• Building digital trust into the world's digital economy could unleash trillions of dollars of opportunities, according to The Digital Trust Index.

• But a 'digital trust gap' is emerging that threatens to undermine the full potential and benefits of a thriving global digital economy.
• Digital identity is vital element of building trust both online and in our wider economies – to everyone's benefit.

Building digital trust into our global digital economy can unleash trillions of dollars of opportunities. But if we don’t know for certain who we are interacting with online, we cannot have trust. Digital identity must therefore be the foundational element to our digital economy and here is why.

Technological advancements have brought a wealth of opportunities within touching distance. From artificial intelligence to big data, cryptocurrency to blockchain, we’re constantly facing imminent technological revolutions, game-changers, and paradigm shifts.

Digital trust key to reaping rewards of new technologies

However, to reap the rewards of any of these technologies, we must first establish one universal value – trust.

Recently the prevalence of cybercrime has taken a toll on trust levels and, as a result, our economies. So, with the current economic headwinds, it is vital we address the issue of digital trust now.

As economies moved online there was an assumption that the inherent trust which exists in the physical world – because we can see and know who we are interacting with – would be replicated in the digital world. This is not the case, and we now find ourselves needing to build digital trust.

Have you read?

• The public sector must accelerate digital transformation – or risk losing sovereignty and trust
• Why we must rebuild digital trust for a cyber-inclusive future
• The right way to build digital public infrastructure: 5 insights

Digital trust is the belief we have that we are interacting online with genuine people, rather than bots, or someone pretending to be someone they aren’t.

It is also the faith we have that the systems we rely upon are secure, reliable and privacy preserving. It’s about ethics, fairness and inclusivity.

When we use digital products and services, we are confirming that we trust them and the whole ecosystem that surrounds them.

Trust fundamental to building digital ecosystems

While trust is an abstract idea, it is fundamental to building a better digital ecosystem. If we don’t know for certain who we are interacting with online, that the technologies and processes involved are secure and ethical, we will stop interacting online.

And if enough of us lose trust in online services, large parts of the global economy and therefore society will start to break down.

The World Bank estimates that the digital economy contributes to more than 15% of global gross domestic product (GDP), and in the past decade it has been growing at two and a half times faster than physical world GDP.

But, if we can’t carry out trade or civic duties online because we don’t have trust, we take a step backwards – physical localities and size become economic advantages again where digital had lowered barriers to entry, levelled the playing field and driven inclusion of populations previously excluded.

This got us thinking about the positive impact that building digital trust could have on our lives. So, we worked with economists at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) to look at the value that building digital trust could bring to society and economies around the world.

The Digital Trust Index: the value of digital trust report has quantified the missed opportunity caused by a lack of digital trust. We found that a 5% point increase in digital trust results in an average increase in GDP per capita of $3,000.

From a GDP per capita perspective, this means we can significantly impact the global economy. For example, a five percentage point increase in digital trust in the US would grow GDP per capita from $62,500 to $65,000.