Collaboration, standards shepherding decentralized digital ID to production

The webinar “Road to EIC: Standards in Focus – Shaping the Future of Digital and Decentralized Identities” gathered together some leading figures in the sector.

Hosting was Martin Kuppinger, principal analyst from KuppingerCole, who asked questions of Kay Chopard, executive director of Kantara Initiative; Katryna Dow, CEO and founder of Meeco; Darrell Guesz, product lead, Neo, of Ping Identity; Andrew Hughes, VP of Global Standards, FaceTec; and Loffie Jordaan, business solutions architect, AAMVA — the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.

The panel was asked what they thought was the biggest advancement they had seen in the sector within the topic of the discussion. Chopard said she’s seen so much more work between countries around digital wallets and mobile credentials; that she’s seen more impetus to make these work across borders.

Dow referred to cross-border interoperability in her answer, echoing Chopard’s point, but added that the specification “clarity” and timeline around EU digital wallets has helped development to move forward, and that having those established standards has helped “more than anything.”

Geusz said it was an exciting time as now we are seeing production roll-outs of digital wallets and credentials, which was the biggest development he had seen. Jordaan took a different route and said the technical aspects, like digital credential APIs, and how these have matured, with the protocols that have been built on top, are the biggest advancements. He also mentioned the emergence of logistical organizations and issuing authorities as being significant developments in the sector.

Hughes saw the acceptance of standardized products with the right certification as the biggest advancement (perhaps as it validates his work, which is all about establishing standards). Whereas before, he said, experiments and prototypes were more the norm, now there are certified products and large-scale pilots. There are ISO standards for mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs), NIST standards and Kantara’s work; frameworks in the UK and increasing numbers of product demonstrations that show they are “fit for purpose.”

The panel was asked what advice they would give to those working in the space. Hughes’ advice to implementers was “don’t pick the standard before the ecosystem,” and to figure out what the application is and what is needed to apply it. Checking with the customers, and partners, to gain feedback. “Follow your customers,” was the advice from the VP of Global Standards from FaceTec.

Dow mentioned future proofing and that once the use case was settled on and the implementation that “building a profile test suite” such that you can “constantly keep those doors open to collaboration” was important. Hughes mentioned that they’ve developed a new protocol that allows you to take face biometrics and to embed it in a 2D barcode and place that inside a verifiable credential.

The panel recognized that protocols like FIDO2 passkeys, OAuth, and OpenID4C can be leveraged in order to streamline authentication. Decentralized systems meanwhile empower user-controlled data sharing. The panel went into much more detail with insightful questions and commentary from Kuppinger. The full webinar can be viewed here.

Article Topics

AAMVA  |  decentralized ID  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  EIC 2025  |  FaceTec  |  interoperability  |  Kantara  |  KuppingerCole  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  mDoc  |  Meeco