By 2026, Europe's digital identity system is transitioning from experimentation to infrastructure, emphasizing accountability and operational resilience over pilot success. The focus will shift to governance challenges, including integration, regulatory liability, and cryptographic security. The future of digital identity hinges on whether support systems can adapt to these demands.

Ubiqu and Thales have teamed up to address the complexities of deploying certified infrastructure for European Digital Identity (EUDI) wallets under eIDAS 2.0. Their collaboration integrates Ubiqu's Remote Secure Element with Thales' Luna HSMs, ensuring compliance and facilitating faster wallet deployment across EU member states, crucial for achieving the European Commission's 2030 target.

Germany's activation of the NIS2 Directive transforms supply-chain governance by allowing the Federal Office for Information Security to prohibit ICT components posing unacceptable risks. This move emphasizes that true resilience requires organizations to actively manage dependencies and demonstrate accountability, shifting from compliance to a critical reassessment of trust and operational integrity.

Digital identity wallets are transitioning from pilot programs to enterprise environments, where they must integrate with existing Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems. Enterprises seek reliability, revocation, and auditability, emphasizing that wallets are not replacements but complementary inputs to IAM. Effective implementation demands that wallets meet stringent operational and governance requirements, transforming identity into critical infrastructure.

In 2025, digital identity and quantum security evolved rapidly, with The Quantum Space growing significantly. Audience engagement and emerging trends in AI and regulatory agendas shaped the secured-tech industry’s future.

The latest Innovating Trust podcast episode, "The Encryption of Christmas," explores the security technologies supporting festive logistics, payment systems, and vulnerabilities, addressing how trusted tech shapes holiday infrastructure.

By late 2025, quantum computing has matured, shifting from speculation to pragmatic engineering. Key players like IonQ and IBM have focused on refining performance metrics and modularity. Europe enhances its ecosystem through collaboration, while other firms emphasize commercial use cases. The industry now prioritizes applicable advancements over dramatic breakthroughs.

The emergence of two distinct digital identity models is highlighted through Apple and the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI). Apple’s approach relies on the iPhone for secure, user-friendly identity verification, while EUDI emphasizes a regulated, interoperable framework anchored in public standards. Each model presents unique implications for trust, security, and portability.

The 2025 Biometric Digital Identity Prism Report emphasizes a significant shift in the digital identity ecosystem, driven by rising fraud and privacy demands. It advocates for Resilient Trust, intertwining privacy and fraud prevention, highlighting Europe's leadership in privacy-centric identity. The report provides a roadmap to enhance security, governance, and user confidence.

The latest episode of the Innovating Trust podcast discusses the enduring significance of smart cards in the security industry. It examines their role in various applications, Europe's dominance in the supply chain, and the impact of emerging technologies like eSIM and AI. The episode serves as an essential briefing on digital trust foundations.

In Part 3 of this series we examine the future of secure identity systems, emphasizing that while smart cards may fade, their foundational technology will evolve. Post-quantum cryptography and AI governance necessitate a shift towards embedded secure elements in devices. This transition reflects broader digital trust needs, reinforcing hardware's critical role in identity and security.

TRUSTECH 2025 — Infineon is setting one of the clearest strategic lines on the show floor this year, presenting a unified story that brings together high-assurance authentication, post-quantum–ready hardware and the next wave of contactless payment technologies. Rather than treating identity, authentication and payments as separate technology tracks, Infineon’s presence at TRUSTECH 2025 frames them as a single trust infrastructure — one rooted in secure hardware and designed for the long transition ahead.

Part 2 of this series discusses the complex ecosystem behind smart cards, emphasizing their critical role in trust infrastructures across various sectors. It highlights the detailed supply chain, including secure elements and specialized operating systems, and underscores the importance of rigorous certification processes. The piece also notes Europe's strategic advantage in this industry and hints at future advancements amidst evolving security landscapes.

Smart cards have been crucial for over three decades, enabling secure payments, identity verification, and various public services. Despite predictions of obsolescence, they continue to evolve, proving resilient through integration and robust encryption. Smart cards' unique properties ensure they remain foundational to global trust infrastructures amidst increasing digital threats.

Europe is advancing its EU Digital Identity Wallet initiative, with significant industry collaboration ahead of the 2025 implementation deadline. By late 2026, every Member State must offer a certified wallet. Over 75 German organizations have joined to ensure smooth rollout and compliance. The upcoming 18 months are critical for establishing a functional trust layer.

The Innovating Trust podcast discusses the merging of hardware, cryptography, AI, and identity systems into a cohesive trust layer, addressing security challenges and future implications for governments and companies.

This article concludes the TQS series on Hardware Roots of Trust, highlighting the need for quantum-ready hardware to enhance digital trust across industries. It emphasizes the shift towards hybrid cryptography, long-term security design, and the importance of EU certifications in ensuring quantum resilience, positioning Europe at the forefront of this technological evolution.

The article discusses the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) from cloud-based systems to edge devices, emphasizing the importance of hardware-based security measures like Secure Boot and Trusted Execution Environments. It highlights various industrial applications, regulatory challenges, and advancements in post-quantum encryption, asserting that physical trust in silicon is essential for future AI deployments.

This article discusses the importance of hardware roots of trust in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to ensure data integrity and security amidst increasing cyber threats. It highlights mechanisms like cryptographic identities, secure boot processes, and regulatory compliance as essential for fostering trust and operational assurance in an interconnected industrial environment.

The latest episode of the Innovating Trust podcast delves into the impact of quantum computing on blockchain security. It discusses how quantum algorithms threaten existing cryptocurrency systems, exploring concepts like "proof-of-worry" and evolving risk models, while highlighting the importance of transitioning to quantum-safe security measures.

This article introduces a series on Hardware Roots of Trust, highlighting the significance of secure silicon and cryptographic designs in establishing digital trust across AI and industrial IoT. It addresses the importance of hardware integrity in decision-making and outlines the challenges posed by compromised systems, emphasizing the need for robust security measures in emerging technologies.

This article discusses quantum computing's threat to blockchain security, focusing on the "Harvest now, decrypt later" (HNDL) strategy. Attackers can harvest blockchain data today, confident they'll decrypt it in the future. With over 60% of transactions vulnerable to quantum attacks, Europe is advancing regulations and solutions to enhance cryptographic resilience and protect sensitive information.

Germany has initiated the quantum-ready identity era by demonstrating a national ID card secured with hybrid cryptography, blending classical and post-quantum methods. This advancement emphasizes the urgency for national identity systems to adapt before quantum threats materialize, prompting a strategic shift in Europe’s identity infrastructure towards quantum resilience.

This article discusses how quantum computing is transforming cryptocurrency trading, introducing quantum arbitrage that operates faster than classical methods. This technology promises to create tiers in the market, favoring quantum-enabled traders. Alongside challenges to security and ethics, Europe aims to regulate and ensure trust in this emerging landscape, balancing innovation and oversight.

The latest episode of Innovating Trust explores the reliability of digital twins in modern industries and discusses how autonomous systems depend on trustworthy digital counterparts amid increasing cybersecurity risks.