Exhibition Sponsors
Think Digital Identity and Cybersecurity for Government
James Young – Marketing Executive
Last week, the Condatis team attended Think Digital Identity & Cybersecurity for Government 2026 in London as exhibition sponsors. Alongside some great conversations at our stand, I had the opportunity to sit in on several sessions covering digital identity, cybersecurity, fraud, resilience and the future of public services.
The agenda was broad, but by the end of the day it felt like almost every discussion had converged on the same question:
How do we modernise government services in a way that people actually trust?
Not trust in the technology itself. Trust in the experience.
Because whether the topic was GOV.UK One Login, digital credentials, deepfakes or cyber resilience, the challenge wasn’t really technical. It was human.
What Stood Out From the Day
Three themes surfaced repeatedly throughout the conference:
- Trust is becoming the defining factor in digital transformation
- Digital identity is increasingly an experience challenge, not a technology challenge
- Resilience is receiving as much attention as prevention
Every session seemed to touch at least one of these themes, often all three.
Digital identity has moved beyond proving who someone is
The day opened with an update on GOV.UK One Login and the growing role digital credentials could play across government services.
There was plenty of discussion around adoption figures and what comes next, but the most interesting point wasn’t about the numbers. It was the reminder that scale only matters if people can successfully access and use the service in front of them.
Digital driving licences were highlighted as one example of where the UK could be heading, alongside opportunities for digital passports, veterans’ cards, birth certificates and other credentials. The vision is compelling. Rather than repeatedly proving who they are or providing the same information multiple times, citizens could share only what’s needed for a particular service or transaction.
Of course, the technology is only one part of the challenge. Making credentials interoperable is difficult enough. Making them intuitive for citizens who neither know nor care about the technology underneath is arguably harder.
After all, trust isn’t built when something is technically impressive. It’s built when the new way of doing something feels obviously better than the old one.
Citizens care more about outcomes than identity frameworks
The session on digital identity in public service delivery highlighted a familiar challenge: government often talks about digital identity in terms of standards, credentials and interoperability, while citizens focus on much simpler questions.
- What information does government need about me?
- Where does my data go?
- Who can access it?
- How does this make my life easier?
Building trust requires more than implementing technology. It requires transparency, clear communication and giving people confidence that they remain in control of their information.
Examples from Estonia and Singapore were discussed, but there was broad agreement that the UK’s approach needs to reflect UK expectations around privacy, choice and accountability. Ultimately, the biggest barrier isn’t technology. It’s public confidence.
Key takeaway: People don’t adopt digital identity because of the technology behind it. They adopt it when the benefits are clear, and the experience feels trustworthy.
Deepfakes are forcing organisations to rethink trust
The Great Deepfake Challenge was one of the most thought-provoking sessions of the day.
Deepfakes have moved from a future concern to a present-day challenge. As synthetic content becomes increasingly convincing, organisations can no longer rely on people alone to determine what’s real and what’s not.
While detection tools will play an important role, speakers stressed that technology is only part of the answer. Clear processes, staff awareness and effective response plans are just as critical. If an employee falls victim to an impersonation attempt, organisations need to know exactly how that incident is identified, reported and contained.
There was also discussion around whether legislation can keep pace with the rapid evolution of AI-generated content. As deepfakes become more sophisticated, the risk extends beyond misinformation into fraud, impersonation and unauthorised access to systems and services.
Key takeaway: Detecting deepfakes is only half the challenge. Organisations also need to be prepared for how they respond when one succeeds.
Resilience is moving to the centre of cybersecurity
The afternoon keynote from Breandán Knowlton-Hung, Deputy Director for Government Cyber Solutions at DSIT, focused on what he described as a “decade of resilience”, a theme that resurfaced throughout the rest of the day.
While prevention remains important, there was growing recognition that organisations also need to prepare for disruption. Recent incidents across both the public and private sectors have reinforced a simple reality: attacks are not a matter of if, but when.
The discussion focused on how organisations respond, recover and continue delivering services when things go wrong. Importantly, many of the foundations of resilience extend beyond traditional cybersecurity, including strong governance, effective operations and good data management.
Key takeaway: Resilience isn’t just a cybersecurity capability. It’s an organisational capability.
Assurance, not Reassurance
One of the strongest messages from the Defending as One session was that cybersecurity is no longer the responsibility of specialist teams alone. As cyber incidents increasingly impact services, operations and public trust, boards and senior leaders are becoming far more involved.
A point of particular interest was:
Board members should be asking for assurance, not reassurance.
Reassurance is being told everything is fine. Assurance comes from evidence, tested controls and proven resilience. It’s a subtle distinction, but one that reflects cybersecurity’s shift from an operational concern to a strategic leadership issue.
Key takeaway: Effective cyber leadership is built on evidence and assurance, not assumptions.
Final Thoughts
From GOV.UK One Login and digital credentials to deepfakes and cyber resilience, the technologies discussed at Think Digital were very different. The challenge behind them wasn’t.
Across almost every session, the conversation came back to trust.
Trust that citizens remain in control of their information. Trust that services will work when they’re needed. And trust that organisations can respond effectively when things go wrong.
The technology is advancing quickly. The real test is whether those advances create experiences that people feel confident using. That’s likely to be one of the defining challenges for government over the next decade.
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