2025 SEDI Summit

State-Endorsed Digital Identity Summit Banner Logo

Event Details

Friday, October 17, 2025

9:00 AM–4:00 PM

Registration opens at 8:00 AM

Vallejo Auditorium, Scott C. Keller Building

Utah Valley University

Co-Hosted by

The Utah House of Representatives

The Utah Senate

Utah Department of Government Operations

Utah Valley University
Gary R. Herbert Institute for Public Policy

The Utah Office of Data Privacy

Additional Resources

- Map of Spaces
- Parking Information
- Hotels Nearby

Rebuilding Trust in Identity—By Returning It to the Individual

The State of Utah invites you to attend the State-endorsed Digital Identity (SEDI) Summit—a national gathering for states to lead the way in rethinking how identity works in the digital age.

As digital transactions become foundational to modern life, trust in identity systems must be earned, not assumed. The time has come for a model where states uphold their constitutional role, and individuals regain control over their identity.

Travel Stipends Available

A limited number of travel stipends are available for legislators and state officials. To see if you may qualify, please contact Utah Chief Privacy Officer Chris Bramwell at [email protected].

Event Agenda & Speaker Information

Location: Vallejo Auditorium, 101 Keller Building, UVU (see map)

Morning Session Livestream Link: HERE

Lunch Session Livestream Link: HERE

Afternoon Session Livestream Link: HERE

8:00–9:00 AM––Registration and Breakfast

Please check-in for the event at the registration table, located just outside the Vallejo Auditorium of the Keller Building (KB 101).

9:00–11:00 AM––Morning Session

9:00 AM Utah's Vision for State-Endorsed Digital Identity

Speaker: Chris Bramwell, Utah Chief Privacy Officer

What is SEDI and what does SEDI do? Utah’s vision for a government-endorsed individual decentralized digital identity model that:

•Respects rights,

•Empowers individuals; and,

•Is protected by the State.

Christopher Bramwell

Utah Chief Privacy Officer

Christopher Bramwell serves as Utah’s Chief Privacy Officer and Director of the Office of Data Privacy, where he leads statewide efforts to modernize governance and balance of privacy, transparency, and use of data. He helped draft and implement the Government Data Privacy Act and is building tools and frameworks to support privacy programs across all levels of government. Christopher is also a father of three, an avid runner, and is currently building a cabin in the Utah mountains.

9:15 AM What Is Digital Identity?

Speaker: Ryan Hurst

Digital identity is a set of verified attributes, such as your name, date of birth, or credentials, securely bound to you. This session explains what digital identity is and why, without verifiable digital identity, trust and authenticity online will erode and harms will persist.

Ryan Hurst

Peculiar Ventures, Chief Executive Officer

Ryan Hurst is CEO of Peculiar Ventures [https://peculiarventures.com], where he solves complex security challenges for major enterprises and helps companies build breakthrough products in high-stakes environments. A security leader and systems architect with 30 years building the internet's critical trust infrastructure, he founded Google Trust Services [https://pki.goog], now the 2nd largest Certificate Authority globally, and was an advisor to Let's Encrypt [https://letsencrypt.org], which revolutionized web security. Through leadership roles and advisory positions, he has guided the Certificate Authorities responsible for over 80% of all internet certificate issuance. He guides executives through crisis response, organizational transformation, and emerging technology challenges including AI governance, post-quantum transitions, and regulatory navigation. Companies including SandboxAQ [https://sandboxaq.com], Binarly [https://binarly.io], SPIRL [https://spirl.com], and SpruceID [https://spruceid.com] rely on his strategic counsel on systemic risks that could reshape entire industries..

9:25 AM Keynote: The Human Cost--Why SEDI Matters

Speaker: Cindy George

A first-person account of the harms families in Utah and across the U.S. face from sextortion and identity abuse, including the story of Jake Curtis. This session grounds SEDI’s goals in lived reality and the urgent need for safer, privacy-preserving identity infrastructure. KUTV

Cindy George

Utah Parent Sharing Her Family's Experience

Cindy George is a mother of two and proud grandma to three cute grandkids. Cindy’s life took a tragic turn when she lost her son to suicide. Since then, she has devoted herself to educating the public about the dangers of sextortion and raising awareness to help protect others from similar heartbreak. Now retired after 30 years of teaching for Granite School District, Cindy has settled in St. George, where she continues her mission of advocacy, healing, and hope.

9:45 AM The Urgency of Advancing State-Endorsed Digital Identity

As Utah takes steps toward implementing a State-Endorsed Digital Identity, SB260 has set the foundation for a future where residents can securely verify their identity online. This stakeholder roundtable will bring together key policymakers, technology leaders, and industry experts to discuss the vision, opportunities, and challenges of digital identity in Utah.

Senator Kirk Cullimore

Utah State Senate, District 19

Senator Kirk A. Cullimore was elected to the Utah Senate in 2018 and represents District 19, the southeast part of Salt Lake County and sections of northeast Utah County. He currently serves as the Majority Leader for the Senate Majority Caucus.

Sen. Cullimore received an associate’s degree in music from Utah Valley University. He then served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines. After returning, he continued his education and received a bachelor’s degree in music from Brigham Young University. He subsequently taught music for six years and managed a music teaching studio. Sen. Cullimore then went on to pursue a law degree at the University of Oklahoma and began his law career in Oklahoma primarily in Federal Indian Law. He moved back to Utah and runs his own law practice focusing on general business representation, land use, water development and technology issues.

Representative Paul Cutler

Utah House of Representatives, District 18

Paul Cutler was elected to the Utah State Legislature in 2022. He serves as Vice-Chair of the House Economic Development & Workforce Service Committee. He previous served 12 years as a Centerville Mayor & Councilman. Paul has a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Utah and an MBA from the Marriott School at Brigham Young University. When not debating legislation, he works as an Engineering Director for a global tech company, leading consulting teams that build and optimize massive scale wireless, optical, and data center networks for large service providers.

Representative Lisa Shepherd

Utah House of Representatives, District 61

Fellow Wolverine and former adjunct instructor, Representative Lisa Shepherd, representing Orem and Provo in Utah's State House District 61, holds a bachelor’s degree in political science, magna cum laude, with an emphasis in public law, a minor in Constitutional Studies, an associate’s degree in business management, and membership in the National Association of Parliamentarians. Lisa formerly served as the Senior Policy Advisor to former Utah County Commissioner Tom Sakievich. Lisa’s academic and professional background reflects a strong governance foundation, the importance of transparent processes, and the rule of law. In addition to her legislative service in the Utah House of Representatives, Lisa served her political party as the elected state and county parties' secretary, Constitution and Bylaws Committee Chair, and District 61 Chair. Lisa enjoys serving as a judge in the Miss America Network, is the mother of six, and is affectionately known as “GrammaLisa” to five grandchildren.

Representative Kristen Chevrier

Utah House of Representatives, District 54

Representative Kristen Chevrier began her service in the Utah legislature on January 1, 2025. She has dedicated over 30 years to Utah’s political process, as a leader in both local and state Republican Party leadership and as a strong legislative advocate–on a state and national level–for parental rights, informed consent, and data privacy. She co-founded a local informed consent advocacy organization that has been instrumental in educating legislators and policymakers over the past 11 years and in helping to pass legislation doctor/patient relationship, rein in agency authority, and protect and bolster informed consent. Kristen and her husband Brian raised their family in Utah and are grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of this great state.

10:10 AM Current Lay of the Land: Verifiable Credentials & Digital Identity

Speaker: Daniel Hardman

A fast, neutral survey of today’s VC/digital identity market: adoption patterns, national and international usage, what US states and other countries (EUID, WeChat, Estonia, Singpass, etc) are doing, and where gaps remain. Covers how key standards and ecosystems—KERI/ACDC, W3C VCs, DIDs, and mDL interoperability—fit together and their adoption levels.

Daniel Hardman

Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, Provenant

Daniel is the CTO and CISO at Provenant, a startup working on verifiable communications based on KERI and ACDCs. He is a co-inventor of DIDComm, a contributor to the W3C DID and VC specs, and is currently consulting on an eIDAS-centric citizen wallet initiative that uses SD-JWT and ISO mDL. He served on the Utah State Auditor's Commission on Digital Privacy in 2020, and helped launch Hyperledger Aries, Hyperledger Indy, the Sovrin network, and the Trust Over IP Foundation. He is a member of GLEIF's vLEI Technical Advisory Board and also spent significant time working on central bank digital currency initiatives.

10:20 AM Centralized Identity vs. Decentralized Identity: Implications for Utah, the U.S., and the World

Speaker: Phil Windley

A strategic look at the paradigm shift from centralized to decentralized identity. Dr. Windley will explore how decentralized identity frameworks can enhance resilience, protect liberty, and empower individuals while avoiding the vulnerabilities of centralized repositories. He will highlight what this means not only for Utah, but also for the United States and the global digital identity ecosystem—framing SEDI as part of a worldwide movement toward trustworthy, interoperable, and citizen-centric identity systems.

Phil Windley

IIW Foundation, Executive Director

Phil Windley is Executive Director of the IIW Foundation, the non-profit responsible for the Internet Identity Workshop and is writing book on authorization for Manning Publications. He was most recently a Senior Software Development Manager at AWS Identity. Before that he was an Enterprise Architect and Principal Engineer in the Office of Information Technology at Brigham Young University (BYU). He was the Founding Chair of the Sovrin Foundation serving from 2016 to 2020. He serves as an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at BYU, writes the popular Technometria blog, and is the author of the books Learning Digital Identity (O'Reilly, Media 2023), The Live Web (Course Technology, 2011), and Digital Identity (O'Reilly Media, 2005). Phil has been a computer science professor at BYU and the University of Idaho, founder and CTO of several internet technology companies, and served as CIO for the State of Utah. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of California, Davis.

10:30 AM Backward Compatibility & Continuous Improvement

Speaker: Joe Jackson, Utah Chief Technology Officer

SEDI will support backward compatibility. This session explains why backward compatibility and continuous improvement are essential to maintaining trust in digital identity. Joe Jackson will outline how Utah’s SEDI approach allows legacy credentials to function during transition periods. This protects citizens and businesses from disruption, preserves investments, and ensures the identity ecosystem continuously evolves to meet security, privacy, individual control and trust requirements of SEDI.

Joe Jackson

Utah Chief Technology Officer

Joe Jackson brings a decade of public sector leadership to his current role as Chief Technology Officer for the State of Utah's Division of Technology Services. Throughout his career with Technology Services and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Joe has focused on providing government agencies with innovative technologies and accessible data. His approach blends practical technology and management experience with his academic background in biomedical engineering and business administration to drive efficiencies in public service delivery.

Proof of Concept Demo: Decentralized SEDI with Backward Compatibility
Demo Participants: Cardano Foundation (Veridian), SpruceID, GET Group NA

Live issuance and verification of a decentralized SEDI credential, plus presentation of an mDL from the same wallet experience to an ISO 18013-5 or ISO 18013-7 verifier.

11:00–11:10 AM––Break

Use this brief break for personal needs and to move upstairs (KB 405. 407, & 409) for additional sessions.

11:10–11:50 AM––States' Role & Breakouts 1 or 2

11:10 AM Endorsement and Protection of Individual Digital Identity Is a State Role

Speaker: Representative Paul Cutler

SEDI is a state role. Endorsing identity is a core responsibility of the state, just as it has been for vital records and driver’s licenses. This session highlights why state-endorsed identity is the bedrock of trust in our society, and why the federal government’s role should remain limited to proofing and endorsing non-citizen individuals and issuing passports.

Rep. Paul Cutler

Utah House of Representatives, District 18

Breakout Discussion 1: The Role of State vs. the Federal Government, KB 405

Attendees will discuss the proper roles of the state and federal government in regards to endorsement of digital identity. Facilitators will assist each group with discussion and will collect information discussed by the group to inform version 1.0 of the SEDI Framework.

Breakout Discussion 2: Affordable Housing, Small Business, and Tourism: The SEDI Impact on Destination Economies, KB 408

From short-term rental licensing to workforce housing access, SEDI gives destination economies tools to balance visitor demand with resident stability. Verifiable credentials keep revenue streams like park permits, transit passes, and events secure. Learn how SEDI can help small businesses in tourism economies stay competitive with global brands.

11:50 AM–12:30 PM––Lunch

Enjoy your lunch!

12:30–1:00 PM––Lunch Presentations

12:30 PM Civil Liberties Perspective on Digital Identity & SEDI

Speaker: Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU

Civil liberties considerations and key principles that any digital identity system must include.

Jay Stanley

Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU

Jay Stanley is Senior Policy Analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, where he researches, writes and speaks about technology-related privacy and civil liberties issues and their future. Stanley has written numerous influential ACLU reports and white papers as well as hundreds of blog posts on privacy and other technology policy issues. Stanley is a graduate of Williams College and holds an MA in American History from the University of Virginia.

12:40 PM Public Interest Perspective on Digital Identity & SEDI

Speaker: Jason Chipman, Director of Public Policy, Libertas

Why Libertas supports Utah’s SEDI approach while declining to support others.

Jason Chipman

Director of Public Policy, Libertas

Jason directs Libertas’ policy efforts with state governments. Before joining Libertas, Jason spent 8 years as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. He received bachelor’s degrees in Organizational Leadership from Drury University and Accounting from Central Methodist University. Jason worked for a semiconductor supply company for 14 years before getting elected, wearing many different hats in that time. He also spent 5 years in the US Navy, completing two deployments to the Persian Gulf aboard the USS John F. Kennedy CV-67. Jason and his wife Elane home school their five children and enjoy traveling, ice skating, and hiking.

12:50 PM Additional Comments

Speaker: Jeremy Grant, Better Identity Coalition

Speaker: Christian Reza, Stand With Crypto

Speaker:Scott Stornetta, Co-inventor of Blockchain

1:00–1:15 PM––Break

We will be back downstairs for the afternoon session starting at 1:15 PM. See you there!

1:15–2:40 PM––Afternoon Session

1:15 PM State-Endorsed Digital Identity Is Critical Public Infrastructure

Speaker: Alan Fuller, Utah Chief Information Officer

SEDI will be critical public infrastructure. From the perspective of a state CIO who is responsible for statewide information technology infrastructure, why digital identity itself will become a target of nation states. This session frames SEDI as critical public infrastructure—essential to democracy, requiring state-of-the-art security, decentralization for resilience, and cooperative defense through a multi-state consortium.

Alan Fuller

Chief Information Officer, Utah

Alan Fuller was appointed Chief Information Officer for the state of Utah in March 2021. As CIO, Fuller oversees all IT functions for executive branch agencies in Utah with the goal to improve innovation and improve government services through the use of technology. A resident of Lehi, Utah, Fuller has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

1:25 PM Open Standards and Open Protocols

Speaker: Scott Perry

SEDI will require open standards and open protocols. Open standards and open protocols ensure that digital identity operates as public infrastructure that is transparent, reliable, and universally available. This session will emphasize why identity cannot be controlled by proprietary, centralized systems or proprietary protocols. Just as Americans can freely read foundational laws and move between states, individuals must be able to understand how their digital identity works and transfer it to any compliant wallet. Open standards maximize trust, prevent vendor lock-in, and foster a competitive, innovative marketplace for holders, issuers and verifiers of SEDI compatible credentials.

Scott Perry

Digital Governance, Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Scott Perry is the Founder and CEO of the Digital Governance Institute where he provides a variety of governance solutions in the emerging space of governance of digital assets. Scott is a recognized global leader in digital identity, blockchain, and verifiable credential governance and accreditation. He has worked with the world's most respected certification authorities and is presently the Administrator of the C2PA Conformance Program and co-Chair of the Creator Assertions Working Group, designing programs and holding players accountable to establish provenance and authenticity to digital objects.

He is a Co-Chair of the Trust Over IP Project’s Steering Committee where he has authored and contributed to most of its governance and assurance publications driven to create standards and accountability in decentralized identity and verifiable credential networks.

1:35 PM Individual Control, Autonomy & Guardianship

Speaker: Timothy Ruff, Chief Strategy Officer, Digital Trust Venture

SEDI will empower people, not systems or other entities. This session outlines how individuals control when, where, and how their credentials are used, including consent for disclosures, selective disclosure, revocation/renewal, and the right to paper so no one is forced into a digital-only regime. It also covers guardianship and delegation so parents, caregivers, or designated agents can securely act on behalf of minors or dependent adults while preserving dignity and access.

Timothy Ruff

Chief Strategy Officer, Digital Trust Venture

Timothy Ruff is a pioneering entrepreneur in digital identity and trust technologies, currently serving as Chief Strategy Officer at Digital Trust Venture Partners. He co-founded Evernym, where he served as CEO, and was instrumental in developing Sovrin, a leading self-sovereign identity network. Ruff is also the co-inventor of the verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI), a significant advancement in organizational identity. With over 25 years of experience, his career includes co-founding Teleira, a company specializing in communications outage recovery, and leading a division at inContact that achieved over $1 billion in cumulative sales. Ruff holds multiple patents and is a recognized speaker in the industry. He resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife and seven children.

Group Discussion––Individual Control, Autonomy & Guardianship

Attendees will have an open discussion about necessary public policy and technical controls in relation to state-endorsed digital identity. Facilitators will assist the group with discussion and will collect information discussed by the group to inform version 1.0 of the SEDI Framework.

Proof of Concept Demonstrations

Minor Guardianship and website age assurance
Participants: Cardano Foundation (Veridian), SpruceID

Senior Adult Guardianship and website Multisign authorization Participants: Clear Foundation on Utah Life

2:15 PM Zero Surveillance, Zero Tracking

Speaker: Steve McCown, Utah Chief Information Officer

SEDI will have zero surveillance and zero tracking. For SEDI to earn public trust, privacy can’t be a toggle—it has to be the architecture. This session sets out the approach for a surveillance-free identity ecosystem: wallets, credentials, and verifiers designed and certified to contain no latent tracking, no telemetry, and no hidden monitoring; strict limits on compelled device access; and bans on profiling or scoring.

Steve McCown

Commissioner, Utah Privacy Commission

Steven McCown is a seasoned technologist and privacy advocate, currently serving as a commissioner on the Utah Privacy Commission. With over 35 years of experience in software architecture, cybersecurity, and digital identity, he is also the Chief Architect at Anonyome Labs, a company focused on privacy-enhancing technologies. McCown co-founded RFinity to secure mobile payments, has contributed to national security initiatives with the U.S. Air Force and Idaho National Laboratory. He actively participates in global privacy and identity standards development with the World Wide Web Consortium, Decentralized Identity Foundation, and Trust Over IP. McCown holds B.S. & M.S. degrees in Computer Science (BYU), CISM & CDPSE security certifications (ISACA), and 34 patents. He resides with his family in Mapleton, Utah.

2:30 PM Economic Impact and Opportunity of SEDI

Speaker: Simon Wood, Senior Advisor to Refute; former CEO of Ubisecure

SEDI – A case study of Economic benefit

State-Endorsed Digital Identity brings utility and convenience for individuals; including organization identity enables further significant economic gains. Hear how the Finnish tax office saved 99% of the costs in processing tax transactions after implementing advanced, state-endorsed digital identity that combines individual and organizational identities.

Simon Wood

Senior Advisor to Refute

Simon is a seasoned technology leader with over three decades of experience in the tech industry, most recently serving as the Group CEO at Ubisecure. His leadership has been pivotal in transforming Ubisecure into the world's largest issuer of highly assured organization identifiers and delivering advanced identity solutions across the Nordics. With a strong engineering background, Simon has a proven track record of driving innovation and efficiency in various technology sectors, including digital identity and public key infrastructure. He is also an inventor with multiple patents in mobile internet software systems design.

2:40–2:55 PM––Break

Final stretch before the concluding session

2:55–4:00 PM–– Discussion and Q&A

2:55 PM Getting Started on Your SEDI Journey--Discussion and Q&A

Discussion and QA with Utah elected representatives and executive leadership

This closing session is designed as an interactive discussion with attendees and Utah leadership on how to bring State-Endorsed Digital Identity (SEDI) efforts back to their home states. Panelists will share insights on model legislation, resolutions, and executive orders, as well as the steps for creating a multi-state SEDI Consortium. The conversation will explore opportunities for state, federal, and private-sector coalition building and highlight tools and resources available to support implementation at the lowest cost. Attendees will leave with practical ideas and connections to help them begin their own SEDI journey.

4:00--Conference Concludes

Thank you for joining us!

Why This Matters

Digital identity is no longer a back-office function. It is infrastructure for the digital economy, a gatekeeper of access, and a cornerstone of individual autonomy. But current approaches—often centralized, opaque, or commercially driven—fail to protect the rights and dignity of individuals.

State Endorsed Digital Identity (SEDI) offers a new path forward that is—

User-controlled
State-endorsed
Security and privacy by default
Interoperable, secure, and transparent

What You’ll Gain at the Summit

Understand the SEDI Model
See how SEDI can return power to the people while ensuring high-assurance identity for government and business services.
Learn from Global Lessons
Hear analysis on digital identity frameworks emerging around the world—and the risks they pose to autonomy and democracy.
Access Tools & Resources
Receive model policies, governance frameworks, and technical considerations to inform action in your state.
Join a Multi-State Consortium
Be part of shaping the future. Collaborate with other states to build a trusted, scalable, and rights-based approach to digital identity.

Who Should Attend?

Legislators
State officials
Policy makers
Public interest organizations