Critical need to secure the competitiveness of Decentralized ID
By Ho-Hyeorn Han, Vice-Chair of DID
Alliance Korea (Director of Korea PKI Forum)
Recently, Facebook announced the creation
of its decentralized identity system by releasing the whitepaper of Libra.
Similarly, global IT companies such as Microsoft and IBM or Korean large
companies such as SK Telecom or LG Uplus are also developing blockchain-based
Decentralized ID system. In brief, the fact that leading tech companies work on
this infrastructure heralds a new era of identity system based on the
Decentralized Identity technology.
In the digital world, identification system
is the most important underlying technology. Until now, centralized identification
systems have mostly been used for each individual system. Alternatively,
federated identification systems, such as single sign-on, were developed as a
means to enhance users’ convenience by enabling them to get access to various
companies through a unique channel or identifier (e.g. email address). The use
of this approach has been highlighted by the development of e-government
systems in countries (such as Estonia, Japan, Korea, Norway, and Singapore)
that are generally able to preserve a single system.
Furthermore, from a technical point of
view, the most unique method is the identification system used in Korea that is
based on a certified digital signature. Through this method, it is possible to
get access to various companies or multiple systems by performing only one
identity verification process. Through a unified and institutionalized identification
system for certified digital signature, a unique identifier is shared between
counterparts so that users can use it in various systems. This approach is seen
as a brilliant use case in other countries. For example, the British
government's 2016 report entitled "Distributed Ledger Technology: beyond
block chain" suggests that Korea's digital signature system is one of the most
efficient use case in the world and that UK should work with Korea to lead the
initiative in the field.
Blockchain technology is emerging as an
important technology in many industries, but it is still a progressive
technology in its effectiveness. Nevertheless, companies and experts around the
world commonly agree that the most effective application of the blockchain
might be the sharing of identification means. So far, no specific method or
framework has been proposed for this as we are just diagnosing the
possibilities and looking for the ‘right’ direction. What is clear is that each
country or company have the possibility to perform identification process in a
standardized and common way, and that the blockchain technology can play a big
role as the technology enabling these countries or companies to share the
result of this standardized identification process with each other.
The problem is the limitation of blockchain
technology. In other words, blockchain itself rejects centralized systems,
making it difficult to interoperate with other blockchain systems through a
single architecture. As a result, services that need to ensure interoperability
between blockchain systems face hurdles. Performing a simple identity
verification process is one of these hurdles. Most of the blockchain has
different technical configuration, making the cooperation between each platform
practically impossible.
This problem can be solved by finding a way to unify the whole world
around a blockchain system based on identification. Another solution may
consists in gathering and agreeing on minimum requirements and functions to standardize
an identification method, ensuring a widespread use. These examples are among
the solutions that companies and experts are working on to solve the problem
due to the limited interoperability of the blockchain.
One of the most popular examples of technology standardization is
the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The W3C, an international standards
organization, has defined how web documents should be presented, enabling
Internet users to use similar web pages with browsers created by different
developers. Companies and experts could use this example to spread successfully
the standardization of the Decentralized Identity technology. In terms of
solutions based on technology, attempts are being made in South Korea to
establish an identification system by utilizing blockchain technology. Various
companies, including SK Telecom, LG Uplus, Raonsecure and Iconloop, are leading
the movement.
Such attempts are positives as various players are working on different innovative technologies in the same time. However, these attempts can only be considered as sorts of “walled garden strategies” that do not take into account user convenience. In order to consider user convenience and to gain innovative competitiveness around the world, the standardization must be discussed first. It is a necessary condition in order to promote the DID technology as the leading ID system in the world. Companies and experts have to start discussing standardization from now.