An Interview with Matt Cole – Putting Secure Identity at the Centre of Public Services

Matt Cole, the newly appointed head of Public Security & Identity activities at IDEMIA, works at the interfaces of physical & digital identity and public & private sector services. Having gained valuable experience in providing essential services to the public during various roles at Cubic Transportation Systems, Matt is now focused on managing the complex mission of providing identity services to government, citizens and consumers.

We met up with Matt (virtually) to learn some more about his ideas and plans for the future.

Q: Can you give some background information about yourself, education, and early career?

A: I started my professional career in finance, I’m a Chartered Certified Accountant, and I also have an MBA from Oxford Brookes University. 

Prior to joining IDEMIA, I was President of Cubic Transportation Systems, a leading technology-driven company providing essential solutions and services for public transportation and other government agencies.

Since joining IDEMIA, roughly two years ago, I have happily embraced the challenges of the Secure Enterprise Transaction Division. During this time I have helped address the needs of banks, fintechs, mobile operators, automotive manufacturers, and access control providers as they go digital, while providing value-enhancing and trail-blazing services for their traditional operations. I continue to assist them with leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as cryptography, artificial intelligence, biometrics and the cloud.

Now, I am very excited to join the Public Security & Identity business unit of IDEMIA. The identity market is going through a major revolution in the way we authenticate who we are, move around, travel, pay, transact as citizens, or simply use our phones or other digital devices. Identity plays an essential role in society.

Q: After many years at Cubic, how large was the shift for you when you moved to IDEMIA?

A: Actually, I see many similarities between CUBIC and IDEMIA. For both companies, the focal point is the relationship with our clients, whether they are governments or private enterprises. Both companies have a strong tradition of being innovative to deliver cutting-edge and robust solutions.

At IDEMIA, I particularly appreciate the passion of the teams who maintain an environment of excellence with regard to biometrics: where the accuracy, reliability and performance of the algorithm is king, and the management of complex projects is the backbone of our daily actions. It is a global company with local offices around the world, born from two cultures, that of the private sector (banks, mobile, IOT, etc.) and the public/government organisations with focus on the same slogan: ‘only you can be you’. Identity is what makes our technologies more secure and trustworthy in the daily actions of citizens and for the missions of a state.

Q: Where does the Public Security & Identity department fit within the structure at IDEMIA?

A: The Public Security & Identity (PSI) Business Unit aims to support governments and organisations with protecting the identity of citizens. This is achieved by providing each individual with a valid and trusted identity. We have developed expertise in biometric technologies, cryptography, AI and cloud services.

Our ambition is to empower citizens and consumers alike to interact confidently and securely with an identity on-the-go, whether in the physical or digital world.

Q: What do you see as IDEMIA’s position in the marketplace?

A: IDEMIA supports the digital transformation of governments and private entities. The Group has been created from Safran Identity and Security (also known as Morpho) and Oberthur Technologies coming together. These were two major global smart card and identity companies that have both developed a mature product portfolio and an excellent track record of innovation and customer service. We are the leading provider of secure solutions for building national identity schemes due to our presence at each step of the ID value chain. 

An example of this is our contribution to the Cédula Digital program in Colombia. The digital component of the physical ID card enables citizens to securely access remote services and complete in-person ID verification based on the latest industry standards. Through constant innovation and investment in global R&D, we have been the leader in cutting-edge technologies that prevent identity fraud.

IDEMIA is also a supporter of OSIA, an open-standard approach that utilises existing modules and components from existing ID technology providers to avoid vendor-locking and focus on the long-term benefits for the country.

Q: How do you see the future of ID documents and, in particular, the future for national ID cards, passports and health status proof?

A: Over the past few months, we’ve all had to face the COVID-19 crisis that has induced major economic difficulties. In order to securely access remote services, all citizens worldwide will need a legal digital identity and are therefore required to be much more connected. As such, they will be increasingly aware of security concerns.

Furthermore, with the threat of identity theft and fraud, authorities are continually searching for secure, fast and convenient ways to ensure reliable identity verification.

As a consequence, we must provide solutions that satisfy both physical and digital demands. The Health Travel Pass that we have developed is a good example of a digital or document secure solution integrating health certificates that can be distributed to various international parties involved to boost border-crossing traffic.

Another example of bridge between physical and digital is the Digital Travel Credential (DTC) that securely digitises the passport and stores it in the passenger’s smartphone. As a member of the ICAO working group and workshop, IDEMIA is integral in the standardisation of DTC. But what represents an even more profound trend is that individuals are now used to receiving a high level of service, including civil identity. To put the citizen at the centre, we have developed a set of services delivered along a document lifetime to bring better user experience and satisfaction. Citizens can perform daily operations more conveniently, from anywhere, anytime, saving them time while guaranteeing security: online pre-enrolment and ID renewal, safe reception of ID documents, attributes sharing, etc.

Q: What do you think will be the key innovations in security features for ID documents in the coming years?

A: At IDEMIA, we recommend integrating security features that are hard to reproduce, yet easy to inspect. Firstly, we believe that it is vital to protect the most vulnerable element of an ID document: the portrait. Secondly, interlinking the holder’s personal data in the document is essential for achieving efficient protection. Repeating the personal data using a different technology makes the document virtually impossible to forge.

Finally, our third recommendation is to enable automated inspection, making use of optical machine authentication (OMA) via scanner or smartphones. A huge benefit of OMA is that authentication is quick and accurate. Even non-experts in ID verification can easily check an ID document, which is essential in a world where the collaborative economy and Internet of Things are increasingly important.

We have recently launched a new technology to protect secondary portraits. This solution is fully compliant with IDEMIA’s security concept: LASINK Helios, a full colour portrait in a DOVID. The combination of two technologies, LASINK colour technology and DOVID, makes it impossible to create a full reproduction of the document or to modify the portrait (see IDN December 2021).

Q: What steps are IDEMIA taking to bridge the physical and digital divide in ID?

A: As a leader in civil ID programs and having more than three billion identity documents issued worldwide, we leverage our expertise and innovations to make the link between physical and digital. We are totally convinced that the physical and digital worlds are associated and must not be opposed. Governments are the most legitimate entities to guarantee the trust that is key to ensuring the adoption of digital ID programs by public and private sectors. Leveraging an existing government database or a national ID document offers the highest level of confidence for successfully implementing a digital ID program.

According to current statistics, governments worldwide have launched over 165 fully or partially digital ID schemes ¹. This increase shows that governments are confident in the positive impact a digital ID has on their respective country’s development. Our role is to ensure that governments will be able to take advantage of the benefits of a secure and reliable digital ID, and work alongside them to define and implement the right secure digital identity scheme.

Currently, there are several technologies available to enable remote access to trusted services: biometrics is one of them. We are heavily investing in facial recognition, a technology where IDEMIA is a market leader. In the US, we have been working with several states to provide driving licences on mobile phones by using biometric identification. One such collaboration is with the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and other agencies in the state to develop a digital ID app called Mobile ID.

Last but not least, IDEMIA has developed advanced technologies to perform liveness checks, and was certified ISO/IEC JTC1 30107-3 (Present Attack Detection) Level 2. As a leader in civil identity, IDEMIA’s solutions comply with all national and international standards and regulations.

Q: What new technologies do you think will have the greatest impact on electronic IDs within the next few years?

A: National ID cards are facing growing threats as the technologies that hackers use are evolving. This requires governments to make sure their solutions are resistant over time. IDEMIA offers ID cards that can be updated continuously. This means that the security of the ID card remains at the highest level until their renewal. We’re ahead of the game by offering our innovative and unique solution, JPatch, which updates operating systems remotely and efficiently, even after the issuance of ID documents.

Another major global challenge to tackle is quantum computers. Fast, powerful and able to crack encryption technology with ease, quantum computers and the related security breaches will become a reality that will have serious consequences. At IDEMIA, we are already working on the development of post-quantum cryptography to improve both software and hardware in order to maintain fraud-proof authentication.

Q: What are you most proud of in your professional career?

A: The pandemic we are going through makes our jobs all the more essential and, even more than before, I’m proud of the commitment and accomplishments of my teams which, at least recently, has been despite the substantial volatility and complexity in today’s world.

I have learned over the years how to generate growth in a company, and I’m proud of those successes of the past, and today I am particularly enthusiastic about the idea of coupling this with contributing to an easier and more secure life for all the citizens whose governments we serve. While the rules of today’s complex world must be applied, we must also ensure the continuity of public services and the economy by securing identities no matter the situation. In addition, we must answer the questions of many of our fellow citizens who wonder about the management of their personal data while their use of digital solutions increases.

Managing these paradoxes is an excitingly complex mission and I’m energised being part of it and to make an impact with my team.

1 - www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/how-governments-can-deliveronthe-promise-of-digital-id