What is self-sovereign digital identity?

SSI allows individuals to own, manage, and share their own data and credentials without relying on intermediaries. This includes academic degrees, certifications, work experience, and acquired skills, among other documents.

Unlike traditional models, where information is fragmented across multiple platforms, SSI offers a unified, secure, and verifiable approach, thanks to the decentralized technology behind it—blockchain—and the standards and regulations on which it rests (the Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services Regulation (eIDAS2) to ensure interoperability, and Verifiable Credentials for documents).

The current challenge in employability

Currently, both candidates and companies face multiple obstacles:

• Resumes that are difficult to verify,
• slow selection processes,
• a lack of trust in digital credentials, and
• difficulty demonstrating real skills.

This creates inefficiencies in the labor market and limits opportunities, especially in international or digital environments.

SSI: A New Way to Demonstrate Professional Value

With self-sovereign identity, professionals can:

• share verifiable credentials instantly,
• objectively demonstrate skills,
• build a portable and interoperable digital reputation, and
• control who accesses their information.

For companies, this represents a significant improvement in the speed and reliability of their recruitment processes (30% of academic profiles on LinkedIn contain some inaccuracy, according to several studies).

The Opportunity of the European Digital Identity Wallet

The arrival of the European Digital Identity Wallet marks a turning point in Europe. This initiative will allow citizens and professionals to securely and consistently store and share official digital credentials within this wallet.

This opens the door to a more integrated European labor market, greater interoperability between educational institutions and companies, and new talent verification models.

Organizations that adapt quickly to this new paradigm will have a clear competitive advantage. The decision isn’t whether to do it or not, but when, since European citizens have the right to do so from December 24, 2026, and large institutions are obligated to accept it 12 months later.

Education, credentials, and employability: A new ecosystem

The combination of SSI, blockchain, and verifiable credentials is transforming the relationship between education and employment:

• Universities can issue verifiable digital degrees.
• Professionals accumulate micro-credentials throughout their careers.
• Companies access reliable and up-to-date information.

We are moving from a model based on static degrees to one focused on dynamic and verifiable skills.

Self-sovereign digital identity is not a future trend, but an emerging reality that will redefine employability in the coming years.

Adopting SSI-based solutions not only improves efficiency but also allows individuals and organizations to build relationships based on trust, transparency, and data control.

In this new scenario, those who lead the digital transformation of credentials will play a key role in the future of work.

La entrada The European Digital Identity Wallet, key to employability se publicó primero en SmartPortfolio.

The event brought together more than 50 people from the 20 companies participating in the development and implementation of the platform, as well as from the first 12 SMEs to use it, deploying their use case activities. The session allowed participants to:

• Learn more about ISBE: its vision, objectives, and approach.
• Explore technical aspects to accelerate deployment.
• Connect with key industry professionals, institutional representatives, and those involved in other use cases.

The event marked a milestone and a turning point in the development and launch of the platform, which will be operational by the end of the year.

The use cases

Twelve of the first twenty use cases to be implemented at IBSE, funded by the Community of Madrid, have been presented. They cover diverse areas such as finance, agri-food, logistics, advertising, education, and data analytics:

• Instant digital payments; Stock Exchange 3.0 in the futures stock market; bond issuance in the debt market.
• Traceability in the livestock sector.
• Mitigation of spam and unwanted phone calls; fraud prevention in digital advertising.
• Digital product passport; academic credentials.
• Tax-free processes between customs.

All use cases demonstrate how blockchain solves specific problems in key sectors, with solutions aligned with European regulations, for real-world adoption.

The University Smart Portfolio use case that was presented issues verifiable credentials that certify students’ academic evidences in a digital portfolio. This facilitates interoperability with other institutions thanks to its alignment with the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) standard and the eIDAS2 regulation. Its objective is to enhance the value of students in the job market and in their mobility by sharing their credentials quickly and securely, without intermediaries, while also supporting the university in its digital transformation.

Support from the Community of Madrid

The underlying grant program was launched by the Digitalization Department of the Community of Madrid in early 2025 with the aim of promoting the use of emerging technologies to accelerate the digital transformation of the region’s business ecosystem. It represents a total investment of €2 million and is part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU. Alastria is a key player driving, leading, and executing the development of the initiative through its agreement with the regional government.

La entrada ISBE Demo Day: SmartPortfolio among its first use sases se publicó primero en SmartPortfolio.

EUDI Wallet will be crucial in the digital transformation of many sectors, particularly higher education, where it provides an excellent opportunity for student cards and their interoperability between different institutions in various countries.

ECCA is an association of European universities specializing in student identification and authentication. Its objective is to provide a European eID that offers interoperability, connectivity, and mobility for students. To this end, it has promoted the standardization of the formats and processes associated with campus cards since its foundation in 2002, in coordination with providers and other stakeholders, hence this webinar. Furthermore, it maintains a close relationship with other related institutions such as the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU), which represents universities and colleges in the United States.

Verifiable credentials and the EUDI Wallet standard facilitate the portability of degrees and credentials between countries

Vicente Prior, CEO of SmartDegrees, described the turning point that Web3 represents in the evolution of campus cards by eliminating intermediaries and empowering the students as cardholders, supported by the standards and initiatives of the European Commission, particularly eIDAS2 and EUDIW. The University Smart Portfolio platform issues verifiable credentials, certifying students’ academic credentials, in a digital portfolio that facilitates interoperability with other institutions. This is thanks to its compliance with EUDIW, allowing students to include their credentials in their personal EUDI Wallet, thus anticipating the European citizen’s right to a digital identity by 2026. The goal is to enhance the value of students in the job market and facilitate their mobility (growing, 23% by 2030), while also supporting universities in their digital transformation.

The model and user experience have been validated at the University of Design, Innovation and Technology (UDIT) and also have the support of ECCA, the Sicomoro Foundation, and Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C) to ensure its scalability.

European Campus Card Association

The SmartDegrees team, prior to its founding, has been in close contact with ECCA since 2008 through Santander Universities, at the recommendation of the Observatorio TUI of University of Cantabria (OTTIUC), one of its founding members. With the emergence of blockchain, the need for campus cards and identities to be based on this technology became clear. Jesús Ruiz, CTO, presented this at ECCA‘s 2019 annual conference in Linz, Austria, given the impetus the European Commission was giving to what is now EUDI Wallet.

La entrada The Future of EUDI Wallet in Education: Europe and beyond! se publicó primero en SmartPortfolio.

MERGE Madrid is “the most important crypto event in Spain” and “is positioning itself as the next European hub.” The three-day event hosted regulators, banks, institutional investors, entrepreneurs, government officials, and leaders of the crypto ecosystem, where tokenization, associated financial products, cryptocurrencies, and stablecoins were discussed.

The Community of Madrid has had its own space, which has accommodated the activities promoted by its Ministry of Digitalization, with aid aimed at SMEs and startups to encourage the use of blockchain technology, within the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan for digitalization in key economic sectors, funded by the European Union (NextGenerationEU). These activities include the development, deployment, and implementation of Spanish Blockchain Services Infrastructure, which will be operational on December 31, 2025, and the use cases based on it.

Vicente Prior, CEO of SmartDegrees, described how University Smart Portfolio issues verifiable credentials, certifying university students’ academic achievements, in a digital portfolio. This facilitates interoperability with other institutions thanks to its alignment with the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) standard and the eIDAS2 regulation. The goal is to enhance university students’ value in the job market and his mobility by sharing their credentials quickly and securely, without intermediaries, and also to help the university in its digital transformation.

To validate the model and user experience, USP has the support and participation of the University of Design, Innovation and Technology (UDIT), the European Campus Card Association (ECCA), the Sicomoro Foundation, and the Hassan II University of Casablanca (UH2C).

Driven by the Community of Madrid

As described by the General Director of Digital Strategy of the Community of Madrid, Nacho Azorín, Web3 is like a scalpel that allows unnecessary grease to be removed from processes. According to Miguel Ángel Domínguez, president of Alastria, a key institution in the creation of ISBE, this infrastructure will allow organizations to develop digital services with security, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Furthermore, it will be a blockchain benchmark because, unlike its European equivalent, the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI), ISBE unites the public and private sectors in a single network.

La entrada University Smart Portfolio is presented at MERGE Madrid 2025 se publicó primero en SmartPortfolio.

“The regional government is promoting this app from the startup SmartDegrees. Focused on students and teachers, it will allow them to record their academic achievements. Students and teachers now have a digital portfolio in which to record and certify their academic achievements: from final degree or master’s projects to seminar attendance, awards granted, or qualifications. All this is done through blockchain technology, which allows users to share these credentials securely and interoperably on platforms such as LinkedIn, as well as with institutions, other universities, or in the workplace.

This is the University Smart Portfolio (USP) project, developed by SmartDegrees, one of the startups receiving support from the Community of Madrid. The regional government has awarded grants to 20 SMEs to develop innovative technology-based solutions. Under this premise, these companies will carry out projects aimed at solving real challenges in key sectors such as cybersecurity, finance, education, healthcare, and freight transport.

SmartDegrees has received nearly €100,000 from the regional government. In this initiative, it has collaborated with the University of Design, Innovation, and Technology (UDIT) in Madrid, which already integrates this digital portfolio into its internal systems, validating its usability and workflows in a real-life scenario. Similarly, this system is being tested with the Sicomoro Foundation, also located in the capital. All of this under the framework of the European Campus Card Association (ECCA).

Stored in nodes

Unlike traditional systems, where all information is stored in one place and can be vulnerable, blockchain technology stores data in different “nodes” at the same time, making it very difficult for someone to change or access it.

Thus, every time a change is made, the data is stored in multiple nodes. Once the information is used, it is recorded, which generates greater trust. This way, users have more control over their information and decide when and with whom they want to share it.

Subsidy line

This project anticipates the European Digital Identity Regulation (EUDI), which the European Commission will implement in 2026 and which establishes the right of all EU citizens to have a digital identity. The USP project allows citizens’ academic information to also be included in this digital identity.

The subsidy line was launched by the regional Ministry of Digitalization in early 2025 with the aim of promoting the use of emerging technologies within the region’s industrial fabric. The program has received a total investment of €2 million, part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU.

Furthermore, it is part of the regional government’s strategy to accelerate the digital transformation of Madrid’s business ecosystem, promoting the adoption of emerging technologies with a high economic and social impact.”

La entrada A digital and Madrid-based CV protected by blockchain se publicó primero en SmartPortfolio.

University Smart Portfolio (USP) adapts SmartDegrees’ blockchain-based digital identity app to the European Commission‘s European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDIW) standard, promotes the use of Verifiable Credentials in universities, fosters interoperability between European institutions, and anticipates the regulations in force starting in 2027, under which every European citizen will have the right to a digital identity.

The project provides university students with a digital portfolio in which they can record and accredit their academic achievements, with credentials that can be shared securely and interoperably with platforms such as LinkedIn and others, leveraging blockchain technology and the eIDAS2 regulation.

Participation of UDIT and support from other entities

The University of Design, Innovation and Technology (UDIT) will test the USP in its internal systems, validating its usability. The European Campus Card Association (ECCA) will provide an international testing framework, Hassan II University of Morocco will expand the project’s scope beyond national and European territory, and the Sicomoro Foundation will allow cross-certification testing between Spanish entities from other sectors, strengthening interoperability at the national level.

This award from the Community of Madrid represents a key recognition of the innovation by the presented use case and consolidates the support obtained in 2019 from the European Commission, with its Seal of Excellence of Horizon 2020, to promote blockchain initiatives.

The grant is part of the regional government of Madrid’s line of aid aimed at SMEs and startups to encourage the use of blockchain technology, within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, for digitalization in key economic sectors, financed by the European Union (NextGenerationEU), and the agreement signed with Alastria, on 21-2-25 for the development, deployment and implementation of use cases for Spain’s Blockchain Services Infrastructure, which will be operational on 31-12-25, aligned with its European equivalent, European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI).

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Digital Identity: Security and Control

The eIDAS2 proposal, adopted in 2021 and scheduled to come into force in 2026, extends the framework of the original eIDAS (2014) with the aim of providing every citizen and institution with a secure and universal means to manage their digital identity within the European Union (EU). The EUDI wallet, which will be available to all EU citizens in 2026 and must be accepted in all member states, will allow citizens to store, manage and share digital credentials in a secure and decentralised manner, without intermediaries and ensuring full control of the data by the user.

Several EU member states are currently piloting the EUDI wallet in key sectors such as education, banking and healthcare, demonstrating the potential of this technology to transform the way we interact digitally.

Verifiable Credentials and blockchain

A key aspect of eIDAS2 is the implementation of Verifiable Credentials (VCs), a standard that allows users to prove information about their identity without exposing unnecessary sensitive data. They can include everything from academic degrees to certificates of residence or business licenses, allowing for agile and decentralized verification:

• Academic credentials and professional certifications
• National identity card or digital passport
• Driving license
• Banking and financial data

The use of blockchain in this ecosystem reinforces the immutability and security of credentials, guaranteeing the authenticity of information without the need for centralized intermediaries. In addition, it reduces the risk of fraud and facilitates interoperability between different public and private services.

Benefits for citizens and institutions

For institutions and companies, eIDAS2 and VCs mean more efficient authentication processes, reduced fraud and simplified regulatory compliance. For citizens, the adoption of the EUDI Wallet will ensure greater control over their digital identity and a more fluid experience in interacting with both public and private services.

The transition to eIDAS2 is a unique opportunity for institutions and companies to digitally transform their businesses to innovate in secure and trustworthy digital services. The adoption of blockchain and verifiable credentials not only meets the new regulatory requirements, but also lays the foundation for a safer and more efficient digital ecosystem in Europe and, by its adoption, in other countries.

La entrada European digital identity: Unprecedented opportunity for citizens and institutions se publicó primero en SmartPortfolio.