'Having a valid, verifiable identity is a ‘privilege’ that allows an individual to become a consumer, to be able to buy, sell, trade, transact and move easily from one place to another. Lack of identity leads not only to lack of opportunities for individuals, but also for their communities, including both private and public sector. This presentation will focus on the significance of digital identity projects targeting marginalized populations in the developing world from economic, legal and technological perspectives. Receiving digital identity unlocks sleeping capital of marginalized populations allowing them to participate in economic activities and making visible for entities. Bottom-up standards creation around digital identity that includes the beneficiaries themselves offers an unprecedented opportunity to build the justice layer of the internet paving a way for trusted scalable digital relationships. Building an infrastructure layer of decentralized digital identity leveraging power of distributed ledger technology (blockchain) can become a breakthrough of mass adoption of this very much hoped technology.
