The Importance of a Digital Identity System

Today, September 16th, is International Identity Day! To mark the occasion, the hosts are joined by Carsten Maple, who is Professor at the University of Warwick and Fellow of The Alan Turing Institute, for a conversation about the trustworthiness of digital identity systems, some of the related work going on at the institute and other “open” initiatives in the digital identity research space. Identification has come a long way since the 1990s when paper-based registries and documents, such as hardcopy passports, were the only option for fully verifying a person’s identity. The last decade has seen the proliferation of digital identity systems, both national and commercial, meaning that identities can be verified and checked securely, cheaply and at scale. Will digital identity systems will achieve fair and just outcomes for citizens? That remains an open question!