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A year of Digital Identity NZ
Digital Identity New Zealand held its launch event in Auckland a year ago this month. Much has happened in the past 12 months:
We’re delighted with what we have been able to achieve, yet we are very much aware that we are still in the foundational stages of working together on a fully functional digital identity ecosystem for New Zealand. We expect 2020 to be a pivotal year as organisations seek to implement solutions and the Government progresses its Digital Identity Trust Framework.
If your organisation is not yet a member of Digital Identity NZ, now is a great time to join. We will be transitioning from our establishment phase governance board to an elected Executive Council, which will be announced at our first formal Annual Meeting on 13 December. Nominations for the Executive Council close today but it’s not too late to nominate someone! Any member of Digital Identity NZ can be nominated for the Executive Council, with voting for Council seats also open to members only.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like to find out more.
Ngā Mihi,
Andrew Weaver
Executive Director
News and Reports
Privacy law is generally so permissive in the US that companies are free to use millions of people’s faces without their knowledge in order to power the spread of face-recognition technology, as is the case with Flickr and MegaFace.
Can data be harvested with decency? Mastercard has launched a Data Responsibility Imperative to help companies navigate the social impact and accountability of their data collection processes.
Digital Identity NZ Executive Director Andrew Weaver recently participated in a digital citizenship panel at the Core uLearn conference in Rotorua. He was joined by members from Mattr and the DIA. You can read an excellent blog summary of the discussion here.
Australia’s myGovID app is now available on Android devices, after already been available on Apple iOS services. However, the beta apps are not yet certified to do face matching.
Omidyar Network wants to see a world where all ID is “Good ID” – that is digital identity systems that prioritise individual empowerment while ensuring adequate safeguards.
France will become the first European country to use face biometrics for enrollment into it’s national digital ID program amid concerns about privacy and security.
The New York Times Privacy Project is an extensive collection and commentary on privacy issues. An interview in their latest newsletter speaks to the current state of play in our connected world: ‘Bulk collection affects everyone. A number of governments and companies have the goal of building databases with detailed profile information for every person on earth, or at least every internet user — including where you are at any given moment, who your friends are, what kind of messages and photos you are creating and how you think about the world.’
The 2019 edition of the Lightning Lab Govtech accelerator wrapped up with an epic demo day on 5 November. Digital identity featured strongly. Digital Identity NZ members, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and Ahau, teamed up on the project Ira – an indigenous digital identity solution that helps enable trustworthy, secure and mana enhancing access to personal information for whanau, hapu and iwi. The DIA also worked with ACC on the ‘My Info, My Way’ project. You can read more about all of the projects here.
Upcoming Events
Join us for our International Perspectives webinar on Thursday 21 November with guest Alan Bell, Director of the Digital Identity Transition Programme at the DIA. Register now. If you can’t attend the webinar live, still register so you can access the recording at a later time.
If you are a Digital Identity NZ member make sure you register to attend our first Annual Meeting, happening at 10am on Friday 13 December via teleconference.
Tech Alliance Events and Information
Join Emma Naji, Executive Director of the AI Forum for the launch of their new report, Al for Banking, Financial Services and Insurance in New Zealand. There are launch events in both Auckland and Wellington. Read the AI Forum’s two new reports, Artificial Intelligence for Health in New Zealand and Artificial Intelligence for Agriculture in New Zealand.
NZTech is working with MBIE to develop an Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) for the digital technologies sector. Share your views by attending one of the six workshops nationwide: Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
If you missed the Cyber Security Summit, read the Securing New Zealand businesses against the next generation of cyber attack briefing paper.
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.
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.
BIOTechNZ is hosting New Zealand’s first medicinal cannabis summit, MedCan 2020. Purchase your ticket now to take advantage of the super early bird pricing.
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.
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