Austroads' Digital Trust Service positioned for scalable expansion

Austroads has announced that the Digital Trust Service it initially announced in February has reached a pre-production/beta version stage. Results of testing have confirmed that it can be scaled up nationally.

The Austroads’ DTS provides relying parties with a list of issuing authority public keys that are used to authenticate mobile driver licences (mDLs) issued by the Australian states and territories.

“The DTS gives relying parties the assurance that the mDL was issued by a true issuing authority and the trust that it complies with international mDL standards for privacy, security, and interoperability,” said Geoff Allan, Austroads Chief Executive. “Our testing demonstrated that we can now scale the DTS across Australia. We hope that every state and territory will have mDLs or digital driver licences within the next 18 months and that their keys will be in the DTS.”

To road-test its Digital Trust Service, Austroads hosted two international events in October 2024 — the Identity and Verifiable Credentials Summit 2024 and the 10th International Interoperability Test Event. More than 450 participants attended the events, bringing together key figures from the European Commission, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), the Association of European Vehicle and Driver Registration Authorities (EReg), senior executives from government services, Australia’s major banks, and leading identity and wallet providers.

“At these events, leading wallet providers and verifiers demonstrated that their technologies could seamlessly work together. All participants were able to host their cryptographic keys on the Austroads DTS, with 350 tests conducted by 21 providers. The results were a resounding success,” said Allan.

The tests demonstrated how three continents can verify not only state-border but also international credentials. Participants successfully validated each other's digital wallets, walking through the US Department of Homeland Security’s airport biometric device that validates mDLs.

The tests also included representatives from European countries such as France and the Netherlands, US states like Arizona, Utah, and Maryland, and Australian states and territories, including Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Northern Territory, and Western Australia. The Australian wallets in use were based on their first-generation proof of concept ISO wallets.

Donnie Scott, CEO of Idemia, which provided the credential authentication technology (CAT) for the demonstration, said: “Our CAT technology helps travellers across the US get on board an airplane using their digital credentials. It is great to see organisations like Austroads and AAMVA stepping up to build the underlying infrastructure to allow this technology work wherever we are in the world.”

“The DTS brings together the experience and learnings from North America and Europe. It brings global best practices that support safety, security, inclusion, reliability, and interoperability. It has shown the power of collaboration on a global scale to deliver better outcomes domestically and internationally,” said Ian Grossman, President and CEO of AAMVA.

Don Young, Senior Director, Digital Strategy and Advisory from the Northern Territory Government that also validated their ISO compliant mDLs at the Austroads events, noted, “Digital licensing gives more power to the people who hold that digital licence to decide how they are going to use that for identity proofing in a way that is more safe and secure and privacy respecting.”

The demonstration also showcased how a wireless payment device could now verify proof of age without exchanging any personal data, using the MATTR proof of concept. This development adds another layer of privacy and convenience to digital credential verification.

Another highlight was the demonstration of using a driver licence to sign legal documents via Docusign, showcasing the seamless integration of digital credentials in legal documents such as a mortgage or bill of sale.

“We look forward to working with government stakeholders and with the industry in 2025 to co-develop the system that will work best for all Australians,” added Allan.

Key outcomes

The event tested different credential types defined by the international standard ISO 18013. A total of 618 transactions were reported, including:

• 589 transactions involving mDLs
• 143 transactions involving photo IDs
• 44 transactions involving vehicle registration certificates
• 39 transactions involving mobile international certificates of vaccination
   

No issues were reported during any of the transactions when using DTS as a trust list or verified issuer certificate authority list (VICAL) provider.

Image: 350 tests showed the Austroads Digital Trust Service (DTS) can be scaled across Australia.