Deloitte Joins Startup Attest to Push Blockchain Identity Solutions for Governments

The world’s largest professional services network, also known as one of the ‘Big Four’, Deloitte has partnered with blockchain startup company Attest Inc. to develop and push blockchain identity solutions for Governments.

According to a press release on Monday by Deloitte, it will collaborate with the Chicago-based blockchain startup to develop a digital identity offering for its impressive list of Governmental clients, based on Attest‘s existing products.

Founded in March 2018 by Cab Morris and Jennifer O’Rourke, two former employees of the Illinois State’s governing office, and leaders of its blockchain initiatives, Attest‘s shared identity management platform has been developed utilising their deep understanding of the complex needs of government.

The company has developed two products, ‘Attest Wallet‘ and ‘Attest Enterprise‘, that have been specifically designed to ease pain-points for government authorities to provide identity services for its citizens.  Managing director (MD) of Deloitte Consulting LLP, Wendy Henry stated:

“government must serve the whole of citizens, including those who may not be able to accept the control of their identity credential in a digital form.”

Utilising blockchain technology, the ‘Attest Wallet’ aims to provide a cryptographically secured identity storage for users to store digital versions of government and business IDs in one place, with permission controlled access to stored information.

The ‘Attest Enterprise’ platform has been developed to allow users to verify their identity, authorise third parties and provide consent for others to manage their data on their behalf where required.  Co-founder and CEO of Attest, Cab Morris stated:

“a government-issued digital identity has the potential to reduce costs and risk for businesses in all industries, while also providing citizens with greater security, privacy and control over personal data.”

Collaborating with Deloitte to develop blockchain identity solutions for government clients, Attest has said that it plans to build in decentralised identifiers and verifiable credentials, allowing them to certify documents such as driver’s licenses and social security cards digitally.

Currently, most central authorities rely on paper and plastic solutions to prove identity, which are easier to forge than cryptographic signatures, and are known to slow down systems with the due diligence required for verification.

Deloitte and other major enterprise players, see blockchain identity solutions for governments as one of the most important to crack.  Attest now has the potential to grow its product throughout the vast network that the professional services behemoth offers.  MD of Deloitte Consulting, Wendy Henry has also said:

 “We are looking to integrate them into an end-to-end solution, where they’ll help provide some of the digital identity credentials that I can’t divulge.”

A number of governments around the world are already developing their own blockchain projects.  The U.K. is involved in a plethora of projects, such as that with R3’s Corda to develop blockchain land registry solutions, after a report revealed that blockchain technology can save the UK government £8 Billion.

IBM have been steaming ahead with blockchain technology and its Hyperledger offerings, as per a previous BCTech Report, it signed AUD $1 billion contract to develop blockchain for the government of Australia, as well as a major contract with oil rich Saudi Arabia to develop blockchain for the city Riyadh.