Izah Azahari
The preview to the ASEAN Digital Credentials Platform (AKREDI) was presented during the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting – ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) Interface yesterday.
Haslina binti Haji Mohd Taib in her capacity as Chair of ASEAN BAC Brunei and ASEAN Digital Transformation Working Group, emphasised the importance of standardising and sharing cross-border credentials in support of the ASEAN Economic Integration.
This is a key regional initiative outlined in the ASEAN Digital Economy Masterplan 2025, the Bandar Seri Begawan Roadmap 2021 and the ASEAN Digital Integration Framework Action Plan (DIFAP) 2019-2025.
The widely anticipated AKREDI digital platform is an ASEAN BAC Legacy Project from the recent Brunei Chairmanship of ASEAN, with its Concept Note and Proof of Concept introduced in the ASEAN Business and Investment Seminar 2021, then known as the ASEAN Digital Gateway and Travel Wallet Project.
During the interface, Permanent Secretary (Economy, Trade and Industry) at the Ministry of Finance and Economy Dr Hajah May Fa’ezah binti Haji Ahmad Ariffin representing AEM Brunei, highlighted the potential of AKREDI, among others, in facilitating seamless movement of people regionally through the authentication of credentials especially for businesses, professionals and students.
According to Haslina, the authentication of credentials on AKREDI is based on a secure public key encryption with blockchain while respecting the data sovereignty of each ASEAN member state and individual user’s data privacy.
The future roadmap of AKREDI is expected to incorporate a wide range of digital credentials as well as the establishment of a Digital Gateway infrastructure to offer more digital services for the region. These credentials and services can either be on the shared AKREDI regional consortium or a specific, decentralised consortium of each member state.
AKREDI is built for ASEAN and Brunei as a collaboration between Dynamik Technologies and TrustGrid Pty Ltd. Led by Haslina as its Chief Executive Officer, Dynamik Technologies is Brunei’s largest digital transformation consultancy and solution provider, expanding its offerings and partnership network in Southeast Asia.
CEO of TrustGrid™ Santosh Devaraj said, “Our global platform enables identity-based transactions. TrustGrid supports digital government transformation encompassing licences, accreditations, health records, and any other credentials with assured levels of security and privacy.”
