Adoption through trust: how emerging UK use cases are unleashing the power of unified digital presence
*Please note that these thought leadership pieces represent the views of the contributing companies and do not necessarily reflect techUK’s own position.
Driving adoption through collaboration
Across the UK, adoption of digital identity is accelerating, yet remains uneven. Different sectors have embraced pockets of innovation, but progress is still held back by a fragmented landscape of standards, verifiers, and trust models. As the Data Use and Access Act enters implementation and the Smart Data Scheme begins to scale, the question is no longer whether digital identity will take hold, but how quickly and coherently it can connect across society.
At Origin Secured, we see adoption happening fastest where digital identity is not treated as a static credential, but as a living framework for verification, what we call a Unified Digital Presence, creating a continuous state of trust that travels with you.
From isolated pilots to connected presence
Many current identity schemes aim to make credentials reusable, yet most still operate within narrow boundaries. Each relies on specific verifiers, limited trust lists, and differing assurance models. The result is fragmented federation, multiple working ecosystems that cannot interoperate.
Real adoption requires something broader: identity that is portable and continuously verifiable across both public and private domains. Unified Digital Presence connects verified assertions such as licences, qualifications, clearances, or compliance statuses into a cryptographically verifiable network of proofs.
Rather than relying on repeated data exchange, entities share proofs without disclosure. This model reduces risk, strengthens assurance, and enables trust to scale, precisely the qualities adoption depends on.
Emerging use cases shaping adoption in the UK
Adoption thrives where collaboration meets necessity. The following examples show how a Unified Digital Presence is being developed to transform verification processes across the UK, from workforce mobility, to national supply-chain assurance, to healthcare.
1. Workforce verification and compliance
In partnership with the Cleaning & Support Services Association (CSSA), we are developing a digital licence framework that will allow cleaning operatives to carry verifiable credentials between employers. Each record will contain cryptographically signed endorsements from trusted authorities, such as employment history or industry accreditations.
Employers will be able to confirm eligibility and compliance in seconds, without needing to reveal or expose the personal data of the employee. Operatives will retain control of their verified information, eliminating repeated onboarding and paperwork.
Once deployed at scale, this approach could unify fragmented workforce verification processes across a major UK sector, setting a precedent for portable, privacy-preserving employment assurance.
2. Defence supply-chain illumination
Within the Ministry of Defence ecosystem, our work focuses on improving supply-chain visibility, resilience, and assurance. Complex defence and critical-infrastructure supply chains often depend on multiple tiers of subcontractors, each carrying its own compliance, security, and insurance data.
Using our core technology, we are exploring how cryptographically verifiable assertions can connect suppliers, contractors, and departments in real time, enabling continuous validation of compliance without sharing sensitive or commercially confidential information.
This model will give defence and government partners live insight into risk and resilience across their supply chains, highlighting gaps or dependencies before they escalate.
The lesson for adoption: when digital identity is applied to interconnected ecosystems like defence supply chains, it becomes a catalyst for transparency, security, and operational confidence.
3. Healthcare and patient verification
In healthcare, assurance has long been constrained by legacy systems and fragmented records. Working with a major healthcare provider, we are creating a new model for patient and clinician verification that removes the need for repeated data sharing.
Instead of passing personal records between systems, patients and practitioners interact through a framework of cryptographically endorsed assertions. These can prove treatment eligibility, professional authority, or consent without disclosing underlying health data.
This model will enable interoperability across NHS and private providers, supporting faster care delivery while strengthening public trust in digital identity within sensitive domains.
What these use cases reveal about adoption
Across these projects, one insight repeats: adoption accelerates when trust can be verified without exposure.
People, institutions, and regulators all become more comfortable when verification is provable, decentralised, and under user control.
The technical language may vary, assertions, endorsements, cryptographic proofs, but the outcome is simple: when data doesn’t need to move, confidence does.
That shift from data sharing to proof sharing is what unlocks adoption at scale.
Each sector shows that digital identity succeeds not by replacing existing systems, but by connecting them through shared proofs. Whether it’s verifying workforce qualifications, strengthening defence supply-chain assurance, or protecting patient data, adoption grows when verification becomes continuous, interoperable, and privacy-preserving.
Collaboration: the catalyst for national adoption
No single organisation can deliver this alone. Real adoption will depend on cooperation between government, IDSPs, and industry, to create a common trust layer that supports portable, privacy-first verification across sectors.
As members of the TechUK Smart Data Steering Group, Origin Secured is contributing to that vision, exploring how reusable identity, Smart Data standards, and decentralised verification can converge into a unified framework for trust.
The next phase of adoption isn’t about issuing more IDs or building new databases. It’s about connecting what already exists through interoperable proofs, establishing a Unified Digital Presence that creates a continuous state of trust that travels with you, enabling every citizen, business, and department to interact with confidence.
Author
Stuart Kenny
CEO, Origin Secured
A seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in global technology roles, Stuart has a proven track record of building innovative companies that are focused on client success.
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Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.
This includes work programmes on cloud, data protection, data analytics, AI, digital ethics, Digital Identity and Internet of Things as well as emerging and transformative technologies and innovation policy.
In 2025, Sue was honoured with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the Technology Industry in the New Year Honours List.
She has been recognised as one of the most influential people in UK tech by Computer Weekly's UKtech50 Longlist and in 2021 was inducted into the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in UK Tech Hall of Fame.
A key influencer in driving forward the data agenda in the UK, Sue was co-chair of the UK government's National Data Strategy Forum until July 2024. As well as being recognised in the UK's Big Data 100 and the Global Top 100 Data Visionaries for 2020 Sue has also been shortlisted for the Milton Keynes Women Leaders Awards and was a judge for the Loebner Prize in AI. In addition to being a regular industry speaker on issues including AI ethics, data protection and cyber security, Sue was recently a judge for the UK Tech 50 and is a regular judge of the annual UK Cloud Awards.
Prior to joining techUK in January 2015 Sue was responsible for Symantec's Government Relations in the UK and Ireland. She has spoken at events including the UK-China Internet Forum in Beijing, UN IGF and European RSA on issues ranging from data usage and privacy, cloud computing and online child safety. Before joining Symantec, Sue was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Sue has an BA degree on History and American Studies from Leeds University and a Masters Degree on International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Birmingham. Sue is a keen sportswoman and in 2016 achieved a lifelong ambition to swim the English Channel.
Associate Director - Technology and Innovation, techUK
Laura Foster
Associate Director - Technology and Innovation, techUK
Laura is techUK’s Associate Director for Technology and Innovation.
Laura advocates for better emerging technology policy in the UK, including quantum, future of compute technologies, semiconductors, digital ID and more. Working alongside techUK members and UK Government she champions long-term, cohesive, and sustainable investment that will ensure the UK can commercialise future science and technology research. Laura leads a high-performing team at techUK, as well as publishing several reports on these topics herself, and being a regular speaker at events.
Before joining techUK, Laura worked internationally as a conference researcher and producer exploring adoption of emerging technologies. This included being part of the team at London Tech Week.
Laura has a degree in History (BA Hons) from Durham University and is a Cambridge Policy Fellow. Outside of work she loves reading, writing and supporting rugby team St. Helens, where she is from.
Elis joined techUK in December 2023 as a Programme Manager for Tech and Innovation, focusing on Semiconductors and Digital ID.
He previously worked at an advocacy group for tech startups, with a regional focus on Wales. This involved policy research on innovation, skills and access to finance.
Elis has a Degree in History, and a Masters in Politics and International Relations from the University of Winchester, with a focus on the digitalisation and gamification of armed conflicts.
