The NMC Horizon project of 2017 addresses some of the most important development in technology for academic and research libraries. Their research model was based on three multidimensions to scope the discussions around each listed trend and challenge: policy, leadership, and practice. Policy here is any form of regulations in place; leadership is the vision of the products experts; practice is the implementation of the defined vision. For this paper, we talk about the online identity trend which, as stated by Becker et al. (2017), is going to start its journey to maturity by 2022.
Online identity is also known as digital identity; A set of data, both inherent and changeable, that can help identify any devices connected to the internet. The concept of digital footprint is well-known in the Information Technology (IT) industry. Some universities in the United States (e.g., University of Illinois) were the first to incorporate digital footprint as part of their curriculum. The data collected from inter-connected devices is known as a passive footprint when web users are unconscious of the situation. That is why the discussion on policies like privacy has limited the expansion of passive footprint. On the other hand, active footprint where users have intentionally shared some of their private information (e.g., creating a profile with your address, phone number, date of birth, and picture) has helped develop systems for crystalizing every relationship. With the collected user data, targeted marketing has reached a different milestone. Companies from all industries are now able to tailor the content and advertisements they deliver to potential consumers.
Today, all transactions or activities across the internet can be fully traceable which is a double-edged sword. In the age of persona branding, this can also help researchers, scientists, professionals, and students to receive the deserved accreditation from their work across the web. Their online identity is tied to all their products or research outputs and can create the right eco-systems to build other research upon. However, how can we be certain of someone's identity if he/she is not physically present? This complex problem is also known today as the online identity dilemma, and it will be the subject of a future discussion.
References
Dodson, I. (2016). The art of digital marketing: the definitive guide to creating strategic, targeted, and measurable online campaigns. John Wiley & Sons.
Becker, S. A., Cummins, M., Davis, A., Freeman, A., Giesinger, C. H., Ananthanarayanan, V., ... & Wolfson, N. (2017). NMC horizon report: 2017 library edition. The New Media Consortium. P. 48
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