Monthly Archives: April 2021

DIACC Women in Identity: Azadeh Dindayal

DIACC is hosting a series of spotlights showcasing our amazing female DIACC members in the digital identity space, noting the importance of diversity. These spotlights will be regularly socialized through DIACC’s LinkedIn and Twitter channels as well as our monthly member newsletters.

If you’re a DIACC member and would like us to feature your spotlight, contact us today to learn more!

What has your career journey looked like?

I’ve had an incredible journey working and meeting individuals who are passionate about transformation, digital experiences and pushing the boundaries of what has been possible.

When you were 20 years old, what was your dream job and why?

I don’t think I ever wanted to confine myself to one dream job. It was about what I could learn and the people I would interact with that mattered most.


As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career?

Overworking. I worked hard, very long hours, and many late nights. It caused me to burn out and not focus on the things that mattered. I now make a continuous effort to keep a balance.

How do you balance work and life responsibilities?

Taking time out for my health and stress relief on a regular basis is key to how I manage and balance my life and work now.

How can more women be encouraged to pursue careers in the digital ID/tech space?

I think meeting other women in the industry is a good start. A mentorship program would be even better. I wish I had that when I was starting out my career.

What are some strategies you have learned to help women achieve a more prominent role in their organizations?

Internal sponsorship of women by other leaders is very important. We need to learn to humbly ask for that sponsorship and genuinely put in the time and effort to achieve the goals we set for ourselves.

What will be the biggest challenge for the generation of women behind you?

There’s many. But I believe the greatest challenge will continue to be managing family and work for some time until this issue is systematically addressed by our public & private sector. Childcare is not considered a right in Ontario. Stop the stigma of motherhood. Companies need to offer men and women both a fair and balanced chance. Being a parent is not a disability.

What advice would you give to young women entering the field?

Don’t set limits for yourself. Don’t be shy to ask why. Make friends everywhere.


Azadeh Dindayal is the Vice President of Marketing at Identos.

Follow Azadeh on Twitter and LinkedIn


Setting up digital ID regime could provide boost to post-pandemic recovery

By Joni Brennan, DIACC and Antoine Normand, In-Sec-M
Originally published by The Hill Times

There is no clear policy directive in Bill C-11 that allows Canadians to understand what they can expect in terms of accessing the data the federal public service has regarding them.

If the global pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that the need for reliable and secure data is paramount as businesses, governments, and Canadians from Vancouver to Quebec City to Charlottetown and everywhere in between move online. 

From receiving emergency pandemic benefits to ensuring health records are correct and helping children and youth with online education, the pandemic has put a renewed spotlight on the need for governments to move with urgency to invest in digital infrastructure. In fact, it’s critical to ensuring Canadians receive the services they need and that businesses can participate fully and securely in the global digital economy.

At the core of this infrastructure is a secure digital identity, which is essential to the function of daily life during a pandemic. 

The majority of Canadians believe it is important for federal and provincial governments to move quickly on enabling digital ID in a safe and secure manner, according to a recent survey from the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada. Investing in digital ID makes economic sense, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. For SMEs, the impact of digital identity can be used to improve processes that are difficult today, resulting in a potential $4.5-billion of added value to SMEs and reinvestments in the Canadian economy.

In Canada, the DIACC and its participating banks have identified potential net savings per institution at or above $100-million per year, through operational efficiencies created by reducing manual processing costs and curbing fraud.

While retail sales fell by almost 18 per cent from February to May 2020, the Canadian e-commerce market doubled. Data from J.P. Morgan also shows that e-commerce sales are growing faster in Canada than in many other Western countries. From e-commerce to the sharing economy a robust, digital ID establishes trust, provides security, mitigates fraud and enables continued growth for the sector. This is a win for citizens/consumers and businesses.

Additionally, an estimated $482-million is lost each year on the manual setup of user accounts within federal and provincial government services because of the need to prove identity with paper credentials. Issuing digital ID credentials is essential to a modern government operating in the digital age.

These are just a few of the myriad ways in which digital ID can help contribute to our post-pandemic economic recovery. 

Contrary to several misconceptions, digital ID is not about surveillance or tracking Canadians’ online activity. It’s about using the identification Canadians already have offline (e.g.: passports, driver’s licences, health cards, citizenship cards); having those credentials securely issued digitally; and being able to use them for digital transactions—from opening a bank account from the comfort of home to accessing medical records to receiving government benefits quickly and easily.

There are technology solutions and services that already exist today to easily adopt a digital ID ecosystem. In fact, in Quebec, the government has committed to issuing a strong digital ID to residents in the province in 2021. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel—changes can be made through regulations and policy setting. 

Additionally, in order for a safe and secure digital ID ecosystem to be successful, a trust framework that instills confidence for Canadians is paramount. The DIACC spearheaded the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework, an international collaborative approach to modernizing digital service delivery that’s recognized by the World Economic Forum and others.. This made-for-Canada framework enables the development of an adaptable infrastructure that will make the Canadian digital ID ecosystem more resilient to future crises.

But there is so much more work to be done. Our digital future rests on getting the digital ID right. This means ensuring the federal government’s Digital Charter Implementation Act, Bill C-11, enacts a 360-degree rights regime and includes public-sector data subject to the legislation. There is no clear policy directive in C-11 that allows Canadians to understand what they can expect in terms of accessing the data the federal public service has regarding them. The federal government must empower Canadians to access their own data and be able to use the credentials associated with it in a modern digital economy.

In the province of Quebec, the proposed Bill 64 to protect personal data introduces new concepts of consent, disclosure obligations in case of a breach, the transfer of personal information to other jurisdictions and very strong penalties for contravening the act (up to four per cent of the worldwide sales).

Digital ID means decreased costs for governments, consumers, and businesses while improving service delivery and driving GDP growth. Not adopting digital ID in a meaningful way or not getting it right means more privacy and security breaches, loss of revenue for Canadian businesses and inefficiencies in government service delivery. There’s never been a better time to invest in digital ID. Our economic recovery depends on it.

Joni Brennan is president of the Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada. Antoine Normand is president of IN-SEC-M, a Canadian cybersecurity cluster.

The Hill Times

DIACC welcomes Budget 2021 investments for digital transformation and innovation

Canada’s trusted digital ID leader, the DIACC, welcomes Budget 2021 investments for digital transformation and Canadian innovation

TORONTO, APRIL 19, 2021 — Joni Brennan, President of the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) released a statement following the tabling of the federal budget today:

If the global pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that the need for reliable and secure data is paramount as businesses, governments and Canadians from Vancouver to Quebec City to Charlottetown and everywhere in between move online. 

From receiving emergency pandemic benefits to ensuring health records are correct and helping children and youth with online education, the pandemic has put a renewed spotlight on the need for governments to move with urgency to invest in digital infrastructure. In fact, it’s critical to ensuring Canadians receive the services they need and that businesses can participate fully and securely in the global digital economy.

At the core of this infrastructure is a secure digital identity which is essential to the function of daily life during a pandemic. 

The DIACC, Canada’s digital ID leader, is pleased to see the federal government’s recognition that our economic future depends on digital investments. Initiatives like the investment in the Known Traveller Digital Identity pilot project and the Canada Digital Adoption Program will help Canadians, businesses and governments on this path. 

However, at the core of a safe and secure digital environment is a safe and secure digital ID. Given the federal government’s priorities around a Digital Charter, the government lost an opportunity to highlight the important need for investments in digital ID. Investing in digital ID makes economic sense, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For SMEs, the impact of digital identity could be used to improve processes that are difficult today, resulting in a potential $4.5 billion of added value to SMEs and reinvestments in the Canadian economy.

Our digital future rests on getting digital ID right. We look forward to working with governments to meaningfully adopt a digital ID ecosystem, especially as we look toward post-pandemic economic recovery.

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About Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC)

The Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada was created following the federal government’s Task Force for the Payments System Review to bring together public and private sector partners in developing a safe and secure digital ID ecosystem. The DIACC has 100 high profile members spanning several sectors from financial institutions, networks for payments and for identity verification, technology service providers, strategy and integration experts and federal and provincial governments. For 10 years the DIACC has built up this important sector as the trusted voice for driving the development of standards and a trust framework that will secure a fully digital Canada. With established global partnerships that will help Canada lead efforts in international digital interoperability and accreditation, the DIACC provides a world-leading forum to foster collaboration for developing and recommending harmonizing policies, standards, and regulatory changes with international benchmarks — innovative solutions to navigate the digital future.

For more information
Krista Pawley
krista@imperativeimpact.com 
416 270 9987

Spotlight one37 Solutions

1.What is the mission and vision of one37 Solutions?

Our mission is to unlock the potential of the universal identity with privacy, security and trust, one experience at time.

Our vision is to deliver unparalleled personalized user experience built on decentralized secure identity platform.

2. Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

The economic costs of the fragmented identity systems across various channels and businesses, the weak identity systems resulting in identity theft, SIM swaps and account takeovers, and increased corporate liability due to data breaches and regulatory non-compliance are skyrocketing and taxing in both existing and emerging markets.

The implementation of trustworthy digital identity systems will have exponential effects on the market growth and efficiency by streamlining and simplifying daily processes between citizens, governments and service providers in existing markets looking for efficiency and in emerging markets looking to close their digital gap and gaining security and speed of implementation.

At the onset, the rollout of decentralized identity systems seems both timely and significant. However, considering the various challenges that the global industries such as travel and healthcare have been currently facing in the form of security threats, adherence to health norms or regulatory compliances, there is a digital race to incorporate all of the above through a single trust platform while also ensuring a truly seamless experience. Thus, to stay competitive and build customer loyalty, there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way new advancements in technologies can be incorporated to balance such rising risk and opportunity demands.

3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does your organization address challenges associated with this transformation?

A trusted digital identity will have a major impact on the Canadian and world economies by adding tremendous value to a country GDP. The speed of trust will have ripple effects on every aspect of the economy.

one37 provides a state-of-the-art, safe and secure decentralized identity platform for identity verification in verticals such as travel and health. We are working with our partners and service providers to improve the daily lives of citizens in various scenarios such as “Contactless & Touchless Travel” and facilitate the seamless interactions between travelers and service providers along their journey while ensuring user authenticity, data integrity, compliance and governance for all relevant stakeholders within an ecosystem.

4. What role does Canada have to play as a leader in this space?

Canada is the world leader in digital identity and the protection of privacy and personal information. By championing the implementation of a decentralized identity technology across the public and private sectors, Canada will provide the role model for the decentralized identity implementation across the world and foster unprecedented growth in the digital identity economy. Canada is in a unique position to shape the future of travel, healthcare, banking and governmental services with monumental implications on both the governmental and corporate sectors worldwide.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

To  participate in the on-going discussions and the valuable work that DIACC is spearheading in digital identity and the implementation of the PCTF and be able to add value, work with other companies and partners and contribute in return to the growth of the identity economy.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

Every one37 team member is a strong believer in the deep impact that the decentralized universal identity will have on improving the life of every Canadian and world citizen and we are committed to working with our partners to add tremendous value one experience at a time.