This follows the success of two recent hackathons co-hosted with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which focused on expanding the adoption of California’s mobile Driver’s Licence (mDL) by leveraging OpenID for Verifiable Credentials specifications.
The hackathons drew participants from both public and private sectors to explore real-world use cases for mDLs. These events generated 25 use cases, which were evaluated by expert judges and observers on criteria such as viability, privacy, security, user experience, and societal impact.
An important achievement of the hackathons was engaging verifiers, which are organisations that consume and validate identity information. This effort targeted the ‘Cold Start Problem,’ which challenges new identity ecosystems to gain early adoption across market participants.
The first event, held in Mountain View, involved over 50 participants from 15 teams, including representatives from US Bank, Ping Identity, Cisco, Square, and social business Entidad. Teams showcased privacy-focused applications of mDLs in industries such as financial services, healthcare, and retail.
The second event, in Sacramento, focused on public sector applications with involvement from entities such as the US Air Force, California Highway Patrol, and the City of Los Angeles. Teams explored uses ranging from secure ID verification for emergency services to simplified access to government benefits.
Earlier this year, the National Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (NCCoE) entered a research and development agreement with 19 organisations, including the OpenID Foundation, to promote digital identity standards. This initiative focuses on use cases like electronic ‘Know Your Customer’ (eKYC) processes for financial services, involving collaboration with leading banks and state governments.
Officials from the OpenID Foundation emphasised the importance of mDLs in advancing digital identity. They noted that events like the California hackathons are critical to accelerating adoption and called for broader participation from individuals and organizations.
They also also highlighted the role of OpenID for Verifiable Credentials specifications in shaping global digital identity standards, including their incorporation into ISO/IEC mobile driving licence standards and EIDAS 2.0 in the European Union. The California DMV will host a public briefing on 10 January 2025, to provide further details about the hackathons and opportunities for involvement.
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