WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is calling upon innovators to design a better user interface (UI) for digital wallets. DHS’s new prize competition is for better Trusted UI for Digital Wallets with a total prize purse of $25,000. The winning designs will be easy-to-use, trustworthy, and improve the overall user experience and management of digital wallet-based credentials.
“We are working with DHS customers that are implementing standards-based, decentralized credentialing systems such as those for issuing digital Permanent Resident Cards,” said Anil John, Technical Director of the DHS S&T Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP), the Challenge sponsor. “From an implementation perspective, it is important for those UIs to support best practices for ease of use and visual consistency, while supporting interoperability, security, and privacy. We think there are graphical designers that can help with designing UIs for digital wallets that are part of these systems, that could be used not just by DHS, but anyone in the community working on standards-based verifiable credentials.”
The Challenge takes place in two stages. In the first stage, contestants are asked to submit their design proposals for UIs by October 15, 2020. A judging panel from DHS and other Federal partner representatives will evaluate the entries and select at least three finalists to advance to Stage 2 of the Challenge. Each finalist will be awarded $5,000.
Stage 1 finalists will also be announced and participate in an outreach event. At that event, the finalists will explain their designs and interact with standards bodies, DHS Components, and other potential U.S. government customers. The event will be virtual and feature discussions with the government community and World Wide Web Consortium Credential Community Group. The discussions will provide the finalists domain expertise and insight into application integration and standards-based digital wallet implementations.
In Stage 2, the finalists will refine their designs and compete for an additional $10,000 grand prize. The judging panel will select a grand-prize winner in December. “Our hope is that technical community is able to use, build upon, and remix the design of UIs resulting from the Challenge,” said Anil.
“This is the first time DHS has done a design challenge. We want to do more challenges like this and award prize money even faster to those who have a great idea or technology. The beauty about prizes is that almost anyone can win – from citizen inventors and startups, to small or large corporations,” said Kathleen Kenyon, DHS S&T Prize Program Manager.
For more information and instructions to enter the Challenge, visit the DHS S&T Prize website and see the official announcement on Challenge.gov.
