Sophie is a 2024 Kim Cameron awardee, and we were delighted to support her journey to Identiverse in May this year. Read on to learn more about Sophie and her experience at Identiverse.
Affectionately known as the ‘identerati’, It is rare to find a professional community as close-knit as the digital identity crowd. As an outsider, entering one of the community’s biggest events of the year – the Identiverse conference in Las Vegas – was a somewhat intimidating prospect. Stepping into the dazzling lights of Las Vegas to join a crowd of around 3,000 attendees, it’s fair to say I was somewhat overwhelmed. Yet I could not have been more positively surprised by the warmth I experienced as a Kim Cameron Award winner attending Identiverse for the first time. From the very beginning of the conference – kicked off by Allan Foster and Heather Flanagan’s ‘Navigating Identiverse: A Newcomer’s Guide’ – I felt welcomed and guided by long-standing members of the field.
As a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute, such professional events are not my usual domain. Yet few things are more useful to a researcher in digital identity than directly engaging with the latest developments in the sector; shared by those at the front-line of digital identity practice. From the future-facing thinking shared in keynote speeches, to small-scale discussions about FIDO, the ethics of biometric identity verification, and the role of digital wallets, each discussion was enlightening in its own way, and brought to life some of the key debates occurring within academia. As a researcher focussing on the space of digital identity for development (ID4D), where discussions tend to centre around how digital ID can be used for empowerment, conference discussions concerning the cybersecurity origins of IAM served as an important reminder of the need to centre security, privacy and trust in ID4D.
From breakfasts in the expo room to late-night discussions about the future of digital identity over drinks, each day was filled with activities. Even the social events were shaped by digital identity practice – an escape room adventure organised by AWS’s Sarah Cecchetti drove my fellow Kim Cameron awardee, Matthew Spence, to count in binary to crack a lock! One personal highlight of the experience was the opportunity to appear on the Identity at the Centre podcast, hosted by RSM’s Jim McDonald and Jeff Steadman. Sitting alongside DIAF’s Ian Glazer, Arynn Crow, and Allan Foster, we were reminded of how excited the industry is to bring early career digital identity folk into the fold.
Overall, I highly recommend this experience to newcomers to the digital identity sector, and hope the generous support of the Kim Cameron Award continues long into the future. Cognisant of the privilege of being able to attend Identiverse – particularly all the way from the UK – I aim to make the most of this opportunity by using the insights from Identiverse in my research to shape inclusive digital identity policy. The experience added a much-needed industry perspective to my research, as well as insights from standards-setting bodies shaping practice around the world. I would encourage anybody trying to build a career in digital identity to apply for the Kim Cameron Award, and welcome questions from anyone interested in applying!