WASHINGTON— The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced three finalists in the first stage of the $25,000 Digital Wallets Challenge. S&T issued the challenge in September, seeking design concepts for a trusted user interface (UI) for digital wallets.
Designers submitted concepts that were easy-to-use, trustworthy, and improved the overall user experience (UX) and management of digital wallet-based credentials. S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) is sponsoring the challenge. SVIP is currently working with a cohort of start-up companies to develop interoperable implementations of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies for DHS use.
The three finalists are:
- Dignari, LLC – Alexandria, Virginia
- Indicio, Inc. – Washington, DC
- Trinsic, Inc. – Provo, Utah
The finalists presented their UI and UX designs at a virtual community engagement hosted by S&T on Tuesday, October 27, 2020. At the event, finalists received feedback from the community to prepare for stage 2 of the challenge. Federal government experts and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a standards group, provided insights and examples of how they are using and developing standards for digital wallets.
“This is a radical prize challenge in that the government is investing time in a better UX and standards for digital wallets from the start,” said Heather Vescent, co-chair of the Credentials Community Group at the W3C.
As part of the second stage of the challenge, finalists are encouraged to engage the standards community to incorporate feedback on implementing digital wallets that use decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials. The winning design will be made available under a free and open license to the community. At the end of stage 2, one finalist will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize.
DHS S&T’s prize competitions are designed to tap into innovators, both within and outside of government, to solve the challenges faced by the Homeland Security Enterprise. To learn more, visit S&T’s prize competition website.
