Frequently Asked Questions
What is DC4EU?
DC4EU is a consortium focused on work on the education and social security use cases of the eIDAS call.
What is the eIDAS call?
The eIDAS call is a funding call in the DIGITAL EUROPE PROGRAM (DEP) focused on running Large Scale Pilots (LSPs) for the EU Digital Identity wallet (EUDI wallet). The purpose of the eIDAS call is to focus on business aspects of deploying the EU wallet at scale for a set of specific use-cases: educational credentials, travel credentials, mobile payments, mobile drivers licenses, social security etc. Several consortium have begun to establish around one of these use-cases and the EU commission is encouraging each consortium to focus on a very small number of usecases.
What value does DC4EU bring to the eIDAS call?
In the DC4EU consortium we are focusing on bringing together organisations with an established role, trust and credibility in the education sector in both the EU and globally. We believe that successful LSPs will depend on understanding and knowledge of business processes. We also believe that the LSPs are about identifying win-win situations where business processes are improved by putting the individual in control of their identity and data.
DC4EU, will combine the best of identity and signature provided by eIDAS and EUDI reference wallet, with the potential and flexibility of verifiable credentials and the increased privacy provided by the EBSI ledger, to enable new paradigms for education and social security on the digital decade, being able to provide a hybrid/alternative scenario for centralised and federated solutions.
Which entities are in the DC4EU consortium?
DC4EU is open to organisations with a track record of excellence and trust in social security, education, digital identity, lifelong learning and regulation related to the education sector.
Find a detailed list of organisations at https://www.dc4eu.eu/about
Why is there a focus on education use cases in an eIDAS call?
The eIDAS call focuses on a few use-cases that were identified during the eIDAS wallet Toolbox Process work during 2021. These use cases are: online identification, qualified electronic signatures, mobile driving licence, eHealth patient summary and ePrescription, Digital travel credentials, Payments, Educational credentials and professional qualifications. In the DC4EU consortium we have chosen to focus on Educational credentials and professional qualifications, and social security. There are indications that COM preferes the community to focus on working on a small number of use-cases per consortium rather than spending time and resources on competition between consortia. We believe that it is therefore important for DC4EU to do a few things very well. For that reason we have decided to focus on education and social security.
What expertise is available on social security?
Austria, Germany and The Netherlands are leading the social security use cases from a Public governmental perspective, focused on the business rather than on the technical matters.
What are the commitments for organisations wishing to participate in DC4EU?
Organisations that have signed up as “leaders” or “executors” have committed themselves to be responsible for the successful implementation and outcome of the project goals. Within the DIGITAL programme the EU funds 50% of the committed budget. In some countries there are coordinated efforts to provide the balance from local co-funding programs. You should contact your local NCP to find out what co-funding programmes are available in your country.
What are the synergies between members of the consortium?
- Interdisciplinary
- Specific expertise in
- Familiarity with large-scale EU projects
Can participants in DC4EU also participate in the EBSI call?
YES. There is nothing stopping an organisation from participating in multiple calls. It is often necessary to ensure that each task is only funded once by the EU (aka avoid double funding) but apart from that there is no reason not to participate in many consortia and calls. The eIDAS call is focused on large scale pilots using a decentralised ledger as a specific implementation of Trusted List, while the EBSI call is more focused on enhancing current EBSI capabilities.
Can a private organisation join the consortium?
Yes. Consortium membership is open to all forms of organisations but in dc4eu we also require member organisations to be linked with the education sector in some member state. This means that unless this link is obvious (e.g. you are a government body with clear ties to credentialing, education or related business processes) we will ask you to provide credentials linking your organisation with the education sector. For example this could be in the form of a letter or statement of support from a government body with a role in the education sector or an institution within the sector (eg a university).
Can a private organisation lead a work package?
No. In DC4EU, all leadership positions will be filled by public sector organisations with clear links with the education or social security sector.
My organisation is interested in working on EBSI for the EU Wallet. What consortium should we be part of?
You should be part of both the DC4EU consortium and the EBSI call consortium. In DC4EU we will be spending a significant amount of resources implementing business processes on top of existing technology stacks for SSI, prominently the EBSI. The EBSI call consortium on the other hand will be focused on improving the EBSI technology stack to support more features. Both of these efforts are important and also different in scope. We hope that if you are interested in EBSI and education you will choose to provide valuable resources to both these projects! The EUDI reference wallet will be used in the eIDAS call, while EBSI conformant wallets will be used in the EBSI call.
Will DC4EU work on EBSI?
Yes. The DC4EU consortium expects to spend a lot of time working on using EBSI in order to represent business processes in the education and social security sector. However, since our focus in DC4EU is on the business processes of education and social security as it relates to the EUDI wallet, we are not exclusively focusing on EBSI, nor are we going to be working on improving EBSI functionality as described in the EBSI call. Any case, if any improvement of existing EBSI registries is required to align with eIDAS ARF, a dedicated communication and coordination channel with DG-CNECT-F3 and DG-DIGIT will be established.
Will DC4EU coordinate with EBSI?
Yes. In DC4EU we will coordinate with several of the other LSP consortia in order to ensure interoperability across all the different technologies needed to implement the EUDI wallet and associated use cases. As part of that work we will liaise with the EBSI operations team, the EUDI reference wallet tender and development team and with several other groups that provide the underpinning technology of the LSPs. A dedicated communication and coordination channel with DG-CNECT-F3 and DG-DIGIT will be established.
What is the role of the Strategic Committee?
The Strategic Committee is responsible for the management of the bid submission process. Once the application is submitted the Steering Committee will disband. Should the bid be successful, because of the geographic reach, complexity and ambition of our consortium, our intention is to retain a Steering Committee as part of the governance structure. There will be an open call for members to join once new terms of reference have been established.
How will the project be managed should the bid be successful?
We will employ a standard EU project management methodology based on work packages and tasks with leadership positions at each level. In addition we expect to engage a professional management team at the top level to ensure proper flow of reports and financial coordination across all work packages. A Strategic Committee will be established to provide management leadership and oversight.
What is the role of Work Package leaders?
A work package leader is responsible for coordinating and leading the work in a specific work package. The role is similar to a project portfolio manager. A work package leader should have good organisational skills and may also involve multiple people from his/her organisation in order to achieve a good mix of required skills.