05 Aug 2015 - Sedicii Awarded ‘Technology Pioneer 2015’ by World Economic Forum

• World Economic Forum today announced its selection of the world’s 49 most promising Technology Pioneers 2015, including Sedicii, the only Irish company in the selection.
• Sedicii has produced a secure authentication technology, which eliminates the transmission and storage of private identity data during authentication or identity verification, reducing possibilities for identity theft, impersonation and the resulting fraud.
• US and UK based companies make up 80% of awardees
• The full list of recognized Technology Pioneers can be viewed here.

London, 5 August 2015 – Sedicii, headquartered in Waterford, Ireland, whose patented “Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol” technology, developed at the National University of Ireland Galway, is designed to protect both consumers’ and corporates’ sensitive personal data, has today been recognised as a ‘Technology Pioneer 2015’ by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Sedicii’s technology enables secure authentication by ensuring the correct password or identity attribute has been entered into a user’s device, without ever exposing or transmitting the password or the concealed personal identity attribute. The patented Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol has also brought Sedicii recognition as winners of the BT Infinity Challenge and the EY Startup Challenge. Will Pryke, Director of Operations at BT’s Infinity Lab commented: “Security and customer experience are key areas for all businesses. We are very pleased to be innovating with Sedicii since they won our BT Infinity Lab competition last year. Congratulations to the Sedicii team, it is great to see them recognised as a Tech Pioneer.”

Sedicii was chosen by a professional jury among hundreds of candidates as one of the 49 selected companies. Thanks to its selection, it will have access to the most influential and sought-after business and political network in the world, and be invited to the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos” in Dalian, China, this September, or the Annual Meeting in Davos in January.

“We’re glad to see an Irish company make it to the selection,” says Fulvia Montresor, Head of Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum. “Sedicii is part of a group of entrepreneurs who are more aware of the crucial challenges of the world around them, and who are determined to do their part to solve those challenges with their company.”

As in previous years, American-based entrepreneurs continue to dominate the list of technology pioneers: they account for more than two-thirds of the recipients, followed by the United Kingdom (4), Israel and the Netherlands (2), and individual recipients of Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Taiwan, China. France and Spain were among the countries not counting a recipient. The Technology Pioneers were selected from among hundreds of applicants by a selection committee of 68 academics, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate executives. Notable members of the committee include Arianna Huffington (founder, Huffington Post) and Henry Blodget (editor-in-chief, Business Insider). The committee based its decisions on criteria including innovation, potential impact, working prototype, viability and leadership. Past recipients include Google (2001), Wikimedia (2007), Mozilla (2007), Kickstarter (2011) and Dropbox (2011). More information on past winners can be found here.

ENDS

About the World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum is an international institution committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship. It engages with business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is independent, impartial and not tied to any interests. It cooperates closely with all leading international organizations (www.weforum.org).

Media contact for World Economic Forum:

Peter Vanham, Media Lead, Technology Pioneers peter.vanham@weforum.org, Telephone: +41 79 620 91 29.

About Sedicii Sedicii has designed a secure authentication technology which eliminates the transmission and storage of private identity data during authentication or identity verification, reducing possibilities for identity theft, impersonation and the resulting fraud. The technology is designed to protect both consumers and corporates. The patented “Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol” allows companies to find out if the right password or identity attribute was entered, without ever exposing or transmitting the password or the identity attribute. This technology has brought them recognition as winners of the BT Infinity Challenge, the SWIFT Innotribe Showcase and the EY Start Up Challenge, and has resulted in active engagement with banks and corporates and regular invitations to speak at conferences about the forthcoming changes to the European Data Protection Directive, the so called “right to be forgotten”.

Media contact for Sedicii Matt Fincham, Streets Consulting Ltd, matt.fincham@streetsconsulting.com Telephone: +44 7780 630352

Tags: authentication, identity, NUIG, passwords, Rob Leslie, security, Sedicii, Technology Pioneer 2015, WIT, World Economic Forum