The Future is Now

The Future is now
2/6/2009 by Richard Casna, SWISS STYLE
WISeKey has the key to open the door
A few years ago a young man had had a single (and somewhat simple) idea: to make the Internet secure. The Web was in its early days, as were computers, e-mails, e-commerce and all the other e-concepts, many of which were still figments of imagination.

But this young man also had a vision that looked far into the future: he foresaw a time when the need for security and trust in the electronic world to come would become all-important and all-encompassing – extending into every facet of activity carried on by businesses, industry, governments and individuals. What was needed was a tool to provide that security and for building trust on the infrastructure.

In the beginning there was the key

Having spent some 15 years beginning in the mid-1980s at the UN in Geneva as United Nations expert on IT telecommunications, security and information networks section, and heading the World Technology of the United Nations Trade Point Programme, where he was responsible for the development of the world’s largest Internet network of sites and secure hubs for e-commerce (GTPNet), Carlos Moreira left the UN and set up a company in Geneva named WISeKey. The name derived from the tool that Moreira developed – “World Internet Secure Key” – during his last 3 years at the UN, which he spent at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia working as a head of a lab on a research project for Internet security.

Since then, what began as a small, one-room office in Geneva with him and three other employees has evolved into a global enterprise whose activities and products reach around the world. And as the company prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary in February, its founder – and now numerous colleagues and partners – rather than reminiscing on the past and its many accomplishments, has his eyes set firmly on the future and how to extend the ever-expanding reach of what WISeKey offers to today’s and tomorrow’s world citizens.

Given its development of key innovations in electronic digital identification, authentication and encryption products and services, stemming from its foundation block of the basic security tool, WISeKey will no doubt fulfil that aim, as it has become today a world leader in its field with a unique trust model and neutrality – essential elements for this type of technology.

A record of achievements

In its first years of operations, the company globally launched and operated the first global Public Key Infrastructure based on a common Root Certification services jointly deployed by WISeKey, the OISTE Foundation and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva. Consequently WISekey further developed and commercialized its PKI technology in several different areas related to Digital Identification, Secure Transactions, first-time solutions for e-voting in Geneva (since used in many other areas around the world as well), Citizen Services Platforms and Secure e- Government projects.

In building on this solid foundation in subsequent years, WISeKey strove to evolve its products and services through the development of its CertifyID product line, a joint project using WISekey and Microsoft technology to develop a low-cost Digital Identification platform (enabling customers both public and private to establish their own trusted identity infrastructure, with the overall premise of decentralization rather than through a centralized arrangement, thereby ensuring even more security and trust to users activities).

Based on its collaboration in its very first year with the OISTE Foundation and the development of the OISTE Trust Model, WISeKey subsequently partnered with a number of leading international organizations, including the ITU, HP, Microsoft (allowing Windows CA to issue hightrusted certificates and digital IDs), Verisign (managed PKI services to authenticate and secure business transactions and communications over the Internet) and Sun Microsystems, among others.

Its partnership with the ITU helped to develop international standards on cyber security and spawned e-commerce solutions based on the mass usage of certification by Internet users for authorized access to intranets and restricted Web-based sites, resulting in an approach that changed the entire dynamics of how the Internet is used and will further propel its transactionalbased usage into the 21st century and beyond.

In furtherance of its collaboration with the ITU in ensuring that the highest open standards are implemented to enable all countries in the world to benefit from the introduction of true e-commerce and be accessible to all regardless of origin, and guided by its drive to promote secure electronic communications worldwide – which is fully endorsed and supported by its Board and Advisory Committee – WISeKey has initiated relationships in recent years with numerous international organizations and firms to further enhance the shared opportunities provided by the electronic world. Noteworthy among these are its affiliations with the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Association for International Mobility (AIM), the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the European Commission, the G8 Cybersecurity Working Group, the Malaga Valley, the Digital Mediterranean Space, OASIS (non-profit consortium driving open standards for global information society), Liberty Alliance (non-profit promoting of identity-related international interoperability standards) the DVB Project Office (Digital Video Broadcasting standards body), and the Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia, among many others.

Opening the doors with the key to the future

In all these endeavours, WISeKey has remained – and remains – faithful to its original mission statement: “To facilitate and enable the mass use of secure digital identities in everyday life”. And, as an independent, neutral organization led by remarkable leadership and a team of dedicated, committed partners and colleagues, the company will do doubt continue to achieve the single overall aim first envisioned by that young man with an idea and dream a mere 10 years ago.

The next phases of the company’s evolution include the further development of its recently launched WISeAuthentic service (a cost-effective, reliable anti-counterfeiting solution), its I’M Mediterranean project and its MBanking services, bringing secure electronic credit card and banking services throughout the world’s lessdeveloped regions.

In addition, according to the company’s most recent move forward, WISekey is finalizing the procedures to list the company this year – despite the current crisis – on the Frankfurt stock exchange as a first step to its introduction as a listed company.

In opening the company to the public, WISeKey aims to further enhance its position as one of the world’s leading digital identification and security companies, and to continue to expand its product range around the globe through additional secure revenue models.

With this new positioning, WISekey is becoming an enabler for smart companies (start-ups or established) to disrupt their market. One of the opportunities enabled by WISeKey’s approach is to protect privacy and authenticity while allowing mass deployment and the exploitation the “community effect”. This way, consumers can build up trust through their paying track record. In addition, they have the potential to remain anonymous to all parties except the registering bank. And, last but not least, it allows consumers to use their (anonymous but unique) identity to join clubs or communities with similar interests.

Furthermore, WISeKey has set its eye on domains with high market potential for technology solutions that offer improved security and/or privacy for the transactions together with an improved customer experience.

In the words of its founder, “WISeKey is unique. The future is now and the future is without boundaries. The key to that is here and is based on wisdom.”

[NB: WISeKey is the only Swiss company to have been selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the 100 New Champions during the firstever meeting of New Champions, held in Dalian, China in 2007.]

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