ATB Ventures works with Canadian government on digital ID proof of concept

Alberta-based ATB Ventures is partnering with the government of Canada to develop a proof of concept for a National Digital Trust Service supported by ATB Ventures’ digital identity management platform.

A press release issued by ATB Ventures states that the company will offer access to Oliu, a self-sovereign digital identity management platform built around blockchain, so the participating 20 organizations can build and test a broad range of applications as part of a proof of concept for the Canadian government’s National Digital Trust Service. The company also offers Proof, a digital credentials wallet, which can be used in the secure sandbox environment.

ATB Ventures, the research and development arm of ATB Financial, says self-sovereign digital credentials are becoming increasingly important and noticed by governments, financial institutions, and customers, as traditional identity solutions are challenged with inaccessibility, privacy issues, and data insecurity.

The proof of concept stage is where the Canadian government tests digital credentials use cases in cooperation with regulators and organizations to advance the adoption and maturity of digital credentials technology. The National Digital Trust Service aims to enable Canadians and businesses to issue, use and verify digital credentials during transactions.

ATB Ventures emphasized the importance of interoperability, or the exchange of data between different systems, as a “critical piece to digital ID’s success and unlocking its full potential,” Nav Dhunay, head of technology at ATB Ventures, comments. “Interoperability and standards are necessary for maintaining trust and transparency in a modern day digital economy. Oliu and Proof leverage leading digital identity frameworks, inclusive of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF), the recently announced National Trust and Identity Fundamentals, and emerging open standards such as Indy Aries Credentials and the W3C Verifiable Credential model.”

The technology sector in Canada has taken its own steps to collaborate on digital identity management, security, and data privacy. The Digital Identity Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC), of which ATB Ventures is a member, launched the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework in 2020 to provide a set of standards for digital ID and authentication. The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) and the DIACC partnered up in 2021 to advance dialogue around digital ID.

Most recently, the Standards Council of Canada and Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada engaged a technology business group to develop a technical specification to support the widespread adoption of digital identity and credentials in an economy that is rapidly going online.

Sue McGill, senior vice president of ATB Ventures, says, “ATB Ventures is excited to be partnering with the Government to advance Canada’s digital identity efforts. With identification sitting at the heart of every interaction—online and off—having a secure, self sovereign identity system that provides a positive user experience and privacy by design is critical to not only the competitiveness of Canada, but also to driving inclusive, economic growth.”

Article Topics

ATB Ventures  |  Canada  |  data protection  |  DIACC  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  interoperability  |  privacy by design  |  self-sovereign identity