Business Use Case
The Self-Sovereign Identity in a Smart City
- Digitalization of analog structures
- Accelerated processes
- Open interfaces for municipalities and businesses
- Control over your data
The digitalization of the municipalities
The Smart City aims to bring the digitization of analog processes in cities to the fore. The development concepts aim to simplify procedures for citizens and create new perspectives for companies. However, the smart city leads to new challenges that need to be thought through so that the digital transformation is successful for all stakeholders.
myEGO meets these challenges and offers solutions that guarantee added value for citizens, economic players, and government institutions and create new synergies. For example, the digital transformation requires the implementation of new interfaces that 1. place citizens at the center and give them control over their personal data, 2. are open for (new) business processes of the economy and municipalities, and 3. simplify already existing structures and processes in companies and administration.
What approaches do we present?
①
The citizen is the center of the smart city
②
Creation of
new interfaces
③
Simplified processes for businesses and administration
1. The citizen is the center of the smart city
With the Online Access Act, the legislature has laid the first important cornerstone for the smart city. It obliges state institutions to offer all administrative services digitally. However, if processes are digitized, this also requires a rethink in the handling of personal data. The central storage of personal data by different companies and service providers is no longer in keeping with the times. Self-sovereign identity gives citizens back control over their data. This data is stored in a private wallet, and verified certificates are stored in a blockchain. The transmission of these certificates to business partners, service providers, or authorities happens more quickly than verification processes in the analog world. They can therefore be processed more easily but also automatically, which offers companies new opportunities.
Citizen Services
The linking of SSI and Smart City guarantees citizens and companies time-independent access to the services of administrative authorities. This eliminates the need for personal administrative visits and makes communication with government institutions much easier. Public authorities and politicians have also realized the advantages of linking SSI and Smart City. For this reason, the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital Affairs, for example, supports decentralized digital identity, and even the German government’s blockchain strategy assumes a promising approach for the future.
“While shared mobility is a recent trend, it has quickly shifted consumer preferences away from car ownership toward alternative forms of transportation, making it an extremely disruptive force. Many of the associated changes will be positive, since the growth of shared mobility will open new and profitable opportunities for multiple companies, including automakers, suppliers, technology businesses, and aerospace experts.”
McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, “Shared Mobility”, https://mck.co/38I7z9o
More information about the use case?
To give you an understanding of the use cases of decentralized digital identity in a smart city, myEGO has compiled a white paper for you. In addition to the challenges of the smart city, it also outlines practical solutions from myEGO.
2. Creation of new interfaces
Centrally stored personal data means a not inconsiderable amount of bureaucracy for companies. For example, proof of identity, credit checks, or employee certificates must be legitimized and stored following data protection requirements. Storing verified certificates in a blockchain and giving individuals control over their data reduces bureaucracy and creates new capacities for companies.
For example, car sharing is simplified as long as a driver’s license is stored in the digital wallet. Only the verified certificates need to be transmitted from an SSI platform. Verification of driver’s license, ID card, or bank account information no longer needs to be done by employees themselves. The user releases the certificates legitimized by third parties during the vehicle reservation process; in subsequent business contacts, it is sufficient to identify the customer using a QR code. This speeds up the process and reduces the effort involved, and the sensitive original documents also remain protected.
SSI also offers decisive advantages for retailers. Promotional and bonus programs can be set up across stores and at the local level. Data can be monetized without compromising the privacy of citizens. Compared to traditional bonus systems, which are opaque to consumers, this offers enormous advantages, especially for local retailers. Verification can also take place in such models with KYC via QR code.
3. Simplified processes for businesses and administration
The digitization of cities will progress rapidly in the coming years. Simplified processes and structures will benefit citizens, companies, and administrations alike. What promises more data security for citizens, on the one hand, guarantees companies less work and the establishment of new business models on the other.
Example: E-government
1
Digital application for a certificate of eligibility for housing at the competent authority by the prospective tenant
2
Storage of the verified certificate on the SSI platform
3
Provision of the verified certificate to the new landlord within seconds
Example: Mobility
1
the customer provides the necessary verified certificates (e.g. via ID card, bank data) to the transport company
2
the customer can identify himself by means of a QR code during further contacts
3
time-consuming legitimation processes on site are no longer necessary, which can significantly simplify mobility in a smart city