Jun 6, 2022NFTs, ICOs and Ownership of Creative IdeasIn my March 2022 Biometric Update column, I explained that NFTs are a big deal because they are a unique digital identity layer native to the Ethereum blockchain. This is exciting because it can be used to track the ownership of digital items. …Creativity6 min readCreativity6 min read
May 11, 2022Six insights about the Future of BiometricsBiometrics are seen as a magic bullet to uniquely identify humans — but it is still new technology. Companies can experience growing pains and backlash due to incomplete thinking prior to implementation. Attackers do the hard work of finding every crack and vulnerability. Activists point out civil liberty and social…Biometrics2 min readBiometrics2 min read
Mar 21, 2022Beyond the Metaverse HypeSeven Reflections — On March 11, 2022, I was a panelist on The Metaverse: The Emperor’s New Clothes panel at the Vancouver International Privacy & Security Summit’s panel. Nik Badminton set the scene and led a discussion with myself, James Hursthouse and Kharis O’Connell. Here are seven reflections. Games are a playful way…Metaverse3 min readMetaverse3 min read
Published inIn Present Tense·Oct 5, 2021Three Governments enabling digital identity interoperabilitySince 2016, a growing number of digital identity experts have worked together to create privacy preserving, digitally native, trusted credentials, which enable the secure sharing of data from decentralized locations. U.S., …Digital Identity7 min readDigital Identity7 min read
Nov 18, 2020On Being Self LessThe Supply Chain of You — As I dig into the Buddhist rabbit hole of emptiness, one thing comes up over and over — this idea of selflessness. As I struggled to understand the Buddhist description of selflessness, I realized I was limited by an existing indoctrination that had a very different (mis?) …Buddhism4 min readBuddhism4 min read
Jun 3, 2020Updating the Moscow RulesI’ve been researching/writing a new book on spies and espionage. Much of my research has been around British-US-Soviet espionage during the cold war. The cold war provided one of the most amazing espionage love stories. The competition between the Soviets and US unleashed an explosion of creativity that developed new…Moscowrules2 min readMoscowrules2 min read
May 27, 2020A Call for Change at the CCGBelow is my self-nomination for one of three Co-Chairs of the Credentials Community Group at the W3C. Anyone can be a member of the group. Only members can vote in the upcoming election. I hope you will choose me to help take this community — and our work — to…Leadership5 min readLeadership5 min read
Published inIn Present Tense·Apr 9, 2020Envisioning a Public-Private PartnershipThe Role of Robust Government in Innovation — Greetings from the Covid-19 crisis. I’m sitting at home watching my country, The United States, try to get this pandemic under control, with some governments succeeding while others flounder. …Government5 min readGovernment5 min read
Published inIn Present Tense·Feb 4, 2020How Supply Chain Enables Sustainable FashionAn Interview with Susanna Schick — In conducting our recent research on digital identity and the supply chain, it quickly became apparent that different industries deal with similar supply chain problems in markedly different ways. We wanted to understand these differences and similarities in such manufacturing industries as apparel, food, and pharmaceuticals, as well as in…Sustainable Fashion6 min readSustainable Fashion6 min read
Published inIn Present Tense·Jan 28, 2020Guanxi over IPThe Role of Counterfeiters in Innovation — For our recent report “Sensors, Identifiers, and Digital Twins: Tracking Identity on the Supply Chain,” we delved into the world of counterfeit manufacturing and supply-chain fraud. One recurring theme was the assumption that counterfeits are invariably bad. And indeed, our research turned up a number of examples to support this…Counterfeit6 min readCounterfeit6 min read
