Governments, tech giants began developing digital IDs in 2020, report reveals

In November 2020 a meeting took place between world governments and tech giants at the behest of the World Economic Forum to create an “Agile Nations Charter,” according to a recently surfaced report presented to Canada’s parliament in December.

The meeting was attended by officials from Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), as well as executives from Facebook, IBM, Siemens, Sherlock Biosciences, Suade Labs, Volvo Group and Wingcopter.

The United States, then under President Trump who was at odds with globalist organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and World Health Organization, was not included.

Together, these countries and companies created the Agile Nations Charter in which they pledged to collaborate on regulating technologies across a wide range of industries, including environmental technologies, transportation, data and communications, financial and professional services, and medical diagnosis and treatment.

“The Agile Nations Charter is a recognition by member countries of the need for international collaboration to create a regulatory environment in which innovation can thrive,” says the report.

Unsurprisingly, the charter appeared to follow the World Economic Forum’s agenda, which is predicated on “digital ID, digital payments, and data governance”.

One of the main projects discussed in the charter was the creation of a digital ID, or “digital credentials,.”which citizens would need to use to access public and private services.

“Digital credentials are the digital equivalent of paper documents, such as driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and licenses and permits, that can be used to obtain services from the public and private sector, such as social benefits, filing taxes, accessing health records, opening a bank account, trading across borders, or buying a home,” the report clarifies.

It was decided that Canada would run a workshop on digital IDs which would include the UK, Italy and Singapore. The purpose was to develop a concept for a digital ID and digital wallet, test how they would be used for services and transactions, and report back to the other countries.

“The goal is to explore and test the use case end-to-end, from the issuance of the digital credentials to a user’s digital wallet, to the use of those digital credentials to obtain services and/or complete transactions” and to “identify and document the gaps in interoperability and mutual support between participating Agile Nations members regarding digital credentials and digital trust services.”

But the charter’s participants acknowledged that a major hurdle to overcome before being able to implement digital IDs is "digital trust” which, according to the WEF, is trust that a given technology and the organization providing it “will protect all stakeholders’ interests and uphold societal expectations and values”.

Canada’s government also acknowledged that there are varying degrees of digital trust and access to technology in each country, so developing a uniform digital ID concept for all countries could be difficult. Nevertheless, Canada was confident that all countries would be able to roll it out.

“Despite the differences in approaches to digital trust and technology, they are largely aligned and there should be no significant blockers for proceeding with a proof of concept or pilot,” says the report.

Within the next year, all participating countries had rolled out vaccine passports, with many countries using QR codes, which the report notes requires “more user-friendly alternatives”.

Last month, a Canadian official in charge of Newfoundland and Labrador’s (NL) digital ID program confirmed that the vaccine passports were a precursor to digital IDs.

NL Digital Government Minister Sarah Stoodley confirmed that vaccine passports made her current digital ID project possible for 2023, suggesting that digital trust has been achieved.

“[S]he noted that residents now have more experience with the concept, based on use of the NLVaxPass that was employed for proof of vaccination,” reported CBC News. 

“‘They verified their identity on the app, and then they used that going into restaurants and bars and shopping malls,’ Stoodley said. 

"’So that's something that we've seen now everyone is comfortable with.’” 

Another project from the Agile Nations Charter, also involving Singapore, aimed to regulate and help develop “digital health devices” but determined in 2021 that the work was already “underway in other existing fora”.