Getting Ready for Digital Identity
The UK is barely two years away from a full digital ID existence. Several key developments are creating and enabling the infrastructure within which digital ID can operate. We’ve seen increased availability of digitally presentable credentials, acceptance of biometric technology, greater reliance on digital ID for compliance in high trust activities and investment from major stakeholders, such as governments and technology giants.
The benefits for consumers, organisations and to society will be vast. But tens of thousands of organisations across the globe have done little to prepare for it. In the UK in particular, digital ID adoption has stalled. These organisations still have unanswered questions, specifically around trust and security, costs and compliance, inclusivity and impact on innovation and competition.
This hesitation is coming from the organisations that will be the ‘users’ - those who will have to understand and navigate the practical elements of full digital ID adoption. They sit across all sectors - banking, finance, retail, payments, property sales, pensions, travel, employment vetting, age verification...etc. They face a real danger of getting left behind by the digital ID revolution.
The answers to their questions already exist. This Getting Ready for Digital Identity paper seeks to provide some clarity and will prove to be a vital starting point for those organisations that will come to rely most heavily on digital ID.
Now is the time to start preparing for digital ID.
Katherine Holden
Katherine joined techUK in May 2018 and currently leads the Data Analytics, AI and Digital ID programme.
