At DMEA 2026, Bundesdruckerei and its subsidiary D‑Trust were the first trust service providers to present SM‑B – a cardless institutional identity for the telematics infrastructure (TI). The virtual identities take another step towards the further development of the telematics infrastructure, TI 2.0.
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Instead of weeks of delivery times, the digital identity can be provided directly online. In the future, this should not only be possible for institutional cards, but also for electronic healthcare professional cards (eHBA). In the past there had been repeated problems with the exchange and delivery of the eHBA. Tests are currently taking place under real conditions; there is no approval yet.
Tests are running
“With the new process – the HSM-B solution – this physical card is no longer necessary: Instead, the digital institutional identity is integrated directly into a specially protected security module within the high-speed connector. This Hardware Security Module (HSM) “Automatically takes over the secure identification of the facility – without any additional hardware or PIN entries,” says Gematik. The HSM-B infrastructure can be provided via TI gateways.
How service providers can apply for certificates etc. to authenticate themselves to the telematics infrastructure.
(Image: Bundesdruckerei)
Lengthy ordering process for physical cards
For the current physical institution card of type SMC-B (Secure Module Card Type B), service providers such as doctors or pharmacists previously had to work through a complex ordering and delivery process. This process often took six weeks or longer and often resulted in delays in TI connectivity. This was particularly critical when cards were about to expire. HSM stands for “Hardware Security Module”, which generates, stores and processes key material. The identity itself continues to exist as a certificate (SM‑B), while the HSM‑B provides the secure operating environment for it.
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On the occasion of the DMEA, the provider ehex also announced that it would already be testing the HSM-B in productive operation with selected partners and connecting the first facilities via a TI gateway. This reduces a process that used to take weeks to just a few minutes. D‑Trust also names other TI gateway providers such as Worldline, Akquinet as well as Rise and Telekom as possible infrastructure partners.
(mack)
