Aotearoa’s digital identity journey that leaves no-one behind

Isn’t it terrific to meet people in person again! DINZ wasted no time in taking advantage of orange settings to bring our members together in both Wellington and Auckland in the past fortnight. A big shout-out to our sponsor hosts – SSS in Wellington and MinterEllisonRudd Watts in Auckland. Both events were well attended and operated a similar cadence with the hosts’ welcome, the earliest registered start-up SME briefly commenting on an industry topic dear to them, followed by social mixing over drinks. Our next members’ Connect event will be in Wellington, following the Digital Trust Hui Taumata to reflect on the perspectives and discussions voiced there.  

Orange settings also allowed DINZ to undertake its live Techweek TV ‘fireside’ session physically at AUT, following the Minister’s address last Monday morning. I facilitated a chat with Co-Chairs  PaymentsNZ’s Angela Gill and Datacom’s Ben Dakers about their aspirations for DINZ’s most recent initiative – the Inclusive and Ethical Uses of Digital Identity working group. Didn’t they do well! If you missed it live, it will be available on demand here in due course. 

IEUDI, together with DINZ’s Te Kāhui Te Tiriti O DINZ and Digital Identity Services Trust Framework (DISTF) work groups, detail the scope of DINZ’s mahi this year and into 2023 in pursuit of its mission – to create a digital identity ecosystem that enhances privacy, trust and improves access for all people in New Zealand. You can see more detail on how to contribute to these working groups here on the website. 

The DISTF WG met last week also, to discuss the Select Committee’s report following the submissions, containing its recommended changes to the Bill prior to its Second Reading. 

There were over 4500 submissions but as the Select Committee commented, misinformation regarding a link to vaccinations, centralised state control of identity and digitisation more generally may have played a significant role in many of those. Misinformation or otherwise, the fact remains that both Government and industry need to do better in taking all people of Aotearoa on this journey. DINZ has begun to address this challenge through its three Working Groups with different but nonetheless related scopes. All three are chartered to advance improved trust and confidence in the development of the digital identity ecosystem and the digital economy more generally.    With your financial support and volunteered time we can progress this important mahi for the betterment of all Aotearoa.