Nijmegen explores digital credentials for better public services

The municipality as a source of credentials

From birth to death, municipalities record life events, rights and decisions. Examples include birth certificates, address details and permits, such as street-trading or event permits.

Behind each document are municipal records and rules about who may demonstrate what. This makes municipalities an important source for digital credentials that residents and businesses can receive and share through a wallet.

A street-trading permit as a test case

When exploring these possibilities, Nijmegen and Ver.iD looked at Annex VI to the eIDAS Regulation. It lists attributes including address, civil status, family composition, powers of representation and, under item 10, public permits and licences. Member States must enable qualified trust service providers to verify these attributes electronically against authentic public sector sources at the user’s request.

Nijmegen and Ver.iD therefore investigated permit issuance, using a street-trading permit as a practical test case.

A trader faces an inspection at his stall. He needs to demonstrate that his permit applies to that location and time. In the trial, they are exploring how he can share those details from his wallet, so he does not first have to look for a separate document.

Annex VI to eIDAS, item 10 (Dutch, page 55)

Developing shared rules within Common Ground

To test this, the parties need to establish which data the credential contains, who may receive and present it, and how it is verified. These questions also arise in other municipalities. Investigating them together allows municipalities to share experience and build on common rules. This fits with Common Ground, where municipalities work together on reusable solutions for their information systems.

The Common Ground fieldlabs provided a setting to develop the permit example further. Nijmegen contributed the municipal use case and sources; Ver.iD helped develop the rulebook, issuance integration and wallet trials. The aim was to gain practical experience with a demo and an early draft rulebook.

A rulebook describes what a credential means, which data it contains and the rules for issuance, use and revocation. For the permit, the team also considered how someone acts on behalf of a business. Comparing those rules with a working example made design questions concrete and open to discussion.

The trials from January to September

In successive fieldlab trials, Nijmegen and Ver.iD worked on the demos, the user experience and the rules governing the credentials. They took the following steps in 2026.

1. January 2026

   A permit in Yivi

   An initial technical setup and a street-trading permit demonstration using Yivi’s demo scheme.

2. March 2026

   Trials with NL Wallet

   Testing NL Wallet, issuing an initial demo credential and further developing the user experience.

3. May 2026

   An initial draft rulebook

   Nijmegen and Ver.iD jointly wrote an initial version of the permit rulebook. It remains a draft and has not been put into production.

4. September 2026

   Guardianship and authorisation too

   Developing an additional example for guardianship and authorisation. This also raises the question of who may act on someone else’s behalf.

Sharing the progress so far

The trials have produced demos and draft rulebooks that provide a basis for further experiments.

On 22 September 2026, Nijmegen and Ver.iD presented their results to date at the ECP symposium on the European Business Wallet. At UNFOLD #5, taking place on 7 and 8 October 2026 in Nijmegen, they will present their interim results.

ECP symposium, 22 September 2026

UNFOLD #5, 7 and 8 October 2026

Continuing to experiment together

In the coming period, Nijmegen and Ver.iD want to test the demos further and refine the draft rulebooks. They will explore which parts can be applied to other municipal credentials and life events.

The experience with the street-trading permit provides a starting point for further trials. For Nijmegen and Ver.iD, residents’ needs remain the guiding principle: submitting an application, sharing data or demonstrating their circumstances should become easier.