Identity evolution: decentralised biometrics in Aotearoa

Steve Graham has an extensive background in biometrics and technology, with a career spanning Japan, the USA, and New Zealand. Steve’s professional journey includes senior executive roles at Microsoft, KPMG and Fronde as well as leading product development at Alpine Electronics in Japan. Steve is a member of the Executive Council for Digital Identity New Zealand and chairs the Special Interest Group for Biometrics where he continues to influence the evolution of biometric technologies and their applications in digital identity and security. He works for NEC New Zealand.

Roger has been building software businesses for three decades. For the last twenty years he has also been a leading contributor to the growth of the NZ Software sector, through mentoring dozens of SaaS ventures and as the head of the NZ Software Association. In recent years he has been called on to advise several government agencies and to advocate for the technology sector on key legislation. He is the co-chair of the DISTF Working Group, a representative member at the Digital Identity NZ Executive Council, and the Managing Director of Innovise.
Specific to Biometrics:
Roger is a contributing member of the DINZ Biometrics Special Interest Group. He has been a leading author for DINZ submissions on the Privacy Commissioner’s Biometrics Code of Conduct, providing a business and commercial perspective.

Graeme is a Solution Consultant at NEC New Zealand and has been with NEC New Zealand for over seven years. Working in the Biometric team he has been involved in a several client projects for government departments. Previously Graeme has worked in a number of government departments as well as in the private sector including in the insurance sector in New Zealand and overseas. More recent work at NEC has included a focus on Digital Identity and the utilisation of biometrics in confirming identity. This includes involvement with Digital Identity New Zealand specifically with the Biometrics Special Interest Group. Graeme enjoys the opportunity to work with smart people on world-leading biometric technology that will provide a way to interact securely in a digital world. Outside of work, he enjoys the country lifestyle and enjoys training his dog.

Dr Vica Papp is a dual forensic-biometric identification specialist. Their doctoral work at Rice University and post-doctoral research at NZILBB at the University of Canterbury focussed on mapping social-behavioural traits on the acoustic speech signal, such as drug use and speaker height. Since 2009 they’ve served as an independent forensic expert in speaker comparison in anonymous recordings and authorship analysis of anonymous documents. They are currently a Principal Data Scientist at MBIE where they test, optimise, and consult on high-throughput biographic entity resolution and biometric identification solutions in the face and fingerprint domains. They are the elected President of the NZ Forensic Science Society, and the elected Vice President of DINZ. When not working, they roam the South Island high country or dance Argentine tango.

James Little is a Market Development Lead for the Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Authority at the Department of Internal Affairs. He comes to the role after six years in the Beehive directly advising Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister Ginny Andersen on digital policy. He believes that by embracing decentralised identity, we can revolutionise the way users interact with services. Whether it’s streamlined access to government services and businesses, improved regulatory compliance, enhanced privacy controls, or tackling the digital divide, James is an evangelist for the potential of decentralised identity solutions.