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When Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans for a government-backed “Britcard” earlier this month, he reignited one of Britain’s longest-running policy debates: digital identity.
The proposal has been repackaged for the digital age: a single, state-run identity system to simplify access to services and help manage migration. Predictably, it made headlines nationwide, sparking civil and ethical conversations. But what many missed is that the technology and legislation to achieve Britcard’s goals already exist.
A thriving digital identity industry has formed over the years and the government now risks competing with it at a time when calls for growth through business innovation are (nearly) as common as calls for quick fixes to illegal immigration.
Frustrating? As a founder in the sector, a little. But this is the nature of building a startup ahead of regulation: you have to anticipate new legislation and meet it head on, even when public sentiment is divided.
It’s a calculated risk and, in the UK’s business culture, that can make people uneasy. Yet for startups defining new categories, it’s increasingly necessary. Leaders must show not only where their company could go, but the steps to get there, even if those steps are only theoretically possible today.
Horizon thinking
One way to manage the uncertainty is to plan in horizons: a sequence of achievable phases that lead your business from today’s foothold to tomorrow’s higher ambition.
Early horizons are about proving value and momentum, not just with proofs of concept but with tangible delivery that justifies the next stage. Later horizons expand scope and complexity, keeping sight of the end goal while adapting to market shifts.
At Orchestrating Identity, our first horizon meant rooting the business in an existing market. We began with compliance use cases already in demand, such as right-to-work and right-to-rent checks, along with broader know-your-customer and business verification services.
At the same time, we were building for our next horizon; we knew the Data (Use and Access) Act was coming. It passed into law in June, giving formal legal standing to the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework and the certified ecosystem around it. We couldn’t be certain it would pass, but understanding what the bill contained allowed us to shape our technical strategy and product roadmap in anticipation. Ironically, many of the capabilities the government now promotes under Britcard – secure data sharing, verified digital attributes and reusable identity – were enabled by this legislation and are currently in force.
Horizon thinking is the approach Geoffrey Moore outlines in his book Crossing the Chasm, which outlines a market development model for innovative or “disruptive” technology products. Moore recommends you start with a defined user group and differentiate strongly before aiming for mass adoption. The bridge to that future has to be strong enough to carry the business until the broader market is ready.
Build patience into the culture
This strategy demands patience and a measured appetite for risk. In the UK, where business culture tends toward short-term returns and strict P&L discipline, that is a hard sell.
By contrast, the US startup ecosystem embraces longer development cycles and higher tolerance for setbacks, with investors willing to back ambition before profitability. If we want to see more UK-born technology scale globally, and be used domestically, we need more of that mindset here. A founder’s role is to seek out and secure that kind of belief at an early stage and a deep knowledge of policy and your future ‘horizons’ are a big part of that.
Shape the rules, don’t just follow them
When your long-term vision depends on regulation, it is not enough to wait and see, you have to help shape it. In the UK, the policy environment for digital identity is complex and evolving, but we chose to engage directly, creating a chief trust officer role, joining trade associations and actively contributing to the guardrails that will ultimately govern our sector.
These are practical steps that build investor and public confidence while ensuring innovation is aligned with policy. This is essential work for any business in a regulated, or soon-to-be-regulated, field.
Building for the next wave
Leading without a clear market or regulatory path is not for everyone. It can be uncomfortable and uncertain, but it also presents the greatest opportunities.
Each new policy intervention in a burgeoning sector, Britcard included, shifts the landscape, but the fundamentals stay the same. And, if the current reception to Britcard is anything to go by, digital identity remains open for innovation.
Progress will depend on how well innovators and the government move in step, not in competition. But startups cannot afford to wait for that moment. They build because they must – to capitalise on opportunities, test ideas, prove what works and give shape to the frameworks that follow.
In the end, every breakthrough begins the same way: with someone building for a world that does not yet exist and adapting along the way as the rules catch up.
James Spalding is the CEO of OLR Group, a global retail technology consultancy, and the founder of Orchestrating Identity, an open trust and identity orchestration platform
When Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans for a government-backed “Britcard” earlier this month, he reignited one of Britain’s longest-running policy debates: digital identity.
The proposal has been repackaged for the digital age: a single, state-run identity system to simplify access to services and help manage migration. Predictably, it made headlines nationwide, sparking civil and ethical conversations. But what many missed is that the technology and legislation to achieve Britcard’s goals already exist.
A thriving digital identity industry has formed over the years and the government now risks competing with it at a time when calls for growth through business innovation are (nearly) as common as calls for quick fixes to illegal immigration.
