IBM joins Sovrin Network for decentralised digital identity desires
IBM has become a founding “steward” of the Sovrin Network, to help create, operate and maintain its decentralised digital identity network.
The network is owned by Sovrin Foundation, a private-sector international non-profit, and IBM will collaborate with other stewards.
“We believe that the adoption of blockchain is an opportunity for a new trust model to take hold where individuals and organisations can securely share private information and credentials without an intermediary. This new model gives control back to the individual, who defines how personal information is shared and with whom,” says Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM Blockchain,
The foundation operates as a global public utility designed to provide permanent, private and trustworthy identity for every entity on the internet.
Along with other stewards, IBM will dedicate hardware, security and network capacity to assist in the operation of this blockchain-fuelled network.
Keen to play up this deal, IBM cites its own “2018 IBM X-Force Threat Index”, which reported that the “current centralised identity system is flawed”. It goes on to say that in 2017 more than 2.9 billion records were compromised from various security incidents across industries.
Ultimately, joining this club is just another step in IBM’s deepening involvement in blockchain.
Some recent examples include IBM blowing its own trumpet in terms of patents – such as blockchain ones; and being part of a blockchain-based shared know your customer (KYC) proof of concept.
In addition, as reported in January, IBM ended one of the longest losing streaks in the tech world with its earnings, exceeding analyst revenue expectations by almost $500 million.
At that time, IBM’s CEO Gini Rometty made some noise about blockchain: “During 2017, we strengthened our position as the leading enterprise cloud provider and established IBM as the blockchain leader for business. Looking ahead we are uniquely positioned to help clients use data and AI to build smarter businesses.”
