What if there was a centralised depository that housed all of your personal accreditations, skills experience, compliance activity and induction certifications in a completely secure way? What if you could put your hand up to be deployed at a moment’s notice to contribute to global humanitarian needs, sans all the paperwork? It’s happening, under a new initiative called the Trust Alliance.
The Trust Alliance was established in July 2019 by the Australian Red Cross, and is a multi-sector collaborative initiative built on humanitarian foundations. It is working towards equal access to digital identity that is universally recognised; and global recognition and adoption of ethical digital identity. EWB Australia is a founding partner, alongside CARE Australia, Oxfam Australia, Traverse, TypeHuman, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, MATTR and Sempo.
Humanitarian work requires identifying people in need of assistance and rapidly deploying others who can help. However, sharing information comes with its own risks. Poor data practices can have catastrophic outcomes. And organisations need to know that people they send have relevant qualifications. The Trust Alliance will use trusted credentials to give greater data controls to the user, safeguard vulnerable people, and create a more efficient humanitarian arena.
Utilising blockchain, a Digital ID will be your passport to engage in a whole range of opportunities to apply your skills in humanitarian contexts. It does this by allowing organisations to issue and verify decentralised, digital credentials in the form of a badge for aspects such as humanitarian response training, first-aid, working with children. Badges are stored in a digital wallet on the phone or web, and leverage blockchain to reduce the cost of integration for humanitarian organisations, as well as broaden the availability and portability of credentials for individuals. This application has been in development and is currently being tested.
We look forward to sharing further news on the development of this exciting, and much-needed, solution. You can find out more, and get involved, at the Trust Alliance website.