Let's talk about digital identity with Niklas Bergvall, Chair of the Mobile Connect Interest Group at GSMA. In episode 16, Niklas fills us in on how mobile operators around the world have joined forces to build a standard for strong authentication and other services to help protect our digital identity – Mobile Connect. [Scroll down for transcript] "It may be that you and I, and some of the listeners of the podcast, are interested in identity. For the rest of the world its a necessary evil." Niklas and Oscar discuss Mobile Connect (a mobile identity-based service), its proven global use cases (such as China Mobile), why digital identity became a strategic priority for GSMA and the unique insights of MNOs to improve digital identity. Niklas Bergvall Niklas Bergvall, Chair of the Mobile Connect Interest Group at GSMA, leads the international Mobile Connect community developing and commercialising new identity capabilities using Mobile Connect. The Mobile Connect community engages over 70 mobile operators in over 30 countries, countless service providers, reaching over half a billion people worldwide. With over 20 years of experience in the mobile ecosystem, Niklas has an exceptional understanding of the key challenges being faced when launching products and services internationally. Prior to the GSMA, Niklas launched and managed a number of global business-to-business products and services in various roles at Vodafone, Oxford Instruments and Europolitan. Find Niklas on LinkedIn. Find out more about GSMA at www.gsma.com and Mobile Connect at www.gsma.com/identity/mobile-connect. Ubisecure also has a useful blog on 'What is Mobile Connect?' - check it out here: https://www.ubisecure.com/mobile-connect/what-is-mobile-connect/ - and an overview page on the Mobile Connect solution - read it here: https://www.ubisecure.com/mobile-connect-telecom/. We’ll be continuing this conversation on Twitter using #LTADI – join us @ubisecure! [Podcast transcript] [Intro] Let’s Talk About Digital Identity, the podcast connecting identity and business. I am your host Oscar Santolalla. Oscar Santolalla: Hello and thanks for joining. Today we are going to hear how mobile operators around the world have joined forces to build a standard which brings not only strong authentication but also other services that help us to protect our digital identity. So my guest today is Niklas Bergvall. He is Chair of the Mobile Connect Interest Group at GSMA. He leads the international Mobile Connect community developing and commercialising new identity capabilities using Mobile Connect. The Mobile Connect community engages over 70 mobile operators in over 30 countries, countless service providers, reaching over half a billion people worldwide. With over 20 years of experience in the mobile ecosystem, Niklas has an exceptional understanding of the key challenges being faced when launching products and services internationally. Prior to the GSMA, Niklas launched and managed a number of global business-to-business products and services in various roles at Vodafone, Oxford Instruments and Europolitan. Hi, Niklas. Niklas Bergvall: Hi, Oscar. Very nice to be here on this podcast and thank you for inviting me to talk a little bit more about the identity and Mobile Connect specifically. Oscar: Thanks to you. It’s really great talking with you. We really want to know more about how Mobile Connect is doing right now, what are the things coming during this New Year and ahead. But first, I would like to hear from you, how did you join, or your journey to come to, this world of digital identity? Niklas: From the GSMA, it was really looking at our members. And our members’ networks as you know really underpin and have drive the– of the digital economy and its associated services. I mean as we see these services bring new challenges for businesses to protect customer identities and customer data which is both complex...