Digital Disability ID Pilot Project Planned

A pilot project is set to launch in the German states of Thuringia and Hamburg, introducing a digital identity card for individuals with severe disabilities. The initiative aims to streamline the process for citizens to prove their disability status using digital means, thereby easing daily life and enhancing administrative efficiency.

Milen Starke, Thuringia's State Secretary for Digitalization, stated that the project seeks to develop a modern, digital solution. "With this pilot project, we want to find a modern, digital solution that makes everyday life easier for people with severe disabilities and at the same time makes administration more efficient," she said. The project is also intended to serve as a model for future administrative procedures involving data exchange between authorities and the automatic provision of information for online applications.

The digital disability ID is planned to be accessible via the EUDI-Wallet, the European Digital Identity Wallet, on smartphones. This wallet is intended to be an app for digital identities, capable of managing important documents digitally. The EUDI-Wallet is expected to be available in all EU member states by early 2027. The pilot project in Thuringia will run until September 2027, with its findings forming the basis for a nationwide rollout of the digital disability ID in Germany.

Federal funding for the project amounts to 1.2 million euros. According to the Thuringian State Office for Statistics, at the end of 2025, one in ten people in Thuringia held a severe disability ID, totaling 216,080 individuals. This represented an increase of 7,205 people compared to two years prior. More than half of these individuals were aged 65 and older.