NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The ID2020
Alliance announced its first two pilot projects and welcomed new
Alliance members – iRespond, Kiva, Simprints, FHI360 and IDEO.org –
at its annual Summit, which took place today in New York. This year's gathering focused on
discussing and defining "good" digital identity, including both
technical and non-technical requirements that prioritize user
control and individual privacy. The Summit's 300 participants and
speakers included technology innovators, policy leaders,
humanitarians and development specialists.
"The conversation this year shifted from the potential to the
practical. Today's Summit explored what is required for digital
identity to be 'good' and implemented at scale," said Dakota Gruener, Executive Director of ID2020.
"We are thrilled to be expanding and strengthening the Alliance's
partnerships with innovative organizations – both with new Alliance
members and through our pilot programs – as we focus on developing
and testing ethical digital identity solutions."
The event was sponsored by the UN Office of Information
Communications Technology (OICT), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR),
the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Danish
Mission to the United Nations.
One of the two ID2020-supported pilot projects announced today
will be led by Alliance partner iRespond and will be conducted in
close partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC).
The pilot will offer blockchain-based digital identification,
linked to individual users through iris recognition, for refugees
accessing the IRC's services in the Mae La Camp in Thailand. Initially, these digital identities
will enable the recipients to access improved, consistent
healthcare within the camp through an accurate and secure
electronic medical record. In the future, the same system may
electronically document both educational attainment and
professional skills to aid with employment opportunities.
"At iRespond we are driven by a
desire to use technology to enhance well-being for the least well
off. We are excited by the possibility for this project to provide
access to improved healthcare and livelihoods for vulnerable
individuals," said Larry Dohrs, Vice
President, Asia-Pacific,
iRespond.
Darren
Hertz, Country Director, IRC Thailand noted, "The IRC
Thailand really appreciates the opportunity to partner with ID2020
and iRespond on this innovative project. We're keenly aware of and
awaiting the improvements this will create in the quality of health
care services we provide to refugee populations. But equally
exciting is the means by which individual medical records, diplomas
and certificates can be confidential, safe and accessible for
displaced populations caught in a world of uncertainty. We believe
this offers real opportunity for better futures."
The second pilot project will be led by Everest working in close
partnership with The Indonesian National Team for the Acceleration
of Poverty Reduction (TNP2K) in the office of the Vice President of
the Government of Indonesia. The
pilot will facilitate the transfer of liquid propane gas (LPG)
subsidies by delivering them to a biometrically validated digital
wallet over a transparent and low cost blockchain. The goal of the
pilot is to modernize delivery, reduce financial leakage, and
enable banking services through financial inclusion. Addressing the
current problems of delivery inefficiencies and lack of
transparency will provide economically disadvantaged individuals
greater access to energy subsidies.
Everest CEO Bob Reid said, "By facilitating the transfer of
LPG subsidies using secure and permissioned blockchain-based
biometric identity with a digital wallet and scalable transactions,
Everest and the government of Indonesia have the opportunity to enable
banking services with enhanced financial inclusion for those who
need it most."
Hilman Palaon, Financial Inclusion
and Government to Person (G2P) Payment Specialist at NP2K added,
"The results of the Everest pilot are expected to provide new
potential solutions, including insights on how to transform the
implementation of [the LPG subsidy] program in the future."
ID2020 is excited to welcome its new partners: iRespond, Kiva,
Simprints, FHI360 and IDEO.org. Shauna
Carey, Managing Director of IDEO.org, noted:
"At IDEO.org, we believe that
technology – when designed in service of human needs – has immense
potential to transform the lives of people in marginalized
communities around the world. When it comes to something as
fundamental as the ability to prove one's own identity, keeping the
individual at the center of the design process is especially
imperative."
Read more about ID2020's 2018 Summit at
https://id2020.org/summit. Read our Alliance Manifesto at
https://id2020.org/manifesto/.
About the ID2020 Alliance
The ID2020 Alliance is an
innovative public-private partnership committed to improving lives
through digital identity. The Alliance brings together
multinational institutions, nonprofits, philanthropy, business, and
governments to set the technical standards for a safe, secure, and
interoperable digital identity that is owned and controlled by the
user. It funds high-impact pilot projects that bring digital
identity to vulnerable populations, and uses the data generated to
find scalable solutions and inform public policy. Partners include
Accenture, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Hyperledger, iRespond, Kiva,
Mercy Corps, Microsoft, and United Nations International Computing
Centre.
Contact: Emily Rutland,
press@id2020.org - +1.973.255.6088
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SOURCE ID2020 Alliance