Yesterday, Shyft Network announced that it is developing digital IDs with the Bermuda government. The blockchain platform has now started phase one of the ‘Perseid’ project, which aims to provide IDs for enterprise and citizens to operate with public services.
Shift’s platform is a combination of networks and protocols powered by blockchain, with the primary goal of interoperability between systems. The first phase of its Bermuda identity project will build infrastructure on the Shyft platform to enable smart contracts, data portability, and regulatory compliance.
“When e-IDs are used in conjunction with a compliance-based regulatory framework and paired with best-in-class technology solutions, e-IDs can create a digital identity authentication mechanism and bridge for the residents of Bermuda to permission the exchange of attested data attached to that e-ID,” explained Bruce Silcoff, the CEO of the Perseid project.
The solution hopes to build a nationally recognized framework of e-IDs to streamline public services and company transactions while reducing fraud. With these interoperable identities and data mobility, Shyft appears to be on the right track.
Yesterday, Infosys founder Nandan Nilekani outlined three main steps to launching a national banking system: digital IDs, payment infrastructure, and data portability. Phase one addresses two of these steps already.
Joseph Weinberg, Chairman of Shyft Network, said: “Governments and enterprises will benefit from an efficient, robust and low-cost solution whilst individuals benefit because it will be easy to use, provide better transparency and place them in control of their identity-related data.”
Even Bermuda’s Premier, the Hon. David Burt, was enthusiastic about the e-ID project: “The Perseid identity solution can be a great showcase of how this technology can be applied to solve complex challenges facing the financial services industry such as reducing the burdens of compliance while exceeding global regulatory standards and expectations.”
Bermuda welcomed a blockchain-based insurance exchange built by startup ChainThat earlier this year. But this appears to be its first e-ID initiative. It joins Sierra Leone, Argentina, and Korea, only revealed today, in adopting digital identities.
