WE BUILD: digital wallets for the European identity of the future
Imagine opening a bank account in another European country, signing contracts or filing taxes without bureaucracy, passwords or waiting, but through a digital wallet. This is the future being built by WE BUILD, a European project in which Izertis is participating and which aims to make the definitive leap towards a full digital identity for European companies and citizens.
Its ultimate goal: to create an interoperable and secure ecosystem where digital identity is as reliable as a physical passport, but infinitely more practical.
Digital identities that work, here and now
WE BUILD (Wallet Ecosystem for Business and payments Use cases on Identification, Legal representation and Data sharing) is the largest digital identity exercise in European history.
WEBUILD aims for digital identity to be as reliable as a passport, but far more practical
Between 2025 and 2027, this project will demonstrate how European digital wallets (EUDI Wallet) can be integrated into the everyday life of companies and public administrations, simplifying processes and eliminating bureaucracy at an international level.
The 13 use cases being developed range from the business world to the supply chain and electronic payments:
- Business: instant identification of customers or suppliers (Know Your Customer/Business), setting up branches in other countries, legal representation or tax declaration abroad.
- Supply chain: secure authentication in transport and the exchange of sensitive data between suppliers, recipients and logistics companies.
- Payments: streamlined access to consumer and corporate banking, reducing costs and improving security.
In practice, a citizen or SME will be able to prove their identity, manage documents or authorise payments from a single digital environment, with full security and legal validity throughout the European Union.
A major pan-European project
WE BUILD brings together more than 200 organisations from 27 countries, including 13 business registries, more than 25 public agencies and around 20 wallet providers
The project, co-funded 50% by the European Commission through the Digital Europe programme, has a budget exceeding €26 million and reflects the joint commitment of institutions and companies to promote a secure, interoperable, and cross-border European digital identity.
The project brings together institutions and companies to drive a secure, borderless European digital identity
Izertis is taking part in the consortium from two complementary fronts: on the one hand, it actively contributes to the development of the digital wallets that will allow the different use cases to operate with guarantees.
On the other, it leads the Ecosystem Forum, a key space for connecting with regulatory bodies, technology companies, financial institutions and standardisation organisations that define the rules of the game for this new European identity.
Through this dual involvement, Izertis is helping to build the technology while also aligning the stakeholders who will make its wide-scale adoption possible.
From theory to reality
This project draws on a decade of progress. The 2014 eIDAS regulation established the first common basis for digital identification in Europe. In 2021, eIDAS 2.0 arrived, introducing the concept of the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet), the European digital wallet.
Building on these foundations, the European Commission launched several pilots, the results of which have now led to WE BUILD: moving from theory to practice, from concept to actual adoption.
With its participation in the project, Izertis reinforces its commitment to innovation and the development of advanced solutions that boost digital trust in Europe, actively contributing to the consolidation of a more secure, efficient and connected single space.
Related articles: Izertis joins the WE BUILD consortium for the second round of large scale pilots for the EU Digital Identity Wallet // Izertis: architects of the new European digital identity infrastructure