Trust Stamp joins EU advanced semiconductor initiative for secure digital identity

Trust Stamp has been chosen for one of Europe’s most strategic technology programs. The company is joining a major EU effort to strengthen sovereignty and security across the semiconductor supply chain.

The company announced that its Maltese subsidiary, Trust Stamp Malta Limited, has been selected as a direct participant in the Important Project of Common European Interest on Advanced Semiconductor Technologies (IPCEI AST).

The program is backed by EU member states and coordinated through national authorities and looks to accelerate development and early industrial deployment of next‑generation chip technologies. Malta Enterprise supported Trust Stamp’s successful entry.

As various countries, like India, push for strategic autonomy, the EU is also pursuing tech sovereignty. IPCEI AST is part of the European Union’s strategy to secure critical semiconductor capabilities. Its predecessor mobilized over €8 billion (US$9.14 billion) in public funding across fourteen countries.

The funding envelope for the new semiconductor wave is still being finalized, but participation means that Trust Stamp’s identity binding is now thought of as strategically relevant to Europe’s hardware security ambitions.

Trust Stamp’s role is in linking the identity of a device to a verified human identity, ensuring critical hardware can operate only with those authorized. The work builds on the company’s patented irreversible biometric tokenization, which enables strong authentication without exposing raw biometric data.

Two cooperation agreements are planned for the 2027–2032 project period, pending formal approval. The first will develop a secure semiconductor identity platform combining hardware‑rooted security, such as memristor‑based physically unclonable functions, with Trust Stamp’s biometric tokenization.

The second explores AI‑assisted processing of neural‑signal data generated by an emerging biosignal‑chip platform, paired with secure device authentication to protect highly sensitive information.

Malta Enterprise, the country’s economic development agency, is coordinating Malta’s participation and backing Trust Stamp’s involvement as part of a broader effort to build a local ecosystem around advanced semiconductor and secure identity technologies.

Trust Stamp executive director Berta Pappenheim said selection as a direct participant is a major milestone. “We are especially excited to explore the emerging field of brain-computer interfaces and to bring our expertise to securing the uniquely sensitive neural datasets these systems generate,” she added.

Pappenheim also credited Malta Enterprise for enabling Malta’s contribution and said the company looks forward to helping grow the local ecosystem around the project.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  digital sovereignty  |  research and development  |  Trust Stamp  |  Trust Stamp Malta