Unveiling the Potential: Assessing the Role of SSI Wallets in Promoting

Sustainability in Federated Learning Environments

Damanpreet Singh Walia

1 a

, Ksenia Neumann

1 b

, Visman Jeet Singh Walia

, Malte Rathjens

Stefan Weidner

and Klaus Turowski

1,2

BIRD Lab, Faculty of Computer Science, Otto-von-Guericke University, Universit

atsplatz 12, Magdeburg, Germany

SAP University Competence Center, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

Keywords:

SSI, Self-Sovereign Identity, Wallet, BIRD, Sustainability, Federated Learning Environment, Education, UN,

Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, Education for Sustainable Development, ESD.

Abstract:

Quality Education is listed as goal number four among the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals mani-

fested by the United Nations. There exist an endless number of ways to positively inﬂuence the quality of ed-

ucation in a given country. This paper proposes how it can be accomplished by unveiling the potential of Self-

Sovereign Identity Wallets in federated learning environments such as National Educational Platform. The

speciﬁc scenario described in this work is based on the research conducted within the project Bildungsraum

Digital, funded by the NextGenerationEU and German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

1 INTRODUCTION

”Digital technologies can accelerate achievement of

the SDGs but only if governments act now” (Vora and

Ingram, 2023). Not only German Government has

been proactively advocating for and supporting the

United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals

(SDG) in general since the beginning (BMZ, 2023), it

has also undertaken numerous actions such as a) en-

forcing digitization within educational institutions by

passing new laws (BMI, 2024) and b) funding digi-

tization projects such as Nationale Bildungsplattform

(NBP; eng.: “National Education Platform”) (BMBF,

2024), Bildungsraum Digital (BIRD; eng.: “Digi-

tal Educational Space”) (DAAD, 2024), eService-

Agentur Hochschulen Sachsen-Anhalt (eng.: ”eS-

ervice ofﬁce for higher education Saxony-Anhalt”)

(eSALSA, 2024) and others. This and more has

been done in order to provide German citizens with

a higher level of education, which directly and posi-

tively inﬂuences the overall future welfare of a coun-

try (Neumann et al., 2023) and, thus, automatically

committing to the UN SDG Number 4 for Quality

Education. Fulﬁlling this goal can be accomplished

through various means such as decreasing the bureau-

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4044-5613

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3713-8893

cracy level at educational institutions, abolishing un-

necessary print-outs, reducing the number of accounts

across various systems i.e. making the data storage

more efﬁcient and sustainable. COVID-19 (Coron-

avirus SARS-CoV-2) pandemics, analogue to a lit-

mus test, allowed to clearly identify major sustain-

ability problems in the federated learning environ-

ments. Combating these problems means increasing

the level of digitization among Higher Education In-

stitutions (HEI) (Staegemann. et al., 2022) processes.

This work is undertaking another step towards

tackling the problem of enhancing the level of sustain-

ability within the federated learning environments.

The approach proposed in this paper is to apply Self-

Sovereign Identity (SSI) Wallet technology within

German universities, in order to simplify the technol-

ogy usage (lower the entry barrier) in general, im-

prove university processes, decrease the level of bu-

reaucracy as well as to save human and system re-

sources by decreasing the number of accounts com-

pared to a common current set up at HEI.

The underlying paper is structured as follows.

Subsequently to the introduction, the second part

brieﬂy provides the current state of related research

and past ﬁndings in the area of using wallets in the

federated learning environments. Section 3 in de-

tail introduces the concept and architecture of the

BIRD Wallet. It also presents possible use cases

502

Walia, D., Neumann, K., Walia, V., Rathjens, M., Weidner, S. and Turowski, K.

Unveiling the Potential: Assessing the Role of SSI Wallets in Promoting Sustainability in Federated Learning Environments.

DOI: 10.5220/0012693400003693

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2024) - Volume 1, pages 502-509

ISBN: 978-989-758-697-2; ISSN: 2184-5026

for sustainable future and how the BIRD Wallet can

be integrated within federated learning environments.

Thereafter, a possible estimation of the current re-

search’s impact is provided in Section 4 along with

a discussion and outlook on possible application sce-

narios for future research. Finally, the paper is sum-

marized in the Conclusion as well as implications

on the operating federated learning environments are

provided.

2 RELATED WORK

This section provides current state-of-the-art in the re-

search related to the usage of mobile wallets in the

federated learning environments such as universities

as well as on whether and how it affects the sustain-

ability aspect.

The federated learning environment can also be

viewed as a federation in which all educational actors

come together to form a group (Guo and Zeng, 2020)

and provide seamless accessibility to a group of edu-

cational services for educational users. For example

Project BIRD (DAAD, 2024).

As stated in the Brundtland’s World Commission

on Environment and Development book by (Brundt-

land, 1987) social, economic, and environmental di-

mensions of sustainability are interdependent. It im-

plies that if one strives to improve sustainability by

affecting the environmental dimension, the other two

dimensions would be affected as well. Substan-

tial research has been done for examining this inter-

dependency.

An empirical study by (Katini et al., 2023) has

examined the factors inﬂuencing the relationship be-

tween the mobile wallet use and the environmental

sustainability. The outcome of the study identiﬁed

that such factors as perceived security, performance

expectancy and several others positively impact mo-

bile wallet usage and, thus, contribute towards envi-

ronmental sustainability. The authors also state that

mobile wallet usage would reduce all forms of pollu-

tion. However, this paper focuses solely on the mobile

wallets used for payments. There have been several

attempts towards applying SSI technology in educa-

tional domain such as (Kortemeyer, 2022), (Kavas-

salis, 2020) and (Strack et al., 2022). Addition-

ally, a technical exploration provided by Samenwerk-

ende Universitaire Rekenfaciliteiten (eng.: Collabo-

rating University Computing Facilities) (van Dijk and

Rikken, 2023) states that SSI wallet usage offers vari-

ous advantages for education and research, providing

a proof of concept.

2.1 Sustainable University

Sustainable universities play a pivotal role in advanc-

ing Sustainable Development, with HEI assuming a

distinct social responsibility for shaping future lead-

ers’ education and fostering widespread public aware-

ness of sustainability (Amaral et al., 2015). Serv-

ing as catalysts for collaboration between government

and industry (SDSN, 2020), sustainable universities

are characterized by four dimensions: Education, Re-

search, Community Outreach, and Campus Opera-

tions (Alshuwaikhat and Abubakar, 2008).

The evolution from Information and Communica-

tion Technologies to Clean Technologies, which em-

phasize environmentally friendly practices, is notable.

HEI are increasingly embracing digital services, elim-

inating the necessity for physical presence and align-

ing with the principles of clean technologies to pro-

mote sustainability . (Abad-Segura et al., 2020)

In the realm of education, the integration of Digi-

tal Transformation represents a dynamic process that

necessitates an evolution in teaching methodologies.

This transformation aims to enhance the overall edu-

cational experience, fostering efﬁciency and facilitat-

ing collaboration (Verhoef and Du Toit, 2018). HEI

are adopting hybrid approaches, blending traditional

and virtual spaces, thereby bridging online and of-

ﬂine learning modalities. This shift is indicative of

a broader trend, including contemporary educational

methods such as Do It Yourself education (Abad-

Segura et al., 2020).

Beyond the considerations of physical sustainabil-

ity, another facet of Sustainable Education can be de-

lineated with respect to enduring equitable education

and the promotion of Lifelong Learning.

This second aspect is also included within SDG

Number 4, as the Key elements of the SDG Number 4

are Lifelong Learning Journey and ”by 2030 Ensure

equal access for all men and women to quality techni-

cal, professional and superior training, including uni-

versity education” (United Nations, 2015). Integrat-

ing Digital learning within the institute facilitates the

above goals as well as it also contributes to improved

student academic performance and disabling the need

of the physical classes (Benta et al., 2015).

2.2 Self-Sovereign Identity

SSI epitomizes a paradigm shift in digital identity

management, endowing individuals with the auton-

omy to selectively share information. This not only

imparts a heightened level of security but also stands

in stark contrast to traditional, centralized identity

providers. The decentralized nature of SSI ensures

Unveiling the Potential: Assessing the Role of SSI Wallets in Promoting Sustainability in Federated Learning Environments

503

Figure 1: Entities of SSI and trust triangle, taken from (Walt.id, 2024).

individuals maintain control over their personal data,

thereby mitigating the risks inherent in centralized

databases. This enhanced security, coupled with the

individual’s authority to determine the extent of in-

formation disclosure, positions SSI as a robust solu-

tion for digital identity management. Its implications

for privacy and security resonate signiﬁcantly in our

increasingly interconnected world. (Tobin and Reed,

2016)

SSI comprises of three integral components as

shown in Figure 1:

• Holder. Someone who can receive, manage and

share their digital Veriﬁable

• Issuer. Party with the authority to issue the digital

Veriﬁable Credentials (VC)

• Veriﬁer. Party verifying the digital VC

This tripartite structure not only streamlines identity

processes but also reinforces the security and privacy

foundations upon which SSI is built.

2.3 Self-Sovereign Identity in Higher

Education Institutions

A variety of stakeholders are actively working to-

wards integrating SSI wallets within the educational

sector, notably in HEI. These efforts largely empha-

size the efﬁciency gains brought forth by the digiti-

zation of processes. To realize this goal, the encryp-

tion of data and the establishment of trust are essential

components inherent to the SSI framework (van Dijk

and Rikken, 2023).

However, it remains unclear what potential ex-

ists, or could be achieved, for equitable and Lifelong

Learning through the use of SSI Wallets in the educa-

tional context. These aspects are incorporated into the

use case of the NBP presented in subsequent section.

3 BIRD WALLET

The BIRD project (DAAD, 2024), a prototype initia-

tive under the NBP, has embraced the evolving con-

cept of SSI wallet to facilitate digitalization. The

rationale behind incorporating the SSI wallet in this

project is to establish a robust and sustainable dig-

ital infrastructure speciﬁcally tailored for federated

learning environments. To comprehensively explore

the implications of this integration, it is imperative to

delve into the design of the wallet, its seamless inte-

gration with the learning environment, and the various

use cases that contribute to fostering a sustainable fu-

ture.

3.1 Wallet Design

The interoperable BIRD Wallet as depicted in Figure

2, a customized Enmeshed app, maintains a consis-

tent operational principle, as depicted in the layered

architecture of the Enmeshed app illustrated in Figure

3. This wallet incorporates SSI principles, empower-

ing users with control over their data while improv-

ing security through a zero-knowledge backbone ar-

chitecture — without the use of decentralized ledger

technologies such as blockchains. Notably, the back-

bone employs state-of-the-art encryption to store data,

ensuring that even the backbone administrator cannot

access users’ personal data.

The Enmeshed architecture comprises of follow-

CSEDU 2024 - 16th International Conference on Computer Supported Education

504

Figure 2: BIRD Wallet.

ing three main components (Enmeshed, 2024):

• App

The end-user software client provides an applica-

tion for utilizing wallet functionalities. Users can

securely store and share messages and documents

through the free to download wallet app. This

component serves as the interface for interacting

with the wallet, facilitating user engagement and

data management.

• Backbone

Functioning as a centralized encrypted storage

and communication component, the backbone

plays a pivotal role in facilitating message routing

with zero-knowledge. This component serves as

the cornerstone for communication between var-

ious elements of the system and functions as a

data-access, backup, and synchronization helper

for user identities. Notably, the backbone en-

sures robust security measures, preventing even

the backbone administrator from accessing sensi-

tive personal data.

• Connector

Designed as a software client for organizations,

the connector is intended to be hosted on-site for

seamless integration of business logics. It features

a REST API that integrates all wallet function-

alities, and it is responsible for encryption and

decryption on the ﬂy. The connector acts as a

bridge between the wallet and organizational sys-

tems, facilitating secure communication and data

exchange.

The layered diagram and components of the En-

meshed app provide a comprehensive and high-level

overview of the design of the BIRD Wallet. This de-

sign not only emphasizes user-centric features, such

as secure messaging and document sharing but also

underscores the importance of robust security mea-

sures, particularly in the context of zero-knowledge

architecture. The BIRD Wallet, with its tailored im-

plementation within the Enmeshed framework, aims

to strike a balance between user empowerment and

data security, offering a promising solution in the

landscape of digital wallets and identity management

systems.

3.2 Use Cases for Sustainable Future

The preceding research outlines four conceivable sce-

narios for a German National Education Platform cur-

rently undergoing prototyping in the BIRD Lab: clas-

sical learning environments, simulation games, ex-

tracurricular certiﬁcations, and the digitization of ad-

ministrative processes (Staegemann. et al., 2022).

These scenarios are centered around HEI, where the

BIRD Wallet reveals several potential use cases:

• Administrator

Receive digital documents or identity data, Re-

ceive course fees, Send notiﬁcations, Send digital

VC, Sendreceive queries

• Applicant

Submit digital documents or identity data for

course applications, Pay course fees, Receive no-

tiﬁcations or digital VC from the institute, Store

and manage digital VC, Sendreceive queries

• Student

Submit digital assignments, tests, or exams, Re-

ceive notiﬁcations from teachers, departments, or

the institute, Receive digital VC from the institute,

Store and manage digital VC, Secure access to

digital educational services, Send/receive queries

• Lecturer

Send lecture material or announcements to stu-

dents, Secure access to digital educational ser-

vices, Send/receive queries

Furthermore, the BIRD platform fosters a fed-

erated learning environment where users can search

Unveiling the Potential: Assessing the Role of SSI Wallets in Promoting Sustainability in Federated Learning Environments

505

Figure 3: Wallet’s layer architecture, taken from (Enmeshed, 2024).

self-assessment tests, preparatory courses, language

courses, vocational courses, and degree programs us-

ing the ”Learning Path Finder” tool borrowed from

Digitaler Campus (Bock and Jelinski, 2023). Adher-

ing to Privacy by Design principles, the platform en-

sures that user search data is neither stored nor re-

trieved from cookies. Users can also schedule tasks

through the ”Task Scheduler” tool on the BIRD plat-

form, leading to additional use cases for BIRD plat-

form users leveraging the BIRD Wallet:

• Sharing digital VC to facilitate trusted user

searches

• Sharing attributes to ﬁlter search results

• Receiving notiﬁcations of scheduled tasks

• Secure access to the platform

This delineation underscores the several ways in

which the BIRD Wallet can be integrated into digi-

tal learning infrastructures, envisioning a sustainable

future for education. The seamless alignment of the

BIRD Wallet with diverse user roles and functional-

ities within the educational ecosystem contributes to

its potential as a robust and versatile tool for enhanc-

ing the overall learning experience.

3.3 Integration to Federated Learning

Environment

To actualize the aforementioned use cases, the inte-

gration of the BIRD Wallet with both the BIRD plat-

form and university systems is imperative. The use

cases on the BIRD platform, with the exception of se-

cure access, have already been implemented by seam-

lessly integrating the BIRD Wallet into the platform,

as illustrated in the system architecture depicted in

Figure 4. Adhering to the principles outlined by En-

meshed, the BIRD platform extends features to wallet

users by hosting the wallet connector. The communi-

cation between the hosted connector and wallet takes

place through the secure backbone, which also facili-

tates storage and management functionalities.

The integration with university systems is a criti-

cal step towards the realization of all presented poten-

tial use cases. The blueprint for this implementation is

elucidated in the system architecture diagram in Fig-

ure 5. Existing university systems include the Identity

and Access Manager, Campus Management System,

and Learning systems. Parallel to the integration with

the BIRD platform, a prototypical integration of the

wallet with a Campus Management System has al-

ready been accomplished to enable the sharing of doc-

uments bidirectionally. As part of the BIRD project, a

signature service named Signier Service has been pro-

totyped. Given the criticality of ensuring trust in dig-

ital credentials, the integration of Signier Service is

currently in progress. Simultaneously, efforts are un-

derway to integrate the wallet with learning systems.

In addition to these integrations, an ongoing pre-

liminary study is examining the feasibility of lever-

aging SSI principles for identity management. This

study aims to explore the potential utilization of the

BIRD Wallet in providing secure access in a more

user-centric manner. The exploration of SSI as an

Identity Manager aligns with the broader goals of the

BIRD project, emphasizing a user-centric approach to

secure access and identity management.

In summary, the integration efforts encompass

both the BIRD platform and university systems,

paving the way for a comprehensive implementation

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506

Figure 4: System architecture: BIRD Wallet integration with BIRD platform.

Figure 5: System architecture: BIRD Wallet integration with University systems.

of the BIRD Wallet across diverse use cases. This in-

tegration not only enhances the functionalities avail-

able to users but also contributes to the realization of

a secure, user-centric, and versatile digital learning

ecosystem.

4 DISCUSSION & OUTLOOK

Various parties such as government, academic actors

and businesses are paying close attention to the de-

velopment of the SSI wallets in context of HEI. As

SSI technology offers numerous beneﬁts and advan-

tages, it becomes lucrative also for the educational in-

stitutions to integrate the SSI wallets in their system

landscapes. The related work demonstrates the po-

tential use cases of SSI wallets getting unveiled in ed-

ucational settings to increase security and streamline

processes. Using the potential of this secure and user-

centric technology could lead to not only simplifying

the user experience but also positively impacting the

sustainability aspect within the federated learning en-

vironment.

This paper contributes to the discourse by propos-

ing several application scenarios and use cases, as

well as suggests system architectures for integrating

the SSI wallet. In addition to streamlining process and

increasing security, this approach also exhibits how

SSI wallets can enable digital educational infrastruc-

tures to support Lifelong Learning. It is also conceiv-

Unveiling the Potential: Assessing the Role of SSI Wallets in Promoting Sustainability in Federated Learning Environments

507

able that the integration of SSI wallets into the sys-

tem architectures of HEI could lead to an increased

number of digital teaching offerings. Concomitantly,

the simpliﬁcation of administrative processes at HEI

may allow access to courses and content for indi-

viduals who, due to their socio-economic situation,

would otherwise be excluded in a present environ-

ment. Thus, the deployment of this technology can

also support equal education and thereby contribute to

the achievement of other sub-goal(s) of SDG Number

4. However, as it is a proposition paper and imple-

mentation is currently in the prototypical state. The

authors have not yet provided any empirical evidence

actually improving the sustainability or measuring by

how much it was improved compared to the existing

system architectures. Further investigations are in-

tended to assess how the integration of SSI wallets

into the federated learning system affects the behav-

ior of stakeholders in education, particularly students.

Consequently, assessing the impact on the sustain-

able future of HEI is a multifaceted task that requires

a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies in-

volved in the integration of SSI wallets.

As (Katini et al., 2023) highlights in their work,

the role of mobile wallets in not only reducing CO2

emissions. Inspired by their methodology in measur-

ing outcomes, for future work we contemplate con-

ducting a survey to gather qualitative feedback on

how the SSI wallet is beneﬁting educational users in

context of the aforementioned use cases in HEI.

Currently the BIRD project progresses on the pro-

totypical implementation and there will be an open

beta testing phase for the NBP, more steps can be

taken towards measuring the actual impact on sustain-

ability.

5 CONCLUSION

Governments and societies need to equip their cit-

izens with necessary competencies, knowledge and

values crucial for creating a sustainable future to-

gether (UNESCO, 2024). One of the ﬁve main focus

areas of UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Devel-

opment is transforming learning environments in or-

der to promote sustainability. That is precisely what

the BIRD Lab is trying to achieve: providing new

application scenarios for federated learning environ-

ments through innovation and prototypically imple-

menting those.

The publication at hand outlines the BIRD Lab’s

proposal on unveiling the whole potential of what SSI

Wallets offer and how their usage can promote the

sustainability within federated learning environments.

Hereby, the contribution is twofold, on the one hand,

it helps enhancing the digital infrastructure for a sus-

tainable university and, on the other hand, possible

use cases for interoperability are provided. Moreover,

this paper presents how SSI Wallets can be integrated

within BIRD platform and University system land-

scapes in general, thus, providing the foundation for

further research.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

BIRD is funded by the European Union – NextGen-

erationEU through a grant from the Federal Ministry

of Education and Research. The views and opinions

expressed are solely those of the authors and do not

necessarily reﬂect the views of the European Union

or the European Commission. Neither the European

Union nor the European Commission can be held re-

sponsible for them. The project is conducted in co-

operation with: University of Potsdam, Deutscher

Akademischer Austauschdienst, Technical University

of Berlin, Otto-von-Guericke University of Magde-

burg, Gesellschaft f

ur wissenschaftliche Datenverar-

beitung mbH G

ottingen, Gesellschaft f

ur Akademis-

che Studienvorbereitung und Testentwicklung, edu-

sharing Network, FernUniversit

at in Hagen, B

undnis

ur Bildung e.V., Mathplan GmbH and T-Systems.

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