ZealiD’s top 5 things that 2022 will bring with it for the world of identity and electronic signatures:

1. Electronic Signatures will continue to grow
   
   Electronic Signatures will continue to grow exponentially. In recent weeks Docusign downgraded revenue growth projections to just under 30% CAGR. But that is still a very encouraging number.
   
   More importantly, certificate-based signatures (eIDAS advanced and qualified) are on the rise. Adoption is already driven by increasing national legal requirements (leasing, lending, insurance, KYC) but more importantly as a result of risk assessments with digital signing quickly going toward a must have in all business.
   
   
2. The market will pick up on the convergence of electronic signature and remote identification
   
   Still, the best kept secret around, anti money laundering legislation has been harmonized in the EU to accept eIDAS qualified signatures as a compliant means of KYC remote identification.
   
   Compliance officers and legal departments are picking up on this and the shift toward eIDAS identity provisioning as the infrastructure for KYC will see a breakthrough in 2022.  
   
   
3. EU regulated identities (eIDAS) need to be issued by humans
   
   Machine learning and artificial intelligence are key to further developing much needed biometric capabilities in remote identification. And maybe more so to improve user experience in smartphone applications. However, from a policy perspective, it is becoming clear that the EU (led by France and Germany) are reluctant to allow machine decisioning on remote identification for qualified certificates or eIDs of substantial or higher level. With new releases of state-of-the-art remote identification legislation in France (Anssi PVID) and Germany's retake on the video identification decree with automation, we see clear evidence of human interaction (vetting, sampling, etc.) being a requirement for certified systems. 
   
   
   
4. The reckoning - where EU policy ambition meets reality
   
   This year the EU commission released its big plans on a Digital Wallet. The idea is that an EU citizen shall have a connected digital identity that also can include verified digital documents (e.g. registration, tax, and credit related documents). 
   
   Whilst ZealiD welcomes this initiative, it is important to point out that many member state agencies, courts, and authorities have yet to adopt the very basic practices set forth under eIDAS.
   
   As a trust service provider, ZealiD meets the difficult reality on a daily basis related to public authorities refusing to recognize a qualified signature because of lack of adoption(or know-how) of digital tools or even adherence to native digital solutions that are not up to ETSI standards.
   
   At some point, the EU commission will have to narrow the gap between its vision and regulation and member state actual practices.
   
   
   
5. The rise of self sovereign identity schemes
   
   Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a term used to describe the digital movement that recognizes an individual should own and control their identity without the intervening administrative authorities.
   
   This model is quite contrary to the EU eIDAS approach. Having said that, there is probably a need for and room for both. ZealiD foresees that more big players in the EU will create hybrid versions of regulated identity and SSI introducing block chain to back some elements of the SSI. 
   
   

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