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Identity Management and Cybersecurity in Telematic Processes (GIC TEL)
Joint Research Unit
Project completed on September 30, 2025.
In 2022, Gradiant and Councilbox created a new joint research unit (UMI) focused on innovation in Identity Management and Cybersecurity.
With a cumulative investment of close to 2 million euros between the two entities, of which the Xunta de Galicia contributed, through the Galician Innovation Agency, more than 700,000 euros, approximately 40% of the total budget.
Project supported by the Consellería de Economía, Empleo e Industria de la Xunta de Galicia.
Project context
In the fields of technologies for legal (“LegalTech”) and administrative (“GovTech”) processes and in particular in the areas of activity of Councilbox, such as telematic meetings with legal certainty and video assistance to citizens, it is of vital importance to maintain high standards of security and privacy in the different parts of the process to guarantee their validity. maintaining the best standards of usability and the least possible friction of the user who uses the products, without the measures implemented being a barrier to their effective and efficient use.
There are a number of key elements whose optimisation in terms of security and usability through innovative technologies can be of a differential value. They are potentially the following:
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- Secure and simple identity verification and management: verifying the identity of users is key to being able to carry out the processes supported by the software solutions developed. The use of secure biometric systems and the validation of the documents provided in the process, in addition to allowing compliance with the different regulations they apply, increase security and simplify the verification process for the user.
- Ensure the validity of signature processes: these systems have electronic signature processes to seal and verify the content of the documentation generated and, therefore, the improvement in the usability, security and performance of digital signature systems improves the user experience and ensures the validity of the process.
- Legal validity of electronic voting: it is essential that these systems comply with confidentiality and privacy protection requirements. The use of reliable and verifiable computing algorithms improves the electronic voting system.
Legal validity in the storage of evidence: throughout the process, evidence is stored that must guarantee temporary sealing and immutability. The use of blockchain networks meets the objective, but it has a series of limitations that need to be overcome.
Initial objectives of the project
At the beginning of the project, the following objectives were proposed:
Identity management.
- Improvement of the usability, security and performance of centralised identity management systems and digital signatures based on the use of digital certificates.
- Research and development of new decentralized identity models that are respectful of user privacy and adapt to upcoming regulatory changes in the field of electronic identification.
- Research and development of biometric recognition algorithms for identity verification.
- Research and development of computer vision algorithms and/or digital forensics for document validation.
- Application and evaluation of the technology developed for identity management in Councilbox solutions.
Cybersecurity.
- Research and development of secure hardware device-based platforms for reliable and verified computing of information.
- Research and development of technology for the secure processing of information in the encrypted domain.
- Research and development of algorithms for detecting anomalies in logs.
- Substantial improvement of our own modern methodology against current threats and attacks.
- Research and development of a scalable system for the generation of digital evidence.
Application and evaluation of the technology developed in cybersecurity in Councilbox’s solutions.
Lines of research
The technologies developed at the UMI covered two main blocks in the process, which were included in two main lines of research:
- Identity management. This line of research was aimed at the research and application of technologies with the aim of improving the usability, security and performance of current identity systems taking into account the applicable regulations and legislation, through the research and development of biometric verification and document validation systems.
New decentralized identity models respectful of the privacy of the end user were also explored, using data minimization techniques that would allow the user full control of identity attributes, as well as share only the information necessary for identification and authentication.
- Cybersecurity. This line of research focused on the research and application of technologies aimed at implementing protection mechanisms during data processing, cybersecurity anomaly detection techniques , secure system development methods and advanced techniques to efficiently record and trace digital evidence that increase confidence in the delivery of products and services to customers.
Councilbox and Gradiant, members of the UMI
The promoters of the Joint Unit were COUNCILBOX TECHNOLOGY SL, a leading company in offering legal certainty to telematic meetings of corporate governance bodies and video-face-to-face citizen service procedures, and GRADIANT, a Technology Centre specialising in Security and Data Analytics solutions.
The Joint Unit created by both promoted R+D in the lines of research in identity management and cybersecurity, so that both Gradiant and Councilbox benefited from this collaboration.
In order to carry out the objectives of the joint unit, it was necessary to ensure technical complementarity between Councilbox and Gradiant in the defined technological lines of research, which were designed to evolve the technologies that have the greatest potential to be applicable in Councilbox’s solutions, and in turn improve and reinforce their cybersecurity.
Regarding identity management, Gradiant had extensive experience in biometric identification technologies, document validation and self-sovereign identity systems. Councilbox had experience in the integration of identity systems in its solutions using biometric and identification technologies and automatic validation of documents, in addition to having experience in technologies for the custody of the documentation provided and the evidence collected in the identification processes of citizens.
Socioeconomic impact
The provision of public and private services is significantly improved with the incorporation of the technologies developed in the UMI, by providing:
- Efficiency: it contributes to reducing the cost and complexity of management, as well as facilitating decision-making based on more reliable data.
- Transparency: the development of the technologies that are the object of the project contributes to better transparency of the different procedures by facilitating the performance of audits with reliable information, acting as a deterrent to fraud and guaranteeing the veracity and inalterability of the information.
Among the global challenges of the UMI, the provision of human capital was included as a “source of competitive advantage”, improving the skills and competencies of people to awaken scientific-technological vocations and favorable perceptions of R+D processes while maintaining and creating new sources of employment.
This initiative is aligned with the strategic objectives of Councilbox, which wants a significant part of its business activity to be developed in the area of research and development, since the results obtained in this area in the medium and long term can be a source of competitive differentiation.
From an environmental point of view, by avoiding travel thanks to the full validity of the processes carried out remotely , not only the costs of organization and infrastructure are significantly reduced, but also the carbon footprint that these meetings implicitly carry.
From a social perspective, Councilbox allows you to save on the cost of holding a corporate meeting: not only in the expenses of the organization but also in the time of the participants. By allowing remote participation, the time cost of traveling to a meeting is avoided, allowing for a significant improvement in the work-life balance of attendees.
In addition, as far as corporate meetings are concerned, there are many offices where the secretarial department makes endless printouts to provide participants with the agenda, minutes and lists of decisions. Councilbox not only makes it possible to optimize these tasks, but it does so without printed paper.
Councilbox is a company committed to the environment. The entity develops informative actions with employees, aimed at disseminating the regulations on recycling and responsible consumption of resources. As a technology company, it has minimised the use of paper by the human team, replacing its use with new technologies.
Objectives achieved at the end of the project
In September 2025, the UMI completed its work achieving the objectives set out in its creation.
The following recording of the presentation (in spanish) of results made on September 4, 2025, details the results of the Joint Research Unit and demonstrations of the technology developed:
Project supported by the Consellería de Economía, Empleo e Industria de la Xunta de Galicia.
