Iconic Identity Trends to Keep an Eye On in 2020

At the start of 2019, we wrote about the trends in the document security industry for the year ahead. In a new series of articles we will look at whether those trends look set to continue into 2020 and what we can expect in the next year.

Mobile Identity

2019 saw much activity in the mobile ID space, especially around the mobile driver’s license (mDL). There are now two US states offering mDLs after following Alabama’s lead, where they introduced a locally-developed app for delivering a digital driver’s license to a phone. While this is a big step forward, neither of these states’ mDLs could be used elsewhere, as they don’t conform to any global standard. Interoperability and standardization are where the big strides forward are happening for mDLs. There have been interoperability tests in the USA and Australia, as the industry comes together around the ISO18013-5 standard. 2020 will see further interoperability testing and should see the ISO18013 standard published. Once this is done, it is expected that we will see several states launch their mDL applications.

Other exciting news includes the launch of a mobile National Identity application in Argentina. This Smart DNI is available to anyone who renews their National ID, and will be available to new applicants in 2020. There are high expectations for this application, and uptake is already brisk amongst citizens. This project is unique and it is anticipated that it could be the trigger for other countries in the region to follow suit.

There is no doubt that 2020 will be a defining year for mobile identity. Not only will existing use cases, such as mDLs, grow and gain acceptance, but new use cases will continue to emerge as citizens continue to demand the convenience and functionality of mobile identities.

Learn more about HID goID to see how HID Global can add the underlying security to your mobile identity application.

Steve Warne is Senior Director, Product Marketing , Citizen Identification Solutions with HID Global, where he is responsible for the marketing and solution strategy related to the development and growth of the company’s global government ID business. Steve has more than 15 years of experience in the government identity market.