How to build digital credentials that work for all
Digital credentials offer governments the opportunity to streamline operations, deliver more integrated services to citizens, and improve overall efficiency. Research by the Global Government Forum highlights the transformative potential of this technology, and many governments worldwide are actively developing digital credential solutions.
However, despite the promise, governments often encounter barriers that hinder progress and limit their ability to fully realize these benefits.
This Global Government Forum webinar, supported by knowledge partner AffinitiQuest, explored how governments can develop digital credentials that are both inclusive and effective. It examined the common barriers to deploying credentials across different government organizations and discuss practical steps to overcome these challenges.
This webinar discussed:
- Real world use cases of how digital credentials have been deployed in public services, sharing insights on how credentials can provide early transformation wins, and create more streamlined processes within government.
- Why digital credentials matter in improving trust, service delivery, and citizen control over data across government.
- Common barriers to adoption – from implementing credentials in fragmented IT environments and legacy systems to a lack of shared standards and interoperable wallets across government – and how they can be addressed.
Panel
Sigrid Rajalo, Director, Innovation and Technology Department, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Estonia
Sigrid Rajalo is the Director of the Innovation and Technology Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in Estonia. Since joining the Ministry in 2013, she has played relevant role in developing Estonia’s innovation policies. Sigrid was instrumental in creating Estonia’s first demand-side innovation policy and facilitating the country’s accession to the European Space Agency. She has held several key positions, including Head of the Innovation Policy Unit and Strategy Advisor. Additionally, Sigrid has served on the supervisory boards of Tallinn Science Park Tehnopol and Tartu Science Park, currently holding the position in state-owned company Metrosert which is launching Estonia´s very first Research and Technology Organization function. She is also a Guest Lecturer at the University of Tartu and has obtained PhD in Economics.
Ragnhildur Helga Ragnarsdóttir, Chief Technology Officer, Digital Iceland, Iceland
Ragnhildur is the Chief Technology Officer at Digital Iceland, having joined the team in the spring of 2022. Ragnhildur leads the development of the technology architecture and strategy at Digital Iceland. She oversees product development processes, works closely with public institutions and technology partners, and plays a key role in prioritizing and shaping core services and infrastructure on Ísland.is. Importantly she is responsible for the Authentication and Authorization system at Digital Iceland.
Prior to joining Digital Iceland, she spent nearly two decades at Landsbankinn, where she held a variety of roles—from software developer to IT business manager, and later as team lead. Earlier in her career, she played a key role in digitizing the bank’s business processes, working as a consultant, analyst, and programmer. Ragnhildur has deep hands-on experience across the entire software lifecycle—from early-stage discovery to user experience refinement and iterative development of digital solutions.
Ragnhildur holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Reykjavik University and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Iceland.
Gertjan Bouwers, Policy Advisor, DG Digitalisation and Government organisation, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom relations of the Netherlands
Gertjan Bouwers is a policy officer focused on National- and European Digital Identity at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom relations of the Netherlands. , specialising in the implementation of eIDAS, the EU Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI‑Wallet) and the Single Digital Gateway (SDG) regulation. He is actively involved in the Netherlands’ national response to evolving EU digital identity legislation and participates actively in international working groups on eIDAS, the revision of this regulation, trust frameworks and once‑only technical systems.
Ben Piercey, Chief Technology Officer, AffinitiQuest
Ben leads AffinitiQuest’s research and development by taking responsibility for all activities related to product development, intellectual property and patents as well as for managing AffinitiQuest’s technical resources. Ben brings extensive experience and background in delivering well developed, visionary software products. Since AffinitiQuest’s inception, Ben has been focused on the Digital Credential landscape and was Microsoft’s first ISV partner for Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials. Ben has extensive experience guiding Public Sector organizations in Canada to envision and implement Digital Credentials and contributes to interoperability projects internationally. Ben’s expertise includes extensive knowledge of emerging international standards, governance frameworks and technologies including W3C Verifiable Credentials, ISO mDocs and AnonCreds.
Previously, he was Vice President of Development at Interset, a software company providing an End User Behavioural Analysis platform to enterprise security teams, which was acquired by Microfocus.
Ben holds a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from Acadia University and has over 25 years of experience in software development with numerous technology domains ranging from High-Performance Computing to Online File Sharing and Enterprise Security and Identity.
Webinar chair: Richard Johnstone, Executive Editor, Global Government Forum
Richard is the Executive Editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as Acting Editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.
