Austroads & MATTR partner to enhance digital trust service

Austroads and MATTR have announced a partnership aimed at delivering Digital Trust Service (DTS) capabilities to support multiple types of digital credentials.

The collaboration is viewed as a significant step towards the harmonisation of the digital credential landscape in Australia, facilitating secure and privacy-preserving validation in accordance with international standards.

The Austroads National Digital Trust Service (DTS) will provide essential digital infrastructure to assist Australian jurisdictions in implementing Mobile Drivers Licences (mDL). "Austroads is setting up a DTS that allows mDLs to be securely verified anywhere and at any time," said Austroads Chief Executive Dr Geoff Allan. He emphasised that the DTS would act as the root of trust for the mDL ecosystem across Australia, ensuring verification is possible irrespective of the issuing jurisdiction or location.

The first stage of the project involves a pre-production version of the DTS, which will be powered by the MATTR VII platform. MATTR CEO Claire Barber expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating: "MATTR is thrilled to announce our partnership with Austroads. This is an exciting initiative, led by Austroads and enabled by MATTR, to increase convenience and confidence based on high assurance, high trust interactions."

Dr Allan highlighted the importance of this initiative for the future of digital ecosystems. "This partnership with MATTR marks a significant milestone in the harmonisation of the digital credential landscape in Australia and supports secure and privacy-preserving validation of digital credentials in line with open international standards," he said.

"This is the first step towards a high trust, high assurance digital ecosystem as we continue to advance the global interoperability of our Digital Trust Service."

MATTR, recognised for its expertise in digital trust, will support Austroads by providing the technology solution for the first stage of the DTS project. This includes a preview version of the DTS, based on the MATTR VII Platform, and acting as an expert partner to support the International Interoperability Test Event (IVC24 Interop).

The partnership will be showcased at the Austroads-hosted 10th International Interoperability Test Event (IVC24 Interop), scheduled to take place from 3 to 5 October in Sydney. In the lead-up to this event, Austroads and MATTR will conduct a series of webinars. The first session, "Demystifying Digital Licences and Austroads Digital Trust Service," is set for 9 August and will provide an overview of mDLs and the Austroads DTS.

The collaboration aims to demonstrate the value of the Austroads DTS in different digital credential use cases alongside participating jurisdictions and industry partners. It also underscores MATTR's role in promoting global interoperability. "MATTR platforms will provide foundational capabilities to preview the future of an interoperable mobile driving licence ecosystem throughout Australia and globally," added Barber.

Further phases of the project will focus on expanding the capabilities of the DTS to support different types of trust services and credential types. "Beyond the initial showcase event, MATTR will continue to provide a fully managed SaaS solution for the Austroads Digital Trust Service market preview period whilst the details of a production DTS are finalised," stated the press release.

At the upcoming IVC24 Interop, MATTR will handle various organisational tasks, including participant registration and definition of Interoperability Profiles to support the event. The showcase will highlight the role of the Austroads Digital Trust Service in achieving local and global interoperability for mDLs, with demonstrations from jurisdictions and industry partners.