Identity in a Digital World: A new chapter in the social contract
All over the world, a growing number of organizations –from the public and private sectors –are advancing systems that establish and verify digital identities for people, devices and other entities. Yet we are still learning what “identity in a digital world”means. We are also still evolving policies and practices on how best to collect, process or use identity-related data in ways that empower individuals without infringing on their freedoms or causing them harm.
At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2018 in Davos, a diverse group of public and private stakeholders committed to shared cooperation on advancing good, user-centric digital identities. Since then, a broader group of stakeholders joined this conversation: experts, policy-makers, business executives, practitioners, rights advocates, humanitarian organizationsand civil society. This publication reflects their collective insights, synthesized and translated into a format useful for decision-makers and practitioners. It takes stock of where we are today and identifies gaps in coordination across sectors and stakeholders. It outlines what we’ve learnt to date on what user-centricity means and how to uphold it in practice. It attempts to offer a shared working agenda for leaders: an initial list of immediate-term priority actions that demand cooperation. It reflects, in short, the first stage in collective learning and the creation of shared goals and paths.
All over the world, a growing number of organizations –from the public and private sectors –are advancing systems that establish and verify digital identities for people, devices and other entities. Yet we are still learning what “identity in a digital world”means. We are also still evolving policies and practices on how best to collect, process or use identity-related data in ways that empower individuals without infringing on their freedoms or causing them harm.
At the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2018 in Davos, a diverse group of public and private stakeholders committed to shared cooperation on advancing good, user-centric digital identities. Since then, a broader group of stakeholders joined this conversation: experts, policy-makers, business executives, practitioners, rights advocates, humanitarian organizationsand civil society. This publication reflects their collective insights, synthesized and translated into a format useful for decision-makers and practitioners. It takes stock of where we are today and identifies gaps in coordination across sectors and stakeholders. It outlines what we’ve learnt to date on what user-centricity means and how to uphold it in practice. It attempts to offer a shared working agenda for leaders: an initial list of immediate-term priority actions that demand cooperation. It reflects, in short, the first stage in collective learning and the creation of shared goals and paths.