Swiss Parliamentarian Doris Fiala joins blockchain startup Procivis’ board of directors

Procivis, a Switzerland-based digital identity platform, has announced that Swiss Liberal Party FDP politician Doris Fiala has joined the company’s Board of Directors.

The startup said that it is adding three accomplished personalities from politics and the private sector to its board of directors.

Fiala is a Member of the Swiss Parliament who also acts as the Chairwoman of the Swiss Control/Parliamentary Oversight Committee and the President of Swiss FDP Liberals Women. She is also a Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Fiala has been actively engaged in positioning Zurich and Switzerland as an international blockchain location. In her role as a Member of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons and delegate of PACE, she is confronted with the emerging relevance of electronic identities on a regular basis.

Founded in 2016, Procivis is a provider of government-trusted digital ID solutions. In May 2017, it released the beta version of its integrated electronic identity and services platform, eID+. Earlier this year, the company collaborated with the Rohingya Project NGO in order to provide digital IDs to Rohingya people, the world’s biggest stateless minority.

In addition to Fiala, strategy expert Huw Evans and cybersecurity specialist Roger Wirth have also joined the board, which is presided over by Procivis founder Daniel Gasteiger.

Furthermore, Achille Deodato has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Deodato joins the company from the Swiss private banking part of large international conglomerate Hinduja Group, where he last held the position of Chief Commercial Officer and Secretary General.

In his new role, Deodato will help drive further development of Procivis’ eID+ platform. His immediate focus will be on the implementation of eID+ as part of different projects in Switzerland and abroad, such as the eID+ solution for the Swiss Canton of Schaffhausen, and the development of a market-ready e-voting solution based on blockchain technology.

“The extension of our Board of Directors and the appointment of our COO mark the beginning of a new phase in the development of our business. We’re very pleased to have won a highly experienced leader for Procivis with Achille Deodato. I’m looking forward to realising our ideas for trusted e-government and democratic processes in the age of digitisation together with our new colleagues,” Gasteiger said.

Procivis said that has secured interim financing this June to support its business development efforts and is preparing a capital increase for the second half of 2018.