IBM Supply Chain and Blockchain Blog in the Age of Digital Credentials

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Imagine being able to get rid of the driver’s license in the wallet, insurance Card, student ID or employee ID, etc.Imagine not having to worry about losing your passport and Vaccination record When traveling abroad, or about the authenticity of the brand-name shoes you just bought. All this is possible by introducing verifiable digital certificates. The credentials have existed for decades, if not centuries. The idea of ​​obtaining documents that prove qualifications, ability, or authority is not a new idea in itself. In fact, it is these deep-rooted and deep-rooted practices that we often think may not be changed by technological changes. However, it is the daily activities that we habitually continue without thinking, which may and in many cases have been profoundly affected by digital vouchers. In short, the era of digital vouchers has arrived.

The Internet has existed for decades, and I have been using smartphones for many years. Why is this the first time I have heard of a digital certificate? These may be some of the questions that came to mind when I first heard about digital certificates.The fact is that although the Internet and smartphones have made significant progress in the past 20 years, Blockchain The technology that supports verifiable digital certificates has only recently matured and can meet the standards required for widespread application and adoption.

Use blockchain to convert digital identities into trusted identities

Using blockchain technology, IBM digital certificate Obtain permission, immutability and verifiability. You can use QR codes or private and public keys to share digital credentials, or even just the attributes of the credentials.In most certifications Example, There will be three participants-issuer, holder and verifier.The issuer will provide the issuer with a certificate Blockchain, So as to prove the qualification or validity of the assertion. The holder can then store the voucher in their digital wallet.

When needed, the holder can provide credential information to verifiers who need to verify the credibility of the holder’s credential in a physical or digital manner. Digital credentials eliminate the hassle of managing multiple physical files, reduce the risk of fraud, and allow holders to selectively share only necessary data with the requesting verifier. The application of a secure and trusted issuer-holder-verifier transaction model is limitless and will have a positive impact on every industry.

First wave and future use cases

With the initial implementation of more obvious use cases, the adoption of digital vouchers will have twists and turns.Since the benefits are realized by the entities participating in the initial wave of adoption, we believe that the company and government Edge use cases will take risks on digital vouchers. We see that the main use cases are related to occupational and professional licenses, entertainment licenses, learning certificates, and vaccine verification. With the emergence of these initial use cases, we anticipate that the credentials used to verify the authenticity of physical products will become the subsequent adoption stage. This will enable individuals and institutions to verify the authenticity of parts, clothing, sports equipment, etc. Some of the main use cases include medical certificates, driving licenses, and health records.

Medical certificates are the main candidates for digitization, immutability and verifiability.inside Medical industry, The record verification of new doctors is time-consuming and efficient. The process of validating new members of a hospital usually requires 12-25 or more independent organizations. This results in the onboarding process for new employees taking 4-6 months. As a result of this timely process, the hospital loses between 7,500 and 9,000 dollars a day. By storing medical certificates on the blockchain, hiring hospitals will be able to verify the certificates of new employees in minutes instead of months.

Similar to medical certificates, we also expect the certification of health records and driver’s licenses to appear in the first wave of adoption. Allowing individuals to digitally keep their health records or driver’s licenses will benefit the safety and security of personal identities. We often provide third parties with more information than requested. For example, if the verifier needs to verify your age, it should not display any other information, such as your address or full name. Using digital certificates stored on the blockchain, you will be able to verify your age without visually presenting any information, even your date of birth!

IBM digital certificate for learners

By successfully applying the platform to our business, we proved the capabilities of the IBM Digital Credentials platform Learning Voucher Network Example. We have embarked on the journey of digitizing the most suitable certificate in the education industry. May immediately think of being able to obtain and keep a digital record of diplomas. However, the digitization of learning records goes further. Students and employees around the world who may not have the opportunity to attend 4-year or even 2-year universities now have new ways to acquire skills through online courses, on-the-job training, skill-based experiential learning, etc. Digital certificate systems (such as the IBM Digital Certificate Platform The implementation of) enables these employees and students to obtain verifiable skills certification, proving that they have acquired and are ready to use the skills at work. This subsequently created a skills-based economy and brought benefits to leaders in all walks of life. Digital learning certificates expand the talent pool, create more diversity in the workplace, and allow easier access to individuals with special skills. Companies, students, employees, and educational institutions that use IBM Digital Credentials platform learning applications have already benefited from our solutions.

Government entity certification

The IBM digital certificate team also cooperated with the local government of New York State to introduce the powerful functions of the IBM digital certificate platform into their social service projects. Individuals or families need to take several steps to verify their eligibility for these programs and need to provide a large number of documents. Individuals must provide information such as income, address, identification, etc. This is an extremely time-consuming and tedious (usually repetitive) process.

Given that people who are eligible to participate in one program may also be eligible to participate in other programs, the local government decided to work with IBM to create digital credentials to quickly verify eligibility to participate in multiple social programs. This will ultimately save a lot of time for voters and government workers who assist in these processes. The program starts with the verification of emergency rent relief eligibility, but hopes to help expedite the verification of social services for all programs.

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