European Commission Directorate-General for Informatics has commissioned the first EU-wide European market study on digital wallets to explore the various digital wallets and their providers, with the ultimate goal of increasing the uptake of digital identity wallets throughout Europe.
The project “C2G and C2B trust models and market analysis consultancy services” is carried out by EY study team, supported by several subject matter experts in the area of digital wallets and identities, incl Cybernetica.
The main focus of the study is the providers of digital wallets — both as a target group for the Market Guide, and as providers of information concerning the own digital wallets to feed the Market Guide. The project covers the Member States’ wallet implementation frameworks, Architecture Reference Framework, private sector initiatives, Consumer-To-Government (C2G) and Consumer-To-Business (C2B) services. The study will provide a cross-section of the European market of digital wallets at the time of the analysis. As much as possible, the situation in all 27 EU Member States will be covered in the study, although best practices on digital wallets may also be presented from other regions.
Cybernetica’s main role is to provide consultancy services to support, advise, and validate the research analysis EY is conducting, by sharing expert opinions and experience regarding existing regulatory frameworks, both at European and national level, on digital wallets, international and European standards, security aspects, cryptographic algorithms and protocols, and many other areas that concern digital identity wallets.
“The key objective for Cybernetica in this contract is to contribute to the successful uptake of digital identity wallets in Europe by providing expert knowledge and advice, and participating in the identification, validation and definition of key requirements of the Trust and Operational Models of digital wallets.,” said Michael Buckland, head of Digital Identity Technologies at Cybernetica. “The digital identity wallet is a strategic key priority for Cybernetica in the coming years and this contract really serves as a valuable tool to position Cybernetica in the market, get to know other players and gain strategic insight into the future market opportunities and technology perspectives,” he continued.
The study is divided into three phases. The first phase - the market analysis - involves mapping out the digital wallet landscape in the EU, including identifying the different types of digital wallets available, their features and functionalities, their providers, and their market share.
The second phase - the technical analysis - involves assessing the interoperability of the different digital wallet solutions and identifying the technical requirements for an EU-wide digital wallet. The technical analysis will be carried out by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, together with other technical experts.
The third and final phase of the study will be the policy analysis, involving analysing the legal and policy frameworks surrounding digital wallets in the EU and identifying any barriers or opportunities for the creation of an EU-wide digital wallet. The policy analysis will be carried out by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers.
The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, with the findings and recommendations set to inform the European Commission's future policy and regulatory framework for digital wallets in the EU.
Cybernetica is a research and development intensive software company for mission-critical software systems and products, maritime surveillance and radio communications solutions.
Having been established as a private limited company in 1997 as the successor of the applied research unit of the Institute of Cybernetics of the Academy of Sciences of Estonia, Cybernetica has been developing critical Estonian-borne e-Government systems, such as the Estonian X-Road, i-Voting, e-Customs, digital identity and others. Today Cybernetica delivers its systems to across 35 countries in the world.
Cybernetica has over 20 years of expertise in digital identity technologies, most notably having contributed to the creation of Estonian ID-card system. Today, Cybernetica is providing its customers worldwide with identity management, onboarding, and secure digital identification and electronic signature solutions. Cybernetica’s smart-phone based digital authentication and electronic signature solution SplitKey powers EU eIDAS compliant Smart-ID authentication and electronic signature service that has over 2 million end-users in the Baltics and is used by top Nordic banks, leading telcos, and e-commerce providers.