People's lack of awareness around personal data issues provides a huge opportunity for businesses and governments to create transparent Life Management Platforms that will benefit their customers or citizens. And contrary to the divisive context of privacy discussions, digital identity control will provide opportunities for massive innovation and profit to first movers in any business vertical or government context. Once individuals feel their personal data is protected and they can control it, rather than feeling it's being accessed without their knowledge, they're happy to share it.

There's a great deal of research reflecting that people will share much richer and more granular personal data with an entity they trust than the quality of information currently gained from traditional advertising and tracking frameworks. This is why the impetus to create a framework of Personal Clouds and Life Management Platforms for consumers should be driven as much by the business world as individuals. The data provided directly from an individual to a trusted partner can be obtained in a process that builds trust, loyalty and long-term relationship while avoiding the often erroneous information obtained by third-party data brokers.

As an example of how this trusted relationship might work, let's consider NXP's idea of, Me and My Smarter World. The semiconductors, sensors, and technological framework NXP is building provides the nervous system that power the Internet of Things that invisibly swirls around us as we live our lives. Having a Personal Cloud and Life Management Platform for our digital identity will serve as a form of 'activity translator' within this environment where our 'Human API' can communicate with any technology tracking our lives. In terms of increasing our wellbeing, here are some simple examples of how these future interactions might work:

  • Commuters with wearable devices tracking their heart rate could allow their biometric data to be analyzed anonymously and made publicly available, revealing the correlation between their physical location and emotions. This will add a layer of helpful contextual information to a GPS/map program like Waze and a local government. Commuters will know to avoid a certain intersection based on the number of frustrated people caught in traffic, and government officials will know where to reroute traffic to lessen people's stress in real-time.
  • Smart Building technology will allow managers to track data on resident occupancy in real-time, allowing them to adjust heating and cooling systems to lower emissions and save money.
  • Residents who are open to retail or business offers could receive time-stamped offers based on where they're walking within their communities.

For all of these examples and any others you can dream up, remember it's up to you to create the context for your digital identity that will make your Smarter World most relevant and beneficial to you. Where you control your data and how your Life Management Platform interacts with any outside sensor or device, you'll be connected on purpose so you can increase your wellbeing based on the transformative insights our digital identities will provide.

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