Nick Price, DDID/SSI, and the “Control Yourself” Interview
During an interview at Phocuswright Europe, Nick Price described DDID/SSI as “the most consequential technology of a generation.” The full interview between Nick Price and Mitra Sorrells can be watched here. So how exactly did Price justify his selection of DDID/SSI as the generation’s “most consequential technology.”
Nick Price is the chair of the Hospitality & Travel Special Interest Group at the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF).
What does DDID/SSI mean?
Digital identity (DID) – “A set of validated digital attributes and credentials for the digital world, similar to a person’s identity for the real word.”
Decentralised Digital Identity (DDID) – “An open-standards based identity framework that uses digital identifiers and verifiable credentials that are self-owned, independent, and enable trusted data exchange.”
Self-sovereign identity (SSI) – aka. Decentralised Digital Identity, “Digital identities that are managed in a decentralized manner. This technology allows users to self-manage their digital identities without depending on third-party providers to store and centrally manage the data.”
DID is already globally known as one of the most significant technology trends. DDID/SSI is set to revolutionise the travel industry landscape ultimately providing individuals with a more seamless experience.
How consequential is DDID/SSI?
In the interview Price positioned DDID/SSI to be “equally profound” as these previous three core-technology developments:
- TCP/IP – The Internet Protocol. The networking protocol that allowed two computers to communicate.
- HTTP – The Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The foundation of the World Wide Web which loads web pages using hypertext links. This enabled browsers and e-commerce.
- GSM – Global System for Mobile Communication. The digital mobile network that facilitated mobile telecommunication on mass.
- DDID/SSI – Decentralised Digital Identity/Self-Sovereign Identity. Price explained this simply as the technology that allows “individuals, businesses, or even things to say, ‘this is me, this is who I am, and this is what I want’ and to do this ”
What significance does DDID/SSI have for the aviation industry?
In the interview, Price explained that DDID/SSI will eradicate the black box between the customer and the business. Currently, when a customer steps onto a plane the airline does not know them. They don’t understand their requirements, history, or desires.
DDID/SSI will enable the individual to “express themselves digitally through commerce.” Crucially, DDID/SSI will enable this through a reliable and secure interaction, cutting out the need for a third-party intermediary.
The technology will enable customers to communicate their needs directly to a provider and do this across instantly across providers as opposed to expressing needs at each step of the journey.
Crucially, only the necessary information will be shared. For example, if a provider needed to know if the individual was an adult, instead of sharing the specific age of the person it would only verify that they are over 18 years old.
What could a world utilising DDID/SSI look like?
The technology offers a new direct channel to customers and has the potential to be particularly influential within the travel industry. In the interview, Price described six use cases that this technology could bring to the travel industry. The first three of these he described as having the most potential:
- Discount entitlement – Engage in commercial interaction, providing quality information about entitlements so you receive back specific offers. Expressing exactly what you want.
- Sharing profile elements – Rich, accurate, singular, up to date customer profile. The ability to share elements of this profile as opposed to a complete profile.
- Verified stay – Accumulation of verified travel history into a wallet. This can prove travel history without giving away any specifics.
Where are we up to with DDID/SSI?
Europeans will soon be able to request a digital ID that will be provided through DDID/SSI to create a digital wallet. This will be available for up to 450 million travellers in Europe in the next few years. Furthermore, DDIS/SSI are not limited to Europe, this technology is being developed internationally in Singapore, Japan, North America, Europe, and more. Price predicts a rapid take-up of this technology in the coming decade.
The large scale roll out of this technology is imminent. It is new, exciting, and set to revolutionise the travel industry’s landscape. It will certainly be influential and when asked if it can be profitable, Price’s simple answer was “Yes it can.”
Article by Jess Brownlow
