Credentials galore - the new megatrend

2023 was the year when it was widely realised that e-identification - important as it is - is just one credential building the e-identity of citizens and organisations. With the already available EUDI-compliant general purpose and automatically interoperable wallet applications for all issuers, holders and service providers - we could start helping citizens, organisations and things create digital twins of themselves by getting access - without technical integrations - to verified data from both public and private sector organisations.

The Self-sovereign Identity this is based on,  will also become the firm foundation for more productive, more energy-efficient, privacy-respecting and ethical artificial intelligence solutions. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bo-harald-4768b51_connecting-ai-to-the-trust-infrastructure-activity-7125393724984991745-wleY?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

It took a few rounds in Brussels to get the consensus in place that the organisation ID-wallets are the precondition for getting the needed data to citizens’ and organisations’ life events - as already GDPR art 20 is mandating for enterprise’s part. Now the EU-funded EWC-consortium led by the Nordics is focusing on this fundamental step to both better productivity (3-6% GDP growth according to McKinsey) and better services across sectors and borders.

2024 will be the year when especially central and local governments will realise that they have the p r i m a r y responsibility to make the migration to trust infrastructure happen fast. This happens by issuing all sorts of simple eye-opening credentials so that citizens and organisations can get the needed set to their life events at hand.  This supply will build a tsunami of demand also towards enterprises and open the eyes in every organisation. Make them see the value of getting verified data from other enterprises, the public sector, employees and citizens as customers. And issuing their own credentials via always interoperable ID-application to the same applications in enterprises and the public sector. 

Needless to say that banks should make their choice - be at the table - or on the menu