Frédéric Gerber

Frédéric Gerber is a student at EPFL currently working on his master thesis at SWITCH. He studies computer science because he is interested in how computers work, at the boundary between hardware and software. In particular, he is enthusiastic about system development, free and open source software, and knowledge transmission.

The lightning talk he is presenting at TNC22 is about self-sovereign identity, which is the digital identity paradigm he is exploring in his master thesis.

Frédéric’s participation in the Future Talent Programme (FTP22) was supported by SWITCH, Switzerland.

Lightning Talk Topic

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) for Future-Proof Digital Wallets

When the Internet was introduced at the end of the last century, it was not clear what use it would have. Today, we are at a similar crossroads with SSI, which consists of a set of principles for digital identities that users directly control. While it is not certain that SSI will change our society as groundbreakingly as the Internet did, it seems to be establishing itself as a paradigm that will endure for some time. From the user’s perspective, it is important to understand the power of digital wallets, which is why this presentation will go through the main principles of SSI and convince everyone that a digital wallet is just as vulnerable as a physical one.