The program looks to nurture an R&D environment for technologies with potential government use cases.

The government project is looking to assess solutions that "catalyze, develop, enhance, and operationalize a set of privacy-preserving building blocks that can support the needs of a privacy-preserving digital credentialing ecosystem."

A 'Digital Wallets Call Industry Day' event will be held on August 18 to help vendors understand the requirements and how to apply.

In particular, the project is looking for "privacy preserving technical capabilities" that support and integrate with the three-party digital identity model (issuer, holder, verifier) enabled by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Verifiable Credential Data Model (VCDM), and W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs).

In addition, applications will need to be seen to meet the needs of the DHS Operational Components and Offices, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the DHS Privacy Office (PRIV).

Applications must respond and must fit into the technical specifications of either a "Digital Wallet" or "Mobile Wallet" to be eligible.

In the case of digital wallets, the project is seeking applications that are "useful across contexts and jurisdictions, and can support credentials made possible with W3C VCDM/DID standards that include verified support for DHS-issued credentials."