The Linux Foundation wants to do for digital wallets what it did for the private enterprise blockchains used by the likes of Walmart, IBM and Maersk.
Working with companies such as Accenture and CVS Health, as well as digital identity providers including Spherity and the Open ID Foundation, the open source software organization has created the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF).
The goal is to create an interoperable and open-source software engine and platform for cross-asset digital wallet development. It would allow companies to develop secure, interactive wallets usable for everything from making payments to holding verifiable digital identification documents and digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), documents and key codes.
While the foundation doesn’t intend to create or credential a wallet itself, the group said in a press release that it does intend to “achieve feature parity with the best available wallets.”
In doing so, it could usher in a new set of tools useful for creating blockchain-based superwallets that can store everything from credit cards and banking information to stock and cryptocurrency assets to biometric identity data — and even medical records.
“Universal digital wallet infrastructure will create the ability to carry tokenized identity, money, and objects from place to place in the digital world,” said David Treat, global metaverse continuum business group and blockchain lead for Accenture, an OWF member. “Massive business model change is coming, and the winning digital business will be the one that earns trust to directly access the real data in our wallets to create much better digital experiences.”
Doing that, he said, will require superwallets that are consistent, interoperable and portable while maintaining privacy, security and inclusiveness.
“As our lives become more and more digital, it is critical to have strong and interoperable digital wallets that can properly safeguard our digital properties, whether it is our identities, data, or money,” said Kaliya Young, founder and principal of OWF member Identity Woman in Business. “We are very excited to see the emergence of the OpenWallet Foundation, particularly its mission to bring key stakeholders together to create a core wallet engine (instead of another wallet) that can empower the actual wallet providers to build better products at lower cost.”
What’s Your Wallet Made Of?
The Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Foundation project for private or “permissioned” distributed ledgers provides a good example of what the OWF can become. These centralized blockchains provide a way for companies to use the tools of blockchain while keeping control of their data.
It offers a collection of tools and a code library for developers like IBM, which is behind Hyperledger Fabric, a “flavor” that powers the IBM Food Trust that Walmart uses to track foodstuff like leafy greens from the farm to the shelf. Various suppliers and shippers are able to see their data, which is inaccessible to competitors, while Walmart can see everything.
See also: Enterprise Blockchain Series: What Is Hyperledger Fabric?
This is the model the OpenWallet Foundation would pursue.
Healthy Gains
“Providing secure identity and validated credential services are key for enabling a high assurance health care service,” said Robert Samuel, executive director of technology research and innovation at CVS Health. “The OpenWallet Foundation could contribute a key role in promoting the deployment of highly effective secure digital health care systems that benefits the industry.”
Among other things, the goal of healthcare-focused blockchain projects is to give individuals control of their health data by storing it in an immutable blockchain that not only makes it portable by the owner, but also allows individuals to parcel out access to that data on a need-to-know basis.
Doctors might be able to see everything, and health insurance companies and pharmacies could see what they need — for example, does this person have condition X, which requires medication Y, and is it covered? Employers could have very limited access, such as being able to connect to all employees’ wallets and learn that a certain number of employees have diabetes or high blood pressure without knowing which ones.
It’s not just about money. A 2021 report by the Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Program noted that a study by Johns Hopkins found “the third leading cause of death in the US was medical errors that resulted from poorly coordinated care, such as planned actions not completed as intended, or errors of omission in patient records.”
While it said one solution is “blockchain-based medical record systems [that] can be linked into existing medical record software and act as an overarching, single view of a patient’s record,” digital wallets of the type the OWF is describing — which may or may not use blockchain technology — would provide many of the same access and features.
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