The data powered economy
As we start to wrap up 2021 and reflect back on the year, Meeco is delighted to showcase something very topical that we’ve been working on. With the growing focus on data driven efficiency and digitisation, our digital identity pilot using verifiable credentials is a powerful example of what the coming year has in store for us.
Governments across the world are reconsidering society’s relationship with data and looking to enable fairer competition and innovation by “maximising the value of data” while at the same time increasing “trust and protection”. The first ever Australian Data Strategy is a powerful example of what governments hope to achieve. Building on the Consumer Data Right, it follows the European Data Strategy, which aims to “provide control to citizens and trust to companies”.
Importantly, the EU (who started down this path last year) is thinking differently about data monetisation and the role of public and private organisations in the value chain. The European Commission has identified that a lack of trust with respect to data sharing is a major obstacle and one that results in high costs. To address this, the Data Governance Act seeks to increase trust in “data intermediaries” and strengthen data sharing on a pan European and cross-sector basis. Specifically, data intermediaries are positioned as “trustworthy organisers of data sharing” with proposals for the separation of roles under consideration.
Against this backdrop of empowered data sharing, it’s clear there will be increased demand for services that enable individuals and public and private sector organisations to share data in a way that delivers efficiency and convenience, while protecting privacy and improving security.
Fast tracked workforce onboarding
You can read the details of our pilot here, and before we cover off the highlights we want to acknowledge our partners who played a vital role in making it possible: connectID powered by eftpos, Queensland Government Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), engineering and technical services leader Powertech and Hedera Hashgraph, and of course the employees who used the new system!
Digital identity and verifiable credentials – the highlights
The pilot enabled a skilled workforce to onboard with a new employer through a fully digital process. Instead of presenting originals of physical documents, the employees digitally asserted their identity and provided a digital driver licence, in the form of a verifiable credential, all from a wallet on their phone.
Outstanding efficiency gains
There were significant gains across the whole onboarding process.
- The end to end onboarding process, covering licence and identity credentials checking shrank to just 30 minutes, from three days.
- The time for a new employee to provide the necessary information went from 48 hours to 30 minutes.
- 100% of participants (both HR teams and workforce members) found the pilot process easier than the current process.
The commercial benefit of these results is fully acknowledged by Paul Carmignani, Managing Director of Powertech:
“Reducing the time and complexity of verifying workplace credentials with digital ID means our people can get on the job faster. This reduces downtime, avoidable waiting costs and keeps critical projects on-track and Australians working”
In addition to significant efficiency gains, the pilot provided a powerful illustration of the improved data privacy and security benefits of verifiable credentials and digital identity verification. Moreover, reduced handling of personal data offers additional benefits of reduced data compliance risks and a reduction in associated data management costs.
Digital ID and verifiable credentials as part of the data economy
With the accelerated shift to remote onboarding of employees and servicing of customers across all sectors of the economy, a wide range of organisations stand to benefit from the efficiency and security gains of digital identity and verifiable credentials. Please reach out to discuss how Meeco can help you significantly improve efficiency, privacy and security in the data driven economy.
For a detailed account of the pilot and extended results, see the Case Study here.
