Dealing with an uncertain reality, the development of Netherland’s digital wallet has slowed down. The EU Commission’s call for widespread coverage of digital ID wallets – for the public and private sector – is highly ambitious for all EU member states to meet. Whilst some countries have made massive “leaps forward”, others have made modest progress.
The Netherland’s e-ID project has been marred with complex factors and an “ambitious timetable” that has now slowed down amid uncertainty to deliver on time. The update announced today suggests the Netherlands’ wallet will not be unveiled on time with a “big-bang” launch.
Experts have chimed in to question the lack of clarity on the foundational use cases that would get user traction.
The dilemma is not a question of whether the deadline can be extended. Pavol Hrina, Product Strategy Consultant, ID-entity Consulting has voiced some of the concerns among the ecosystem, arguing that a thoughtful, phased approach should be taken to learn and add use cases to the wallet.
Countries such as Estonia, Poland, Sweden are good examples where the wallet has been implemented by digitally advanced countries. As we consider the e-ID may not be ready on time, the holders should take a few next steps to identify the “killer” use cases, define their target citizens and business – not everyone – and collaborate with a cohort of different entities such as banks and telcos to “make integration easy” and implement the new components with legacy infrastructure.
A digital ID should integrate all daily functions such as payments, signatures, digital credentials, and age checks to drive large-scale adoption.
