Australia-first digital ID trial shows major benefits for organisations
Share
The results of the Australian-first digital ID trial have shown major productivity benefits that can be unleashed across the wider Australian economy through industry adoption of digital ID.
The trial, which was conducted between eftpos’ connectID, the Queensland Government’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, Australian FinTech Meeco and engineering and technical services leader Powertech, confirmed that digital ID technology is ready to scale and deliver productivity, compliance and risk management benefits across any industry.
Managing Director of eftpos’ Digital Identity Andrew Black said the trial demonstrated the real-world benefits digital identity can yield for both workers and businesses such as:
- The time for an HR team to onboard a new worker was reduced from 72 hours to 30 minutes
- The time for a new worker to provide necessary credentials information was reduced from 48 hours to 30 minutes
- 100% of participants (both HR teams and employees) found the new process easier than the current process.
Director Black said the trial clearly demonstrated the benefits of government and the private sector working together to resolve actual business challenges and drive a stronger economy.
“This trial shows the practical benefits that digital identity can bring when solving everyday business issues, like massive lifts in convenience and productivity,” he said.
“By using the connectID network to deliver digital credentials sourced from the Department of Transport and Main Roads, these critical infrastructure employees and operators were able to save two days and get to work faster.”
The technology will be placed in areas where verifying the skills and qualifications of an employee are essential such as health and aged care, manufacturing, transport, training and education and all forms of construction, repair and maintenance.
Cutting edge distributed ledger technologies were used for the trial. The technologies for the registration and verification of the credential records were powered by the globally distributed ledger network, Hedera Hashgraph.
Chief Executive and Founder of Meeco Katryna Dow said that being able to securely verify drivers’ licence credentials in real-time with the employee’s permission shows what’s possible when Governments and the private sector work together to achieve great business outcomes.
She believes that the benefits will increase and be shared across the Australian economy when digital ID is deployed at scale.
“By using the Meeco mobile identity wallet in combination with Hedera’s proven distributed ledger technology we’re able to embed trust into the very forefront of necessary everyday interactions like credential checks,” she said.
“Enabling employees to participate transparently in the creation, access and permission of immutable identity, safety and compliance records was easy and fast. As a result, benefits such as time-saving and convenience were realised for all the workforce stakeholders.”
With the utilisation of digital ID across industries, customers are given peace of mind that those who are performing key tasks are fully and currently qualified. Aside from this, they are also reassured that businesses can manage their compliance obligations easily and cost-effectively.
“Reducing the time and complexity of verifying workplace credentials with digital ID means our people can get on the job faster. This reduces downtime, avoidable waiting costs and keeps critical projects on track and Australians working,” Powertech’s Managing Director Paul Carmignani said.
Director Carmignani is responsible for specialists working on some of the world’s biggest mining, oil and gas, renewables, infrastructure and defence projects.
Transport and Main Roads Customer Oriented Registration and Licencing General Manager Chris Goh said the digital ID trial was important as it created a trusted, convenient and assured credentials ecosystem.
“Digital Identity has been largely talked about as authentication and logins. Credentials like driver licences are still the dominant form of representing identity in the community,” Manager Goh said
“Linking digital credentials to a digital account creates a complete digital identity solution, and we are very grateful to be able to work with industry and businesses to prove and realise that vision.”
eftpos’ connectID is now working with the partners to scale the capability and explore other markets where this use case would benefit Australian consumers, businesses and public services.
With AAP
Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.
