Monthly Archives: mars 2021

DIACC Women in Identity: Cosanna Preston-Idedia

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?

My journey has been far from a straight line. I have a BA in political science from the University of Alberta and a masters in African Studies from the University of Oxford. Since finishing my education, I’ve worked in multiple sectors and countries. I started in student journalism, shifted to the non-profit start-up space working on community development with a social justice lens and dabbled in academia for a bit. Eventually, I settled into public relations in Nigeria for 4+ years. Upon moving back to Canada, I spent time in customer experience strategy for a power utility before joining the Saskatchewan government, first as the director for digital citizen services and now for digital ID.

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

I’ve never quite had a dream job but I always knew I wanted to make a positive impact in people’s lives and somehow do my part in making the world a better place. That’s why I am so drawn to the public sector.


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

I’m extremely fortunate to say that I’ve had very few challenges on account of my gender identity. That said, I’ve grown up in professional environments where the gender balance is more prevalent. I have heard enough horrendous stories from other female leaders to know that my experience is not the norm. My barriers have more come from age, especially in my earlier years of leadership. As a young leader people consistently assumed I knew less and could do less. We often undervalue our youth as a society and this is something I consistently remind myself of as I work with the next generation of youth.

How do you balance work and life responsibilities?

Work life balance is sacred to me, as is my respect for deadlines, and those two things can often come into conflict. My general rules for myself and my teams:

  • Work to outcomes. Be clear on your deliverables and get the job done. But in doing so, set boundaries and prioritize.
  • Ask for help in doing this if you need it. We only have 8 hours in a day and weekends and evenings should be exceptions, not the expectation.
  • Take your holidays! Payouts and carrying over should be exceptions not the norm.

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

Tech doesn’t have to be intimidating (look at my background!) and tech also doesn’t have to mean being a developer. But I do believe that, love it or hate it, tech will continue to grow ever more central to our society. Dig into your passion and spend the time to understand how technology is impacting, shaping and changing that space. If the actual technical details aren’t for you, look to the concepts, outcomes, and impacts that technology has to offer and dig in there.

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

Lift people up. Lift people up. Lift people up.

This goes for all voices that need more prominence in our organizations, not just women. Take the time on projects, in meetings etc., to give space to those who may not naturally take it themselves. This can come in many forms:

  • End meetings with a round table.
  • Work with a teammate or colleague to help them find professional outlets to develop their passion.
  • Be a mentor and a coach.
  • Offer public praise and private – and always constructive feedback.
  • If you have a hand in assigning resources, prioritize diversity. Diverse perspectives always benefit an organization and provides opportunities to lift people up.

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

Women are a very diverse group and our challenges are not homogenous. For those like me, who have faced very little discrimination on account of their gender identity, the challenge will continue to be to recognize and use that privilege to widen the conversation and create space, not just for other women but for all those along the gender spectrum. We cannot become complacent that equality for some women is equal to equality for all.

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

Find your passion. Hone your strengths. Dig into the details, stay outcomes focused and curious, and always, always stay open to feedback.

Cosanna Preston-Idedia is the Director of Digital Identity at the Government of Saskatchewan

Follow Cosanna on Twitter at @cosanna and LinkedIn

DIACC Women in Identity: Malini Srinivasan

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?

During my 15 year of career, I’ve had opportunities to work for leading firms including Wall Street institutions. My career is shaped by experiences with Aon/Hewitt, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, Bank of Tokyo, and Brown Brothers Harriman. I’ve played different roles including Software Engineering, Business Analysis, and Product Owner. Following my passion towards entrepreneurship, bootstrapped blockchain startup vlinder a couple of years ago. It’s been an exciting journey – startup life has given me exponential learning.

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

Technology was gaining significant prominence back then and I wanted to perform a high-tech job (in Silicon Valley) leading to a CIO type role.

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

Honestly, I have been lucky not to face any significant barrier through my carrier. Personally, I believe such barriers are in the mind.

How do you balance work and life responsibilities?

The key is to set family time aside and not think about work during that time. In this connected world, sometimes it is hard to decouple work (e.g. looking at emails, chat channels, linkedIn from smart phone). However, with discipline and drawing the line, balance can be achieved.

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

Tech cannot be painted blue or pink. Tech is for the entire population, pick your leader, inspiration, and follow them. If I have to stress a particular point, taking cue from the previous question, good work/life balance can be achieved in Digital ID/Tech space (given that most of the work can be performed remotely).

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

Sometimes unconscious bias may exist – it’s important to think objectively and not about why a subset of the population cannot go up the ladder. It’s also important not to pay attention to historical metrics or even how many women are in executive positions in a given organization which is not a reflection of the future that can be achieved.

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

I would rather focus on the opportunity ahead of us – enterprises and the world now focus on equality and even have goals on the number of women leaders on the board. Some early indicators linking profitability and number of women leaders on the board are published.

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

Pursue the dream, strive for excellence, and success will follow.

Malini Srinivasan is the Founder of Vlinder.

DIACC White Paper: Consumer Digital Identity Leveraging Blockchain

The Commission on Enhancing National Cyber Security report from December 1st, 2016 emphasized the importance of securing and growing the digital economy. In line with the recommendations from this document, and in compliance with the Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada’s (DIACC) 10 Canadian Principles of a Digital Identity Ecosystem, SecureKey Technologies entered into a multiphase program with DIACC and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to evaluate, develop, and deliver a solution for enabling distributed privacy enhanced identity ecosystems.

This paper summarizes the work done as part of Phase 3 of the program, concentrating on the “Commercialization of the Verified.Me project,” and building upon the recommendations from the Applied Research completed in Phase 2 which are further described in this white paper.

Download the paper.

DIACC-White-Paper_Consumer-Digital-Identity-Leveraging-Blockchain_Final

Spotlight on Stonebridge Solutions

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

Stonebridge’s primary objective is to establish new mechanisms for identification, privacy and security to enable legitimacy, establish trust between two unknown parties and prevent fraud before it happens.

Our next generation technologies anticipate evolving and growing threats to both consumers and merchants and are designed to prevent these risks and empower users to positively impact their security and privacy as they transact digitally.

Our vision is to reduce the economic impact of fraud by provisioning a secure & private ‘digital last mile’ for payment.

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

The world is experiencing a social and economic shift at an unprecedented rate. This is driving the growth of new and more sophisticated threat models and legacy systems and technologies that are not easily adapted to address them creating a large gap being exploited by fraudsters and driving a an urgent need for a trusted digital identity.

https://stonebridgesolutions.ca/

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

One of XUMI’s founding principles it that there is economic value creation through the prevention of fraud and the elimination of risks through the establishment of a trusted digital ID that can be legitimized at the point of interaction.

We also believe that the promotion of digitization in Canada coincident with a Pan-Canadian framework for digital identity will enable greater and more efficient access to banking, government benefits, education, health care and many essential services while facilitating the security of the digital footprint and this will strengthen Canada’s economy locally and its position globally.

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

Canada has a significant role to play as a leader in digital identity and trust. We have a demonstrated history of ‘locking arms together’ collaboratively to work towards the common good. When that is blended with best in class technology, banking, government, and healthcare through DIACC we can effect a change and establish a framework for success for others to model.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

We joined DIACC because we understand and share the mission. We believe in the ‘root of trust’ being established and held by a trusted authority and have designed the last mile to extend this in a secure way to consumers and merchants. When we set out 4 years ago we believed that the road to global digital transformation was long, and then suddenly it wasn’t. Our technology is bigger than we are, and it has the ability to change the game, switch things up, have impact. We believe in the power of partnership and collaboration between great teams to solve extraordinary challenges. While working quietly away on our tech we’ve witnessed an unprecedented shift to digital in the last year, and alarming growth in the risks associated with it. We want to help, lend what ever we can to eliminate those risks and feel we can further that objective through DIACC.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

Stonebridge Solutions is a small, focused tech company located in Vancouver BC. Our objective of eliminating fraud began with the simple phrase “there has to be a simpler, more secure and easier way”.

We’ve spent 4 years devoting ourselves to eliminating the threat models associated with merchant payment, mobile wallets and mobile devices while designing innovative, intuitive and frictionless experiences for users, and a platform to support it under the brand name XUMI.

DIACC Women in Identity: Sophie Leroux

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?

From traditional marketing to full on business digital transformation.

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

Be a news reporter; now I get to change the world from the business perspective.

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

The lack of openness to a different management style.

How do you balance work and life responsibilities?

As best as I can! By putting me first.

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

By understanding that digital IS business and that it requires all types of profile.

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

Enabling ideas, nurturing respect, promoting success.

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

Widen your playing field. This is all about juggling ambiguity.

Sophie Leroux is the Solutions Manager at Desjardins.

DIACC Trustmark Verification Program Manager

The Digital Identification & Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) is seeking a Trustmark Verification Program Manager to support the DIACC Voilà Verified program. This is a part-time remote position with the potential to grow into a full-time role and can be performed from anywhere.

If you are a motivated, creative problem solver who would like to shape Canada’s digital future by working with Canada’s leading public and private sector organizations, this opportunity is for you.

Compensation is competitive and based on experience.

This posting is now closed. Thank you to all those who responded.

Responsibilities:

  • Manage correspondences, meetings, and logistics for assigned committees/groups; liaise with other committees/groups as needed.
  • Implement, refine, and manage review and team processes and requests.
  • Working with leadership, provide project management support for the assigned committees/groups.
  • Develop detailed project plans for initiatives; proactively manage changes to schedules, deliverables; alert project team to deadlines and/or contingencies; report concerns to leadership; and provide recommendations for quality and process improvements.
  • Foster cross-team communication and collaboration.
  • Work closely with fellow program managers to ensure information and identify risks and opportunities across programs and projects.
  • Support development and implementation of effective and efficient reporting.
  • Develop and implement resources as identified by the committees/groups and approved by leadership.
  • Update and maintain records in collaboration platforms (e.g. Confluence, G Suite), and make recommendations regarding enhancements.
  • Collaborate with various team members, committees/working groups, and external stakeholders, when designated, to support the program.
  • Assist with special projects and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree with 4+ years of professional experience in the non-profit sector at the coordinator or manager level is a plus but not required.
  • Self-motivated, takes initiative, organized, and detail-oriented professional with ability to work independently and as a team member while demonstrating commitment to client service, quality, and excellence.
  • Ability to prioritize workload, manage multiple projects, and meet deadlines with minimal supervision.
  • Strong computer skills utilizing Microsoft Office and G Suite required; advanced level of proficiency.

The following qualifications are considered to be desired by not required for the position:

  • Previous experience supporting certification and training initiatives.
  • Minimum of 3 years of experience involving committee support and governance.
  • Knowledge of standards development procedures and processes.
  • Project Management Professional (PMP) or project management training/certification.
  • Proficiency in both English and French.

Submit your resume and CV to info@diacc.ca with “Application: DIACC Trustmark Verification Program Manager” in the subject line.

Facial Biometrics – Voluntary vs. Involuntary


Contributions made by members of the DIACC’s Outreach Expert Committee

One of the nicest things about this pandemic is wearing our sweatpants all day, every day, while working. Right? Wouldn’t it be nice to wear sweatpants to the office, when this is all over? Sure, but that’s unlikely, at least if we want to keep our jobs. So, we choose to forgo our private sweatpants rights, to keep our more public jobs. Privacy and how we protect it has never been more important in our daily lives. Yet, a balance is necessary, between privacy and security, in our ever increasingly digital lives. With that, there is a rather public debate about privacy and the ethical use of biometrics. In particular, face biometrics can be misunderstood and feared with respect to our Right to Privacy. This article is an attempt to create a better understanding of it and, hopefully, reduce fear of such a promising and effective technology.  

Our use of biometrics enables our safety. At its most basic level, a biometric is a physiological trait or attribute that is unique to an individual person. When we recognize the faces of our loved ones, friends, and colleagues with our own eyes, we are using biometrics to help us build relationships and trust. Biometrics are, in a way, fundamental to human interaction and society. Today, biometrics can be used in person or automated, to increase convenience and security in various situations. 

There are many types of biometrics that we use daily. Face images are, by far, the most common. Any time somebody requests to see our driver’s license, passport, or ID badge, we are using biometrics. Most governments include face biometrics, in the form of a photograph, in their driver’s license, passport, or other national ID databases, as well as on the credential, itself. We use face biometrics, attached to a credential, to establish trust, when we access privileges, like driving a car, government services, commercial air travel and even buying liquor.   

Today there is some confusion and fear about biometrics, what they are, and what they can actually do. There are only two basic functions that a biometric can perform, Identificationand Authentication. When we first meet somebody, we may associate their name with their face. When we see that face we can identify that person by accessing the information in our mind. “Hi, I’m Jennifer” associates a name to face and allows us to identify them. When we arrive at a restaurant, we might scan customers to see if we recognize any of them. We identify Jennifer by recognizing their face in the crowd of people. In another instance, we can authenticate Jennifer by recalling information about them when presented with their face. If Jennifer were to knock on our front door, we can authenticate them with our own simple sight. Fundamentally these are the only two functions of a biometric. A properly designed face biometric system should include high confidence liveness checks, to differentiate between a real human face and a photo (for example) and face matching, in order to prove that a person is in fact who they claim to be. Stay tuned for our next blog where we’ll talk about liveness checks, anti-spoofing, and other methods to prevent various types of fraud.

In this age of information hyperbole, perhaps it’s understandable that there is some public misunderstanding of how these important technologies can and should be used. Big Brother surveillance and Privacy are central to debates about the ethical use of face biometrics. However, when examined thoroughly, we find that most, if not all of the ethical debate centers on how the biometrics are used and, more specifically, whether the biometric is used Voluntarily or Involuntarily.  

We tend to prefer freedom of choice, with our personal privacy. Sometimes we guard it. Other times, we agree to forgo some privacy, to access and enjoy many privileges of our society. For example, when applying for a credit card loan, the bank logically prefers to understand whether or not we are likely to repay the loan. To control its fraud and compliance risk, it requires knowing who it’s lending to and whether we are an existing customer, or potential fraudster, posing as a customer. So, we volunteer to divulge our private identities and backgrounds. We also allow the bank to compare our identity to those of existing customers, to learn if we are an existing customer or a fraudulent account holder at the bank. The bank Identifies us as a new customer (or not), as well as a legitimate customer (or not). It’s our choice to participate in this identification process, or not. It’s voluntary. If we agree, once we are approved, the bank requires us to Authenticate ourselves, every time we try to access the valuable privilege. In this case, we voluntarily relinquish our privacy Right, to get something of value in return. Moreover, the process includes both Identification and Authentication in a safe, productive and ethical way.  

However, in some cases, the privilege we want to enjoy is so valuable (granting it is so risky) that the service provider may be tempted to invade our privacy, without our consent, to protect it. Of course, there are some bad people out there. The problem is that we can’t tell who is good and who is bad, unless we specifically identify them all. To this end, law enforcement may wish to investigate and identify everyone within a certain group, like those walking down the street. The City of London, England, for example, installed CCTV cameras on most city street corners, to survey walkers-by for criminal activity. Moreover, the CCTV system was equipped with biometric facial recognition technology, to learn if any passers-by were in the criminal mugshot database. The City used Involuntary face recognition surveillance to Identify anyone in the field of view. Innocent passers-by had no choice but to submit to such a surveillance investigation and many view this as a clear violation of privacy.  

Similar to any tool, there is nothing inherently ethical or unethical about face biometrics, however these tools must be used responsibly. In a voluntary scenario, both Identification and Authentication can be important functions when used to protect our privacy and enable privileges that could not be offered without the presence of a human authentication method. This can help break down barriers to accessing government services or performing international business (by using authentication to reduce instances of fraud) or even protecting your own assets by granting access to your files via authentication of your unique profile. However in an involuntary scenario, potentially unethical scenarios exist that require deep conversations and eventually regulation about the balance between safety and privacy.

Understanding the difference between Voluntary and Involuntary facial recognition is a foundational issue that is helping us set the boundaries for the ethical use of biometrics by both governments and businesses. How that data is stored and used are all tied into this same problem. While there is nothing inherently ethical nor unethical about face biometrics, understanding and regulating its acceptable use is an important step to building public confidence in this trust enabling tool.

Care to learn more about this topic? Be sure to read our last release Exploring Facial Biometrics. What is it?

Spotlight on IMDS

1.What is the mission and vision of IMDS?

Since the 1980s, we have been hearing about paper-free businesses and the drive to move toward a more digital workplace. Today, the approach to digitally transform businesses has shifted from a technology first perspective to a more business centric approach, with paper-free processes becoming a focal point and opportunity for many organizations.

In 1995, IMDS’ co-founders wrote the book The Advanced Document and described the following three areas: outbound documents, inbound documents and the lifecycle of documents. These three areas work together and in today’s world (whether it’s a document or a communication) this model still applies:

• Inbound documents – document capture and data extraction

• Outbound documents – customer communications management (CCM)

• Archiving – Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

With offices in Quebec, Montreal and Paris, the IMDS Research and Development centre is based in Montreal. This team works on automatic processing technologies linked to the document, and, more particularly on pattern recognition and classification methods, as well as, on facial recognition solutions using machine learning, deep learning and artificial intelligence.

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

http://www.imds-world.com

A strong digital identity is needed for businesses and administrations to create an accurate and complete view of the customer, allowing on-going conversations, a strong engagement; and personalized and relevant content. Transactions are growing in volume and complexity. Customers are now in the driver’s seat and they expect seamless, omni-channel service delivery.

But this approach needs to allow individuals to have complete control over their data identity.

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

Digital identify needs to incorporate strong identification and authentication process.

The use of biometrics made a technological leap. Facial recognition is more and more widespread when accessing your mobile terminal or your computer. However, access to the mobile terminal often gives access without additional authentication to applications or services for which a first authentication has already been performed beforehand or which relies on an identification provider.

Access to a digital wallet requires a higher level of security, at least for certain important steps in account management (i.e., creation, request for a digital certificate, access to confidential information, etc.) IMDS addresses these challenges with a strong authentication approach that is based on multi-criteria authentication: i.e. Photo ID document verification, selfie, liveness, etc.

IMDS focuses on Identification and Authentication, processing photo identification documents, with the use of facial recognition and liveness detection.

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

Canada has an opportunity to be the leader in digital identity and trust services. Some of the best universities in the world, R&D companies, software vendors, consultants and experts are here in Canada.

DIACC and its members all experts in their own field are the proof that Canada will lead the way in this space.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

The goal of many organizations is to provide a digital identity for citizens, supported by a digital wallet, to simplify and expand access to government services.

IMDS  joined DIACC to collaborate with a group of experts, share and learn from other Canadian businesses, in order to participate in the creation of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

IMDS is the software vendor for AD’DOC Capture Pro. AD’DOC ™ Capture Pro is a state-of-the-art solution for character recognition, document data verification and facial recognition. Easy to learn, AD’DOC ™ Capture Pro will allow you to quickly design a document dematerialization workflow.

Thanks to its experience that was forged over 20 years in this field, and with more than 750 million documents scanned per year (and more than 20 billion characters recognized per year) AD’DOC ™ Capture Pro is a complete production solution that has proven itself in many industries (Banks, Administration, etc.).

DIACC Women in Identity: Alexa Abiscott

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?

Started as litigator on Bay street out of law school (student and then lawyer) from 2002-2012; became inaugural General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at a large Ontario Post-Secondary Institution; became General Counsel and Secretary of ApplyBoard Inc. in 2020 empowered to enable ApplyBoard’s continued ascent to bring access to education to our Global Student Users.

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

Anthropologist. I wanted to travel and study culture.

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

I feel fortunate that I was able to leverage the connection of women and being a General Counsel to co- found Women General Counsel Canada. Part of what brings our group of members together is the unique position we are in as women executives who are at the intersection of advising a business, enabling compliance and ensuring strategic risk management.

How do you balance work and life responsibilities?

Humour, humility, and hard work. And lots of laughing and singing with my four children.

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

By featuring women (just like this profile) and establishing continual mentorship opportunities.

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

Find allies and mentors, join external organizations to take on leadership roles and become an active change maker within your own organization with courage and authenticity.

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

Feeling pressured to choose between family and a leadership position / career.

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

Be courageous and do not use diminishing language or negative self talk. Do not be discouraged by the lack of women representation in STEM or Tech – it is changing. You can be the leader now that others will look to for inspiration.

Alexa Abiscott is the General Counsel and Secretary at ApplyBoard; Co-Founder and Board Member, Women General Counsel Canada.

DIACC Women in Identity: Deborah Moore

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?

My curiosity paved much of my career path. It certainly wasn’t a linear or traditional path. There were a number of leaps forward largely into uncertainty fuelled by emerging digital opportunities throughout my career. And, there were a few pauses as well to grow wee ones and fight with cancer along the way. A quest for learning and higher education throughout my career propelled me forward and continues to fuel my passion.

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

When I was 20 I wanted to be an engineer. It was the creative and innovative aspects of the job to solve problems for people and improve their lives that interested me. I was keenly aware that it was male dominated profession at the time and this opportunity/challenge didn’t deter me – quite the opposite.

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

There’s no doubt that at times, gender bias has come into play but equally it was the limitations or unconscious beliefs that we impose on ourselves as female leaders that created a few obstacles for me as well.

How do you balance work and life responsibilities?

Balance – what balance? More seriously, one of my mentees asked me how I do ‘it all’. For her, it appeared that everything was seamless as I managed the demands of my career, school, and a young child. I realized it appeared that way but in truth, I had help. I had a support system and sometimes things were a bit chaotic. I just didn’t expect perfect balance and thrived as things ebbed and flowed.

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

There are three key areas to focus on STEM education targeted on girls, sustained promotion of digital ID and tech careers as being well suited for women and propagating images that negate gender/racial stereotypes. Women need to see digital and tech roles as a compelling option and more prominent female representation, particularly in leadership roles to illustrate the interesting career options and progression opportunities in tech. Finally, all genders of leaders have a role in empowering women, making space for and ensuring they have a voice.

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

Strategies are often dependent on their situation but here are a few basics. First, helping them to identify any limiting beliefs that may be holding them back. Often times, it’s not the lack of opportunity but the lack of confidence that can hold women back, for example, the feeling that they need to know it all before taking the next step. Second, I reinforce that value of building your network, establishing a mentor, a coach and a sponsor to grow and support progression as well as being a mentor to other women. Lastly, I suggest they take a leap, be bold, own their voice, and not be afraid to make mistakes.

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

Gender imbalance will continue to be a challenge and their opportunity is work together to see the sky undistorted by glass.

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

Building the digital economy is an imperative to our economic and societal wellbeing, particularly for our economic recovery from the pandemic. The opportunity for young women is boundless and their participation and voices are needed at all levels to create a sustainable and equitable future for all.

Deborah Moore is the Director of Digital Transformation at Celero.

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