Topic: The Face of Identity in the Era of the Digitization

The face of personal identity has changed. Fueled by digitization, traditional data privacy, security and anonymity rarely exists in our densely networked world. By mid-century, our digital self, that is, the compiled digital representation of ourselves, will contain more data than an individual can comprehend, remember, anticipate, or imagine. The unrelenting trends in the digitization of health, transportation, housing, and cities, compel government and industry to rethink personal data privacy and security.

Discussion will focus on lessons learned during the pandemic. What are the implications for digital identities and digital privacy as the scope and scale of the “digital self” expands? Do institutions and companies have rights to personal data simply because they collect and compile it? What are the data rights of individuals? Can public policy play a role in protecting the rights of individuals to data generated by reason of their existence? Additional questions concern how governments and industries will reconcile the human rights of individuals, the role of personal data in commerce, governance, and in particular, the value of personal data to improve the community and the human condition.

BIO
Dr. Nicholas Vitalari leads strategy for Quantum Materials Corporation. His career spans multiple roles across both the public and private sectors, as a professor, research dean, research investigator, finance commissioner, consultant, and company founder. His recent work focuses on the future of healthcare, personal digital data rights, and the rapid scaling of businesses. His book, The Elastic Enterprise, with Haydn Shaughnessy, identifies the powerful strategies of new scale economics, agile business, and the rise of digital giants like Amazon, Apple, and Google. As an author he has published widely in peer-reviewed and industry journals and was co-principal investigator in the pathbreaking National Science Foundation study of computing in the home and remote work. He received a Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Minnesota and completed his undergraduate work at Marquette University.