FacePhi takes its first step in the field of smart cities thanks to the agreement with the South Korean company City Labs, through which it will provide technology for digital identity verification to the entire population and to the more than fifteen million annual visitors to the island of Jeju, the largest in South Korea. The project, promoted by the South Korean government, will make available to citizens and visitors, through the local companies of this smart city, their own digital identity wallet based on blockchain, which can be used to carry out activities such as using public transport, interact with public administrations or access certain spaces.
In this way, the Spanish company will form an essential part of this innovative decentralized digital identity project with its digital onboarding and facial recognition solutions.
Decentralized digital identity: a citizen, a digital identity wallet
This new technology, based on blockchain, allows users, through a digital wallet, to have control over what data is shared, with whom, and even revoke its use when they deem it necessary. This means moving towards a concept of self-managed digital identity, where users are the ones who have full control of their data, thus achieving a higher level of cybersecurity and information protection.
“Being able to be part of this project is a milestone for FacePhi. Beyond working on the development of a smart city, the project promoted on the island of Jeju is the first decentralized digital identity initiative in which we will participate”, explains Javier Mira, president and CEO of FacePhi. “This is really important, because we are convinced that the future of biometrics as a technology to authenticate users is to move towards this decentralization, encouraging each citizen to have their own digital wallet and to decide when and how they want to use them to identify themselves, without depending on a third party to validate your information”, highlights the manager.
The entry into this smart city project, awarded last March to the multinational City Labs, is a new boost for the expansion of the company in the Asia-Pacific region, where in the last year it has managed to enter the regulatory sandbox promoted by the Korean government and strengthen its presence in new markets, such as Vietnam.
“Through this contract we have managed to land in the smart cities sector, where the safety and comfort of the user must be fully guaranteed. We are confident that this initiative will set the way forward for many cities and boost our position in the Asian market,” concludes Dongpyo Hong, CEO of FacePhi Asia-Pacific.
