Agreement to Establish Consortium to Create Economic Zone for Digital Identities

Tokyo, October 18, 2024, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) has today concluded a basic agreement with companies involved in the digital identity (ID) business in the Asia-Pacific region to establish the Asia Pacific Digital Identity Consortium (APDI)*1, with the aim of facilitating the safe and secure distribution of digital IDs containing reliable information on the individual's attributes, academic background, qualifications, work history.

*1 For further information on the APDI, please visit: apdiconsortium.org

APDI Participants and their operating areas

Background to APDI Establishment

In recent years, with rapid advances in technologies such as generative AI and increasing international exchange, privacy risks such as data falsification, leakage, and spoofing have emerged as issues for society, and the world now demands safer and more secure data distribution. In the Asia-Pacific region, there is a growing need for the safe and secure use of highly reliable digital IDs. This region, however, is home to diverse cultures and languages, which has created challenges such as the adoption of different systems for digital IDs and underdeveloped infrastructure in each country/territory. It has become necessary to tighten consumer privacy protections and speed up information verification internationally.

To tackle such issues, DNP and other like-minded companies have signed a basic agreement to establish the APDI, with the goals of reliably connecting the diverse countries, territories, and peoples of the Asia-Pacific region, while responding to various challenges and needs through the digital ID-related solutions offered by each of the firms.

Objectives and Overview of APDI Activities

1. Establish governance defining interoperable technologies and operational requirements for governments, companies, and individuals.

We aim to promote the penetration of digital IDs in the countries/territories of the Asia-Pacific region, and to establish governance that prescribes unified technologies and operational requirements in the form of rules. We will ensure interoperability across borders and build a trusted digital ID economic zone in the region.

2. Create use cases in the Asia-Pacific region

The APDI will actively collaborate with governments, the private sector, and international organizations to create use cases across the Asia-Pacific region. The companies participating in the APDI will work together to develop digital ID-related solutions and broadly share and disseminate use cases that leverage them. As a complement to initiatives in Western countries, which are leading the global charge in defining technical specifications and exploring the potential of digital IDs, we will contribute to the establishment of a digital economy in the Asia-Pacific region.

3. Promote the use of digital IDs in the Asia-Pacific region

We aim to devise digital IDs that can be used across different countries/territories and platforms to enhance convenience for Asia-Pacific consumers. This will make travel more convenient for them, as it will greatly reduce the time required to confirm personal information at destinations for sightseeing, study, or work. By encouraging the use of digital IDs, we will also advance "digital inclusion," such that anyone can leverage digital technology safely and freely, regardless of the digital infrastructure environment of the country/territory.

Going Forward

Companies participating in the APDI will collaborate with governments, the private sector, and international organizations in the Asia-Pacific region to conduct verification tests across countries/territories in the second half of 2025. And from 2026 onwards, we aim to build an economic zone for digital IDs.

■List of companies and organizations to participate in the APDI

Government agencies and companies with networks in each country will be moving forward to establish the APDI.

<Companies to jointly establish the APDI>

Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Japan, president: Yoshinari Kitajima)

Turing Space Inc. (headquarters: USA, CEO: Jeff Hu)

<Companies to serve on board>

ACCREDIFY Pte. Ltd. (headquarters: Singapore, CEO: Quah Zheng Wei)

LORDSYSTEM Co., Ltd. (headquarters: South Korea, CEO: Jang Yang-ho)

ZADA Solutions Pte. (headquarters: Singapore, CEO: Andreas Sigurdsson)

* Company and product names mentioned above are the registered trademarks or the trademarks of those companies.

* Product specifications and service content listed above are current as of the date of publication. They may be changed at any time without notice.