NSW govt appoints NZ's MATTR as technology partner

Global digital trust firm and Spark subsidiary, Auckland-based MATTR, has been appointed technology partner for the New South Wales Government's NSW Digital ID and Verifiable Credentials program.

In November last year, the NSW government announced a pilot in which decentralised and locally stored IDs will be created by the Service NSW app. These will allow users to renew their Working with Children Check remotely, and offer the ID as a proof-of-age for alcohol purchases.

MATTR will provide products that enable verifiable credentials to be issued, via the NSW Governments apps, and independently verified by third parties helping the people of NSW prove who they are and what they are eligible for while limiting the amount of personal information they need to share.

"We are proud to support this ground-breaking project that will offer the people of NSW more security and control over their personal information and more convenience in their daily lives," says MATTR Chief Executive Officer, Dr Claire Barber.

Verifiable credentials can be used for a variety of different use cases, from qualifications and course completion certificates to personal identity credentials, entitlement cards, licences, permits, insurance documents, company credentials and much more. Held in applications on the individuals device, these credentials allow them to conveniently prove things about themselves, without having to locate documents, use notary services, or turn up in person to get something done.

"Our verifiable credentials solution helps organisations who are looking for ways to create confidence in digital interactions," says Barber.

"We apply data minimisation principles that enable individuals to share the information they need to, without oversharing, and which avoid the creation of unnecessary data honeypots that can then be targeted by bad actors," she says.
 
"We are excited to bring this technology to Australia and delighted to be partnering with the NSW Government, which is pioneering how this technology can be used for the benefit of individual citizens and organisations operating in an increasingly digital world."

The NSW Government's NSW Digital ID and Verifiable Credentials program utilises MATTR's platform solutions, MATTR VII and MATTR Pi, which provide the tools to support the verifiable credential ecosystem.

Established in 2019, MATTR has quickly established itself as a leader in digital trust and verifiable data, contributing to the development of the global standards its products are founded on, and partnering with leading businesses and governments around the world.

MATTR is backed by Spark and operates as a standalone company.