Page 16 - EngineerIT December 2021

ICT DIGITAL IDENTITY

Digital identity is a crucial to know who you are really speaking
to on the other side of the screen.
According to Fanaroff the digital identity
business requirement verification industry, globally, had seen
an investment of almost $2B when 15
scale-up businesses were funded to
develop facial recognition solutions: “In
ten months, the industry received more
t is well known that the Covid- funding than in the last seven years. This
pandemic has forced change in many spike of more than 100 times the funding
Iindustries and driven digitalisation at previously received shows that those on
a pace faster than anyone could have the technology forefront know that digital
anticipated, but it has happened at verification is a growing concern and an
the cost of robust security and digital immense opportunity.”
authentication. That said, Fanaroff believes that the
The ramifications of this could be felt industry has only addressed the tip of the
soon, as it becomes increasingly difficult iceberg.
to know whether the person on the other The financial services industry is
end of a digital transaction is legitimate leading the race when looking at digital
and authenticated. authentication and digital recognition,
Juniper Research, in its 2020-2025 because regulations require them to have
Digital Identity Market Summary, robust systems in place for Know your
estimates that digital identity apps will and that the person’s online identity, in a Customer (KYC) compliance.
exceed 6,2 billion by 2025 from a 2020 digital world, is who he/she claims to be. As 2021 speeds to an end, Fanaroff
base of one billion. In essence, iDENTIFii wanted to make sure says that the year has been witness to
South Africa, together with they could offer a secure and user-friendly some significant achievements. Massive
most other countries, is on an technology platform that authenticates adoption of more digital technology
aggressive growth path towards digital physical identities in a connected world. and a level of comfort with compliance
authentication and digital recognition This unique approach has seen the are two of the main positives, while a
maturity. Entrepreneur and digital, company win the MTN Business App level of standards setting has also been
remote biometric authentication of the Year Award 2021 in the ‘Best achieved: “We are seeing a move towards
specialist, Lance Fanaroff from iiDENTIFii, Enterprise Solution’ category; it has also more impressive inter-operability, and
says there have been pros and cons as a attained Microsoft co-sell partner status benchmarks are being established within
result of Covid. with its biometric digital authentication the digital identity authentication and
“It would appear that 2020 and and automated onboarding solution digital recognition space. iiDENTIFii is
2021 rolled into one, resulting in a very hosted in Microsoft Azure. The company looking forward to increased collaboration
hard 24-month year for the majority of has also won the 2021 new Microsoft ISV across sectors and even competitors. By
businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has Partner of the Year award. working together, the success of cyber
seemingly also been the tipping point for Fanaroff says that while Covid did attacks will undoubtedly decrease, and it
so many technology-driven change cycles, accelerate digitalisation across many is simply a mindset change that is acutely
both good and bad, which has left many industries, the speed with which it was needed.” n
businesses in a digital dilemma.” implemented led to poor choices, which
Having recognised the dire need for will be felt in the next two to five years. Digital identity is about much more
remote biometric identity authentication A key area of concern, according to than creating an online account.
locally, iiDENTIFii has successfully Fanaroff, is digital recognition and digital Digital identity systems or ‘ID
developed globally relevant technology authentication solutions. These are Networks’ are no longer an island,
that provides proven biometric liveness widely regarded as critical must-haves isolated from anything else going on
and facial verification, and validates coming out of the “24-month year” global around them. They are multi-faceted,
data through secure, triangulated pandemic. multi-component ecosystems facilitated
authentication in under thirty seconds, Many companies may have via APIs, open standards and protocols.
meeting the highest standards of security implemented inadequate solutions and left Digital identity is unique, in that it
and data protection. While it is technically their key assets -- their data and intellectual needs both security and privacy and
complex, the solution simply assures that property - vulnerable and at risk. at the same time, when done well,
an individual is a real person and present Remote working has amplified the enhances security and privacy.
at the time of transaction or verification, threat and it is becoming imperative

EngineerIT | December 2021 | 14