travellers rely on online access to the COVID Pass, service failures like this will only hurt user confidence in digital tools that are designed to help people prove their identity,” said David Bicknell, principal analyst in the thematic intelligence team at GlobalData.
“Countries adopting digital identity technology have up to 10 years of growth ahead. However, governments continually make the same mistake, preaching to citizens about how digital identity improves the user experience rather than delivering a reliable service.
“That is why, for the NHS COVID Pass to be unavailable … and for users to have, as the app said, ‘no alternative route for accessing information via the NHS app or online’ – is an unacceptable systems failure. NHS Digital must explain how the failure occurred and why no service back-ups were in place.”
Small Island Developing States
A new project is targeting digital identity, e-commerce and statistics gathering as a way to promote digital development and economic growth. UNCTAD – the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development – has been designed to boost the digital economy in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as part of its TrainForTrade programme.
The ‘digital identity for trade and development’ component of the programme is intended to increase knowledge on methods of implementing e-commerce at the policy level, and for small and medium-sized enterprises. It will help participants evaluate the risks surrounding authentication.
Topics include the fundamental concepts of digital identity, data protection, governance and ID technology. The targets are the ministries in charge of e-commerce; telecommunication/ICT; trade; revenue, tax and finance authorities.
Global
Tanium has been nominated to join the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association (MISA), an ecosystem of independent software vendors (ISVs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) that have integrated their solutions with Microsoft security technology.
Tanium was nominated for MISA membership as a result of an integration with Microsoft Sentinel, soon to be available via the Sentinel Content Hub. Currently, Tanium is available in the Microsoft Commercial Marketplace, an online store providing applications and services for use on Azure. Customers can purchase and provision Tanium directly from the marketplace and apply the purchase to their Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitments (MACC).
Middle East
PayRemit, a mobile e-commerce app which allows lower income workers to shop and pay in instalments, has signed an agreement with DIFC-based IDnow Middle East to provide automated identity verification for the onboarding of PayRemit customers.
Through the agreement, PayRemit says customers will experience secure, fast and convenient onboarding.
Australia
Establishing a working digital identity system in Australia will usher in the next generation of personalised services, according to retiring NSW Digital Government and Customer Service Minister, Victor Dominello.
The Australian Financial Review reported that under Dominello’s tenure, NSW has emerged with the highest level of trust and engagement with government and with the state’s citizens most willing to share data to enable service personalisation.
“The two most powerful things that we needed to change were outcomes and culture, and the two levers for that were the [cabinet] oversight committee and separate funding,” he said.
“That gave a very senior outcome-driven focus and funding. The committee is the engine, the funding is the fuel.”
Global
The United Nations is working to ensure that by 2025, 350 million of the more than a billion people currently without legal identity globally, will be able to prove who they are.
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That’s according to Policy Advisor and Program Manager for Legal Identity at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Niall McCann.
McCann made the remarks recently on Biometric Update’s ID16.9 podcast, which intends to track global progress in efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 16.9 which talks of legal identity for all, including birth registrations, by 2030.
Responding to a question on whether the UN was actually on track in meeting the objectives of SGD 16.9, McCann said although there is a methodology for keeping tabs on that, it is difficult to count exactly how many people in the world cannot prove who they are.
“(C)alculating the overall number is quite difficult. Within the UN, we wanted to set a target for ourselves, to try and get 350 million people of these one billion or so registered by the end of 2025. But to be very honest with you, it has also been very difficult in the COVID-19 context,” said McCann.
The situation, he said, is also difficult because methods of proving one’s identity may be different in different countries and contexts. He used the analogy of someone who may be able to prove his identity in front of a police officer using a voter’s ID, but may not be able to use the same credential to inherit property or have access to certain public services.
Canada
Canada’s federal government has announced that it is preparing a public consultation on a framework for digital identity.
The government launched its Digital Ambition 2022 on August 5 this year, setting out what it called “a clear, long-term strategic vision for the Government of Canada to advance digital service delivery, cyber security, talent recruitment, and privacy”. The new strategy replaces the government’s Digital Operations Strategic Plan: 2021-2024.
A key pillar of the ‘Ambition’ is digital identity, with emphasis on the need for government to create fast, straightforward ways to prove ID claims.
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for government services to be accessible and flexible in the digital age,” the document said. “The next step in making services more convenient to access is a federal Digital Identity Program, integrated with pre-existing provincial platforms.”
The document reiterates a Treasury Board mandate set in late-2021 to work towards a common digital identity platform for public services.
UK, US, Singapore, and Mexico
Providing a digital identity to create an online account or complete bank transactions is becoming increasingly common globally, as per a new report by selfie biometrics and KYC provider Jumio.
Conducted by third-party firm Opinium, the research analyzed the answers of 8,000 consumers across the UK, US, Singapore, and Mexico.
The report found that 57 percent of respondents globally on average said they ‘constantly’ or ‘often’ have to verify their digital identity. Singapore ranked at the top of the list, with 70 percent of those surveyed saying they often use digital ID, followed by Mexico (55 percent) U.S. (52 percent), and the UK (50 percent).
Further, 80 percent of consumers said they prefer identity verification measures when choosing online brands.
In terms of industries adopting digital ID solutions, Jumio said banks were ahead of the curve with robust identity verification, with 61 percent of respondents saying they felt their bank had done more to help protect them against online fraud since the pandemic.
Nigeria
The Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have reiterated the need for stakeholders to collaborate in Nigeria’s digital identity efforts.
A statement signed by Nigeria Digital ID4D’s Communications Manager, Dr. Walter Duru said the two organisations made their position known following a courtesy call on the Director General of NITDA by a delegation of the project.
Speaking during the visit, Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital Identification for Development project, Mr. Musa Odole Solomon described NITDA as an important partner in the project and worth seeking its collaboration.
“The project is designed, following an ecosystem model. It therefore involves different agencies of the government, the private sector and civil society. The project had since identified the National Information Technology Development Agency as an important ecosystem implementing partner, hence this visit.”
