Former Apple executive Phillip Shoemaker joins blockchain identity startup Civic

Blockchain identity startup Civic has announced the appointment of former Apple executive Phillip Shoemaker as Executive Director of Identity.com.

Announced in July 2018, Identity.com is a decentralized, open-source ecosystem spearheaded by Civic. In September, the first open source libraries and smart contracts were announced, and in October, the first Identity.com smart contracts were released on the Ethereum Mainnet.

Shoemaker will bring over 20 years of design and development experience to Identity.com. At Apple, he built the Apple App Store Review team from the ground up, taking his team from 4 to over 300 employees. Before Apple, Shoemaker was Developer Relations Director at Numenta, and has also worked at Palm as Director of Development Tools.

For the past two year, he has been advising blockchain projects and startups, helping them get off the ground with design and development projects.

At Identity.com, Shoemaker will be responsible for managing the platform’s objectives and team and defining the parameters around the Civic relationship. In addition, he will take responsibility for establishing a governance structure for Identity.com that values trust and transparency.

“We see Identity.com as the foundation of the digital identity future,” said Jonathan Smith, Civic Co-founder and CTO. “Phillip’s knowledge of blockchain and expertise building internal infrastructure will guide Identity.com through a key time of deployment and growth. We’re happy to see him take on the task of building and leading the Identity.com team.”

Shoemaker said that blockchain technology has the potential to completely revolutionize how we prove and verify identity.

“Enabling a trusted, open-source identity ecosystem, where anyone can contribute or participate, is a key part of making digital identity accessible and functional in our modern world,” said Shoemaker. “I’m looking forward to leading the team and helping solve crucial identity challenges, not only with the Identity.com team but with the global identity community.”