• OpenID Foundation applauds the California DMV for its community-based approach to expanding acceptance and use of mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDLs) in California, saying it is a positive model.
• The two successful community hackathons, co-hosted with the OpenID Foundation, not only empowered government and private sector entities to build, test, and demonstrate impactful digital identity use cases, but also addressed the Cold Start Problem faced by emerging identity ecosystems.
• Incorporation of the OpenID for Verifiable Credentials family of specifications into the mDL architecture proved a valuable element for those involved.

San Ramon, CA, 16 December 2024 – Following the success of two recent community hackathons co-hosted with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the OpenID Foundation, a global leader in open identity standards, is now inviting more companies, government agencies and non-profits to collaborate in a similar way and drive adoption of privacy-preserving identity solutions.

The recent hackathons engaged a broad spectrum of public and private sector participants in order to expand the adoption and use cases of California’s mobile Driver’s License (mDL), which has incorporated the OpenID for Verifiable Credentials family of specifications into its architecture.

The two successful events provided a unique platform for participants to develop 25 real-world use cases and receive feedback from a panel of expert judges, their peers, and a wide spectrum of observers. Teams were encouraged to address key aspects of their solutions, including viability, privacy, security, user experience, and social impact. 

Crucially, by engaging verifiers—businesses and government entities that need to consume and verify identity information—the events were able to address the ‘Cold Start Problem’ faced by emerging identity ecosystems. This is the struggle to gain traction on all sides of the market.

The first event in Mountain View brought together more than 50 participants from 15 selected teams, representing leading private sector companies, such as US Bank, Ping Identity, Cisco, and Square, as well as social businesses like Entidad. They highlighted practical and privacy-focused use cases of mDLs, demonstrating the value of secure digital credentials in industries like financial services, retail, healthcare, and entertainment.

The second event in Sacramento focused on public sector use cases, with participation from local, state, national, and international government entities, including the U.S. Air Force, California Highway Patrol, and the City of Los Angeles. Teams explored diverse applications for mDLs, ranging from streamlined access to government services (like applying for government jobs and benefits) to secure ID verification for emergency response coordination and benefit applications.

Earlier this year, in a development that complements the OpenID Foundation’s work with the California DMV, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) signed a collaborative research and development agreement (CRADA) on Digital Identities - Mobile Driving Licenses - with 19 technology providers and industry experts. This included the OpenID Foundation. The goal was to accelerate the adoption of digital identity standards and best practices. The first use case the NCCoE will focus on is electronic ‘Know Your Customer’ for financial services use cases, with the participation of leading banks, several US states, and other industry experts to further refine regulatory acceptance of digital identity technologies. 

Gail Hodges, Executive Director at the OIDF, said: “It’s clear that mDLs are firmly on the digital identity agenda in the United States, but we are not yet at the tipping point where digital identity credentials are universally available to Americans or can be presented everywhere Americans would like to use them online and in person. 

“The California mDL hackathons have played a meaningful role to help early adopters cross the chasm. Our active involvement in them underscores our commitment to fostering secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving digital identity solutions that are scalable across the US and the world.  

“We invite more individuals, companies, government agencies, and nonprofits to join us in shaping the future of digital identity. We encourage developers and verifiers to explore the OpenID for Verifiable Credentials specifications, which is referenced in ISO/IEC 18013-5 Mobile Driving License (mDL) Application and ISO/IEC 18013-7 Mobile Driving License (add on function), has been incorporated by the California DMV’s into its mDL architecture, and was selected by the European Commission as part of the EIDAS 2.0 Architecture Reference Framework. 

“Community hackathons like these will be crucial to driving adoption of privacy-preserving identity solutions in order to ultimately build a user-centric identity ecosystem that benefits everyone.”

To learn more about how to participate in shaping the standards and solutions that will drive the next generation of digital identity, please visit the OpenID Foundation. 

To learn more about the hackathons, the CA DMV is hosting a public briefing on January  10, 2025 from  12-1pm PST. 

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Serj Hallam E: serj.hallam@oidf.org  

Elizabeth Garber E: elizabeth.garber@oidf.org 

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.