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October 1, 2025 Digital Identity New Zealand

Inspiring Trust across Aotearoa NZ Inc.

Kia ora,

The energetic Digital Trust Hui Taumata at Te Papa lit a fire under NZ Inc’s digital identity movement. Industry leaders, policymakers, iwi kaitiaki, and innovators gathered to collectively declare that solving for trust is mission critical to New Zealand’s digital future.

The Hui Taumata concluded with an unmistakable sense of urgency, shared purpose and appetite to collectively deliver on the vision for an open and decentralised marketplace for trusted credential proof access to products and services.

Recognising that excitement alone is not a strategy, we have been actively working on our new strategic plan and member value proposition, as signaled at the Hui Taumata.

Our refreshed strategy aims to strengthen trust in the digital economy through a united, open and collaborative stakeholder ecosystem. With the increase in distrust in our institutions and misinformation related to NZ’s empowering approach to identity, we most definitely have our work cut out for us!

Assuming we can remain a trusted voice, Digital Identity New Zealand (DINZ) is ideally positioned to connect, promote and advance trust solutions.

Major initiatives for 2025-26

  1. Investable value proposition for members and partners
  2. Aotearoa NZ Inc communications strategy and go-to-market narrative aligned to Te Ao Māori data sovereignty principles (e.g. taonga, tikanga & kaitiakitanga)
  3. Trusted Aotearoa NZ Inc ecosystem architecture and sovereign data infrastructure.

There is increasing consensus that an effective, use case and benefits focused communication framework is crucial to market adoption. 

Working groups will build momentum around demand-side adoption and a trusted vendor ecosystem.

Key Takeaways for Members

The time is now for trusted decentralised identity:

  • Global drivers: Trading partners and visitors are adopting interoperable credentials, requiring NZ exporters and operators to adapt
  • Domestic demand: Banks, insurers, corporate NZ, government agencies and SME sector face unsustainable delivery, compliance and fraud costs, and increasing risks / chaos
  • Technology maturity: Open-standard wallets, zero-knowledge proofs, and consent dashboards are ready for safe and privacy enhancing adoption. 

Key value drivers and critical success factors:

  • Security, machine readable traceability and privacy by design
  • National DISTF trust-mark & open standards for an interoperable framework
  • Government & tier-1 procurement mandates to drive adoption
  • Cross-sector collaboration to demonstrate ROI in various sectors (public services, banking, health, exports, and SMEs).

The plan outlines significant economic opportunities over the next five years from DISTF credential marketplace adoption.

See the complete sector breakdown.

New Working Group Highlights

We have established two new working groups to support market adoption:

  1. Demand side (reference architecture): Focus on building adoption through use cases, reference architecture, and sector-specific strategies (such as education, health, social services; open banking and payments, and domestic commerce – SME focus).

DINZ has worked constructively with the DIA to establish and support core policy and technical working groups, plus accessibility and Te Ao Māori groups. 

  1. Supply side (trusted vendor ecosystem): Focus on a common aligned approach for verifiable credentials (VCs) that delivers trust, simplicity, and safeguards for holders, while ensuring safe, interoperable, and trusted VC delivery.

At the Hui Taumata in August 2025, Minister Collins’ called for vendors to align on their role in building a trusted verifiable credentials ecosystem for New Zealand.

Following this, Craig Grimshaw of Sush Labs and Andrew Mabey of UNIFY Solutions are co-chairing a newly established Vendor Working Group on verifiable credentials for people of New Zealand.

With Digital Identity New Zealand (DINZ) hosting, Andrew and Craig will guide the group to ensure outcomes are collaborative, transparent and aligned with national goals.

Together Andrew and Craig bring complementary expertise with Sush Labs in wallet design and mobile user experiences critical for adoption and UNIFY Solutions in consulting, architecture and government-scale identity implementations. Both providing balanced leadership to convene vendors around a shared purpose: delivering a safe, interoperable and trusted ecosystem for all New Zealand.

Digital Public Infrastructure 

DINZ increasingly plays a thought leadership role in areas such as multi-modal biometric frameworks, authentication including identity binding and proofing, credential issuance and validation, access control, user-controlled data storage, and trusted data processing.

We intend to champion the importance of a Trust Aotearoa NZ Inc jurisdiction level namespace (i.e. name service) to a truly user centric decentralised ecosystem architecture. 

And finally, we continue to make proactive submissions as part of NZ’s regulatory modernisation programme and guidance on emerging standards including the new assurance hierarchy in the updated DISTF.

Executive Council Nominations

Nominations will open on 13 October. The results of the election will be announced at the Annual Meeting on 4 December.

The following board positions are available for election this year:

  • 3 Major Corporate Seats 
  • 2 Other Corporate Seats 
  • 2 SME & Start Up Seats 

Start thinking about whether you are interested now. 

Industry News

We continue to experience an ever-increasing buzz in the digital identity space both making and breaking news domestically and around the world. Here’s a selection:

Upcoming Interoperability Event: 16-17 November 2025

Chris Goh and Belinda Taylor’s NZTA team are hosting an interoperability event in Wellington on 16 -17 November, leading into the ISO Working Group 10 meetings that week. These international mDL/mdoc community events regularly confirm implementation feasibility, gather feedback to enhance standards quality, and maintain market momentum for mDL and mdoc implementations.

Sponsorship opportunities available:

  • Sunday 16 Nov: Lunch (approx. 120 attendees) and/or Coffee cart
  • Monday 17 Nov: Lunch (approx. 120 attendees) and/or early evening canapés and non-alcoholic drinks (approx. 120 attendees)

Please contact Gabrielle.George@dia.govt.nz if you are interested.

Next  Actions for Members

  1. Engage: Nominate representatives to the reference architecture, vendor working and special interest working groups.  
  2. Contribute: Share sector use cases for Circles of Trust white papers.
  3. Communicate: Adopt the new messaging framework and amplify the everyday benefits of trusted digital identity.

Together, we are shaping the trusted credential ecosystem that will empower New Zealanders, protect privacy, and unlock economic growth through a unified Aotearoa NZ Inc approach.

Tihei mauri ora!

Andy Higgs
Executive Director,
Digital Identity NZ

Read full news here: Inspiring Trust across Aotearoa NZ Inc.

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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.