Digital Trust
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Digital Trust Frameworks: from hierarchical to distributed trust

Much of the trust we place in credentials comes from verification by authoritative sources; we cannot rely solely on a person’s own claim. This is why educational institutions are considered authoritative when issuing diplomas and credentials. Institutions must verify that the individual attended courses or examinations, and the institution itself must be verifiably accredited.

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Current trust frameworks that support this system are largely hierarchical. New standards, such as OpenID Federation, enable non-hierarchical trust, complementing existing identity federations and allowing for more independent collaborations.

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However, this does not eliminate the need for trust. Authorities are still required for accrediting institutions and credentials. Additionally, when processes demand a high level of trust, further technical checks and organisational rules and regulations are necessary.

Maturity

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More diversified access to large AI models Increase in co-evolution between hardware and AI Collaboration between humans and AI Democratisation of XR content creation using generative AI Public investments in XR continue to increase Standardisation of data space architectures for secure and trusted data sharing Growing significance of augmented data management Trusted digital recognitions are emerging Digital Trust Frameworks: from hierarchical to distributed trust Emerging dualuse of AI in cybersecurity More accessible privacy-enhancing technologies to share data Rising pressure to prepare for post-quantum cryptography Emergence of measures for secure Internet of Things The growing need for security protocols to work in the cloud Growing investments in the European cloud infrastructure & sovereignty More AI-driven hardware in data centres to manage workloads in the cloud Increasing need for heterogeneous and hybrid computing platforms Trade-offs in accuracy with approximate computing Fixed wireless access Fibre optic networks: strategic infrastructure for the knowledge economy Enhancing quantum computing robustness and potential Quantum sensing integration to other domains

Drivers

Impact

education

Education

  • The role of institutions in the education data ecosystem is evolving, and requests for data and access to tools come from both within and outside of the ecosystem. Therefore, establishing trust in credential authenticity will become more challenging.
Research

Research

  • The EU Digital Identity framework’s influence on the adoption of digital wallets in research and education, and its effects on trust frameworks, is subject to ongoing research.
Operations

Operations

  • Institutions must determine how credentials can be reliably attributed to individuals. This requires identity verification at enrolment, during assessments and perhaps even attendance.
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