WISeKey Digital Identity BlockChain Platform selected by BBC as one of the Five African tech trends to look out for in 2018

WISekey Digital Identity Blockchain contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goal to Provide Every Person on the Planet with a Legal Digital Identity by 2030

GENEVA & ZUG, Switzerland – January 12, 2018 — WISeKey International Holding Ltd (“WISeKey”, SIX: WIHN), a leading cybersecurity and IoT company announced that its Digital Identity with Blockchain technology was selected by BBC as one of the Five African tech trends to look out for in 2018 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41899173).

Documentation is often lacking in parts of Africa, leading to land disputes because it isn’t clear who owns the land. Even when records do exist, they are sometimes compromised.  A record that cannot be deleted by using Blockchain, could prevent these disputes. BlockChain is a method of recording data. It is a digital ledger of transactions, agreements, contracts – anything that needs to be independently recorded and verified. Everyone in the network can have access to an up-to-date version of the ledger.   

The WISeKey Digital Identity Blockchain solution allows governments to digitize their Land Registry to ensure control of authenticity. Using WISeKey’s WISeID suite of mobile applications – a secure semiconductor solution – the system will digitally store the necessary data to enable identification and authentication of assets.

“Our Digital Identity technology helps governments around the globe provide trusted blockchain solutions.  Our Digital Identity Blockchain solution fills technology gaps in the private and public blockchain infrastructure for enterprise and governmental projects, and facilitates secure transactions by verifying the identity of the parties participating in these transactions,” said Carlos Moreira, Founder and CEO of WISeKey.

CertifyID BlockChain acts as a Digital Identity dual factor authentication based technology that sits on top of a BlockChain. The CertifyID BlockChain is constantly growing as new blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. Each CertifyID node gets a copy of the CertifyID BlockChain and gets downloaded automatically upon joining the CertifyID network. The system is totally decentralized and can be operated at national or local level using a distributed identity ledger run by trusted parties spread across the BlockChain.

WISeKey, a pioneer of Digital Identification and BlockChain, is already implementing this project in several countries.  Recently, WISeKey announced a partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the seventh largest state in India, aiming to explore implementation of Digital Identity BlockChain used to enhance the provision and security of Citizens’ Identity, position citizens at the center of gravity of government services using the WISeKey PKI based BlockChain technology as the solution to secure government-recorded data.

“To have a pristine vision like putting citizens at the center of gravity by giving them the tools to own their Legal Digital Identity, and building a secure infrastructure around this vision, is the key to successfully empower citizens to unleash their full potential,” said Carlos Moreira, Founder CEO, WISeKey.

At the heart of this platform is the OISTE-WISeKey Cryptographic Root of Trust (RoT) which has been actively used since 1999 by over 2.6 billion desktops, browsers, mobile devices, SSL certificates and IoT devices. The OISTE WISeKey Cryptographic RoT is ubiquitous and universal, and a pioneer in the creation of Digital Identities and distributed Digital Ledger. Currently over 1.3 billion people are undocumented and without an identity they are off the radar for vital economic services, such as land registration, food, education and healthcare. This new CertifyID BlockChain platform integrates state-of-the-art technologies related to Digital Identity and BlockChain which are in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals aiming on providing every person on the planet with a solid and tamper-proof digital identity based on common, interoperable standards by 2030. 

CertifyID BlockChain works with mobiles via the WISeID app https://www.wiseid.com allowing app users to store their Digital Identity and passwords on an encrypted vault that generates hard-to-crack passwords, and safely synchronizes data between computers and devices on multiple platforms, using secure cloud storage. The vault can be unlocked only with the user’s unique Master Password and/or by using defined patterns, while additional protection is provided through facial recognition and authentication software; once unlocked, the vault allows users to access their personal information wherever they are via the BlockChain. The combination of the decentralized BlockChain principle with CertifyID identity verification, allows CertifyID to act as a digital watermark which can be assigned to every online transaction of any asset.

About WISeKey:
WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems with a patented process. WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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