The UK’s CertifID trust mark is now live. Five digital identity providers have become the first to be certified against the 1.0 version of the UK digital verification services trust framework, and the first authorized to use the UK CertifID trust mark for their registered services.
The first bearers of the trust mark are Orchestrating Identity Limited, TrustID, CDD Services, Mistho and GBG Plc.
A post on the UK government website says the trust mark “will give eligible services a clear and consistent way to show their registered status” on the digital verification services (DVS) register. “Making registered services easier to recognise can help build customer confidence and support growth across the UK digital verification services market.”
While the UK’s plan for a government digital ID was largely flushed down the bog with the Kier Starmer government, the private sector is enjoying a string of wins. The recently passed changes to the mandatory licensing conditions that allow the use of digital ID to prove age when buying alcohol at a pub or store require said ID to be provided by a certified DVS.
Foundational elements of digital ID already in place
In a piece for Computer Weekly, Max Elphick – trade association TechUK’s new head of digital identity – says that use cases for digital ID continue to grow, proving squarely that, while the government project has been scrapped, digital identity has not gone away.
“The Gov.uk Wallet is moving ahead with a digital driving licence in development and further documents expected to follow,” Elphick writes. “One Login continues to develop as the single sign-in for government services.” And the DVS trust framework “continues to mature, giving confidence that digital verification providers meet strict standards.”
He asserts that “momentum for the wider adoption of digital verification services will not come from a single, mandated government credential,” but rather from “a competitive market of trusted providers, working together under the rules of the government’s DVS trust framework.
In representing industry, Elphick suggests that while progress is positive, it’s not enough to push digital ID adoption over the line. “To realise the full potential of this technology, we need to go further and be more ambitious. Government and industry must work together on a long-term strategy for growing the adoption of digital verification services in the UK.”
Industry, government must come together to maximize potential
An effective strategy, he says, would pursue interoperability and include a “clear, industry-backed roadmap prioritizing high-volume, high-value use cases which offer utility for the consumer.” Rollouts must work, from day one.
“Digital verification services should be recognized as a cross-economy driver of growth and a key enabler of an advanced digital economy, and the resulting strategy should be pursued holistically across government, joined up with related initiatives such as the government’s smart data strategy.”
Elphick’s takeaway is that “the building blocks of a trusted, competitive digital identity market are already in place.” But missing is a “shared, long-term plan for how government and industry use them together.”
“If government and industry can agree to that plan now, digital identity can become one of the quiet, powerful drivers of UK growth. The ambition should match the scale of that opportunity.”
Success in sector depends on administrative coherence
In one respect, the UK digital identity sector is still reeling from the change in government, which saw the abolition of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) – a central entity in digital ID policy under Keir Starmer.
A blog from the Mile End Institute asks what DSIT’s breakup means for the UK’s AI and digital ambitions? Its responsibilities have been divided between 3 agencies: the Government Digital Service (GDS) has been moved to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), AI is overseen by the Cabinet Office under the new Minister for Artificial Intelligence Kanishka Narayan, and science and innovation has been moved to a revamped Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST).
The authors suggest that “the positioning of the overall AI agenda in the Cabinet Office signals a return to an earlier and arguably proven model of digital transformation,” and that “this is not a downgrading of AI ambitions, but rather a rescaling and rescoping of them.” But their key concern is around coherence.
“Overall, the diffusion of DSIT’s responsibilities without a clear overarching strategy raises the spectre of increasingly incoherent governance of AI and digital policy in the UK.”
Article Topics
CDD Services | certification | digital identity | digital verification service (DVS) | DVS Trust Framework | GBG | Orchestrating Identity | TRUSTID | UK CertifID | UK digital ID
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