The promise of self-sovereign identity and its impact across industries

March 2, 2020

It’s no secret that a new model for digital identity is emerging, and trust is the foundational layer. Businesses and organizations are increasingly focused on how they can establish more trusted relationships with their customers. According to Accenture, lack of trust costs global brands $2.5 trillion annually as users desert them for competitors.

Additionally, governments and regulatory bodies are requiring businesses to change how they handle their customer’s data through new data protection regulations. Gartner predicts that by 2023, 65% of the world’s population will have its personal information covered under modern privacy regulations.

The Sovrin Foundation is leading the world in adopting a digital identity model where people, businesses, and organizations retain unprecedented control over their data and how they share it. It’s a model that’s not only based on trust but is compliant with worldwide data protection regulations. This digital identity model is called self-sovereign identity (SSI).

The impacts SSI will have (and is having) on the digital identity market and across industries are vast. We have collected a few stats to give you a snapshot of the future of SSI and its market potential as global adoption continues.

General Stats

SSI Market

• “SSI market will reach annual revenue of $1.1 billion by 2024. This is up from an expected $100m by the end of 2020.” —Juniper Research
• “By 2024, bring your own identity (BYOI), combined with decentralized and self-sovereign identity, will unlock the value in digital identities, leading to a multibillion-dollar industry, up from an under $100 million industry today.” —Gartner Innovation Research
• “There is enough evidence available to predict increased adoption of DLT/Blockchain digital identity, including schemes developed around Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) principles. We predict that by 2025, 20 percent of total digital ID will be built using DLT/Blockchain technology, increasing from 5 percent in 2020.” —Goode Intelligence

Cybersecurity

• “Cybercrime damages will cost the global economy a total of US $6 trillion by 2021.” —2016 Cybersecurity Market Report
• “Theft of trade secrets costs every nation from 1 to 3 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP), for a total ranging from US $749 billion to $2.2 trillion annually.” —IDG

KYC/AML

• “The total market for KYC and AML solutions is estimated at $ 5.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 16%, with an expected size of $ 11.8 billion in 2022.” —OWI Analytics
• Global spend on Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/ Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and related financial crime and compliance activities is projected to increase 17.5% to a record $905 million in 2019 —Burton-Taylor International Consulting
• “Institutions using high-assurance ID for registration could see up to 90 percent cost reduction in customer onboarding, with the time taken for these interactions reduced from days or weeks to minutes.” —McKinsey & Company

Industry-specific Stats

Air Travel

• “As global air travel is set to increase by more than 50% by 2030, governments, airports and airlines need to be able to process passengers more quickly and safely in places where space and resources are limited. Today, many of the “pain points” in air travel result from the need to establish trust in passenger identity. To support and reap the benefits from the projected growth in air travel, digital identity must be reimagined collaboratively by all parties in the air travel ecosystem.” —World Economic Forum
• “Digital identity solutions can enable user-led passport-free travel. For the aviation sector worldwide, this system-changing approach could save $150 billion across the aviation sector worldwide, while creating up to $305 billion worth of value for the industry through increased profitability.” —World Economic Forum

Banking

• “A collaborative bank-led digital identity, such as BankID, can help organizations reduce costs by using pre-verified information, potentially reducing the $60 million an average bank spends on KYC each year.” —World Economic Forum
• “Digital ID could contribute to providing access to financial services for the 1.7 billion plus individuals who are currently financially excluded, according to the World Bank ID4D Findex survey, and could help save about 110 billion hours through streamlined e-government services, including social protection and direct benefit transfers.” —McKinsey & Company
• “For example, of the roughly 1.7 billion people without a bank account in 2017, nearly one in five attributed the situation to a lack of necessary identification documents, likely driven by the absence of acceptable forms of identification.” —McKinsey & Company

Healthcare

• Savings from seamless and secure sharing of medical information could equal 50% of US GDP. —McKinsey & Company
• “Seamless, secure sharing of medical information between organizations is a precondition for efficiency in emerging connected healthcare systems and could offer potential benefits exceeding, in the US, 1% of GDP—equivalent to $205 billion.” —World Economic Forum

Gig Economy

• “An estimated 70% of new value created in the economy over the next decade is expected to be mediated by digitally enabled platforms, such as those that already enable ride sharing, property rentals and freelance work in the “gig economy.” Such new models increase workforce fluidity, which presents new liabilities and risks for businesses in hiring and paying the people who work for them. It becomes increasingly challenging and essential for businesses to be able to verify the identity of all their hires, in ways that are equally secure and convenient on both sides.” —World Economic Forum
• “With 50% of US workers potentially becoming freelancers by 2027 and the sharing economy expected to grow to $335 billion in revenues by 2025, there is a huge opportunity for businesses to capitalize on this growing sector. However, problems remain in validating the identity of actors and users throughout the marketplace. Good digital identity will build confidence and trust, improving the economic potential for businesses of many kinds.” —World Economic Forum

Supply Chain

• The global blockchain supply chain market size was valued at $ 93.16 million in 2017, and is projected to reach $ 9,852.91 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 80.2% from 2018 to 2025. —Allied Market Research

The Sovrin Foundation brings together all of the enterprises, startups, NGOs, governments, developers, etc. that are working on SSI solutions and/or are advocating for the principles of SSI.

If you are interested in learning more about how SSI can benefit your company or organization, reach out to info@sovrin.org. The Sovrin Foundation team would be happy to meet with you and discuss SSI-based use cases and show you how you can become a member of our community.