1. Introduction
The European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) is a pan-European initiative aimed at leveraging blockchain technology to enhance cross-border public services. One of its key objectives is to enable the use of Verifiable Credentials (VCs) and Trusted Organizations Registries (TORs) to streamline cross-border interactions. Task 3.3 of the EBSI-VECTOR implementation focuses on defining specifications for business registries and proposing procedures for managing digital organizational identities of legal entities using EBSI Registries and EBSI-conformant wallets (EBSI, n.d.).
This report documents the onboarding experience of Hashnet d.o.o., a Slovenian company, during the pilot phase of the EBSI-enabled business registries use case. The use case, led by the Directorate-General for Digital Services and State Information Systems (DDSSSI), addresses challenges related to cross-border and cross-sector organizational identity management. It aims to develop a new EBSI capability for legal person identity and business registries. Due to the unavailability of Ajpes, the Slovenian national business registry, IDUnion (https://idunion.org/en/) was utilized as a Root Trusted Accreditation Organization (TAO) to simulate the national registry. The Triveria enterprise wallet was selected for the pilot process.
Triveria Enterprise Wallet
Triveria (https://www.triveria.com/) is a fully functional online wallet designed for managing digital documents as a cloud service. It operates within the EBSI trust framework and supports the onboarding of wallets as Root TAOs to the EBSI Pilot network. Key features of the Triveria platform include:
- Compliance with eIDAS 2.0 regulations.
- Integration with various identity providers and services, such as Google Workspace, Atlassian, and GitHub.
- Support for sending and receiving digital documents to and from other EBSI-conformant wallets.
- Provision of SDKs, web UI components, and command-line tools for seamless integration.
Triveria’s platform eliminates the need for developers to implement eIDAS 2.0 protocols, allowing them to focus on building verifiable credential use cases.
2. Onboarding and UI/UX
Wallet Onboarding Process
The wallet onboarding process is identical for both enterprises and individuals. Users begin by creating an account using their email address and setting a secure password. An additional email confirmation step is required to activate the account. Upon activation, users are presented with a simple dashboard offering three primary options: (1) create a wallet, (2) access settings, and (3) sign out.
For enterprises, creating a company wallet generates a Decentralized Identifier (DID), which serves as the company’s on-chain identity. In the case of Hashnet d.o.o., the DID is:
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DIDs are critical for simplifying identity processes across Europe, as they provide a standardized method for identifying entities on the blockchain.
Company Wallet Functionality
The company wallet enables several key functions:
- Storage of DIDs and Credentials: The wallet holds the company’s DID and all associated credentials.
- Credential Issuance: The wallet can issue credentials, such as power of attorney (PoA) for employees.
- Verification: The wallet can act as a verifier for credentials issued by other entities.
Onboarding Steps for Hashnet d.o.o.
- Opening the Wallet: Hashnet d.o.o. created a wallet using the Triveria platform.
- Sending the DID to IDUnion: The company’s DID was sent to IDUnion, the Root TAO.
- Trusted Issuer Status: IDUnion validated Hashnet’s DID and granted it trusted issuer status within the EBSI network.
- Registry Inclusion: Hashnet was added to the registry of trusted issuers.
- Legal DID Assignment: A legal DID was assigned to Hashnet, enabling it to operate within the EBSI framework.
Personal Wallet Onboarding
Employees of Hashnet d.o.o. also underwent a similar onboarding process to create personal wallets. The desktop and mobile wallet interfaces were designed to be user-friendly, enabling seamless communication between enterprise and personal wallets. Employees were able to accept and present PoA credentials issued by the company.
3. Closing Thoughts and Next Steps
The Triveria wallet performed exceptionally well during the pilot phase, demonstrating its capability to support EBSI-enabled use cases. The user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) were deemed sufficient for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage. However, technical challenges arose due to the closed nature of the EBSI network. As EBSI is not a public blockchain, users cannot access transaction states, making it difficult to diagnose issues such as writing public keys on-chain.
While blockchain technology and DIDs have the potential to significantly simplify identity management processes, the current solution remains overly technical for widespread adoption. Business owners and employees are generally uninterested in the underlying technical complexities of blockchain systems. To achieve broader adoption, future iterations of the platform must prioritize user-friendly design and abstract technical details from end-users.
Recommendations for Future Development
- Enhance UI/UX: Simplify the onboarding process and improve the overall user experience to make the platform more accessible to non-technical users.
- Increase Transparency: Provide users with better visibility into transaction states and error resolution processes presented in the easy-to-understand language.
- Expand Integration: Continue to integrate with additional identity providers and services to enhance interoperability.
- User Education: Develop educational resources to help users understand the benefits of blockchain-based identity management without requiring technical expertise.
References
EBSI. (n.d.). European Blockchain Services Infrastructure. Retrieved from https://www.ebsi-vector.eu/en
IDUnion. (n.d.). IDUnion: Self-Sovereign Identity for Europe. Retrieved from https://idunion.org/en/
Triveria. (n.d.). Triveria: Enterprise Wallet Platform. Retrieved from https://www.triveria.com/
