EU digital identity wallet pilots advance as IDnow unveils Soteria pilot

A digital identity wallet pilot implementation is beginning in Europe to deliver a user-centric tool that people can use to manage their personal data, IDnow has announced.

The European Union-wide Soteria research project is intended to provide a digital identity for online access to services with user-friendly platform for secure data management. The findings of the pilot will inform future development of digital identity wallets under eIDAS2.

The pilot implementation and testing phase represents an advanced stage in the project, which launched in October, 2021. IDnow and other Soteria partners developed the digital identity wallet.

“Soteria is a large-scale demonstrator that shows how a digital identity wallet can enable citizens to protect and control their personal data while making access to online services easier than ever before,” says Montaser Awal, director of research at IDnow and coordinator of the Soteria project.

The initial integrations are in Austria, Romania and Spain, and first applications are in voting, academic or professional exams and digital health services. The use case pilots will consist of 900 people in each. Participants will have the option to upload voting receipts, exam results or health data to their digital wallets as verifiable credentials.

Soteria partners also include the Idiap Research Institute and KU Leuven.

Ukraine joins EU’s Potential Consortium

Ukraine has joined the Potential consortium to test the Diia app’s cross-border interoperability.

The country’s participation in the pilot was announced by Ukraine Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on Telegram. He noted that Ukraine is the only participating country that is not an EU member.

Federov says once the pilot is launched, Ukrainians will be able to use Diia to open bank accounts online access their mobile driver’s license, use digital signatures and receive electronic prescriptions. Europeans will be able to do the same with their digital wallets in Ukraine.

Member states participating in the Potential consortium must submit their European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet prototypes within two years, and testing is to be completed by April 2025, the Odessa Journal notes.

The European Commission is expected to publish unified requirements for EUDI Wallets during the first quarter of this year.

Article Topics

digital identity  |  digital wallets  |  Diia  |  EU Digital Identity Wallet  |  Europe  |  IDnow  |  pilot project  |  Potential Consortium  |  Soteria