Muhammad Asim - Global Progress Volunteer Muhammad Asim - Global Progress Volunteer
UUI – UNIVERSAL UNIQUE IDENTITY (Enhanced) A Privacy-Preserving and Globally Interoperable Framework for Universal Digital Identity A Conceptual Research Framework for Inclusive Identity, Trusted Verification, Human Mobility and Digital Governance (Idea 2 & 32) Muhammad Asim – Global Progress VolunteerIndependent ResearcherORCID: 0000-0002-8575-4447 Abstract Identity is a fundamental requirement for participation in modern economic, social, governmental and digital life. Yet approximately 800 million people worldwide still lack official identification, while at least 2.8 billion people do not have access to a government-recognized digital identity capable of supporting secure online transactions. Existing identity ecosystems are also frequently fragmented across national jurisdictions, institutions, technologies and legal frameworks. This paper proposes the Universal Unique Identity (UUI) Framework, a conceptual model for a secure, privacy-preserving and globally interoperable identity ecosystem. UUI does not seek to replace national identity systems, citizenship, passports or sovereign authority. Instead, it proposes an additional interoperability layer through which authorized identity claims could be securely verified across participating jurisdictions. The framework integrates privacy-by-design, cryptographic verification, interoperable identity standards, artificial-intelligence-assisted verification, distributed technologies, cybersecurity, selective disclosure, consent mechanisms and independent ethical governance. The proposed architecture deliberately avoids assuming that a universal identity system should require a single centralized global database. Instead, it emphasizes federated and interoperable approaches in which identity information remains appropriately controlled by authorized entities while verifiable claims can be exchanged across trusted systems. The paper develops the author's original Global Identification concept introduced in 2016 and the subsequent UUI – Universal Unique Identity concept published in 2025. The present manuscript substantially expands those earlier works by incorporating contemporary digital identity principles, international identity-management standards, privacy safeguards, governance requirements, cybersecurity considerations, implementation stages, limitations and future research directions. The paper argues that a globally interoperable identity layer could potentially reduce identity fragmentation, improve trusted verification, facilitate inclusion and support legitimate cross-border activities. However, such a system would require rigorous safeguards against surveillance, discrimination, exclusion, unauthorized profiling, cyberattack and misuse of personal information. Keywords: Universal Unique Identity; UUI; Global Identification; Digital Identity; Identity Interoperability; Identity Management; Privacy by Design; Artificial Intelligence; Blockchain; Cybersecurity; Digital Inclusion; Human Rights; Global Governance; Verifiable Credentials
Businesses lose millions of dollars every year when they can’t restore data from backups. Research shows that Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) testing is not conducted frequently enough, nor are records maintained that demonstrate full data recovery from backups. This work introduces a design science artifact called PRTOK that aims to increase DRP testing. The design science artifact is a software solution that integrates with Data Management Systems (DMS) such as iRODS and DSpace, and can work with formats such as HDF5 and BagIt. Proof-of- recovery records, or tokens, are recorded in a replicated, resilient, and indelible proof-of- authority blockchain data structure. Access to the PRTOK blockchain allows practitioners restoring data from any backup software program or DMS integrated with PRTOK to view metadata about restoration operations. Metadata in the PRTOK record includes validation checksums of fully restored data, timestamps, and a documented record of how the data was restored, so that restoration operations can be repeated using those instructions. PRTOK is evaluated for validity within design science frameworks and theories, for both utility and socio- technical contributions to the state of the art in DRP testing. Qualitative data is collected from an online survey that includes a video and an interactive demonstration of the design artifact. Docusign Envelope ID: E4BB68B4-E66F-49EF-8B9D-F60A4B698376 x Participants in the survey are asked questions about their experience with DRP testing and whether and how the introduction of PRTOK contributes to the utility and ease of use of DRP testing processes. The evaluation of the PRTOK artifact included both feature demonstration and validation of knowledge claims against the Larsen framework for design science evaluation (Larsen et al., 2025). A socio-technical survey was also conducted to gain qualitative insights into whether and how practitioners found the PRTOK instantiation useful, whether it improved DRP testing, in what ways it was disadvantageous, and in what areas it needed improvement. The first research question (RQ1) asks what the characteristics of a data integrity model that improves data value by providing evidence of data recovery are. The feature set of the PRTOK instantiation, along with its model description, shows that these characteristics were achieved in the design and implementation of the PRTOK model. The socio-technical survey results show that the majority of respondents found the PRTOK implementation useful for DRP testing, although they also identified areas for improvement and some disadvantages of PRTOK. The second research question (RQ2) asks what risks to VDA are introduced by such a model and how those risks can be mitigated.