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Explore our one-day conference programme filled with inspiring keynote presentations, engaging panel discussions, and plenty of networking opportunities in the company of digital identity leaders from Aotearoa and around the world.
8am – Registration + tea/coffee
Mihi Whakatuwhera
Opening and welcome from MC Janelle Riki-Waaka.
Ministerial Address
A government perspective on progress, direction, and what comes next for trust infrastructure in Aotearoa. More details to come.
Speaker:
Hon Paul Goldsmith, Minister for the Public Service and Digitising Government
Opening joint keynote: Sovereign AI, Indigenous Rights and the Architecture of Trust
A keynote conversation — not two talks. As AI concentrates power faster than almost any technology before it, the real question is not simply where data sits, but who controls the relationships, value and flows it creates. Drummond Reed and Dr Karaitiana Taiuru take on a live tension: deep Māori mistrust of digital identity sitting alongside a genuine appetite for sovereign AI, in a system that too often calls it “too hard.”
Together, they ask the harder question: how do we break sovereign AI down so it becomes solvable? Connecting decentralised trust architecture and AI agent identity with Te Tiriti, Māori data sovereignty and tikanga-informed governance, they will explore Aotearoa’s opportunity to build trusted, interoperable and rights-respecting infrastructure — and turn the upside of AI from a risk into one of the most empowering opportunities on the table.
Speakers:
Drummond Reed
Dr Karaitiana Taiuru
Fireside Chat
We are currently finalising the details of this session. More details to come.
Speakers:
James Little, Government Digital Delivery Agency (GDDA)
Joe Standen, Westpac
Keynote: Designed for real life: How everyday moments build the digital ID ecosystem.
Make proving your age easy for a 19-year-old on a Friday night and you’ve got the building blocks right for New Zealand’s emerging digital identity ecosystem. The same trusted digital identity used to buy a round of drinks could also open a mobile account, secure a tenancy, or help someone navigate their financial life. The challenge is making those experiences simple, trusted and relevant enough to become part of everyday life.
Helen Littlewood from Cuscal Paymark will explore what that means for New Zealand, sharing perspectives on consumer adoption, trust, regulation and the practical realities of building a digital identity ecosystem that works in the real world.
Speaker:
Helen Littlewood, Cuscal Paymark
Morning tea
Keynote
We are currently finalising the details of this session. More details to come.
Keynote: Christopher Bramwell, Chief Privacy Office, State of Utah
We are currently finalising the details of this session. More details to come.
Case study: Building for nation-scale; delivering at record speed — The MyMzansi Story
How can governments move from fragmented silos to a unified digital front door without the big-bang price tag? Using the recent MyMzansi project as a blueprint, Sigurd Magnusson of Silverstripe shares how South Africa’s single digital service portal was delivered in just 10 weeks — transforming hours of queuing into minutes of mobile interaction.
This session moves beyond the theory of digital transformation to show a real-world framework for delivering immediate, cost-effective and inclusive government services.
Speaker:
Sigurd Magnusson, Silverstripe
Lunch
Quick Fire Case Study: From pilots to scale: what adoption-ready digital credentials require
Digital credential pilots can prove the technology works, but scaling adoption requires more than successful issuance and verification. This quickfire will outline the practical conditions that separate pilots from scalable adoption: useful credentials, ready verifiers, simple holder journeys, operational trust, support models and success metrics.
Speaker:
Ralf Engbers, MATTR
Quick Fire Session
We are currently finalising the details of this session. More details to come.
Panel Discussion: Enabling Better Customer Experiences: Digital Identity in Action
Digital identity has the potential to transform customer experience — moving beyond forms, repeated checks and fragmented journeys towards faster, safer and more intuitive ways for people to access services, prove who they are or what they are eligible for, and share trusted information on their own terms. This panel will explore the new consumer experiences digital identity can enable, from seamless onboarding and reusable credentials to more personalised, privacy-preserving interactions across sectors — and what it will take for these to become trusted, useful and widely adopted.
Moderated by Joel Foster, Lumin.
Panellists:
Steve Cowper, NEC
Helen Littlewood, Cuscal Paymark
Roundtable Discussions
Afternoon tea
Working Session with Drummond Reed: Identity Namespace and Schema Coordination
Wānanga: Trust Survey Results and Tikanga-Informed Governance
A deliberative session informed by the Trust Survey results, exploring what Māori data sovereignty looks like inside a live Trust Framework. This wānanga will consider how tikanga-informed governance, trust, legitimacy and Te Tiriti obligations can shape digital identity systems in practice.
Facilitated by Janelle Riki-Waaka
Speakers:
Dr Karaitiana Taiuru
Panel Discussion: Your ID Your Way: A Front Door for New Zealanders
What would it take to give every New Zealander a trusted, portable way to prove who they are and access services on their own terms — across government, banking and everyday life? This session explores the opportunity for a national digital front door that reduces friction, improves access and gives people more control over how they share trusted information.
Moderated by Andy Higgs, Digital Identity New Zealand
Speakers:
Tony Martindale, SSS Cyber Security Specialists
James Little, Government Digital Delivery Agency
Trust Compact: Public Commitments for 2027
A closing commitment moment where organisations identify one concrete interoperability or adoption action to progress after the Hui. Commitments will be recorded and shared post-event, helping turn the day’s discussions into visible momentum for 2027.
Speaker:
Matthew Evetts, GR1T Global and Digital Identity New Zealand
Event summary, thanks and close from MC Janelle Riki-Waaka and Andy Higgs
A wrap-up of key themes, what we heard, and what happens next.
5pm – Closing karakia by MC Janelle Riki-Waaka
Networking drinks
Continue the conversations and build relationships across the ecosystem.