Case StudyTechnology

Digital Canada: Blueprint for National Digital Identity Platform

Canada offers an exemplar blueprint for a holistic, national approach to Digital Identity.

Canada offers an exemplar blueprint for a holistic, national approach to Digital Identity.

In their blog ‘Why Canada Needs a Digital ID Framework‘ DIACC describes a compelling argument for accelerating the development and adoption of a Canadian digital identity system.

The mission of the DIACC is to unlock interoperable capabilities of the public and private sector to secure Canada’s full and beneficial participation in the digital economy by fulfilling the following strategic goals aligned with their 10 Principles for an Identity Ecosystem.

They define the implementation of this ecosystem through ‘Identity Networks‘:

“Some countries, such as the Nordics, have a history of collaborative approaches to digital identity that is suitable for regulated services. In the case of the Nordics, the banks have over several years provided “BankID” services for use in financial services, government services, and the wider economy. Several other initiatives – some national, some international – are seeking to create similarly robust and ubiquitous digital identity networks in other regions.

These identity networks will allow digital identities to be portable, they will help to detect and reduce fraud, and they will provide mechanisms to ensure identity data is up to date. They will create collaborative environments where the needs of all stakeholders (not just a few) are met. The work of the DIACC, and in particular the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework, is helping to ensure that this is accomplished in identity networks in Canada and internationally.”

DIACC estimates a $15 billion value to the Canadian economy through implementation of this ecosystem, building a rising tide.

For example they highlight that during this time of coronavirus crisis there is a massive rise in remote working, a trend that is likely to continue, and that too presents risks that identity would address. Canada as a nation of digital identity would be better prepared to continue working in the event of future crisis and is thus a critical infrastructure that should be invested in accordingly.

PCTF

In this video Tim Bouma Senior Policy Analyst Identity Management for the Canadian Government, shares an overview of the PCTF: Pan-Canadian Trust Framework.

Tim explains that the Canadian Government’s Identity strategy has been under development for over a decade, evolving from a program to a user to now a Self Sovereign view for Digital Identity, and that is an ongoing process of innovation, with key goals of a pan-Canadian, technology-agnostic model.

He highlights how many are implementing similar approaches to the UK’s Verify system in terms of centralized or federated models, with SSI adoption being at the very early stage, and in another blog articulates a vision of how this will provide for the ‘Anchors and Rails of a Digital Nation‘.

A key design requirement for their framework is the ability to integrate with numerous existing legacy systems, those that operate via centralize and federated architecture.

Case Studies

Canada has a rich spectrum of identity initiatives, including national as well as provincial level programs such as MyAlbertaID, with this intro video for businesses.

Quebec is employing a digital ID app for drivers licences, provided by Bluink, who also enabled British Columbia to launch their eID scheme. Bluink‘s eID-Me smartphone app is now available in British Columbia, where it is compatible with the province’s BC Services Card, BC Driver’s License, and the combined BC Driver’s License and Services Card.

As their news reports the Ontario government is making the enhanced vaccine certificate with official QR code and the free, made-in Ontario verification app, Verify Ontario, available for download. Together, these tools will make it easier, more secure and convenient for individuals to provide proof of vaccination where required to do so, and for businesses and organizations to verify vaccine certificates while protecting people’s privacy.

Verify Ontario’s code has been released as open source software to allow for greater transparency and to share the code for free with other jurisdictions who may want to adopt it.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button