Blockchain, Crypto Currency and Identity

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The Institute of International Finance published a paper on November 16, 2015 titled “Banking on the Blockchain: Re-engineering the Financial Architecture“. It’s an excellent read for those still trying to come to grips with what blockchain technology is all about. A key point made in the paper is the need for international collaboration in order to drive open and robust standards for this promising technology. This is vital and includes digital identity management.

Today there are hundreds of companies involved in the digital identity ecosystem many of which are attempting to build proprietary networks and technology frameworks. As with the Internet, the framework underpinning a global blockchain like value exchange system, including the identity management protocols must be open for anyone to use. This enables the entire community to build value added capabilities on top of that framework which is the only practical way for a platform which such pervasive potential to thrive.

For those of you who missed it, the Economist featured Bitcoin on the cover of their October 31st issue. It’s another good read and also another indicator that cryptocurrency is very likely to be part of our future.

Ken

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About the author

I'm a risk and data management executive and entrepreneur. After 5 years of engineering sales and completing an MBA in finance, I found myself in a cool risk management technology company in Toronto called Algorithmics (now IBM Risk Analytics). In five years the company grew revenues by a factor of 50, I had relocated to London and gained a strong appreciation for data. The best analytics in the world cannot navigate around incorrect or unavailable data.

I launched a company called Avox in 2002 to focus on improving the quality of client and counterparty data used by financial institutions for regulatory compliance and risk management. The DTCC (Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation) acquired the company in 2010. I spent the next few years working with them to help drive what is now the GLEIS (Global Legal Entity Identifier System), a federation of organizations converging on a single global standard for company identification.

Most recently, I've established Warp Global Inc. (one must be warped after all to engage in yet another startup) as a services and technology company with a broad view of helping to drive "data ecosystem innovation". Specifically, WGI is focusing on tokenized digital identity management and working with a multitude of stakeholders with a view to helping firms converge on global standards for identity.