CA DMV Recognizes Companies for Outstanding mDL Use Cases at First Community Hackathon

October 10, 2024

Sacramento – The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) today announced recognition awardees of its first community hackathon focused on expanding the use of the California mobile driver’s license (mDL). Held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View on October 1, 2024, this event brought together over 50 participants representing leading private sector businesses and innovators.

Teams presented a range of use cases designed to enhance secure, privacy-focused digital identity solutions using the California mDL. The hackathon highlighted the versatility and potential of mDLs in various industries, from financial services to retail, and showcased proposals addressing privacy and security, user experience, and social impact.

“We were impressed by the innovative solutions presented by the teams. Their efforts underscore the mDL’s potential to empower Californians to verify their identity in a safe and privacy-conscious way,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “These use cases demonstrate how mDL technology can impact both private and public sectors to the benefit of their customers.”

The following teams were recognized at the event for their outstanding contributions:

• Most Compelling and Most Socially Impactful
  Team Entidad
  Use Case – Integrating mDL for nonprofits to reach and enroll underserved community members into social benefits programs.

• Most Promising
  Team Cisco VC Verifiers 
  Use Case – Using mDL as a root digital identity to enable password less authentication.

• Best Privacy and Security Design
  Team Block
  Use Case – Leveraging mDL for point-of-sale age verification of age-restricted products sold by Square merchants.

• Most Scalable
  Team US Bank
  Use Case – Implementing mDL for in-person identity verification at bank branches, specifically for high-risk transactions.

• Best User Experience
  Team UltraPass
  Use Case – mDL, combined with encrypted biometric authentication, to streamline account creation for new users and helps businesses prevent users from creating duplicate accounts.

• Best Presentation
  Team MATTR (MATTR, Samsung, Treez, Nuvei)
  Use Case – mDL for identity and age verification in cannabis dispensary and delivery services.

• Best Independent Submission 
  Team UFI
  Use Case – Integrating mDL into existing Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems.

The hackathon, co-hosted by the OpenID Foundation, demonstrated the increasing acceptance of mDL technology and its potential to provide Californians with a convenient, secure, and privacy-protecting identity verification option and businesses an effective way to reduce fraud and improve operational efficiency. The DMV plans to continue exploring mDL’s potential through future events, including a second hackathon scheduled for November 1 in Sacramento, which will focus on public sector applications. Local, state, federal and international government entities will participate in this event.

The DMV’s mDL pilot, available through the California DMV Wallet app, continues to evolve with more than 780,000 Californians already participating. For more information on how to enroll, visit dmv.ca.gov/mdl. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/ca-dmv-wallet.