Cooperation Systems

The EU requires its member states to provide every citizen with a digital identity wallet by 2026 – a paradigm shift in how identities, credentials, and authorizations are managed. The WEB3DORS project applies this approach to large organizations with complex internal processes – from digital employee IDs and credential-based access permissions to data notarization and new incentive and reward opportunities. WEB3DORS is funded by The Hashgraph Association, with their Hedera network serving as its technical basis.

The new EU legal framework for digital identities makes it clear: verifiable digital credentials and digital wallets are becoming the standard – even far beyond government use cases. Large, decentralized institutions face similar challenges: They need a fine-grained management of digital employee ID cards, credentials, and access rights that reflects roles and competencies while safeguarding data sovereignty and privacy. At the same time, they want to protect intellectual property and keep administrative burdens to a minimum.

In the Web3DORS project, Fraunhofer FIT has developed an open-source ecosystem that meets these requirements. It is based on the Hedera network and integrates digital employee ID, credential-based access management, data notarization, and incentive and reward systems along the Researcher’s Journey paradigm. Web3DORS is funded by The Hashgraph Association. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the 75 Fraunhofer institutes served as our initial use case, but the model is scalable to organizations of any size and complexity.

At the core of the ecosystem are four components: The Onboarding app issues digital ID cards and credentials as portable W3C Verifiable Credentials that document qualifications and automatically expire upon departure. Devices and assets are transparently assigned via NFTs. The Gatekeeper replaces traditional key management: it grants fine-grained access rights in real time based on credentials – even for security-critical areas. The Data Notary stores cryptographic hashes of research data on the Hedera blockchain – tamper-proof and verifiable at any time. The Reward Hub documents informal contributions and achievements as portable credentials. It forms the basis for earmarked funds that can be redeemed within the organization for internal services.

Two evaluation workshops with around 30 stakeholders – including C-level executives – confirmed the practical benefits. A hybrid concept that integrates the Web3 ecosystem with existing PKI infrastructures is deemed the most promising adoption path for complex organizations.