Digital identity 2019–2020: mass migration and state control in the digital economy

The smart city will become our playground

Around the world, the shift of populations to urban environments is already one of the defining trends of the 21st century. Inevitably, technological developments are becoming inextricably linked with this mass migration.

The digital or the smart city​ is becoming the model that ensures consistency in all the links between urbanites, their wider communities and public authorities. This model includes, of course, eGovernment or mGovernment, within which digital identity is the key that unlocks the individual’s access to a rich array of services and support.

Or, to put it another way, the smart city is set to become our new playground.

By their very nature, smart cities are mobile environments. The digital ID will, therefore, represent the ‘virtual umbilical cord’ that continuously links each individual to their public and social life.

The message for public authorities is clear: national digital ID creates an unrivalled opportunity for local creativity. ​

Government control will be critical to sustaining the growth of the digital economy

Faced with an increasingly challenging economic landscape, governments are inevitably searching for new opportunities for sustainable, harmonious growth.

As regulatory environments take shape, close collaboration between the financial world, central and local public authorities and digital communications operators will support effective solutions and implementation of best practices.

Of course, the real source of new business opportunities is not digital identity itself, but the myriad of applications it enables. This domain is where banks and other operators will see a bottom-line return on their investment.

As already outlined, the march of the digital ID is well underway. The focus will, therefore, be on the adoption of the new structures and regulations that are needed to govern the associated services and transactions.

So what does this mean in practice?

The role of public authorities in 2019–2020 will be to:

• Build and nurture national momentum.
• Support and coordinate local government investments through which local transformations, close to the community, can operate effectively and efficiently.
• Make sure that these multiple local initiatives create a coherent and interoperable spectrum of solutions: wherever they may be, mobile citizens will need to find similar modes of service.

In the years ahead, the market will follow these initiatives.

How can we be so sure?

Because evidence of uptake of digital ID and associated services is multiplying, giving us the clearest signals since the concept was first introduced some fifteen years ago that a tipping point has been reached.