Panelists include world-renowned humanitarians
and leading members of technology and blockchain communities
ID2020, a public-private partnership dedicated to giving
one-sixth of the world’s population access to an officially
recognized identity, today convenes the 2017 “Platform for Change”
Summit at the United Nations. Without identity, approximately 1.1
billion people – disproportionately women, children and the world’s
most vulnerable – struggle to access critical services and social
benefits.
ID2020, which supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal
16.9 to enable an officially recognized identity for all, is
focused on an open, human-centric approach to identity, one that
draws on recent advances in biometrics and innovative technologies.
As Dakota Gruener, Executive Director of ID2020, has said: “Imagine
being unable to enroll in school, vote, or open a bank or
cell-phone account. Paper-based credentials can be lost or
destroyed, and are fundamentally controlled by the issuing
institution. In contrast, digital identity places control in the
hands of the individual. This approach enables both significant
improvements in the quality of life for more than a billion
individuals and efficiencies for the governments, NGOs and
businesses serving them.
Today’s convening of the second ID2020 Summit hosts experts from
government, private enterprise, and innovative technology
companies, who are collaborating to provide digital identity
solutions for the global population. The event launches the ID2020
Alliance, bringing together these stakeholders on an ongoing basis
with commitments of funding and technical resources, implementation
of pilot projects, and collaborative standards development. The
ID2020 Alliance approach is supported by a grant from The
Rockefeller Foundation and major financial support from Accenture
(NYSE:ACN), which will be announced at the Summit.
The event encourages stakeholder participation and expert
discussions on the possibilities of applying innovative funding
models, advanced technologies, and public-private partnerships to
help solve this global challenge. Featured panels with some of the
most innovative thinkers in the technology and humanitarian space
will include keynote addresses from senior staff at key UN agencies
and organizations like PwC, Microsoft, Accenture, Gavi, the Vaccine
Alliance, and The Rockefeller Foundation.
“Only by working together can technologists and policy-makers
create scalable, secure, and sustainable systems to be employed
worldwide,” explains Gruener. “The promise of technologies like
blockchain and other decentralized ledger systems create a pathway
towards viable solutions in the quest for identity for all. By
2020, we’re aiming to have a proof of concept with real world pilot
projects deployed in several locations. By 2030, our goal is to
enable access to digital identity for every person on the
planet.”
”An established identity needs to be a universally accepted
human right and blockchain will play a key role in making that
happen,” said David Treat, Managing Director of Accenture’s
Blockchain Practice. “We are very proud to be a Founding Partner of
the ID2020 Alliance and to support today’s summit. Working
together, we can achieve the ID2020 mission to bring a safe,
verifiable and persistent digital identification system to
scale.”
Confirmed speakers at today’s Summit include Assistant Secretary
General, Chief Information and Technology Officer of the United
Nations, Ms. Atefeh Riazi; the Chief Architect of Aadhaar, Dr.
Pramod Varma; David Treat, Managing Director of Accenture’s
Blockchain Practice; and senior executives from PwC and
Microsoft.
A smaller group of participants will convene at Microsoft’s
Technology Center in Times Square this afternoon to begin working
on a coordinated roadmap for action. Globally renowned members of
the blockchain development, humanitarian efforts and technologists
will lead as session chairs including:
- Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director,
The Rockefeller Foundation
- Karl Steinacker, Deputy Director for
Programme Support and Management at UNHCR, the UN Refugee
Agency
- Anne Wallwork, Senior Counselor for
Asia, Terrorist Financing & Financial Crime at the US
Department of Treasury
- Adrian Kunzle, Salesforce Senior Vice
President of Product Development
Several notable thought-leaders will be participating in the
afternoon’s collaborative sessions including:
- Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset
Holdings
- John Farmer, Director of Technology and
Civic Innovation at Microsoft
- Tara Nathan, Executive Vice President
at Mastercard
- Joseph Lubin, Founder of Consensys
- Patrick Spens, Blockchain Specialist at
PwC UK
“Microsoft’s mission to empower every person and organization on
the planet to achieve more aligns with the values of ID2020. We
believe that through new approaches to identity in the humanitarian
ecosystem, we can ensure real progress toward the United Nation’s
Sustainable Development Goals. Working closely with ID2020 and
public and private sector partners, we remain committed to the goal
of ensuring every person on the planet has an officially recognized
identity,” says Yorke Rhodes III, Global Business Strategist for
Blockchain at Microsoft.
Other participating organizations include Intel, IBM, Thomson
Reuters, SAP, NEC Corporation, Verizon, Samsung and the World
Economic Forum.
In 2016, with the support of PwC, Microsoft, the International
Telecommunications Union, and the UN Office of Partnerships, the
first ID2020 Summit was a resounding success, drawing attention to
the importance of identity from both the public and
private-sectors.
The 2017 ID2020 Summit is made possible by PwC and is
co-convened by the United Nations Office of Communications and
Information Technology and Microsoft. With additional support from
Accenture, the UN Development Programme, UNHCR, the UN Refugee
Agency and the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs.
ID2020 “Platform for Change” 2017 Summit is being held at the
official headquarters of the United Nations and at the Microsoft
Technology Center in Times Square. The agenda can be found at
http://id2020summit.org/. For event updates, follow on Twitter:
@identity2020, #ID2020 and Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/identity2020/.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170619005576/en/
Wachsman PRDavid Wachsman,
+212-835-2511david@wachsmanpr.comorCasey Craig,
+917-515-7130casey@wachsmanpr.com
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