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Spotlight on the Digital Technology Supercluster

1. What is the mission and vision of the Digital Technology Supercluster?

The Digital Technology Supercluster solves some of industry’s and society’s biggest problems through Canadian-made technologies. We bring together private and public sector organizations of all sizes to address challenges facing Canada’s economic sectors including healthcare, natural resources, manufacturing and transportation. Through this ‘collaborative innovation’ the Supercluster helps to drive solutions better than any single organization could on its own.

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

With the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever we are relying on our ability to prove our identity and key personal information remotely. Over the past six months, we have worked with dozens of organizations to develop and deploy cutting-edge digital and virtual health platforms. A critical requirement to ensure uptake of these developments is ensuring that Canadians feel they are in control of their personal data and have trust in the institutions and protocols we have created.

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

For the Digital Technology Supercluster, we see digital identity as a key component in the adoption of our many innovative technologies – whether it’s accessing remote addiction and mental health treatment for health care workers, or receiving post-surgical treatment from home. Without secure digital identity, Canada will be unable to continue developing innovative solutions like these. As a team, we strive to collaborate with companies (large and small), organizations and academic institutions to ensure that we are addressing digital security from all sides. Ensuring privacy and control of personal information is at the heart of what we do, and organizations like DIACC provide critical guidance on this front. 

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

Canada is already seen as a leader in the global economy. We are known for our transparency, ethical business practices and diverse resources. This foundation puts us on solid ground for not only contributing to the policy of digital identity, but alongside DIACC, leading the way on international interoperability in this space.

5. Why did the Digital Technology Supercluster join the DIACC?

We believe there is power in coming together towards a common goal, and that there is strength in bringing different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds to the table. To reach Canada’s full potential, it is critical that we leverage our diversity and unique strengths to share knowledge and expertise.

6. What else should we know about the Digital Technology Supercluster?

While we are located in Vancouver, British Columbia, our members span across the country, with 40 per cent of our 750+ membership in provinces outside of British Columbia. We are open to working with all types of organizations. By facilitating bold collaboration, we bring together companies of all sizes from a myriad of sectors within the tech ecosystem and tech-enabled companies from a variety of industries. This allows these organizations to tap into a network of knowledge and experience they would not otherwise have had access to.

Spotlight on ModoHR

1. What is the mission and vision of ModoHR?

ModoHR is a Canadian technology-driven business that provides modern solutions for the human resources industry. Our web application, ScreeningCanada™ was developed with the goal to empower Canadian organizations to remotely conduct background screening and digital identity verification. We help set the standard for Canadian privacy, compliance and data security; these unwavering principles provide Canadian organizations with compliant products and services that mitigate risk. 

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

Simply put, digital identity is the foundation of background screening. Without a candidate’s consent and identity verification, compliant and thorough background screening cannot take place. In addition, the emerging markets like on-demand delivery services and ride-sharing have further highlighted the need for speed in the background screening industry. We strongly believe that a trusted digital identity solution is critical in removing these obstacles and improving remote hiring.

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

Digital identity will transform the Canadian and global economy by removing geographical barriers for individual job applicants. ModoHR is pioneering new identity verification solutions in the marketplace with tools that utilize credit file-based verification, live video verification and facial accreditation. Existing background screening processes have traditionally required face-to-face interaction with the hiring manager, or an in-person verification conducted by an authorized third party like Canada Post. ModoHR’s digital identity solutions remove barriers that previously existed for remote hiring. The process is compliant with federal and provincial physical distancing recommendations and approved by police services. This transformation will empower Canadians and organizations to increase diversity and inclusion by removing traditional remote hiring barriers.

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

There is no question that Canada possesses the necessary knowledge and capabilities to be a leader in digital identity. Our national approach to privacy and compliance and the value we place on protecting personal information across all industries, is highly regarded around the world. In the coming months and years, Canadian provinces will need to work together to centralize, standardize and unilaterally protect personal information, and develop methods to securely utilize this information to verify identity.

Our competitors in this space are already operating on the global stage; Canada must move quickly to share resources, seek federal support and ensure that our sovereign interests will not be negatively influenced by the standards set by other nations. More importantly, we need to lead this charge to develop processes and platforms that are truly Canadian.

5. Why did ModoHR join the DIACC?

ModoHR Technologies joined DIACC to share our knowledge and experience relating to the important topic of digital identity, compliance, risk mitigation and global regulatory challenges.  We believe that together, Canadian organizations can not only improve processes for Canadians but remain at the cutting edge of policy development globally. We look forward to networking and sharing knowledge with other DIACC members.  

6. What else should we know about ModoHR?

ModoHR is owned by background screening and risk mitigation industry experts. Our executive team founded the pre-employment industry in Canada 20 years ago and built the largest risk mitigation firm in Canada. These subject matter experts came together to collaborate, re-imagine and empower Human Resources with technology that ensures privacy, security and streamlines processes for organizations and individuals alike. Our drive and enthusiasm is reflected in every new risk mitigation product or service that we create. In summary – we build what’s next™. 

Spotlight on Celero

1. What is the mission and vision of Celero?

Our vision is to be a leading provider of technology solutions to the financial industry that…

  • Others aspire to be
  • People want to work for
  • Clients know they can rely upon.

Celero is realizing this vision is by delivering a digital technology, integration and payments ecosystem to credit unions and financial institutions across Canada. This is accomplished through an innovative mindset, commitment to delivery, strong external partnerships and an unrelenting focus on reliability and security.

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

As a provider of technology solutions to credit unions, we recognize the growing expectation our clients face from their members who demand convenience, innovation and robust security in every financial experience.

Digital identity is the mechanism to enable our clients to secure their members’ trust as they serve them in an increasingly digital world. Beyond that, digital identity can be an enabling force for Canadians who are unbanked or underbanked. We believe in supporting the financial health of our customers’ customers and recognize that authentication of identity is a means for a more financially inclusive Canada.

Overall, Celero recognizes we have a critical role to play in enabling our clients to build trusted and lasting relationships with their current and future members through a trusted digital identity framework.

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

To protect consumers, organizations put safety measures in place that can also cause constraints on convenience. This has been an ongoing challenge for financial institutions, and today’s ‘on-demand’ culture has served to spotlight these issues.

A trusted digital identity framework for Canada will provide a backbone of security in convenient transactions – removing barriers, streamlining service delivery, and strengthening national and global economies.

Celero can help shape the framework with a  credit union perspective and can seek out the potential use cases and applications that can benefit our clients and their members and contribute to the DIACC’s goals through our expertise in financial technology and cyber security.

For instance, the Celero Xchange™ digital integration ecosystem platform enables financial institutions to seamlessly connect their secure platforms, such as their core banking system, to fintech applications – without the complexity of managing different standards for sharing data between products and partners.

Authenticating and authorizing a credit union member without compromising the security while maintaining a seamless member user experience is a key component of our platform and value proposition.

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

Canada has a growing fintech industry that is constantly seeking new ways to address digital innovation challenges and better serve consumers. The industry is becoming internationally recognized, and that expertise can serve Canada well in shaping a world-class digital identity framework that sets the standard for other countries to follow.

5. Why did Celero Solutions join the DIACC?

Our goal in joining the DIACC is to participate in driving forward solutions for digital identity trust in Canada, while obtaining new insights to apply with our clients in offering their members security, flexibility and convenience in a digital first society.

Spotlight on Vlinder

1. What’s your organization’s mission and vision?

Based in the United States and India, Vlinder’s vision is to enable an inclusive and sustainable ecosystem, with trust as the underpinning foundation.

Vlinder platforms are built harnessing new-gen technologies including blockchain, IoT and artificial intelligence to foster inclusion and sustainability within the ecosystem. 

Vlinder platform offerings are focused on helping private and public enterprises working towards the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

2. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy?

Globally, there are 1 billion people without proper identification, which equates to roughly one seventh of the world’s population. This population typically includes low income and vulnerable groups including women and girls, migrants, refugees, individuals with disabilities, and indigenous populations.

Not having access to proper ID restricts these vulnerable populations in obtaining basic essential services such as health, education, and financial services. 

ID is a foundational element that is a direct and indirect enabler of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including:

  • Access to finance
  • Gender equality and empowerment
  • Access to basic health and education
  • Child protection
  • Social protection
  • Labour Markets

Building an inclusive sustainable ecosystem will not only better the lives of vulnerable populations, but will also help improve the global economy as more people will be contributing. 

3. How does your organization address the needs of this transformation?

Vlinder has built a decentralized ID platform, Klefki, which enables citizens to:

  • Own their identity.
  • Accept credentials from issuers and store them securely in mobile wallets.
  • Share credentials with verifiers using consent on demand.
  • Disclose selective details of credentials, as opposed to sensitive data.

Enables issuers to:

  • Issue credentials directly to the users wallet.
  • View all the credentials issued.

Enables verifiers to:

  • Verify credentials with citizens directly.

Our platform is being piloted in various countries, and is focused on bringing trust and inclusion to the broader population, while enabling the existing system to be more efficient. 

4. What role does Canada have as a leader in the space?

All countries have a role to play in accelerating progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Canada is a leader in technology and with a progressive mindset is well positioned not only to transform the ID (and peripheral) ecosystem within the country, but to bring change and transformation to the world. 

Any transformation led by Canada will be seen by the world and developing economies as a reference model for adoption. 

5. Why did your organization join DIACC and what else should we know about your organization?

Vlinder joined DIACC to participate and contribute to an important initiative, which is not only transformational for the Canadian population, but to the rest of the world. 

Spotlight on Mavennet

1. What is the mission and vision of Mavennet?

Mavennet’s vision is to build a new world of trust. 

We strive to empower large enterprises with better and more effective ways to securely share information and value. We build on technologies such as blockchain and AI to help transform entire industries. Our focus extends to several industries: financial services, supply chain, energy, the public sector and media and entertainment. Our business focuses on challenging the status quo of industries that are in need for disruption, either internally or externally.

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

Identity is at the foundation of any sharing of value or information. 

Traditional identity management systems are vulnerable to single points of failure, they raise privacy issues for the data they carry and limit the possibility of secure interoperability. In industries with business processes that rely on complex workflows or transactions amongst multiple stakeholders, the need for trustworthy digital identity becomes paramount.

At Mavennet, we are implementing decentralized identifiers to our suite of supply chain products to be able to associate a robust digital identity to actors and assets along a network. In conjunction with verifiable credentials (VCs) we enable cryptographically sound and privacy preserving claims that provide transparency and traceability to value chain participants. Ultimately, this trusted digital history of physical assets enables industries to have reliable provenance of goods and attribute actions to stakeholders. This addresses the most pressing pain points of global supply chains: traceability, auditability, flexibility and stakeholder management. 

Unlocking trustworthy digital identity in a way that is easy to implement in existing enterprise environments and can be readily adopted by multiple industries is crucial. It opens new pathways to emerging markets that are vulnerable to lack of trust amongst participants. 

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

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the lack of responsiveness and flexibility of global supply chains, as evidenced by the spike in closures of manufacturing facilities and the unmet demand for basic commodities. An added concern for international trade is the rise in counterfeiting, which exceeds $900 billion USD annually. These threats to the security and stability of global supply chains can be in part offset by the adoption of digital identities. Their power to unlock fast, secure and trustworthy exchanges, can significantly improve the operational and business process efficiency of industries as a whole. This overhaul of internal traditional processes translates into more globally competitive businesses and positions Canada as an incrementally valuable trading partner.

Mavennet has been deeply involved in the space of decentralized identities and VCs through the deployment of an energy traceability platform that provides end-to-end visibility of assets. This solution, called Neoflow, has laid out new standards for exchange of data in the form of VCs between supply chain stakeholders by identifying them with a unique decentralized identifier. Our goal is to aid the transformation towards digital identities by providing a set of standards and APIs that enable seamless integration with other vendors with the same vision and legacy systems.

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

Canada is particularly well poised to act as a leader in this space, given its strong international voice relative to its size.

Canada has a unique opportunity to drive the standards for adoption at an international level, due to its position as a global emerging innovation ecosystem and technology hub. Further, as a top global exporter of crude oil, gold, wheat, aluminum and others, Canada plays a key role in the way that international trade is conducted. The country has the international relevance to coordinate and propagate digital identity initiatives.

5. Why did Mavennet join the DIACC?

Defining identity standards collaboratively is an essential step when you are looking at transforming entire industries. Up to now we have been doing work with decentralized identity and VCs standards applied to the industries we focus on. We hope to leverage our experience and vision to contribute to the work DIACC does and help raise the water level for Canadian technology as a whole.

6. What else should we know about Mavennet?

We are currently working on exciting solutions for governments and multinational companies in Canada, US and Europe. The core IP of these solutions involves identity management, asset traceability, digital assets, analytics and artificial intelligence. Some of these are:

  • Neoflow – provides end-to-end digital traceability for energy. In particular we are working with the United States Department of Homeland Security  to help with traceability in the oil and gas sector. Multiparty, real-time, immutable data and insights gathered by Neoflow allows governments and key stakeholders to make data-backed decisions on supply/demand, regulation policies and tariffs.  
  • MetalTrail – traces the steel value chain, including materials’ dependencies, to certify the true origin, quality and environmental footprint of steel products.  
  • QCAD – is the first fully-regulated Canadian Dollar Stablecoin. This product was created through Stablecorp, a joint venture between 3iQ and Mavennet.  
  • MavenStamp – seamlessly provides “immutability as a service” through an API. It enables non-technical users to timestamp data on the blockchain and obtain  evidence of its existence. 

Earlier this year Mavennet launched an EU sponsored multinational blockchain research project funded at $12 million CAD. Mavennet leads the consortium as the technical lead. In this way, we are excited to continue contributing to the digital identity space and to be in such a privileged company with the DIACC. 

Spotlight on iProov

1. What is the mission and vision of iProov?

iProov’s mission is to make the internet a safer place for businesses and consumers. We provide trusted biometric authentication that is seamless, secure and effortless. Our vision is for all governments and enterprise institutions to be confident that the remote user is real and can be trusted. iProov strongly believes that the user and usability should be the heart of any solution and as such must be accessible to all users irrespective of their abilities, literacy and digital capability.

iProov ensures trust online through Genuine Presence Assurance. Governments, financial institutions and other enterprises are using iProov’s Genuine Presence Assurance technology to ensure that an online user is not only the right person, but that they are a real person and authenticating right now. This unique approach protects against impersonation and criminal attacks, providing the highest levels of security alongside effortless usability.

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

One of the most significant challenges with digital service is establishing trust. A key element of which is how to bind the digital identity attributes of a person, to the person and assuring only they can assert that identity. As online digital becomes the primary channel to interact with services, customers and citizens are increasingly vulnerable to impersonation attacks from fraudsters compromising their identity. It is crucial to have consented, secure and effortless identity verification and authentication for everyone.

In many economies, parts of the citizen population have no formal identity documentation. Embracing digital identities will enable all members of society to be included, enabling them to unlock access to services previously not possible.

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

Digital identities are the cornerstone of doing businesses in the 21st century, they offer speed and flexibility in remote interactions which creates greater competition, economical efficiency, and greater citizen empowerment and inclusion.

iProov provides governments and enterprises with a very high level of assurance that the person interacting with their service is the legitimate user while protecting against criminal attacks. iProov Genuine Presence Assurance technology ensures trust by validating and authenticating users online to the highest level of certainty i.e. that a user is a real person, the right person, and authenticating right now.

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

DIACC is playing a critically important role in coordinating a national digital identity and framework in a way that is notably lacking in the US and UK. By showing how a liberal democracy can successfully empower citizens with a nationally structured system of digital identity, Canada will exert a very powerful influence on both sides of the Atlantic and help lead the G7 to a better place.

5. Why did iProov join the DIACC?

iProov believes that trust between a provider and its citizens or customers must be achieved alongside two critical objectives:

  • Accessibility and inclusion – providing services which offer maximum access, irrespective of their abilities, literacy and digital savviness.
  • Sustainable security – ensuring a secure environment, business processes and centralized management controls to flexibly evolve and manage future, unknown risks.

It is this experience and insight that iProov brings to DIACC and can help DIACC in developing digital identity standards.

6. What else should we know about iProov?

The iProov solutions are trusted at national scale levels today with institutions such as:

  • The UK National Health Service – iProov provides strong authentication to onboard citizens in the UK to the NHS Login mobile app. With iProov, citizens registering for the NHS app are able to authenticate themselves in real-time with the image on their passport or driver’s license, allowing them to book medical appointments, order repeat prescriptions, and gain access to their patient record.
  • The UK Home Office – the EU Settled Status scheme is utilizing iProov to assure the genuine presence of remote users and to verify that the applicant is the rightful holder of the validated ID document. Over 3 million EU citizens have used the service to apply for permanent residency status.

It is this experience and insight that iProov brings to DIACC and can help DIACC in developing digital identity standards.

iProov’s proven, simple and inclusive user experience is critical to the service we offer to our Government and Enterprise customers, and has been a key contributor to our successful engagements with some of the world’s most security-conscious and user-friendly organizations.

Spotlight on Peer Social

1. What is the mission and vision of Peer Social? 

Peer Social is a team of dedicated decentralists who are researching and developing new architectures and technologies to solve some of the most pressing problems of our time—starting with social media. We are committed to eliminating the dynamic of user exploitation, which has become commonplace on the social internet.  

Social networks and centralized Cloud service providers require users to agree to terms which include giving up control of their personal data in return for using their network or service. They use this agreement as a blanket authorization to host, track and store, their users’ online activities and behaviours. The Surveillance Capitalism business model represents the worst excesses of the social Internet—we are here to change it.

Over the past 2 years we have assembled a super-talented team of security architects, designers, developers, and some of the world’s best academic researchers to build a secure, distributed, mobile networking app, which allows users to create their own private network (using a secure blockchain)—it’s called Manyone. Manyone is a safe, digital environment where users control their personal information, connections, and unique personas. 

We want to fix content moderation, content hosting, and the ownership problems of today’s social Internet by giving users decentralized ownership and control of their data. We want everyone to have a self-sovereign, self-hosted, digital identity. 

2. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? 

Users having a real, verifiable, trusted, digital identity solution is the ambition of every person, country and every business. Enabling one true digital identity for every human would improve access to services like healthcare, government, and banking by uncoupling this access from traditional identity issuers—this would give the under-privileged and under-banked the ability to establish their own unique digital identity. 

Economies around the world, including Canada, are going to need to rebuild quickly. Imagine a world where all people had their own self-sovereign digital identity. By establishing immutable links to every citizen at the individual level—we would remove the friction (measured in both time and money) associated with accessing online services/support. Digital access that is efficient, secure, and convenient for everyone is key in helping rebuild and transform economies. 

3. How does your organization address the needs of this transformation?

Peer Social focuses on an increasingly important component to any digital identity architecture by enabling true, verifiable, self-sovereign digital identity. 

Any individual user, business or government wanting to create a self-sovereign digital identity can do so by recording it on a personal blockchain and securely sharing it with other people and institutions over a private distributed network.

We aim to deliver the simplest, yet most powerful, self-sovereign, verified, decentralized digital identity platform we can for our users.

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

Canada is in a unique position to take a leadership role in the global digital identity market by already possessing a foundation of ‘trust’—essential for any successful solution. Brand Canada has a lot of admirers around the world and it is easy to imagine a robust and cutting edge, Canadian-built digital identity solution gaining wide acceptance at a global level.

In today’s world, Canadians are more likely to trust a self-sovereign, digital identity solution that is architected and built in Canada. In fact, a digital identity solution produced in Canada is more likely to be accepted as a global standard due to Canada’s reputation as a fair and open society.

5. Why did your Peer Social join the DIACC and what else should we know about your organization? 

Peer Social joined DIACC to become more engaged (at the policy level) in the Canadian digital identity conversation. We live in interesting times, where a lot of attention is being paid to digital identity and how to produce the best solution to meet the needs of traditional identity issuers like banks and governments—while still respecting individual users’ civil liberties. Joining DIACC is a great way to connect and listen to what others have to say—as well as add our voice to the discussion.

Keep an eye on Peer Social. We are launching our first generation, decentralized, self-sovereign, digital identity mobile App, Manyone, very soon— allowing each of us to take our first steps towards a self-sovereign, digital future.

Spotlight on Jumio

1. What is the mission and vision of Jumio?

Jumio’s mission is to make the internet a safer place by protecting the ecosystems of businesses through cutting-edge online identity verification and authentication services that quickly and accurately connect a person’s online and real-world identities. Jumio’s automated identity verification solutions fight fraud, maintain compliance and onboard new customers faster.

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

As more Canadians turn to their computers and smartphones to manage their money (and every other aspect of their lives), it’s important for organizations across a broad span of industries to provide a seamless digital experience, and that starts with the onboarding process. Consumers expect the ability to create online accounts in minutes, not days — anytime, anywhere. They aren’t afraid to take their business elsewhere if they encounter unnecessary friction. In fact more than 40 per cent of potential new accounts are sacrificed during the onboarding process because of time-consuming, clunky identity verification processes.

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

As companies evolve to become more digital, more and more interactions with customers will occur on a screen rather than in person. These digital transformation efforts start with creating new accounts online. Digital identity verification is an unsung hero in an organization’s digital transformation strategy because companies must verify that a person’s digital identity matches their physical identity when conducting business online. 

With this in mind, it’s imperative for Canadian enterprises to build in the necessary operational resiliency to survive this new reality. The COVID-19 pandemic has showcased the value of IT and digital transformation, and the need for organizations to accelerate the transition.

According to a recent J.D. Power study, nearly one-third (31 per cent) of new account openings are executed through a bank website or mobile app, up from 22 per cent in 2019. Meanwhile, the number of new account openings at branches has declined year over year by 10 per cent, and now comprises just over half of all new account openings. Sadly, many financial institutions still require users to visit a store or branch office to create a new account or to perform routine transactions — increasingly, this is going to be a difficult mandate as many of us are now homebound and social distancing.

This is a wake-up call for organizations that have placed too much focus on daily operational needs at the expense of investing in digital business and long-term resilience. Jumio helps Canadian businesses to digitally transform their KYC/AML and onboarding processes so they can quickly, securely and compliantly onboard new customers.

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

Canada is playing a leading role in online identity verification in a somewhat surprising way. In recent years, Montreal has emerged as a major technology hub for artificial intelligence (AI) due to the prominence of AI talent and research support in the city. This has allowed a number of companies, including Jumio, to launch AI labs in Montreal. In Jumio’s case, our goal is to build production AI models that perform three vital functions related to online identity verification: data extraction, fraud detection and risk scoring. In fact, AI has already been productionalized to reduce the time it takes to verify the digital identities of remote users. At Jumio, AI models have reduced the average customer transaction time by more than 50 per cent, with more significant reductions planned in 2020.  

So, in effect, Canada is driving the AI-based innovation that is powering faster and more accurate online identity verifications around the globe.

5.  Why did Jumio join the DIACC?

Jumio joined the DIACC because we wanted to be part of the conversation and help shape the emerging digital identity ecosystem. Jumio is a global leader in AI-based identity verification and biometric-based authentication and we process close to 300,000 identity verifications each day. As a result of our experience, we have much to offer in terms of best practices, especially given the pioneering work of our AI Labs division based in Montreal. At the same time, we want to learn from other members about best practices and emerging frameworks for digital identification and authentication.

We share DIACC’s mission of enabling Canadians to completely and securely participate in the global digital economy by establishing a robust, secure, scalable, inclusive and privacy-enhancing digital ecosystem. Our industry is evolving quickly and many institutions are relying on yesterday’s technologies, including knowledge-based verification and credit bureau queries which offer low levels of identity assurance and open the door to impersonation fraud and account takeovers. We are playing a valuable role in helping Canadian enterprises, of all stripes, understand the key trade-offs they need to consider and help them adopt more modern, AI-based approaches to digital identity verification and authentication.

6.  What else should we know about Jumio?

Jumio is the global leader in online identity verification because of our commitment to innovation and the customer experience. Jumio leverages a unique combination of technologies including AI, OCR, computer vision, machine learning and leading-edge biometrics to set the industry benchmark for identity verification accuracy, fraud deterrence and simplified KYC/AML compliance. Moreover, Jumio has spent the last five years refining and innovating around the customer experience. This includes reducing the number of steps required to verify an ID document or identity. This also includes optimizing the language and graphics used on screen to help maximize online conversions. These types of innovations are no less significant and help our business customers streamline their customer’s online journey.   

Jumio has verified more than 250 million identities issued by over 200 countries and territories from real-time web and mobile transactions. Jumio’s solutions are used by leading companies in the financial services, sharing economy, digital currency, retail, travel and online gaming sectors. Based in Palo Alto, Jumio operates globally with offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific and has been the recipient of numerous awards for innovation.

Spotlight on Folio Technologies

1. What is the mission and vision of Folio?

We are in business to enable everyone to manage their own identity by building the most trusted mobile identity platform. We have a real opportunity to transform digital identity to be as convenient and accessible as it is secure and trustworthy:

  • Make securing digital credentials on a smartphone the new normal
  • Enable absolute privacy for every user in every situation
  • Establish an open, digital identity ecosystem
  • Provide an inclusive and accessible platform, free to the user
  • Lead the innovation of biometrics and AI to eradicate identity fraud

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

Digital trust will be crucial across the economy as now, more than ever, people need to be able to prove their identity and their status remotely.  

But digital and ‘trust’ don’t always marry well in people’s minds. Now with everything ‘going digital’ at a blistering rate, the individual needs to be in control – if they don’t trust, if they can’t access and feel secure… digital identity becomes a burden and a threat.

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

Digital identity has the capacity to increase inclusion, citizen participation, and access to critical services for all. Rather than waiting 2 weeks for a face-to-face appointment with a local government department or driving 2 hours to the nearest bank, digital identity will allow all Canadians to prove who they are at the click of a button and unlock a wealth of sensitive and high-value services. We live in a connected world but the ability to prove your identity in that remote context has been slow to catch up. It’s time that we enable the same “contract of trust” that can be achieved in a face-to-face encounter but in a digital context.

At Folio, we believe all citizens should have choice and ownership of how they manage their identity, always taking active steps to build consent-driven, privacy-preserving solutions that nonetheless do not compromise on usability and experience. The self-sovereign, decentralised models will only thrive when the infrastructure suits the market and as such puts the citizen at the very centre of the ecosystem. Using Folio will allow Canadian citizens to register for a multi-purpose digital wallet, storing their credentials there and using them for an expanding set of services, private and public.

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

Canada is already contributing meaningfully to the global dialogue on digital identity, with DIACC facilitating debate, engagement and progress on critical pieces of infrastructure like standards and frameworks like the Pan Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) that will enable decentralized digital identity and pave the way for international interoperability. Most importantly it’s the citizens themselves who are engaged and that is the most important stakeholder group. As the DIACC 2019 survey testified, 70 per cent of Canadians are ready to embrace digital identity as a means to improved inclusion and remote access to critical services. The expertise and know-how is there with exciting tech hubs across the provinces, regional governments approaching the topic with cautious optimism, and DIACC providing the forum and nurturing the dialogue between these stakeholder groups. It feels like Canada could be on the cusp of something exciting.

5.  Why did Folio join the DIACC?

Digital identity requires collaboration and Folio is committed to participate in the local and international communities that will be driving the development and adoption of technology innovation in this fast-moving space. DIACC represents a diverse cross section of public and private sector stakeholders who will help Folio understand the localised opportunities and participate in the development of the PCTF for best practice and interoperability. 

6.  What else should we know about Folio?

Folio Technologies (Folio) is HQ’d in London, operates globally and is part of the wider SGO Group. SGO is committed to innovative companies that demonstrate long-term promise in areas that enhance lives especially in the key areas of:

  • Identity, Health Passports and Privacy (Folio)
  • Democracy and citizen participation (e.g. Smartmatic)

SGO is built on the extraordinary success of Smartmatic, which leads the electronic voting industry in terms of revenue, profitability, geographical presence, innovation and quality of support services. SGO is headquartered in London.

Spotlight on Auth0

1. What is the mission of Auth0?

Auth0’s mission is to secure the world’s identities so the innovators can innovate, meaning we remove the hurdle of identity so application builders can focus on other things. Auth0 provides the simplicity, extensibility, and expertise to scale and protect identities in any application, for any audience.

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

From streaming your favorite television show to buying an airline ticket, no one can function without having some level of a digital identity. With credential stuffing, password spraying, phishing, and other malicious attempts constantly multiplying with no slowdown in sight, a trustworthy, secure digital identity practices must be put in place.

3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does Auth0 address challenges associated with this transformation? 

On the business side, there is an increasing pressure to provide personalized services and seamless integration with other services your customer uses, while offering solid guarantees of privacy-preserving practices and resilience against increasingly sophisticated attacks. 
To meet these business demands, developers need to be able to rely on the best of breed of identity technologies and services, without being forced to become domain experts in security, identity, privacy, and all the other disciplines required to meet and exceed the high standards customers increasingly take for granted. 
Auth0 will continue to offer new and ever-improving ways of empowering application builders to easily handle the identity aspects in their solution, taking advantage of the new opportunities, features, and capabilities the industry and identity transformation will bring.   

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

Canada is a leader in the identity space and a key contributor in the global movement to make digital identity secure and easily accessible for existing and emerging markets. 

5. Why did Auth0 join the DIACC? 

We’re thrilled to join the DIACC and connect and collaborate with leaders in the digital identity space, and aid Canada’s digital identity innovation efforts.

6. What else should we know about Auth0?

We recently launched Auth0 Signals, a collection of threat intelligence tools and product capabilities designed to protect customers from identity attacks for added value and security. By inserting threat intelligence and risk analysis into the IAM system, we’re reducing identity attack opportunities, offering a frictionless experience, and saving critical time and money for our users. 
Additionally, we recently unveiled Auth0 Explorer, an experimental research tool for application developers to map, visualize, and navigate the design of identity authentication architecture, a crucial element in the creation of secure applications. Auth0 Explorer is born from our ongoing and never-ending quest to make the very complex world of identity simpler for application builders.

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