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Digital Identity New Zealand

October Newsletter – Design into action

Kia ora Readers,

We are looking forward to hosting David Birch back in New Zealand for the Digital Identity Summit in Wellington today.  David’s commentary on digital identity is always insightful and unrepentantly challenging.  Timing couldn’t be better from a Digital Identity NZ perspective. As a group we recognise the strategic importance of the ecosystem design conversations that have been taking place this year. These conversations are putting in place the conceptual foundations that will allow businesses and government to innovate with confidence.  Increasingly we are seeing the importance of action and demonstration in our work. We see that we can move forward more effectively through an incremental and adaptive approach, small steps taken with our customers and communities in the middle of what we’re doing.  We’re delighted that the Summit features a whole range of presenters who will be demonstrating that action focus.

This month has seen Digital Identity NZ involved in some new and different environments.  Last week a number of us participated in a panel discussion on Digital Citizenship at the Core Education uLearn conference in beautiful Rotorua.  The conference hosted around 1,000 educators who were eager  to learn and explore. Our discussion branched out of a core concept of ‘Identity as Taonga’, recognising the paradigm shifts required to bring greater levels of trust, respect and dignity into our digital lives.

We also had the privilege of attending a Pacific e-Governance forum in Canberra, hosted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute with delegations from Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.  The forum explored Digital Identity as one of three ‘deep dive’ topics, and the invite was extended to gain an understanding of the collaborative approach we are adopting in New Zealand.  We’re looking forward to closer collaboration with our Pacific neighbours in the coming months.

Finally, check out this video from our recent Digital Identity in Health event with NZHIT.

Ngā Mihi,
Andrew Weaver
Executive Director



News and Reports 

The Australian Government has opened up its Trusted Digital Identity Framework to the private sector with hopes that banks will buy into the scheme.

Nigeria to receive $433 million from World Bank for biometric national ID registration. The funding will enable close to 100 million Nigerians to be registered over the next three years.

Several major payment players have chosen to withdraw from the Facebook-led Libra initiative. Trust and transparency are two key themes emerging from the discussion, and that is clearly influencing regulators and participants.

The Kiwi Fintech Accelerator held their demo day last week. Keep an eye on the exciting companies making a mark in our financial services sector. Special mention to two of our Digital Identity NZ members First AML and Pocketful.

Physical passports could be a thing of the past as Canada and the Netherlands test paperless air travel

Video sharing platform Vimeo has been sued for storing facial biometrics without consent.

Research from PYMNTS found that 45 percent of consumers prefer passwords to other forms of verification, despite their known security risks.

Women in Identity member Emma Lindley explores the subject of #GoodID.


Upcoming Events

This week is New Zealand Cyber Smart Week. Are you secure online? Make sure of it!

We will be holding our second joint webinar with the DIA Digital Transition Team on Thursday 24 October. Invites will be out this week.


Tech Alliance Events and Information

Attend the NZ Hi-Tech Awards alumni event and launch event on 27 November in Auckland. Also, 3 December in Wellington and 4 December in Christchurch.

Celebrate the tech export sector highlights at the 2019 TIN Report Launch and Awards on 31 October in Auckland. 

Meet the Chasm Institute’s Mark Cavender at NZSA on 11-12 November in Auckland for Escape Velocity and 12 November for Crossing the Chasm.

Tech Alliance members receive 10 percent off the ticket price for the advancing women in technical and industries roles conference on 25 November in Auckland.

Smarter cities needed to achieve government ambitions, says the NZ IoT Alliance.

Contribute, Connect and Join

A regular feature of our newsletters will be a spotlight on members. We’re keen to share stories and highlight opportunities for collaboration. Please contact us to submit your story.

If you would like to know more about joining Digital Identity NZ, the benefits and membership categories check out our joining page.

Digital Identity New Zealand A purpose driven, inclusive, membership funded organisation, whose members have a shared passion for the opportunities that digital identity can offer. Digital Identity NZ supports a sustainable, inclusive and trustworthy digital future for all New Zealanders.