How exactly does the CEO of an innovative start-up lead transformation in the digital world? This is the question Rob Leslie, the Founder and CEO of Sedicii, ponders every day.
Sedicii is a pioneer in the space of identity verification and management systems where it uses a patented zero knowledge proof (ZKP) protocol to help people and businesses prove their identities in a fully privacy preserving manner.
In 2015, I was named by The World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer for my work utilising the zero-knowledge proof protocol and was invited to speak at Davos on Cybersecurity, Identity and other technology issues affecting the world’s economies. This was one of the highlights of my career which drives me with regard to digital transformation.
Thinking about how far the world has progressed in recent years with respect to the digitisation of every facet of our lives; in financial services, manufacturing, travel, security, change has been extremely rapid and profound. Thirty years ago there were no mobile phones, no drones, no autonomous vehicles or complex robotic manufacturing equipment. Yet, we have embraced them enthusiastically in our personal lives. So why then do we find it hard to accept these changes when it affects our business lives?
Organisations tend toward a status quo; inertia provides a capacity to resist change. Staff are so busy with their regular daily grind that experimentation and “thinking outside the box” becomes the exception rather than the norm. Of course, there will be pockets of innovation but it is generally localised rather than being culturally pervasive across the organisation. Actively looking at ways to improve and move to the next level across the enterprise tends to be driven by a top-down initiated focus.
It is when small pockets of experimentation lead to more formalised experimentation that activity becomes intentional and the initiatives become more audacious. The excitement of possibility becoming reality then takes hold. Formalisation leads to strategy and quickly, or not so quickly, the idea formalises into a strategic goal. This evolution then becomes the norm. The adoption of change can become systemic.
So where does Sedicii fit into the new world order that is our new digital reality and even more importantly why does it matter?
“90% of CEO’s believe the digital economy will impact their industry, but less than 15% are executing on a digital strategy” according to M.I.T.’s Sloan School and Cap Gemini. For me, this is fundamental and it drives my thinking on how to make the digital world work for both business and the consumer. Having an ethical business that provides a service in which all parties in the transaction chain benefit is the objective; the business becomes compliant, efficient, ethical and profitable and the consumer has confidence that they are being treated fairly, that they are being appropriately rewarded for their loyalty and that their assets and personal data are secure.
Considering digital transformation is at the heart of everything Sedicii does, means we are on a constant journey to define a pathway to the next point in our development journey. We are constantly thinking hard about how we can leverage new technologies, like blockchain and cryptocurrency, to apply them to our work with digital identity. From this work Kriptan was born.
So, what is Kriptan? The Kriptan network is a global identity network which enables real-time identity verifications from trusted identity providers (governments, banks, telco’s, utilities) ensuring that businesses can react quickly to new information about their customers while at the same time provide the highest possible levels of privacy. Data is never exchanged or copied over the Kriptan network unless the customer expressly consents. Payment for these transactions is made through the use of a new digital asset that is recorded on the blockchain. This makes the transaction fast because it is executed via smart contracts; it is low cost because there are no middlemen and it is highly secure because of its implementation using distributed ledger technology.
With the new General Data Protection Regulation coming into force on the 25th May 2018, this kind of lateral thinking provided a way to create a service that businesses are going to need to overcome many of the inherent challenges that they are shortly going to face.
We are moving into a post-truth world where the truth will be hard to discern; where either trust or distrust will be the basis of how we interact with each other and where everything we once believed to be correct will be challenged on a daily basis. Given this is where our world is going we have made the Kriptan network so it will deliver more than just a service. We want our customers to see it as an arbiter of trust and a source of truth which becomes an intrinsic part of their daily lives. We want Kriptan to become indispensable as it responds to the changes that will occur over the months and years ahead.
So, in the words of Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, former Chairman & CEO, Apple Inc. “Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.” His sentiments exactly espouse the Kriptan network philosophy.
