In the aftermath of the COVID crisis, providing digital access to government services has become a topic of high relevance. Consequently, universal access to digital identity and increased acceptance thereof has thus moved to the top of the public sector agenda in a number of countries around the world. Given the increased attention, it is matter of time before broad-based access to a government trusted digital identity becomes a reality. But while digital identities can open up a plethora of new possibilities for citizens, poorly designed identity systems characterised by single identifiers used across services and centralized databases bring with it the risk of a dystopian future marked by surveillance, identity theft and a general breach of one’s right to privacy in everyday life. 

Fortunately, recent technological developments present an opportunity to reimagine digital identity. Enabled by recent advances in the realm of cryptography, mobile devices and decentralized identity standards we can now put citizens firmly in control of their digital identities while ensuring the level of trust needed to unlock the full potential of a digital society. The answer to this challenge lies in self-sovereign identity (SSI). 

From technologists to politicians, SSI wallets have been on the top of the digital identity agenda for the last two years. However, one key voice has been largely excluded from these discussions – the users. SSI wallet implementations around the world still remain functional prototypes displaying solely the issuance, storage and presentation of verifiable credentials with limited focus on use cases which resonate with citizens and can thus create transformative societal impact. 

With Procivis, students would have the opportunity to steer their SSI project in directions they may find interesting. They will be working closely with Procivis’ Product Design Lead and Product Manager to collaboratively shape the scope of their work. Initial proposals include the development of an SSI wallet prototype, user tests, exploration of first high-value use cases, exploration of societal implications.