Identity: It's about the Data, Stupid

Speaker: Steve Wilson

Calls to improve Digital Identity are almost as old as the Web itself. Prominent movements include the Identity Metasystem, Federated, Self-Sovereign and Decentralized Identity, or just plain “Good” Identity. Prominent public-private partnerships, despite two decades of hard work, have yet to deliver on the promise of a sustainable free market of identities. So the time has come to re-frame the problem. Digital Identity is a special form of data. It’s very special indeed, but it’s just data, nevertheless. Digital Identity can’t be anything other than data! The frontiers of Digital Identity ― verified claims and credentials, ""DID documents"", proving possession, granting consent ― all boil down to the quality characteristics of data. We can generalize the best of Identity to deeper problems like provenance and truth. This presentation will set out a vision and unique opportunity for the Identity profession to apply itself to building the critical infostructure of the Digital Economy.