WISeKey Commitment, Increasing Digital Connectivity for the Poor at the Clinton Global Initiative

New-York, 22 September 2014 – Back in 2006, WISeKey pledged to provide digital identity management and the necessary transaction platform to increase the digital connectivity for the poor.  WISeKey is this week in New York at the CGI Annual Meeting reporting on the progress made on this project over the last 8 years.  Unlimited Internet surfing and email are privileges few can afford today, equality in access to the Internet via secure trusted communications is a matter of human rights, economic empowerment and poverty reduction.
We will have 2.7 billion Internet users connected at the end of 2014, Carlos Moreira, Founder of WISeKey and former United Nations Experts on technologies, said.  In addition, digital identification and mobile broadband reached more than 1 billion users, while the use of fixed broadband was estimated at 600 million subscriptions. Global communications are now faster and easier than ever and via secure Internet connections we will be able to provide healthcare and e-learning for poor people in remote areas. We have now concrete evidences that mobile technologies are empowering millions of poor people in developing countries, creating entrepreneurial opportunities.

WISeKey, in cooperation with the International Organization for Secure Transactions Foundation (OISTE.org), committed to the CGI to provide a Digital Identification Infrastructure designed to support a network of 20,000 Identification Authorities worldwide with the objective to issue a billion digital identities. Each of these 20,000 Identification Authorities operating from 189 countries will be authorized to issue WISeID Digital Identities locally.
WISeID helps individuals protect their personal identifiable information (PII) when they connect to the Internet, data which contains the unique identity, contact, and location details that can be traced back to a single person. The personal data in WISeID is stored securely. The WISeID system was designed as a set of online tools intended to empower people with secure and private digital identification, trusted so as to enable transactional application.
WISeKey, together with the OISTE Foundation, has committed “to reduce the gap between the new Digital Identification Divide in less developed countries and emerging economies by creating the infrastructure that will make a de-facto global digital identity community of 1 billion digital identity users while providing equitable and meaningful access to digital information technology,” including trusted services on the cloud.
See more at: http://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/commitments/increasing-digital-connectivity-poor
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Press contacts: WISeKey, Youmna Abisaleh, Tel +41 79 946 00 89, yabisaleh@wisekey.com

WISeKey is viewed as a role model for innovative cybersecurity technology aiming to protect infrastructures, objects, individuals, businesses and governments on the Internet. WISeKey was originally nominated as one of the founding members of the GGC community back in 2007 with already six years of deep engagement with the Forum as its GGC Partner and member of the PACI, Cyber Resilience and Global Agenda Council. During the past years, the Forum has provided an excellent platform for WISeKey to exchange insights and practices with its multistakeholders around the world, which has greatly accelerated our international deployment.

During this year event, Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey and OISTE.ORG will participate on several roundtables discussing cybersecurity issues and to support that the future growth on the Internet must support an individual’s right to control their own personal identifiable information (PII) and find a new footing for the development of solutions to critical, unresolved issues in identity management, privacy, security and trust in the digital world.

In a couple of years, one out of two persons on earth will use Internet. One out of four will belong to a social network. By then, the combined Internet economies of the G-20 will reach $4.2 trillion and mobile devices will account for some 80 per cent of all broadband connections. Meanwhile, following the rise of cloud computing, convergence and much enhanced interoperability, the technology will be in place to link and exploit the enormous amount of data thereby produced in ways that are now unthinkable.

However, what conditions will apply to the use of personal data? How are individuals to cope in a digital universe in which all and everyone, human beings and “things”, blend in one mesh? Will individual users have a word to say in how the data they generate is managed? Will the politics of the Internet evolve in directions that are yet unknown? Will the human right to privacy set a new course for Internet?

The World Economic Forum’s Community of Global Growth Companies was formed in 2007 to engage dynamic, high-growth companies which have the potential to be tomorrow’s industry leaders and to become a driving force of economic and social change. WISeKey was first nominated as a Global Growth Company Partner in 2007 as a global leader on Digital Identification and Secure Trusted Electronic Transactions over the Internet.

WISeKey was selected for 2014 edition of the World Economic Forum Summer Davos as a Global Growth Company Partner. GGC Partners are among the most influential and successful companies within their industries. These companies are well respected in their home markets and have grown successfully beyond their borders since their inception. GGC Partners are exceptionally committed to the mission of the World Economic Forum and contribute actively to the Forum’s projects and initiatives.

The selected companies are: http://www.weforum.org/content/pages/ggc-partners-and-industry-shapers

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Press contacts: WISeKey, Youmna Abisaleh, yabisaleh@WISEKEY.COM Tel +41 79 946 00 89

This time the central theme of the sixteenth meeting of the Club will be “Defense, Security and Technology”. It will be inaugurated and presided by the Minister of Defense of Spain, Mr. Pedro Morenés and the Mayor of the City of Malaga. The Founder and CEO of WISeKey Carlos Moreira will be presenting during the event on how to enhance the present role of Malaga in relation to the Internet Security and a project which include a development of a High Security Center allowing Malaga to become a regional cybersecurity hub.

WISeKey and the OISTE Foundation will be extending to Malaga Valley members the possibility to join the BIGTRUST.org initiative launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2014.

Under WISeKey and OISTE.org‘s leadership, the Big Trust task force’s central focus is to promote worldwide changes to the digital security environment, including neutrality, standardization, digital identification, trusted clouds, and data sovereignty for a more efficient cyberspace framework which will allow countries to use this model as reference for their national cyber security strategies.

The Big Trust plans to vigorously engage international organizations to cooperate in and contribute to the development, dissemination, and implementation of cyber security advancement, with a focus on the improvement of current conditions and mitigation of potential risks.

“2014 is the year we will see personal clouds move the gravity center from application-centric to personal centric models where users will retake the control of their personal data and the Malaga Valley will play a substantial role on the localization of this initiative and related technologies”, said Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey.

Malaga Valley is a technological hub located in the metropolitan area of the city of Malaga in southern Spain, in the area of greatest technological excellence in Europe, a “European Silicon Valley.” This area has become a center of ideas and innovation generation, able to attract companies from around the world, investments in R & D and talent. It specializes in the High-Speed Rail and Smart Cities industries, with special attention to energy efficiency and sustainability.

Press contacts: WISeKey, Satu Kulmala, Tel +41 22 594 3005, skulmala@wisekey.com

Belvédere Hotel, Davos

Wednesday 22 January 2014, 07:30 – 09:00.

As part of the World Economic Forum in Davos, WISeKey sponsors a side event on how to find a new footing for the development of solutions to critical, unresolved issues in identity management, privacy, security and trust in digital communication.  Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS) has also provided co-sponsorship
 
The content is planned under the joint responsibility of the International Secure Electronic Transactions Organization (OISTE), based in Geneva, Switzerland; and the International Organization for Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development (IKED), based in Malmö, Sweden. It is also a reflection of the project “Global Identity Networking of Individuals – Support Action” (GINI –SA)  of the European Union.  GINI proposes a roadmap for a new model of digital identity management: Read more…
 
Target audience: decision makers in media, industry, government, academia, financial institutions and multilateral bodies.
 

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In a couple of years, one out of two persons on earth will use Internet. One out of four will belong to a social network. By then, the combined Internet economies of the G-20 will reach $4.2 trillion and mobile devices will account for some 80 per cent of all broadband connections. Meanwhile, following the rise of cloud computing, convergence and much enhanced interoperability, the technology will be in place to link and exploit the enormous amount of data thereby produced in ways that are now unthinkable.
 
However, what conditions will apply to the use of personal data? Those that prevail today… or will new conditions emerge? Will individual users have a word to say in how the data they generate is managed? Will the politics of the Internet evolve in directions that are yet unknown? Will the human right to privacy set a new course for Internet?
 
At present, financial and commercial markets, and – apparently – governments as well, are moving at high pace to gain access to and exploit the personal data and communications of all human beings. Technical progress will quickly take us into the stratosphere of capacity in this respect – unless countervailing forces are put into place. Without some sort of checks and balances, companies – and presumably, governments – will gain entirely new means to abuse the end user.
 
Given the cross-border nature of the digital world and the contradictory interests of different countries, this is not primarily a matter of regulation. In fact, too much state intervention would be counterproductive, although new legislation and state partnership is required.
 
In contrast to the current public debate, the discussion will focus on the tools which will make market forces start working for users in protecting and managing their digital identities and personal data. This will require moving towards a setup in which users, relying parties, and data bases are appropriately serviced by a new breed of operator functions.
 
The GINI consortium proposes an INDI – Individual Identity Networking – ecosystem; where the individual will gain control of his/her identity and thus the revenue potential of personal data.
 
The establishment of an INDI ecosystem stands to generate tremendous value through a new sort of functionality in regard to identity management, security, privacy and trust in digital communication. But what is required for the rise of operators that are able to deliver the implied kind of services? How can they be mandated and certified to guard the diverse needs of users, relying parties and data providers on terms that would allow for global trust among all? Would a supranational coordinating body capable of certifying and cross-certifying a range of authentication systems, using a common standard, be required?
 

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On this basis, WISeKey, OISTE and IKED  invite you to participate in this session and contribute to an orderly exchange of views on how to move away from our present conundrum by exploring ways forward on issues that are fundamentally important to market efficiency and the standing of human beings in the digital world.
 
The session will highlight the risks of the current development but also examine ways to turn things around. The session will add insights how the current frameworks can be extended and revamped to meet with the envisioned kinds of functionality. Panellists and participants from around the world will bring insights what it takes to achieve a completely different kind of arena: one in which market forces support the rise of operators that are driven by the value generated by user-centric digital communication in which individuals control their own identities and personal information, and in which data governance is optimized with a view to the virtues of security, privacy, accountability and trust.
 
Finally, the session will venture into possibilities for launching pilots in key sectors, spanning national borders to advance, test and further examine a new generation of innovations and viable business models.
 

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Panellists

	Carlos MoreiraFounder, Chairman and CEO WISeKeySwiss national, began his career as a UN expert on IT, CyberSecurity. In 1999, Mr. Moreira founded WISeKey, where he currently serves as Chairman and CEO. He is a Member of the UN Global Compact, Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Illicit Trade and Organized Crime. Founding Member World Economic Forum Global Growth Companies. World Economic Forum New Champion 2007 to 2013 and OISTE.ORG. He was named by the Swiss financial Bilan’s one of the 300 most influential people in Switzerland’ for 2013. Mr Moreira’s unique profile, which combines extensive high level international diplomacy experience and technologies expertise, has positioned him as a distinctive authority, thought leader, and entrepreneurial force in today’s digital world where the acquisition and trusted protection of a digital identity has become an essential step for citizens and entities across the globe.
	Neelie KroesEuropean Commission Vice-President and Commissioner, Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Responsible for the new legal framework for personal data protection in Europe.
	Thomas Andersson Professor, Dr., Thomas Andersson Chairman of the GINI Consortium. He is also the Chairman of the International Organisation of Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development (IKED), Chairman of the International Entrepreneurship Academy, Chairman of the International Council of the Global Trust Center.
	Radu POPESCU-ZELETIN Professor at the Technical University Berlin and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS). His chair for “Open Communication Systems” at the TU Berlin is highly involved in the development of technologies for “I-centric communication” and “Autonomic Communication” as main constituents of the Future Internet. He is the founder of several telecommunication companies and member of the Microsoft Interoperability Executive Customer Council. Founder of the Interdisciplinary Studies on Policy, Law, Administration and Technology and of the Wireless World Research Forum.
	Humberto Luiz Ribeiro Secretary of Commerce and Services (SCS). Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade of Brazil. BSc in Civil Engineering, Univ. of Brasilia; MBA; executive programmes, MIT, INSEAD, Wharton School, Georgetown University. Entrepreneurial experience in various information technology, business process management, business process outsourcing and biocapacity companies. Since 2011, Secretary of Commerce and Services of Brazil. Member, National Leaders Forum, Brazil. 2002, nominated Global Leader for Tomorrow, World Economic Forum.