Overview	Basic Principles	Deployment Strategies	Strategic Objectives	Future Potential	FAQ	Contact
Deployment Strategies It is a certainty The Trust Nexus Repository will be a collection of geographically distinct repositories. It is very likely these repositories will be run in cooperation with governmental agencies. In the United States, The Trust Nexus will solve all of the problems raised by the Real ID Act without any of the problems of privacy and governmental oppression. The Department of Homeland Security has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to solve the problem of reliable identity. We expect to receive significant funding from the Department of Homeland Security. In the European Union, the user centric nature of The Trust Nexus resolves all the privacy concerns specified by ENISA.   A system that secures identity, maintains privacy and eliminates fraudulent financial transactions will certainly gain support from the European Union. Considering China, "The number of mobile phone subscribers in China had amounted to 702.7 million by the end of July, more than the combined populations of the U.S. and the Eurozone, according to statistics by the local government." (ref)   Chinese government officials should enthusiastically adopt a workable identity management system based on cell phones. We expect to become both the de jure and de facto system of national identity for all nations. The identity infrastructure we are creating will depend on NFC enabled cell phones. We estimate that in three to five years NFC enabled cell phones will be ubiquitous. Consumers change out their cell phones about every eighteen months. As applications arise the demand for NFC mobile devices will increase. Most likely, NFC will be a standard feature on most new cell phones in two to three years (Nokia has announced that all of its smart phones will be NFC enabled beginning in 2011). Two to three years is a fairly short time period for creating a new technology infrastructure. A key component of our infrastructure will be an easy to use digital wallet where credentials can be securely provisioned and transactions occur smoothly. This digital wallet will be the cornerstone of NFC technologies on mobile devices and provide the interface for identity, marketing and financial services.  Every aspect of digital life that depends on identity and transactions will flow through the digital wallet.  The digital wallet on NFC enabled cell phones will be one of the most valuable assets in the digital age.  The digital wallet and supporting infrastructure will be based on industry standards that will enable the mobile network operators (MNOs) to meter services that flow through their networks and participate in new marketing/advertising models. This metering process will prevent others from disenfranchising the MNOs and will enable the MNOs to participate in a wide array of m-Commerce activities: financial transaction processing for m-Commerce (mobile to mobile payments, mobile to Internet payments, mobile to retail POS payments, mobile to account payments, money transfers, currency exchange, micro-payments for vending, mobile ticketing, mobile billing, etc.) gaming authentication services digital signatures mobile banking (especially for those who have no access to banking services) government services transactions digital rights transactions for software licensing and digital entertainment new marketing/advertising models (e.g., dynamically provisioning special offers, rewards cards, coupons, advertising based on a user's profile/preferences, etc.) health care records health care notifications and alerts insurance transactions of all types m-Learning/Educational services digital agents for scheduling and knowledge acquisition travel guides many other services yet to be created The revenue sharing agreements between the MNOs and the service providers will be mutually beneficial and the micro-payments will most likely be at a level that will be minimal on a per-transaction basis. The service providers will benefit from access to the mobile networks, access to the MNO's customer base and access to a secure identity infrastructure. There are many other possibilities. Imagine a world where the MNOs control secure identity and authenticate financial transactions that flow through their networks. It is a world in which the MNOs play the key role in world commerce. One of the key features of the digital wallet will be the enablement of new marketing/advertising models that that are light years beyond the simple advertising managers currently available.  Extreme target marketing and detailed information tailored to specific users will be become a reality. The unique aspect of the digital wallet is that it is not a "dumb card" or even a limited "smart cart"; it is an application that can manage information flows. In our process for authenticating credentials for identity and financial transactions a numerical value (the transaction ID) will be sent to the digital wallet, be encrypted with the user's private key and then sent back to the authenticating system. In creating the standards for the digital wallet we will create an option that will allow additional information (service provider, item descriptor, amount, transaction type, etc.) to be sent to the digital wallet along with the transaction ID. This information will then flow to the The Trust Nexus Marketing Infrastructure. Retailers, both Internet and traditional brick and mortar, will welcome this option because they will benefit from the marketing infrastructure. The marketing/advertising potential of the The Trust Nexus Marketing Infrastructure will be truly incredible.  Target marketing will be transformed into will be taken to a new level.  While privacy issues will need to be addressed in a forthright manner, there is no doubt these issues can be addressed. On a specific basis, consumers will be able to "opt in" or "opt out" of the system for storing marketing data. Also, there will most likely be government set limits on the type of data that can and cannot be stored (medical services, prescriptions, legal services, etc.) and a time limit for how long any data can be stored. Consumers will have access to an Internet service (accessible by mobile) where they will be able to set and check their marketing preferences, receive special offers and manage their rewards programs. As a simple example, the profile manager in a consumer's digital wallet could interact with the retail POS system at the local Starbucks.   During a purchase the barista could ask the customer if he/she would like to receive special offers from Starbucks; just for signing up the customer would receive a digital coupon for a free grande beverage of their choice. In accepting the offer a consumer would also agree to allow the The Trust Nexus Marketing Infrastructure to track his/her purchases at Starbucks (and possibly other coffee shops and maybe even all types of coffee purchases). The Trust Nexus Marketing Infrastructure would pass this information on to Starbucks which would use the information in a variety of ways (target advertising, coupons, rewards cards, etc.). NFC technology will enable an integration between the desktop and mobile platforms.  All computers will soon have an NFC interface (either an internal card or a portal device plugged into a USB port).  NFC enabled cell phones will be able to exchange information with the desktop platform for a variety of purposes (single sign on, financial transactions, marketing profiles, etc.). There will be a process in which a consumer's profile manager from his/her digital wallet will interact with a website's advertising manager to provide extreme target advertising. A consumer who has not been to Starbucks recently may see a web advertisement for a special "digital deal" on his/her favorite beverage from Starbucks. With a simple click the "digital deal" could be downloaded to the consumers digital Starbucks Rewards card. The full potential of the The Trust Nexus Marketing Infrastructure will be realized when the Starbucks example is scaled up to a comprehensive consumer management / brand management system for Walmart, Amazon.com, Target, etc.  The possibilities are truly incredible. No doubt there are potentials not yet imagined. We have a methodical game plan. Within two years there will be corporate and government deployments where all members of the organization will utilize NFC enabled mobile devices for the purpose of identity management.  These deployments will drive consumer acceptance.  Most deployments within major corporations or government agencies will utilize their own repositories.  These  systems will be microcosms of the full Trust Nexus system.  We are creating an open source project, the NFC Identity Project, that will provide a complete digital authentication system to corporations and government agencies for free for internal use (click here for more details). We will first develop this technology for state driver's licenses and other government credentials (Medicare, food stamps, passports, etc.). We are forming partnerships with a select group of state agencies responsible for state driver's licenses to develop a prototype of this technology. While we are in the very early stages of discussing this partnership, there are no major roadblocks. We should have an announcement in in the coming months. Part of the announcement will be a joint grant application to the Department of Homeland Security. The federal government will fund the development of this infrastructure. DHS has already given out hundreds of millions of dollars to address the issues of the Real ID act.  Last year's funding under the "Driver's License Security Grant Program (DLSGP)" was almost $49 million (ref).   We solve the problems raised by the real ID act without any of the negative consequences related to privacy and government control.  Our system will also greatly reduce cyber-crime.  We are very confident that we will receive DHS funding and support. In addition to DHS, we will also contact the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (http://www.ostp.gov) and key members of Congress to build a broad bipartisan coalition for this new technology.  Our technology will not only secure identity for driver's licenses and create a de facto national identity system, it will also dramatically reduce fraud in government programs. One of the significant aspects of our system is that beyond legal name, legal address and recent photo (the information currently   available on a driver's license) we do not store any private data in the repositories (this holds true for both government credentials and financial credentials).   The underlying concept of the Institutional Web of Trust is that a collection of decisions (represented as dual encrypted hash codes) made by legitimate institutions is stored not private data on individuals.  Because our technology produces a secure outcome and protects individual privacy, we are confident of strong support from both sides of the aisle (this has been the case in our initial discussions with political staff members). Once we create the prototypes and supporting systems for state driver's licenses, we will give the technology away to all other states (and eventually to all other governments) and then add other government credentials to the system. We will have a national system where anyone who has a digital driver's license or other government credential will be able to go to any establishment that has an Internet connection and by utilizing free software from The Trust Nexus have their credential validated. Once the prototype system is complete for government credentials, we will extend the system for financial credentials.  Our system and services will also be free to financial institutions for internal use (Internet banking, mobile banking, on site authentication, etc.).  an individual could have a debit card, credit card, health insurance card (with medical history), etc. added as a record to his/her digital wallet.  The applications will be universal.  Any process that relies on identity will be supported by The Trust Nexus. Once a complete prototype system is developed we will field test the system at a major university.  The NFC University Field Test will integrate digital identity, mobile banking and all aspects of NFC technologies into a university eco-system. At the beginning of every great endeavor there are people who see the vision and there are people who deliberately refuse to look. When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he first tried to market his invention to the telegraph companies; the executives at the telegraph companies, who were focused on improving their current system (a system that had the dominant market share for communication), saw no need to invest in a new system. Flight, electricity, the automobile, radio, television and many other innovations were all initially denigrated by skeptics who doubted the feasibility or market potential of the innovation. Most recently, when Larry Page and Sergey Brin first developed their search engine they approached Yahoo.  Their grand ambition was to sell their system to Yahoo for $1 million; the executives at Yahoo, who were focused on improving their current system (a system that had the dominant market share for Internet search), saw no need to invest in a new system which later became Google. The Innovator's Dilemma, by Clayton M. Christensen is a classic book that analyzes the organizational psychology of skepticism towards new ideas. "Christensen writes that even the best-managed companies, in spite of their attention to customers and continual investment in new technology, are susceptible to failure no matter what the industry..."   "...there is something about the way decisions get made in successful organizations that sows the seeds of eventual failure." Executives (and academics) who have spent a large portion of their career investing in a particular mindset often refuse to consider new ideas that disturb that mind set.  For innovators, overcoming intellectual inertia and skepticism is just part of the game.
© 2011;  The Trust Nexus.
All technologies described here in are "Patent Pending".