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Affinidi, a decentralised identity solutions provider founded by global investment company Temasek, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Digital Pilipinas regarding the issuance of  verifiable credentials (VCs), which is an open standard for tamper-evident digital credentials, to help facilitate the digital upskilling of the local workforce in the Philippines. This partnership aims to empower individuals by recognising their achievements in upgrading their skills and knowledge, through the issuance, verification and authentication of cryptographically verifiable VCs that attest to such achievements.

Under the MOU, Affinidi will provide its expertise in digital credentialing through its mobile application and digital wallet Ceal, where individuals will be able to receive their knowledge certificates as VCs and store them securely on mobile phones using decentralised technology. Individuals can also build and manage their digital identity on the Ceal mobile application and control what information they wish to share, with whom, and when to share it.

Individuals can then use their digital identity on Ceal mobile application for more seamless and credible professional networking opportunities and showcase their knowledge and skills to potential employers. As VCs can be validated digitally as opposed to manually checking hard copy documents and certificates, the verification process by peers or employers is convenient, real-time and can be done remotely.

Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector-led movement championing nascent technologies and cross-border collaborations to build sustainable digital ecosystems, will drive the engagement of national line agencies and enablers of the private and public sectors in various pillars such as EduTech, HealthTech, InsurTech, payments, open finance and cybersecurity.  The MOU was inked against the backdrop of an increased need for new skillsets as the pandemic and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have accelerated digitalisation and automation of the economy tremendously, as highlighted by the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry. According to a 2020 McKinsey report, over 43% of companies say that they are currently experiencing a skills gap, while another 44% expect the skills gap in their company to occur in the next five years.

“Verifiable credentials not only help reduce processing time but they also greatly enhance the user experience and empower individuals and organisations to have control of their personal data,” said Glenn Gore, CEO at Affinidi. “We are excited to be working closely with Digital Pilipinas to help digitalise the Philippine workforce and transform the country’s economy through the use of innovative technologies.”

Digital Pilipinas is also staged to mount the Philippine Fintech Festival, a week-long event that brings together legacy brands, innovators, technologists, government regulators, and start-ups into an ecosystem that champions the digital and cross-border future of the country. This event will be the launchpad for the partnership as Digital Pilipinas issues VCs in two phases.

In the first phase, Digital Pilipinas will issue certificate of participation for all participants who have attended the Philippines Fintech Festival 2022. This issuance is expected to take place in November 2022. The second phase will include the relaunch of DP Academy and issuance of knowledge certificate VCs as a value-added service to participants to recognise their learning achievements, which is expected to take place by December 2022.

“Partnering with Affinidi allows us to reinforce our capabilities and experience to offer our community of over 12,000 learners and industry experts with a one-stop hub for all their training certificates”, said Amor Maclang, Convenor of Digital Pilipinas and World Fintech Festival-Philippines “This milestone marks a leap forward in our vision to broaden the digital economy of the Philippines as we look forward to deeper synergies through this collaboration.”

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