A new Juniper Research study revealed that the number of digital identity apps in use will snowball to 6.2 billion in 2025, from just over 1 billion in 2020.

The research found that civic identity apps, where government-issued identities are held in an app, will account for almost 90% of digital identity apps installed globally in 2025. This is driven by the increasing use of civic identity in emerging markets and the lasting impact of the pandemic.

The Why Digital Identity is Critical to Post-Pandemic Society report identified that the unprecedented shift to digital services during the pandemic across the world will stimulate rapid growth in civic identity.

The report estimates that there will be a growth of 467% between 2020 and 2025, as robust onboarding and verification for digital services become vital.

Civic Apps to Overtake Digital Identity Card Use in 2023

The new research, Digital Identity: Technology Evolution, Regulatory Landscape & Forecasts 2020-2025, found that civic identity apps will overtake the number of digital identity cards in use in 2023, with the number of apps in use 41% higher than cards by 2025.

While digital identity cards are still growing, the research shows that apps are much easier to scale, and better support increased involvement in digital commerce, which will be critical to digital identity’s future use.

Research co-author Nick Maynard explains:

“Civic identity apps have come into their own as a way to boost digital financial participation, particularly in emerging economies. Post-pandemic, this capability will be crucial in enabling increased digital engagement.”

Blockchain Important to Securing Identity Networks

The research found that blockchain will be important to the future of digital identity, with blockchain-based third-party digital identity apps accounting for 16% of all installed third-party identity apps in 2025.

However, this is not necessarily the much-lauded self-sovereign model, where numerous parties such as banks, identity providers and mobile network operators work together to provide identity as a part of a wider network.

Blockchain will be an effective way to secure federated access to data; injecting trust and transparency.

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