The Finnish Government has awarded a €3m (£2.6m) grant to Findynet Cooperative for a pilot project aiming to build a self-sovereign identity network.
The initiative seeks to further encourage Finland’s digitisation while supporting the emergence of investments in new digital services. The funding will enable the tech co-op to develop a common and secure network of verified data to stimulate electronic transactions.
The network would allow individuals and organisations to share information such as certificates, electronic receipts, credit information and proof of professional qualifications in a way that protects their privacy while boosting trust in transactions. Furthermore, digital wallets developed by different service providers would also be interoperable and work seamlessly for both organisations and individuals.
The users would also be able to manage their own data and decide what information they share about themselves with different parties.
“We are very happy to have received this government grant, which allows us to continue our long-term work with public and private sector actors and build a trust network covering all of society,”said Markus Hautala, chair of the board of the Findynet Cooperative and Head of digital identity at Tietoevry.
Findynet is a co-operative of nine public and private sector organisations: Kela, Posti, Tietoevry, OP group, Nixu, Nordea, Vastuu Group, Finanssiala and Technology Industry. Its customers are public and private sector service providers that utilise the network and provide digital wallet services to end customers.
The self-governing identity network would also be compatible with the EU’s eIDAS Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014, which regulates cross-border electronic identification and electronic trust services. eIDAS is being amended to regulate European wallet applications.
