UK Awards £1M Public Beta Contract for Digital Verification Service Register to EY

The UK Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) has formally awarded EY LLP a contract worth £1,000,000 including VAT to deliver the public beta phase of the country’s Digital Verification Service (DVS) Register. A transparency notice on the government’s Find a Tender portal describes the deal as a direct award under the Procurement Act 2023, with the contract running from 10 December 2025 to 9 June 2026.

The DVS Register is intended to be a publicly accessible directory of digital identity service providers that have been certified against the UK’s digital identity and attributes trust framework. DSIT’s Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA) will host and maintain the register on GOV.UK. The contract objectives include launching the public beta, keeping the register updated as providers gain or renew certification, and ensuring compliance with UK government digital design principles, the Service Standard, and the Technology Code of Practice.

EY is tasked with delivering the service using agile methods such as sprints, stand-ups, and regular "show and tell" sessions. The scope covers continuous improvement of the register based on user feedback, backlog prioritisation, and alignment with policy goals for digital identity assurance. The notice also calls out the need for clear roles and responsibilities between DSIT and EY, including governance arrangements and the option to agree separate statements of work for any additional deliverables.

DSIT justifies the direct award on continuity and risk grounds. The notice explains that attempts to recruit an internal team have been unsuccessful, and that replacing the incumbent supplier would introduce disproportionate technical difficulties and jeopardise compliance obligations, including those under the forthcoming Data Act 2026. EY is described as having "consistently delivered excellent service" on the existing DVS development work, and the department argues that keeping the same supplier is the most efficient way to complete the public beta phase.

The award builds on broader UK efforts to formalise digital identity infrastructure. Policy work around the Digital Verification Service concept and the trust framework has been underway for several years, with industry groups highlighting a growing market of DVS providers and the need for an authoritative register to support relying parties in sectors such as financial services and age-restricted goods. By moving the DVS Register into public beta with a dedicated budget and delivery partner, DSIT is signalling that it is ready to operationalise that policy foundation and give organizations a canonical list of certified digital identity and attribute services.

Sources: Find a Tender, BidStats UK, Sell2Wales, TechUK, Hansard

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team