With blockchain or not? Opportunities and challenges of self-sovereign identity implementation in public administration

Abstract

Self-sovereign identity (SS) has become a trend within the digital identity circles. This new paradigm places a user in the centre and allows them to have more control over their identity information. Such a concept has swiftly found its enthusiasts, who also actively experiment on SSI implementation in the public sector. Although SSI does not imply having any technology at the backbone, it is usually discussed in the blockchain context. This article explores what opportunities this new identity concept can bring to the public sector and the associated challenges in this process. Also, we seek to examine the dependency of SSI on blockchain technology. For this, we study the existing knowledge on SSI from the literature and interview industry experts to elucidate this phenomenon. Using the thematic analysis technique, we propose a framework for assessing the opportunities and challenges, using the case of Belgium as an example, showcasing the potential of SSI and what barriers it still needs to overcome. We conclude that although blockchain does contribute to achieving SSI, it is not the silver bullet for it.