Our Project
Aim of the project
The objective of the architecture & consultation process for EUDI Wallets (European Digital Identity Wallets) is to create a prototypical, eIDAS 2.0-compliant infrastructure for digital identities in Germany and thus the basis for EU-wide interoperable EUDI Wallets. This prototype infrastructure is being developed in an open, participatory, and transparent dialogue with civil society, associations, academia and representatives from the private sector.
Specific sub-goals were defined to ensure the success of the project. These include, for example, the clarification of sustainable operating models for the wallet by the federal government, the development of business models for the wallet operator(s) and the development of general requirements for the EUDI Wallet.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) oversees the project and has commissioned an interdisciplinary team of experts from the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIND) to carry it out. The diverse expertise in the specialist areas of digital identities, security, regulation and product design as well as the active involvement of the public and civil society will ensure a high level of user acceptance and user-friendliness of the wallet.
Architecture Concept
The centrepiece of the project is the architecture concept, which aims to provide answers to the key questions regarding the future German EUDI Wallet ecosystem. Topics discussed in the architecture concept include, for example, business and operating models for EUDI Wallets in Germany and the question of how personal identification data (PID) can be securely stored in wallets and presented to service providers (Relying Parties).
This architecture concept is developed iteratively. This means that new versions of the concept are gradually published, whereby new topics and feedback from the public on previous versions are always taken into account and integrated into the concept. Open consultation hours on architecture proposals are offered to gather feedback and discuss new versions. The public also has the opportunity to leave feedback on the concept via "Issues" on OpenCoDE.
The iterative process and the active involvement of the public pursue one goal: secure, interoperable, and user-friendly EUDI Wallets for citizens.
You can find further information on opportunities to participate on here.
The current version of the architecture concept can be found here.
You can submit your suggestions and ideas for the architecture concept here.
Public involvement - Consultation
The public is involved not only in the form of direct feedback on architecture concepts, but also through a variety of consultation formats. Right at the start of the process, numerous organisations were able to submit position papers and thus adopt a position on key architectural issues at an early stage. In order to be able to make political decisions that benefit from the consideration of different interests and the information available, various consultation formats with lively participation have also been held repeatedly since August 2023.
Three workshops have been held so far: on possible use cases for the EUDI Wallet (recording), on business and issuance models (recording) and on data protection and privacy (recording). The number of participants was consistently high: the first workshop on use cases was attended by over 40 participants at the on-site workshop in Berlin, while the digital workshop on data protection and privacy was attended by over 80 participants. A particular focus in the consultation process is on the participation of representatives from civil society: in order to make it easier for people involved in civil society who want to contribute alongside their work to participate, the data protection workshop was held in the late afternoon and evening.
The public also has the opportunity to participate in open consultation hours (e.g., on architecture proposals) or by submitting so-called "Issues" on the OpenCoDE platform. You can find recordings of the open consultation hours here. Further information on participation opportunities and the creation of issues can be found on Participate.
SPRIND innovation competition "Funke EUDI Wallet Prototypes"
The SPRIND innovation competition "Funke EUDI Wallet Prototypes" is part of the architecture & consultation process for EUDI Wallets. The aim of the competition is for participating teams to develop the most trustworthy, user-friendly, and universally applicable prototypes for EUDI Wallets. Numerous teams, for example from universities, start-ups and established technology companies, have submitted their proposals by 5 May 2024. The competition will take place in two parallel tracks: In the funded track, successful teams will receive up to 950,000 euros; in the non-funded track, teams will not receive any financial support.
The competition will run in three stages over a period of 13 months with six teams in the funded track and five teams in the non-funded track. In the first stage, which begins in May 2024, the selected teams will focus their development on the exhibition and presentation of Personal Identification Data (PID). The maximum of four remaining teams per track will then focus on issuing and presenting Electronic Attestations of Attributes (EAAs) in stage 2 of the competition. This phase begins in August 2024 and also lasts three months. In the third stage, which runs from November 2024 to June 2025 and comprises a maximum of two teams per track, the focus will be on pseudonymous login with service providers, the implementation of Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) and the authorisation of payments in the EUDI Wallet prototypes. The decision as to which teams remain in the competition lies with the independent jury of experts at the end of each stage.
The prototypes developed as part of the innovation competition will be made available to the pilot project POTENTIAL for testing in six use cases during the development process. POTENTIAL is one of four large-scale European pilot projects (LSP), which are intended to ensure the interoperability and thus the Europe-wide usability of EUDI Wallets in various use cases. All participating countries are providing EUDI Wallet prototypes for this purpose.
More information on the innovation competition can be found here.