Discover HaDEA-managed projects in the field of blockchain

At the beginning of December, Brussels turns for a couple of days into the capital of blockchain, as the 7^th edition of the Blockchain for Europe Annual Summit kicks off. This year's engaging and insightful programme explores the role of blockchain technology in digital finance and its broader impact on the EU economy. It also delves into decentralised infrastructure and examines how blockchain intersects with other key technological domains, including AI, cybersecurity, and practical applications such as the Digital Product Passport.

The Digital Europe Programme is supporting the uptake of blockchain across Europe by fostering efficient, interoperable digital public services and strengthening trust in digital transformation.
To this end, HaDEA’s blockchain portfolio seeks to further develop, reinforce, pilot, and deploy the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) and its use cases, such as the secure, interoperable, and long-term verifiable issuance and verification of Digital Product Passports (DPP). Let’s take a closer look at some of the projects driving the development of EBSI and its wider ecosystem.

• Trace4EUaimed to create an “umbrella architecture” building on existing EBSI services, forming the basis for nine traceability application scenarios: five focused on the traceability of data and documents, and four on the traceability of products and materials. Within the latter, the project implemented a scenario demonstrating the issuance and verification of a Digital Product Passport (DPP) in a protected, interoperable, and traceable manner. This scenario addressed key challenges in the battery value chain, including long product lifecycles, helping to support a more efficient, productive, and competitive industry. The project showed that EBSI-based issuance can be integrated into an operational DPP system to enhance traceability, and that using EBSI’s infrastructure enables the creation of a secure, robust, and globally interoperable DPP. It also illustrated how blockchain technologies can improve product lifecycle management, compliance processes, and consumer trust in product authenticity. Finally, Trace4EU verified the technical feasibility of using EBSI for credential issuance and verification, data identity resolution, and timestamped data recording in line with EU regulatory requirements.
• OnePass focused on improving how SMEs manage, store, and share their credentials with financing bodies—whether public, semi-public, or private—by deploying the EBSI SME Financing pilot use case. OnePass, a technical solution designed to address specific funding challenges, aimed to connect investable SMEs from modest innovation ecosystems with private funding sources in countries leading in investment and capital. A key achievement was enabling a more efficient and cost-effective funding journey through the “once-only principle”, whereby an organisation’s data is entered just once and then re-used to match, pre-qualify, and submit applications for both public and private funding opportunities.

Background

European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) is a partnership of all EU Member States, Norway, Liechtenstein and Ukraine, building a European Blockchain Services Infrastructure.

The Digital Europe Programme (DEP) aims to build the strategic digital capacities of the EU and to facilitate the wide deployment of digital technologies. With an overall budget of €7.5 billion, out of which €0.8 billion is managed by HaDEA, the programme will support investments in the following sectors:

• High Performance Computing.
• Cloud, data and Artificial Intelligence.
• Cybersecurity.
• Advanced digital skills.
• Accelerating best use of technologies.