Malta Puts €15. 7 Million Behind Its EU Digital Identity Wallet - EUROPE SAYS
Malta has opened a €15. 66 million tender for a national European Digital Identity Wallet, moving its plan for a phone-based identity credential from policy into a large implementation contract. The procurement. . .
Malta has opened a €15. 66 million tender for a national European Digital Identity Wallet, moving its plan for a phone-based identity credential from policy into a large implementation contract. The procurement covers a fully compliant wallet, the supporting trust ecosystem, and initial use cases for the Malta Digital Innovation Authority. Rather than buying only a consumer app, Malta is seeking the infrastructure needed for issuers, wallet holders, and relying parties to exchange verified identity data and electronic attestations. For residents, the finished wallet is intended to provide a voluntary way to identify themselves to public and private services from a phone. Under the EU framework, compatible wallets can hold credentials such as mobile driving licenses and diplomas, support electronic signatures, and let users disclose selected attributes instead of handing over a complete identity document. The Department of Contracts is running the open procedure on MDIA’s behalf. Bids will be assessed using the best price-quality ratio, and suppliers have until September 3 at 9:30 a. m. local time to submit their offers. The contract is not divided into lots and is not identified as receiving EU funding. The tender gives substance to Malta’s previously announced goal ofintroducing a national digital wallet by the end of 2026. Every EU member state is required to provide at least one European Digital Identity Wallet under the revised eIDAS framework, creating a common model for credentials that can work across borders. That cross-border design is central to the user proposition. A Maltese resident should eventually be able to use a locally issued wallet to prove identity or present an accepted credential elsewhere in the EU, subject to the services and attestations supported. The wallet system must also give users control over which pieces of personal information they share in a transaction. Malta’s approach differs from smaller pilots or limited wallet sandboxes because the €15,659,714 estimate combines the user-facing wallet with the wider trust environment in a single procurement. The selected supplier will therefore influence both what residents see on their phones and how organizations issue, request, and validate the credentials behind that experience. Sources:Malta Electronic Tendering System,European Commission–By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team