POTENTIAL

The PilOTs for European digiTal Identity wALlet – POTENTIAL consortium for digital identity brings together 19 European Union countries plus Ukraine, represented by their respective national ministries and more than 140 public and private partners, and aims to develop reliable electronic identity tools for accessing services, apply qualified electronic signatures, and submit certificates and medical prescriptions in both national and cross-border contexts. 

A total of six use cases will be tested across the various countries:

• eGov services – Enabling citizens to use online administrative procedures by linking to their European digital identity wallet.

• Electronic driving licence– Providing citizens with an electronic driving licence, enabling identity verification and licence checks at car-hire services or during police checks.

• Electronic signature – Increasing the use of electronic signatures by integrating their functionality to create qualified electronic signatures from the European digital wallet.

• e-Prescription – Offer citizens the option to use their medical prescriptions at any European pharmacy, regardless of the country of issue.

• Opening a bank account – Open a current, savings or deposit account online, at any time, in any European city.

• Electronic SIM registration – Digitally register and activate SIM cards for pay-as-you-go plans and contracts within the European Digital Identity Wallet.

The tests will assesshow the various national solutions for the European digital wallet will be able to:

• cross borders: The European wallet will provide a digital identity valid both nationally and across borders,thereby harmonising the different identity systems currently in use
• verify collaborative compliance: each Member State’s national IDs must comply with European regulatory frameworks
• ensure maximum security: create a secure ‘digital safe’ with fulluser controlover the sharing of their data
• ensure a high-quality user experience: by providinguser-friendlyinterfacesfor servicesavailable anytime, anywhere

The broader aim of the project is to provide guidancefor the final version of the Regulation, which amends Regulation 910/2014, which had established the European Digital Identity system (EIDAS).   

The Italian consortium’s activitieswill test three use cases for national and transnational users:

• e-government services
• qualified electronic signature services
• services related to the use of driving licences. 

The LSP (Large Scale Pilot) POTENTIALproject has research and experimental objectives aimed at extending secure data exchange capabilities via the digital wallet on mobile phonesacross 20 European countries; the project is aligned with and complements the developmentof the IT WALLET, whichhas made the Italian digital wallet available via the appIO. 

The project is co-funded by the European Commission as part of DG CONNECT’s Digital Europeprogramme, whichhas launchedfour Large Scale Pilots 

Specifically , the Autonomous Province of Trento, through its Strategic Mission Unit for Digitalisation and Networks, supported by its in-house companyTrentino Digitale S.p.A., togetherwith the relevant provincial departments, will contribute to the development of the Wallet infrastructure to ensure access to the services listed in the provincial catalogue and to carry out tests on the national and cross-border use of the Italian Wallet in the three areas in which the Italian consortium is involved: 

• e-government services, in particular to test authentication for provincial services via EUDIW;
• qualified digital signature services
• services related to the use of driving licences, in particular to verify electronic driving licences within the forestry sector and to access mobility system hire services via EUDIW. 

June 2021 Kick-off: Presentation of the eIDAS Regulation 2, through which the European Commission aims to fully realise its vision for the cross-border European digital identity portfolio.

10/2022 Technical specifications
Launch of discussions on the technical specifications that the European Commission and eIDAS experts will finalise for the European Digital Identity Wallet.

2022/23 Launch of pilot projects 
POTENTIAL prepares, develops and tests pilot projects for the implementation of the European Digital Identity Wallet.

2024/25 Testing Phase 
POTENTIAL tests its pilot projects within the context of the European Digital Identity Wallet.

09/2025 Project Conclusion 

After 2025, but outside the scope of the funding, plans include the development of new electronic identification solutions, the roll-out of ongoing eID solutions compliant with the European Regulation, and the development of applications based on the corporate strategy and the sustainable roadmap defined at the end of the POTENTIAL project.

The project is co-funded by the Digital Europe Programme, provincial funds allocated under the SINET Plan, and direct funding from Trentino Digitale. 

The budget available to the provincial system is funded to the tune of €93,304.00 by the European Commission; €102,801.00 by the Autonomous Province of Trento; and €50,000.00 by Trentino Digitale SpA.

• January 2022: launch version ofthe ARF– the reference framework for the European portfolio architecture
• July 2023 Kick-off in Paris – Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty
• February 2025 Start of the interoperability testing phase for the 20 wallets from each member state of the project  
  • Initial cross-border authenticationtests for accessing digital servicessuccessfully completed
• September 2025 Project completion