S5 Episode 20: Unraveling the Future of Self-Sovereign Identity with Marie Wallace from Accenture

Consumers are beginning to understand that their personal data has real value, but it is still held in the hands of big technology companies.  The promise of consumers managing and owning their own data will become a reality thanks to decentralised or self-sovereign identity (SSI).

To delve into this topic, I'm delighted to welcome onto the podcast Marie Wallace, Digital Identity Lead at Accenture.

Marie and I both had the chance to work together at IBM and I've always enjoyed our discussions about analytics and data, and this conversation explains SSI in a very accessible way.

Self-Sovereign Identity, or decentralized identity, is a model where individuals have full control over their personal data.

During the episode, Marie debunked the common myth that implementing this model necessitates a blockchain, and we looked at the concept of "streaming trust".

We also looked at Marie's instrumental role in projects like IBM's Digital Health Pass and New York's Excelsior Pass during the pandemic.

A fascinating part of the discussion revolved around the concept of verifiable data, and the potential of AI in offering personalised career advice, primed with our own personal data.

We also examined how companies might interact with customers to provide incentives for releasing individual data and how LinkedIn is starting to verify profiles to allow individuals to have more control over the data they own.

This episode also looked at the integral role of trust networks, the need for secure digital wallets, and the exciting prospects of verifiable data.

We also covered topics such as

• The concept of "streaming trust" & how SSI works
• Sovereign identity & worker onboarding
• Trusting the trust provider
• The need for secure, trusted digital wallets
• Using SSI to validate my LinkedIn profile
• Exploring the Concept of Verifiable Data
• Empowering consumers with their own data
• The role of AI with SSI & personal data
• SSI drivers: risk, cost, fraud reduction
• Where do I store my SSI data?
• The Philosophy of Self-Sovereign Identity
• Examples where SSI is working already
• Self-Sovereign Identity and AI Explorations
• Embedding trust with the supply chain
• AI uses in SSI
• Empowering Individuals with Self-Sovereign Identity
• Who needs to drive SSI adoption?
• The biggest challenge in SSI
• What are the steps to take to control my own data?
• Being more data literate and caring about your identity and online safety
• Three actionable steps to manage your own identity

More on Marie
Marie on LinkedIn
Marie on Twitter
Marie's blog
Marie's TED talk

Resources mentioned
1Password

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