GIESECKE+DEVRIENT GESELLSCHAFT MITBESCHRANKTER HAFTUNG

Their core work

Giesecke+Devrient (G&D) is a major German security technology company specializing in banknote production, smart cards, identity management, and secure digital infrastructure. Within H2020, they contributed expertise in trust services, digital authentication, and electronic identity systems — areas that directly extend their commercial work in payment security and government ID solutions. Their EU project involvement focused on building interoperable trust frameworks for cross-border digital transactions and biometric border security systems.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

All three of G&D's H2020 projects started in 2016 and ran through 2019, so there is no meaningful temporal evolution within their Horizon 2020 participation. Their involvement represents a concentrated push into EU-funded trust and identity research during a single period, likely aligned with the eIDAS regulation rollout across Europe. The consistency of theme — trust services, authentication, digital identity — suggests a deliberate strategic engagement rather than exploratory participation.

G&D's H2020 work was tightly focused on digital trust infrastructure during the eIDAS era; future collaborations would likely center on digital wallets, decentralized identity, and post-quantum secure authentication.

How they like to work

G&D never coordinated an H2020 project — they joined as a participant or third party, contributing specialized industry expertise to research-led consortia. Despite only three projects, they worked with 46 unique partners across 17 countries, indicating they operated within large, multi-national consortia typical of EU security research. This profile suggests a company that brings real-world deployment knowledge and industrial validation rather than driving the research agenda itself.

Through just three projects, G&D connected with 46 partners across 17 countries — a wide European network reflecting the large consortium sizes typical of H2020 security research. Their Munich base and German industrial standing likely made them a sought-after industry voice in trust and identity projects.

What sets them apart

G&D is one of the few global-scale security technology manufacturers (banknotes, smart cards, SIM cards) that participated in H2020 trust infrastructure research. This gives them a rare combination: deep understanding of physical and digital security at industrial scale, plus direct experience with EU trust frameworks and eIDAS-related standards. For consortium builders, G&D brings immediate credibility with government agencies and financial institutions, plus the ability to pilot results in real commercial products.

Highlights from their portfolio

• LIGHTest
  Directly addresses global trust management interoperability with DNS-based trust infrastructure — the most technically specific of G&D's projects and closest to their commercial identity business.
• FutureTrust
  Largest funding share for G&D (EUR 190,913) and focused on making trust services work for cross-border transactions — a problem with direct commercial applications.
• PROTECT
  Biometric border security project where G&D served as a third party, showing their reach into physical security and government border applications beyond digital-only trust.