Microsoft, Mercy Corps, Hyperledger, and the UN International Computing Center have joined Accenture as partners in the ID2020 Alliance.

In addition to joining the initiative, Microsoft will also donate $1M to the effort, joining Accenture and the Rockefeller Foundation as major donors.

Accenture is a founding member of the ID2020 Alliance, a public-private partnership working to improve lives through digital identity, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is committed to developing digital identity solutions that are personal, private, persistent and portable.

"ID2020 grew out of a recognition that historical, siloed approaches to solve this problem were insufficient," said Dakota Gruener, the Executive Director of the ID2020 Alliance. "We are building an ecosystem of partners committed to working across national and institutional borders to address this challenge at scale."

The alliance partners are considering the potential of blockchain technologies to give individuals direct ownership of, and control over, their personal information. In June 2017, Accenture unveiled a prototype of a blockchain-biometric identity solution jointly developed for ID2020 with Microsoft. In addition, the alliance is establishing a Technical Advisory Committee to evaluate emerging and relevant technologies on an ongoing basis.

"The technology community has long used open standards, open source software, and open networks as a way to coordinate and cooperate. We're excited to be helping ID2020 apply these techniques to such an urgent and global issue,” Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of Hyperledger said.

"A refugee's future is far less certain than most of us, but their identities shouldn't be. We're committed to leveraging our technology and expertise to continue to bring digital identities – and the basic rights, services and opportunities they enable – to those who need it most," said Mary Snapp, Corporate Vice President and Lead for Microsoft Philanthropies. "Partnering with an organization like ID2020 will drive progress on ensuring everyone has access to identification."