EWC - EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortia

The EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC) is a large-scale pilot initiative launched in 2022, co-funded by the European Commission and led by Swedish and Finnish government authorities. The consortium brings together over 60 participants from both public and private sectors across the EU, EFTA, and Ukraine to develop interoperable digital identity wallet solutions aligned with the eIDAS2 regulation.

The consortium has developed several key technical specifications through their Request for Comments (RFC) process, including protocols for issuing and presenting verifiable credentials using OpenID4VCI and OpenID4VP. Core technical components include Person Identification Data (PID), Legal Person Identification Data (LPID), and Payment Wallet Attestation implementations. The technical architecture leverages W3C Verifiable Credentials, SD-JWT format for credentials, and follows the European Digital Identity Wallet Architecture and Reference Framework (ARF) requirements.

Notable implementations and adoption include:

• Integration with wallet providers like iGrant.io, Lissi ID, and ValidatedID
• Support for cross-border travel credentials and payment use cases
• Implementation of Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) for online payments
• Development of interoperability testing through the EWC Interoperability Test Bed (ITB)

The consortium maintains strict technical specifications through their RFCs while fostering an open ecosystem where both public and private entities can participate in the development and implementation of digital identity solutions across Europe.