Digital Driver’s License? Apple and
Illinois Get It. Your Business Should Too
Business
owners should expect Apple’s New Digital ID technology to spread nationwide and
expand to provide additional functionality.
EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1
Nov 25,
2025
Just in time for holiday
trials, travels and other tribulations, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi
Giannoulias announced that Illinois has teamed up with Apple to be the largest
of more than a dozen states to date to fully implement a statewide program enabling
its citizens to quickly add their Illinois driver’s licenses or state IDs to
the Apple Wallet on their iPhone. A few simple steps and you’re good to go.
Quicker, more convenient, and much safer, it’s a huge step forward—especially
for anyone who’s ever left their wallet at home or lost their license.
Forget about grabbing
your wallet while both of your hands are already full; you’re holding up the
TSA line; and you’re getting dirty looks from everyone in line behind you
including your own family. Now you just tap your phone, and the job is done.
Same deal while you’re freezing your butt off standing in line and trying to
get into a concert or sporting event. And proving your age at bars and
restaurants will now be a piece of cake. For the college kids with fake IDs,
life just got a lot tougher.
If you own or operate a
consumer-facing retail enterprise, entertainment venue, or other age-gated
institution, get ready. You can expect this technology to spread pretty quickly
nationwide and expand to provide additional functionality and benefits. The
Illinois arrangement with the TSA already covers more than 250 airports across
the country.
Google and Samsung
wallets will also be covered in the near future so that even those using
Android devices will be able to use the program. It’s important to note that
the digital license is not acceptable for any interactions with law
enforcement, so you still need to carry the real thing when you’re driving.
Lots more to come down the road including, I would guess, systems that will
eventually enable digital identification for voters.
In any case, for a guy
who just took office in 2023 after his predecessor spent 30 years in the job,
Giannoulias has moved rapidly to address the structural problems, hidebound
procedures, and ancient code that he inherited and also to implement the changes
and updates he promised when he ran for the position. It’s
not easy to balance the need to clean up the past messes and move the machine
forward at the same time, and a lot of the burden falls on the crack IT team
that he’s assembled. He has been very diligent in giving credit to his IT team
and following some of the directions I set out in 2016 for IT professionals. These ideas are just
as critical and relevant today as they were a decade ago for every tech-centric
business and, by the way, there are no longer any businesses that aren’t
tech-centric.
By far the most
important idea I suggested was to focus on the future and stop patching the
past. I suggested that it was crucial to build new bridges on top of old code
rather than just adding more patches and bandages. Eventually, if you keep at
it, you can toss the old stuff and move entirely to new structures. One of the
smartest choices that Giannoulis made at the outset of the digital license
project was to partner with Apple for three main reasons.
·
First, he didn’t have to
try to find and attract the right audience for his new innovation. Everyone who
has an iPhone has immediate access to the Wallet as well, so there were
literally millions of folks already equipped to use the new feature on the day
it was released. It saves enormous amounts of time to ride someone else’s rails
who has already built a user base.
·
Second, by partnering
with Apple, he gained access to their existing technology, avoided substantial
development and resource costs, and was able to rely upon all of the already
installed devices nationwide which were capable of connecting to and communicating
with the iPhone. Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and ending up with a
less robust and reliable offering, he was able to incorporate all of Apple’s years of investment and expertise into the Illinois system.
·
Third, because there
were substantial issues and discussions with various interested parties about
privacy and security and because this was one of Giannoulias’s primary
concerns, he was able to partner with the nation’s leading advocate for privacy
and one of the most security conscious tech companies in the world and make
those important attributes part of his program. No one has a better reputation
in these essential areas than Apple.
While this is simply the
latest improvement that’s been implemented in a relatively short time, the real
message for change agents, new business builders and, frankly, for seasoned
business owners as well who don’t want to get left behind is that everything
today in service sector—whether you’re a government agency or a private
entity—is about three things: speed, convenience and security/privacy.
This has been Secretary
Giannoulias’ mantra from day one—attacking the “time tax” that we all pay every
day for inefficiency, incompetence, and simple bureaucratic and procedural
friction in our interactions with government agencies as well as with plenty of
other institutions. I call this the business necessity of being there when
the buyer is ready to buy—ready, able, prepared,
properly equipped, and fully engaged. Today, our time is more valuable than our
money, and it’s the scarcest resource we have.
But any successful
service strategy must be combined with a sincere demonstration of interest and
concern. My impression is that this EQ component is the secret sauce that
Secretary Giannoulias has brought to his work and to his team. He radiates this
commitment and energy every day. While technology is a powerful tool to assist
in this process, the real key to consistent improvement and service success is
to educate, energize and excite your team about the importance of delivering
the right information, the appropriate solutions, and an emotional experience
that demonstrates a real interest in and clear empathy for every individual
they interact with on a daily basis.
No one cares how much
you know until they know how much you care.
