A Global First: OpenID Foundation Demonstrates Real-World Interoperability of New Digital Identity Standards

Published May 28, 2025

On May 5, 2025, the OpenID Foundation convened a landmark interoperability demonstration of digital identity credentials that brought together leading identity platforms, standards bodies, and government agencies from three regions. This is the first public demonstration of how a user can present their digital identity across digital platforms, devices, and credential formats in a way that is secure, private, interoperable, and globally scalable.

This interoperability event had four objectives: 

  • Prove out new specifications and open source tests by demonstrating their interoperability in online transactions
  • Provide results and implementer insights back to standards body peers
  • Brief government partners on standards progress
  • Support global-scale adoption

Interoperability Testing

The event featured two separate interop demonstrations - pair-wise and multi-wallet remote testing. 

The specifications tested included:

Pairwise Testing

Th pairwise interop demonstration was conducted by the OpenID Foundation. Out of 224 possible wallet/verifier pairings, 153 tests were conducted, with over 90% passing successfully. This demonstrated the stability of the underlying specifications.

The participants executed four requests from the user’s digital identity credential stored on their device. These query scenarios use the new Digital Credentials Query Language (DCQL). These ranged from simple name retrieval in a mobile driving license (MDL) to more complex ‘over-18’ age proofs in both mobile driving license (mDL/mdoc) and Selective-Disclosure for JWT  (SD-JWT) formats. Under the High-Assurance Interoperability Profile (HAIP), verifiers required signed requests, encrypted responses, and client-ID restrictions. These tests successfully demonstrated that enhanced privacy and security need not compromise developer productivity.

Against this backdrop, the OpenID Foundation assembled more than a dozen implementers (8 wallets and 7 verifiers) prepared to test interoperability with each other. They included: 

  • 1Password
  • Android
  • Animo/ Funke Wallet 
  • Bundesdruckerei 
  • MATTR 
  • Microsoft
  • OpenID Foundation (open source tests)
  • Panasonic 
  • Scytales 
  • Spruce 
  • An anonymous corporate

Multi-Wallet Remote Interoperability Testing

The second interop demonstration was hosted by NIST NCCoE, with Microsoft supporting remote interoperability testing with an architecture tailored specifically for the NIST NCCoE mDL Project. Their contribution aimed to enable interoperability across multiple standards and technical specifications to ensure high success rates in digital identity verification for Mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDL) and Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) across multiple wallets, using a single verifier provisioned by Mattr. Similar to the pairwise testing, the multi-wallet remote interoperability testing achieved an overall success rate of 91.75%, measured across the following key elements:

  1. Orchestration Layer: A Microsoft Entra tenant to coordinate interactions between multiple wallets to a single verifier (Mattr)
  2. Remote Presentation Architecture: Wallet-independent support for same-device and cross-device flows for multiple profiles and datasets
  3. Wallets Tested: 
    1. 1 Password
    2. Animo:  Funke
    3. Bundesdruckerei: InnoWallet
    4. Google: Multipaz 
    5. Google: CM Wallet
    6. Scytales: Scytales Wallet
    7. Spruce ID: Showcase

At the end of the event, VIP observers bore witness to the demonstrations, assessing both the technical successes and the implications for their respective jurisdictional roadmaps. VIP observers participating in the live event were Ryan Galluzzo from the United States NIST, Mr. Soshi Hamagushi from the Japan Digital Agency, and Ajay Gupta from the California DMV. A big thanks to all of our VIP observers and our interop participation teams:

Why This Demonstration Mattered

Over the past 18 months, verifiable credentials have moved from promising prototypes to production pilots in finance, healthcare, transportation, and government services. In the California DMV and OIDF hackathons in October and November 2024, we saw a wide range of use cases demonstrated, and in Europe, we have seen a wide range of use cases realized as part of the European Digital Identity Wallet’s Large Scale Pilots. More recently, the UK.Gov, the Swiss Confederation, and Japan Digital Agency declared their selection of OpenID for Verifiable Presentation in their digital identity projects. Other jurisdictions are poised to follow suit. This interop event on May 5th served as the crucible to demonstrate the real-world interoperability of specifications that are on their way to final, in line with European Digital Identity Wallet and NIST NCCoE Mobile Driver’s License (mDL) project timelines. To get to this point, there were three key components:

  1. Liaisons and Partnerships: The Foundation has long-term liaisons and partnerships with peer standards bodies such as W3C, ISO, IETF, and the FIDO Alliance. These liaisons and ongoing technical conversations have underpinned the development of interoperable standards demonstrated on May 5th, alongside the large number of leading-edge implementers ready to prove out the specifications together. The results of this interoperability event will be shared via a liaison statement with  ISO/IEC 18013-7 WG10 to inform this Work Group’s due diligence on online presentation specifications.
  2. Conformance Testing: OIDF developed open-source tests aligned to the specifications for use before and during the interop event. The implementers could prove their implementations against the tests before testing against their peers and provide critical feedback on the tests for the benefit of future implementers. Once the specs and open-source tests are finalized, implementers will be able to self-certify their implementations. Self-certification and other conformance requirements are often vital components of ecosystem governance to ensure all participants in an ecosystem have met the same high bar for security and interoperability.  
  3. Hybrid Interop Events: Finally, this event was hosted in a hybrid format, with some implementers together in Berlin and others remotely located in Tokyo, San Francisco, and beyond. The interop event proved that online presentation using OpenID for Verifiable Presentation works across platforms, across devices, and for different credential types.  

Gail Hodges concluded the session by framing the importance of this moment:

“The ability to issue a credential in one ecosystem, present it through any wallet, and verify it online in another jurisdiction, seamlessly and securely, is the future of digital identity. Today we proved that it’s not just a vision, but a reality.”

Implementer Feedback 

The feedback from the implementers on the benefits of the May 5th interop is positive and encouraging that we are at an inflection point:  

Juliana Cafik, Principal Program Manager and Identity Standards Architect said,

"Microsoft is dedicated to leading the advancement of secure and privacy-preserving digital identity solutions. This event highlights our commitment to creating a seamless and interoperable digital identity ecosystem through collaboration with global stakeholders. By participating in the development of open standards, we are ensuring that digital identities are universally accessible and trusted, empowering everyone to engage confidently in the digital world."

Marina Ioannou from Scytales described their interoperability experience as “smooth and engaging.” Scytales, in partnership with Netcompany-Intrasoft—part of the NETCOMPANY Group A/S—was awarded the contract by the European Commission to develop the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI Wallet). This wallet aims to deliver a universal, interoperable digital identity solution, enabling electronic signatures, document validation across sectors, and full transparency in data usage.

"Participating in interoperability events like this one is an opportunity to validate the latest protocol drafts and versions, test the robustness of our implementation strategy and highlight any need for greater clarity in specifications to ensure better alignment.

At Scytales, we believe it’s critical for the global decentralized digital identity community to prioritize and strengthen interoperability across regions and ecosystems. As adoption accelerates worldwide, it’s vital that solutions built in one region work seamlessly with those from another. Only then can we ensure secure, privacy-preserving, and consistent identity experiences for users everywhere.”

Similarly, 1Password praised the clarity of the documentation and the supportive developer community:

“1Password is excited to be involved as a wallet and support the adoption of OID4VC. Thanks to the excellent documentation and developer community around these initiatives, we quickly built an early example of verifiable credential  support in 1Password for Android.”

Micha Kraus of Germany’s Bundesdruckerei GmbH, a German federal technology company, that prints German passports and identity credentials, observed:

“The new Digital Credentials (DC) API is a really critical building block for building wallets and for relying parties in multi-party, multi-device, multi-wallet scenarios. I’m looking forward to seeing the implementations of the DC API on different platforms. What has worked particularly well over the past month is that the editors and contributors were not afraid to re-evaluate some options, while removing other options in favour of simplicity, and to drive true interoperability. This was very much appreciated.

My wish for the global community is that more parties will join the ‘club’ and see how easy it is to implement this. We are already seeing some very good applications that are secure, user friendly, and privacy preserving.”

Dirk Balfanz, from Google and OpenID Foundation Board member, said:

“The way DCQL has simplified our development process has been a really positive change, it’s made implementation much easier. The results we’re seeing in the interoperability tests are giving the Android team confidence that we’re nearing the point where this can be rolled out at scale. Scaling up always brings a level of caution, as they want to ensure everything is thoroughly vetted before launch. But at this stage, they feel like we’re getting there.”

“We’re now in a position to confidently recommend this to our developers. Global scalability has always been a key goal of this project, and it’s exciting to see that becoming a reality." You can read more about Android’s support of digital credentials here.

Wayne Chang, Founder and CEO of SpruceID said, "At SpruceID, we believe open standards are essential to building a digital identity ecosystem that is secure, private, and controlled by users. We are proud to demonstrate with this group that these technologies create secure interoperability for a user-centric model of digital identity."

Timo Glastra from Animo shared their conclusions after the event in a LinkedIn blog post: 

“The overall results were a major success for proving the specification maturity, reaching over a 90% success rate. Most of the wallets and verifiers were able to get all DCQL queries working with both SD-JWT VC and mDOC.” Timo continued, “We're looking forward to continue the interoperability testing and achieve 100% success rate across all wallets and verifiers.”

Oliver Terbu from MATTR stated:

"Over the past two interop events, we’ve seen clear signs of maturity across specifications like OID4VP and the Digital Credentials API, with near-perfect success rates. What’s encouraging is not just that things are working. We are also seeing convergence around practical implementation patterns using a common simplified query language that reduces complexity and code duplication, especially across different credential formats. As a next step, the issuance side is gaining traction. The DC API is beginning to demonstrate how a consistent, browser-integrated approach can support seamless and secure credential issuance, while building on the existing OID4VCI specification."

Voices from government and standards leadership

From Japan’s Digital Agency, Soshi Hamaguchi highlighted a successful proof-of-concept integrating the country’s My Number Card for student enrollment, certification and transit ticketing.

“Though limited in scope, this demo showed how global specifications can combine with national identity schemes to streamline everyday services,” he reflected.

Torsten Lodderstedt, the specification editor and co-chair of the Digital Credentials Protocol Working Group, expressed gratitude for the live feedback from implementers:

“Validating these features in real-world scenarios is crucial as we head toward final publication,” he said, inviting new contributors to help the working group evolve the specification beyond its first edition.

Next Steps Toward Global Adoption

To close the day, OIDF Executive Director, Gail Hodges, reminded attendees that the OpenID4VP specifications are on track for final publication around the end of June 2025, and are currently open for public comment. Partnerships with W3C, ISO, and FIDO and other standards body peers will continue - and further pilots are already underway, from opening a bank accounts in partnership with the NIST NCCoE Mobile Driving License (mDL) project to transit in Japan and collaborations with open source providers, like MOSIP, to bring standards into the wallet solutions of lower income governments.

“This interoperability demonstration is a pivotal milestone in a long journey,” Gail concluded. “Thank you to every implementer, observer and liaison partner for making it possible. Together, we are building a truly global digital identity ecosystem, one that empowers users, protects privacy and delivers real-world value.”

The lessons learned at this event will resonate across the next wave of deployments. By proving that diverse wallets and verifiers can interoperate at scale, the OpenID Foundation and its partners have set a new standard: open, secure, and universally compatible credentials that travel anywhere in the world.

You can watch the online demonstration of the next generation of digital identity credentials here. 

Notice: This post has been updated from the original to add clarifications on the difference between the pairwise and multi-wallet testing, and to add in quotes from the Japanese Government and Google.

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.  

 

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