In 2021, the European Commission launched the European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet initiative to provide a secure and standardised digital identity framework for EU citizens to use while having full control of their personal data. But how can we ensure trust remains a core value across borders and institutions within the research and education sector?
A new paper published by Paul den Hertog (SURF), Niels van Dijk (SURF), and Klaas Wierenga (GÉANT), written within the framework of the DC4EU Project, proposes a possible solution in the use of OpenID Federation to connect the EUDI Wallet with existing academic infrastructures, particularly eduGAIN.
eduGAIN is a global service which interconnects academic identity federations worldwide, simplifying access to content, services, and resources for the international research and education community. eduGAIN already serves over 27 million users at a global scale through more than 6,000 connected identity providers, providing them with access seamlessly and across borders.
Aligning with core European values such as digital sovereignty and transparency, the addition of eduGAIN into the EUDI Wallet using OpenID Federation would provide a trusted, decentralised, privacy-preserving, and scalable solution that matches the operational and normative needs of the research and education sector.
The paper also explores the definition and theoretical foundations of trust in digital identity, expanding on its core principles of character, competence, and transparency. It presents possible challenges to the proposed solution, but argues that these would be outweighed by the systemic benefits of autonomy, distributed trust and interoperability.
Ultimately, the paper concludes that building on existing federated infrastructures such as eduGAIN, incorporating open standards, and integrating academic values by governance and by design, will be instrumental factors in ensuring the EUDI Wallet’s success in research and education, while accelerating its adoption and safeguarding institutional control and user privacy.
Read the paper here: https://gist.github.com/pauldenhertog/5bebc3992e0ce831122ac3f37c7936ad
