This time they did not undergo any selection procedure, as is customary in the industry. They became members of the consortium and the Czech coordinators of the project due to their interest in current technological topics and the fact that they can demonstrate great experience in them.
"Some three years ago we identified a trend around a decentralised identity, and I personally was involved in cryptocurrencies and the blockchain and the associated technologies. And by coincidence and as a result of developments, the European digital identity is based on blockchain-like technology," says Radim Drgáč, who is the head of the IAM division at Aricoma.
Like cryptocurrencies
The European project, which will eventually bring documents or a large proportion of official communication into the online world, is therefore also abbreviated to eWallet. But it's not quite a wallet in the sense we tend to think of it, i.e. a physical one loaded with documents and loyalty cards.
"The key thing is that it's an identity digital wallet, the word identity being the most important. This is based on the nomenclature of blockchain infrastructure, where users interact with the network through a so-called wallet, a tool for managing their own identity. In this case, however, it is not bitcoins that will be sent, but personal data," adds Drgáč, outlining the concept. The result, he says, will be a mobile phone app that will serve as a vault, where a person will have their own digital document issued to them and will be able to send identity information from there, but no one else will have access to it.
It will be some time before the "digital vault" is available. However, several lines of development are running side by side within the European Digital Identity Wallet project. While some developers are working on the core of the technology, an identification package, others are already building specific add-on products - a digital ID or driving licence, the ability to remotely register a SIM card or open a bank account, as well as an internationally valid prescription for drugs from the pharmacy. According to Radim Drgáč, the Czech team is now also tasked with the latter: "Within the consortium, we have signed up for this task and expect to pilot it in collaboration with the Czech Ministry of Health."
Radim Drgáč
For offices, companies and personal use
This is by no means the first collaboration with the Czech authorities; experts from this section of Aricoma have been focusing on it for a long time. Moreover, the European project they are working on also has a reach that extends into the Czech Republic - EU member states must ensure the compatibility of the solutions among themselves.
The public sphere and the application of new technology are only part of the experts' thinking in the eWallet. Just as digital identity is used today to deal with authorities, developers of EU and national digital solutions want it to be pervasive and usable in people's personal lives or businesses. This is the only way people will use it en-masse.
"Success depends on the private sector getting involved. We are seeing interest from these entities, and debates are ongoing. The aim is that this 'vault' will also serve as a login option for various other tasks, such as a place to store a university diploma, for a certificate of practice or income, a place to store medical records, in short, to accommodate as much as possible of what we now see solely in physical form," says Radim Drgáč, describing the huge range of possibilities.