EBSI’s capabilities in the social security domain were demonstrated at a high-level conference on 1 March – a glimpse into what the future could look like for EU citizens who want to work abroad.

On 1 March, the European Commission (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion DG) hosted a high-level policy conference to put on full display its projects on digitalisation in social security coordination. During this event, the European Social Security Pass (ESSPASS) implementation of EBSI’s Verifiable Credentials framework in the social security domain was in the spotlight. ESSPASS demonstrated how the exchange of social security entitlements essential to all posted workers, such as the Portable-Document A1, can be done in a trusted way using EBSI-conformant digital wallets, made easily verifiable by authorities all over Europe.

Visitors at the conference were able to try this out for themselves. At the ESSPASS & EBSI booth, participants played the role of a posted worker being inspected abroad. Using a tablet, they were able to request their PD-A1 document, save it to an EBSI-conformant wallet and present it to a verifier, all digitally, in a production-grade demo.

The benefits of turning these documents into Verifiable Credentials were clear when the verification screen of the verifier app showed instantaneously whether the worker was in possession of an authentic and valid document.

Soon, everyone will be able to experiment with the use of Verifiable Credentials and digital wallets with the support of EBSI’s blockchain, at a dedicated space in Brussels. The EBSI Experience Centre will open its doors in March.