UK Forms Independent Advisory Group to Guide National Digital ID Program

The UK government has assembled an independent advisory group of business and civil society leaders to provide external scrutiny and strategic oversight as it develops a national digital identity system.

The group, brought together by Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones, includes John Fallon, former CEO of Pearson and Lead Cabinet Office Non-Executive Board Member; Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, co-founder and CEO of Stemettes; David Rogers MBE, a cybersecurity expert; Emma Wright, Director and co-founder of the Interparliamentary Forum on Emerging Technologies and partner at Crowell & Moring; Justine Roberts CBE, founder and Executive Chair of Mumsnet and Gransnet; and Victor Dominello, former New South Wales Minister for Digital Government and now CEO and Co-Founder of the Future Government Institute.

The advisory group will meet quarterly to challenge the government on emerging policy decisions and ensure the digital ID system is inclusive, useful, and trusted. Separately, the government plans to launch a program of regular engagement with the Digital Verification Services and financial services sectors later in June, working with trade organizations including techUK and UK Finance.

“The current legacy system of call centres, paperwork and the need to tell your story multiple times to different parts of government is not good enough,” Jones said. “In its place, we need to build a truly modern UK where public services work for you, with digital ID as the foundation.”

James Frith, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said the government wants to hear from “as many people and organisations as possible” throughout the program’s development.

The UK government launched a public consultation on its digital ID plans earlier this year, outlining a framework built around three principles: usefulness, inclusiveness, and trust. The advisory group and sector engagement program build on a People’s Panel that brings together a diverse group of citizens to debate trade-offs in the system’s design. Financial services groups have urged the government to include strong safeguards around fraud, revocation, and liability.

Digital ID is part of the government’s broader plans to reform public services and replace legacy technology systems across the public sector.

Sources: GOV.UK

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By Ali Nassar-Smith