In the grand tapestry of the European identity landscape, a new regulation — most audacious in its ambition — has emerged to enable digital identification across the continent. The regulation known as eIDAS 2.0 seeks to introduce a universal digital identity wallet, a concept heralded with much aplomb since 2008. The first iteration of eIDAS (electronic identification, authentication, and trust services) was but a patchwork quilt, lacking in the essential thread of interoperability. Now eIDAS 2.0 seeks to mend these gaps, placing a stronger emphasis on interoperability and inviting the public sector to partake in the bounties of digital identity.

Sporadic attempts at standardization have failed so far, with the industry offering little more than verbose press releases promenading unfulfilled promises and hollow conceptual frameworks. This iteration of eIDAS presents real opportunities for organizations with vim and moxy to seize the day and usher in an era of true innovation. Forrester’s report, Europe’s Digital Identity Ecosystem Gets An Upgrade, offers ecosystem players and technology leaders much-needed clarity and identifies factors essential to getting it right this time.

There Are Four Pilots Underway

There are four pilot projects underway to test the wallet and iron out kinks. These projects target multiple domains including education, social security, online government services, digital prescription, travel, e-commerce, and retail. The following is an overview of each pilot:

  • Digital Credentials for Europe (DC4EU). The DC4EU project focuses on the education and social security domains, emphasizing cross-border interoperability and scalability. Involving 80 institutions from 22 countries, the project aims to digitalize social security systems, including the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). It leverages the eIDAS framework and the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), with the pilot expected to be completed by April 2025.
  • POTENTIAL For European Digital Identity. This pilot focuses on six use cases: online government services, cross-border bank accounts, SIM card registration, digital driver’s license, remote qualified e-signature (QES), and digital prescriptions usable throughout Europe. The project is poised for success, as QES and digital prescriptions have already seen adoption in some regions, including Germany and Switzerland.
  • EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC). This project focuses on travel and also aims to transform e-commerce by creating organizational digital identities (ODIs) to work from anywhere, payment credentials for online transactions and, of course, digital travel credentials. Like other pilot projects, the project emphasizes cross-border recognition and interoperability, particularly around travel.
  • NOBID (Nordic-Baltic eID) Consortium. NOBID is a collaboration by Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Germany, and Italy with a focus on payments and retail. The payment use case leverages existing instant payments infrastructure and seeks to extend the digital Euro. The project involves seven national agencies and 20 private companies. The support of regional agencies such as Digdir and strong banking in the financial sector (DSGV, BankID) positions NOBID for success.

The report goes into how vendors can stay competitive, what role governments and regulators can play to drive adoption, and how businesses can position themselves to take advantage of these changes. Forrester clients can book a guidance session with one of us and can read the complete report here.