Paola Markart
Apr 24, 2025
Earlier this month, Hopae joined the 40th Internet Identity Workshop (IIW40). Held twice a year in Mountain View, California, IIW is the leading unconference for digital identity, bringing together the world’s top minds in the identity space.
The message of this year’s spring edition was clear: the future of identity isn’t coming — it’s already here, and it’s evolving with speed and urgency. For us, here at Hopae, this was more than just a signal, it was a reaffirmation of our mission to build secure, privacy-preserving and interoperable ID tech solutions that meet the needs of a rapidly evolving digital world.
Here are some of the key insights we brought back with us:
eID Integration: Interoperability is the backbone of digital identity
From session talks to spontaneous hallway conversations, interoperability was one of the most pressing concerns at IIW40 and one statement appeared over and over again: interoperability isn’t optional — it’s critical.
Today’s national eIDs and mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) remain highly fragmented, with significant variation in both design and regulatory compliance across countries, making cross-border identity verification complex, inconsistent and difficult to scale.
Credits: Recap of Hopae's LinkedIn
We, here at Hopae, don’t view this fragmentation as a limitation but as a challenge worth solving. That’s the driving force behind hConnect, our identity verification API built to unify government-backed ID systems within a single, privacy-first focused architecture.
hConnect is built for exactly this challenge, offering:
Seamless eID access across borders, enabling global interoperability for businesses
Verifiable credentials backed by direct integration with national sources
Stronger privacy protections and regulatory compliance
Decentralized identity standards are evolving fast
IIW40 also made clear that decentralized identity is no longer a future ambition — it’s becoming today’s standard. Companies across the identity space are working on frameworks that redefine how we issue, verify and manage credentials online. It’s a strong signal that traditional identity verification is no longer enough.
Key technical highlights and discussions revolved around:
The accelerating adoption of OpenID4VC and DC-API as foundational frameworks for scalable, verifiable credentials
Continued advancement of OID4VP and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), enabling pseudonymous and privacy-preserving authentication flows
The rise of agent-based architectures and AI-driven identity wallets, marking a shift toward more autonomous, context-aware identity systems
Credits: Highlights from Martina Kolpondino's LinkedIn
Building trust: Identity verification ready for eIDAS 2.0
In today’s digital world, identity verification must be as secure as it is flexible. Regulatory frameworks like eIDAS 2.0 are redefining expectations for how identity verification systems should operate.
This spring edition’s discussions underlined the need for solutions that prioritize:
Stronger data protection, ensuring compliance with evolving privacy regulations
Greater user control, empowering individuals to manage their identity data
Device-level privacy, minimizing unnecessary data exposure or tracking
Credits: Reflections from Andrew A. Piscione's LinkedIn
To everyone we connected with at IIW40 — thank you for your insights and shared commitment of shaping the future of identity. If we didn’t get a chance to meet, we’d still love to connect.
Interested in what we are building?
Book a meeting with us to learn more about our cutting-edge identity solutions.
