ID2020 Alliance accelerates towards "good" digital identity through launch of Certification Mark and new Alliance member

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The ID2020 Alliance today announced the launch of its new Certification Mark initiative, which is an opportunity to recognize technologies that meet ID2020's technical requirements and could form the basis of a "good" digital identity. The Alliance also welcomed new member, CARE USA, at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos today.

ID2020's Certification Mark reaffirms the Alliance's mission to improve lives through digital identity by creating a trustmark for digital identity technologies that meet ID2020's technical requirements. The Certification Mark gives companies developing digital identity technologies in line with ID2020's core principles of portability, persistence, privacy, and user-control a way to demonstrate their commitment to "good" digital identity in the market, incentivizing a race to the top. It draws inspirations from efforts like the Trustable Tech Mark to develop a "badge of honor" for companies and organizations designing technology with user privacy and rights top-of-mind. And it builds upon ID2020's technical requirements and the efforts of the ID2020 Technical Advisory Committee, a group that comprises many of the world's leading experts on digital identity and its underlying technologies.

"The Certification Mark is a critical step in ensuring that digital identity technologies brought to market adhere to the highest standards of privacy protection, user-control and interoperability," said ID2020 board member Kim Cameron, who serves as Architect of Identity and Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft. "Microsoft is excited to work with ID2020 as it organizes stakeholders world-wide to take an active role in shaping ethical and user-in-control privacy-protecting technical design."

ID2020 board member and Gavi CEO Seth Berkley added, "At Gavi, we recognize how important it is that technology used in development settings protect individual privacy. Our partnership with ID2020 allows us to better understand the rapidly evolving digital identity landscape, and the launch of the Certification Mark provides valuable shorthand that Gavi, other development organizations, and governments can rely on to ensure that privacy and data protection are never compromised."

ID2020 also welcomed new Alliance partner CARE USA. "In a world with increased conflicts and displacement, we should be working collectively to use digital technologies to empower people with the right to access services and live in dignity," said Tamara Shukakidze-Demuria, Humanitarian Director of Practice, Partnerships & Innovation for CARE USA. "We are excited to be part of these strategic conversations and aspire to see it shape the overall future of humanitarian assistance."

The addition of CARE marks the seventh partner to join the Alliance since four new partners – Microsoft, Mercy Corps, Hyperledger and the UN International Computing Center – were announced as new partners during WEF's 2018 annual meeting.

"The diverse perspectives and expertise of this growing community – across enterprise, government and civil society – is driving meaningful progress towards shared understanding and practices to achieve the vision of good ID," said David Treat, ID2020 Board Member and Managing Director at Accenture. "Accenture has been a proud partner with ID2020 since 2017, and with the addition of each new partner, we strengthen collaboration and our ability to succeed in developing ethical digital identity solutions."

CARE USA joins an expanding group of partners in the ID2020 Alliance, with the goal to advance ethical, privacy-protecting digital identity globally. Organizations interested in partnering are encouraged to contact the ID2020 Alliance for further information.

About the ID2020 Alliance

The ID2020 Alliance is a global public-private partnership committed to improving lives through digital identity. The Alliance brings together multinational institutions, nonprofits, philanthropy, business, and governments to set technical requirements for "good" digital identity that prioritizes privacy, user-control and interoperability. It funds high-impact digital identity projects, and uses the data generated to find scalable solutions and inform public policy. Partners include Accenture, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Hyperledger, iRespond, Kiva, FHI360, Mercy Corps, Microsoft, IDEO.org, the United Nations International Computing Centre and CARE USA.

Read more about the ID2020 Alliance at https://id2020.org. Read our Alliance Manifesto at https://id2020.org/manifesto/.

For more information, please contact:   
Emily Rutland  
ID2020 Alliance  
[email protected]   
+1.973.255.6088

SOURCE ID2020 Alliance