Digital Identity

Digital Identity Matters

At the heart of this service-oriented economy are network-based, automated transactions. Automated transactions are fundamentally different than the transactions that occur in the physical world. When I stop by the convenience store to buy a snack, I can exchange cash for peanuts. Unless the clerk happens to know me, the transaction is anonymous. In contrast, in the service-oriented economy, anonymous transactions are rare, because delivering service automatically almost always implies that you have to know something about who's receiving the service—if not their names, then at least their preferences or other attributes. This identifying information is usually transferred digitally, across the network. In a service-oriented economy, digital identity matters.

Of course when we talk about the service-oriented economy, we're not just talking about e-commerce. Note that my example with the convenience store involved a small cash purchase. But imagine the same scenario, except this time I use a debit card, credit card, or check. In any of those cases, I've invoked a network-based financial service as part of the overall transaction. Network-based services are as pervasive in transactions that occur in the physical world as they are in online interactions.

In an automated, network-based service, I have to know who you are in order to sell you access to my service. Since these services are increasingly delivered over digital networks, businesses need reliable, secure, and private means for creating, storing, transferring, and using digital identities. Network-based, automated services are not just delivered to customers—employees, partners, and suppliers also interact with the enterprise via services. In many cases, anonymous service is impossible or undesirable, and as a consequence, digital identities must be assigned and managed.

In addition to identifying customers to sell them services, business have an increasing need to identify employees, systems, resources, and services in a systematic way to create business agility and ensure the security of business assets.