Mobile identity is at the heart of the digital economy. By helping everyone and everything to get connected securely and conveniently, mobile identity is increasing market digitisation with tremendous socio-economic impacts across different industry verticals ranging from m-health, m-banking, m-government, m-commerce and others.
In a time of financial instability for many countries across the world, this is especially more important. Increased partnerships between public and private stakeholders to deliver digital identity management plans will enable global innovation, increased productivity and job creation and be a catalyst to spur investments and economic growth. According to Greenwich Consulting, the estimated value of the market for mobile identity management solutions could reach approximately €11.2 billion by 2015 and this may only represent part of the opportunity. At a 22% annual growth rate, Boston Consulting Group estimate that the total value of digital identity could reach €330 billion annual economic benefit for organisations in Europe by 2020.
The role that mobile operators are playing in the digital identity ecosystem is critical for several reasons:
- Mobile devices are ubiquitous in everyday life: there are 6.5 billion connections globally and the number is increasingly rapidly and exponentially;
- Subscriber Identity Module (SIM): with more than 2 billion cards in use globally, the SIM is the largest de-facto identity standard
- Mobile devices are easy and widely used amongst all generations, including the elderly and low-income groups;
- Mobile solutions service allow the initiation of on-line identity schemes that allow sensitive personal information to be protected by strong forms of authentication, thus helping to build trust and confidence and prevent cyber-crime
- Mobile solutions allow for cooperation and interoperability across multiple operators and the wider eco-system
- With mobile identity, there is only one single device for authentication, and no need to carry multiple tokens to ensure security;
- Mobile operators can deliver identity solutions which capitalise on their existing assets e.g. SIM, authentication protocols, consumer trust, registration policies.
Mobile identity is important for increasing social inclusion. As Regulatory and Policy Director for the GSMA Mobile Identity Programme, I feel thrilled that in many countries governments that are currently facing the challenge of greater market digitisation are considering the power of mobile technology for their identity management strategies.
On-going initiatives expected to have an impact on lessons learnt about scalability and interoperability of mobile identity include:
- The UK Cabinet Office has launched an Identity Assurance programme (IDAP) to provide to all UK citizens access to online public services and announced that any organisation, including mobile network operators and other private sector providers can be an identity provider by obtaining government certification. In May 2013, the second series of Good Practice Guides (GPGs) for potential providers of identity assurance for government services have also been published. An updated version of the Draft Identity Assurance Principles that put forward a user-focused digital public service has also been outlined for consultation. The GSMA is working actively in the UK to create a commercial trust framework for the industry wider eco-system (please see Resources page for more information).
- In the US, a National Strategy for Trust Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) has taken steps to create secure online identities for Americans. The strategy envisages an ‘identity ecosystem’ of public and private sector organizations helping individuals to validate their identities securely when they’re doing sensitive transactions let them stay anonymous when they’re not. An Accreditation and Certification scheme, as well as other relevant documentation, is also under preparation.
- In Europe, on the 4 June 2012 the European Commission has proposed new rules COM (2012) 238/2 to enable cross-border and secure electronic transactions and identification in Europe. The proposed Regulation will replace the EU E-Signature Directive 1999/93/EC, a community framework for the legal recognition of electronic signatures in Europe.The proposed regulation, in practice, will allow citizens and businesses to use their own eIDs to access public services in other EU countries where eIDs are available and to ensure that related online services (so-called “trust services”), such as signature, time stamping, electronic delivery, electronic seals and website authentication work across borders and have the same legal status as traditional paper based processes.The implications of this framework for privacy, security and interoperability are substantial, and the GSMA is currently working with its Members to address the areas where the text proposed by the Commission could be improved, in order to maximize the economic benefits of digital identity and the potential for the industry to unlock innovative solutions for eGovernment and more broad commercial opportunities. The latest amendments proposed by the European Parliament and relevant Committees have been published on the 20th May 2013 and are available here.
The objective is to learn from all these on-going initiatives and help the industry and policymakers to move quickly to establish and implement a best practice model for effective, open and interoperable mobile electronic identification framework.