Will we finally see digital ID take place?

The English Commonwealth, which was established in 1649, is often cited as the earliest instance of nation-state creation in the world, yet in England there is no formal national ID unlike many countries worldwide. However, in 1414, the English did pass the Safe Conducts Act and issued ‘safe conduct’ documents similar to what we now call a passport. Although we had to wait until after the French revolution when, in 1803, the French issued what could be described as a national ID, over 200 years later (as the below chart illustrates) there are still over one billion people in the world with no ID. Blockchain technology is now being used to help meet some of the challenges around creating and storing IDs, and this comes at a time when many countries globally are weighing their options and considering the likely problems their digital ID solution could face. But there is no doubt that the world is becoming more digital and with it the billions of human activities and transactions taking …