What the UK can learn from the Nordics when it comes to digital ID | Opinion - ComputerWeekly.com

The UK and other countries can learn from the Nordic region when it comes to digital identity, writes John Erik Setsaas, vice-president of identity and innovation at Norwegian digital identity company Signicat.

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Proving who you are can be tricky. Passports and driving licenses work, of course, if you have one and can present the document.
But you’re likely out of luck if you’re applying for a bank account or other financial service online, for example. The chances are you’re going to have to visit a branch or perhaps take an awkward selfie that includes both your face and the document.

The UK has tried to fix this, and failed. The sorry saga of Gov.uk Verify went from ambitious launch to managed expectations to attempts to sell it off. The scheme’s biggest misstep was its first – it tried to forge its own path and failed to follow schemes that had already solved digital identity.
Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark all share more than a love of licorice – each has a successful digital identity system used by more than 70% of the population. In Finland, its online identification Tupas scheme has 87% penetration. Meanwhile, Gov.uk Verify has a mere 3% of signups across the UK...

The services available also had an impact. Norway and Sweden’s digital identity schemes had their intent written in the name, Bank ID. Anyone looking to sign up to a financial product could use their digital identity.
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Source: ComputerWeekly.com