Digital Trust Forum
"Because in digital business, trust isn't a feature. It's the foundation."
A European seminar for business leaders at the frontier of identity, AI, and financial compliance.
Digital trust is the foundation of everything we do online.
Every time you sign a contract, share data, log into a service, or send a message — you're placing trust in a system. Most of the time, that system is invisible. And increasingly, it's under pressure.
The Digital Trust Forum brings together the people shaping that system: policymakers, technologists, business leaders, and identity experts. Not to talk at each other — to build bridges.
- 27 Oct 2026
- Inaugural edition · Sofia, Bulgaria
- eIDAS 2.0
- EU Digital Identity Wallet rolling out now
- Agentic AI
- Who's responsible when an AI agent acts on your behalf?
- AI Act
- Europe's landmark AI regulation shaping trust in AI
What we'll talk about
Real conversations. No vendor pitches. A programme built around questions that actually keep people up at night.
Trust Foundations & Accountability
What is digital trust, who is responsible for it, and how do you measure it?
What is Digital Trust?
Why "trust" isn't just a feature or a checkbox — it's a relationship. What builds it, what breaks it, and who decides.
Digital Identity, Credentials & Wallets
Who are you, and what can you prove?
Your Identity, Your Rules
The European Digital Identity Wallet, eIDAS 2.0, and self-sovereign identity: what it means to finally own your own credentials — and what it means for anyone who needs to verify them.
The Identity Ecosystem
IAM, digital certificates, and the invisible infrastructure behind every login, signature, and transaction. How it holds together — and where it doesn't.
Qualified Trust Services & QTSPs
Behind every legally binding digital signature is a Qualified Trust Service Provider accredited under eIDAS. Who they are, what they guarantee, and why they're the quiet backbone of digital Europe.
Passkeys & the Passwordless Future
Over a billion people already use passkeys. Passwords are dying — finally. What this means for customer onboarding, authentication UX, and the security posture of every digital product.
The Wallet Wars
Your identity, payment card, driving licence, and health record — all on your phone, in one wallet. The eIDAS wallet, Apple, Google, and verifiable credentials are colliding. Who controls the infrastructure of everyday trust?
Enterprise Trust, Zero Trust & Cyber Resilience
Does the system stay trustworthy under attack or failure?
DORA: Resilience for Financial Services
The Digital Operational Resilience Act is live — and aimed squarely at banks, payment institutions, fintechs, and crypto providers. Practical steps for organisations still catching up.
Post-Quantum Cryptography
"Harvest now, decrypt later" — adversaries are already collecting encrypted data to crack once quantum computers mature. NIST standards are out. The migration clock is ticking and most organisations haven't started.
Financial Trust, KYC/KYB & RegTech
Is this counterparty real, compliant, and safe to transact with?
KYC, KYB & Digital Onboarding
Verifying who your customer is — quickly, compliantly, and without friction. How eIDAS 2.0 changes the game for fintechs doing identity checks at scale.
AML in the Digital Age
The EU AML Regulation and the new AMLA authority are reshaping compliance obligations across financial services. What changes, what stays hard, and how technology helps.
RegTech: Compliance That Actually Works
Technology that turns regulatory obligations from a burden into a competitive edge. From automated monitoring to audit trails — how smart fintechs are building compliance in, not on.
Open Finance & PSD3
The next wave of open banking is here. PSD3 and the Financial Data Access framework raise the bar on consent, security, and trust between financial institutions and their customers.
Deepfakes, Fraud & Synthetic Identity
Fraudsters now generate convincing faces, voices, and documents on demand. How financial institutions detect synthetic identities — and rebuild confidence in digital onboarding.
AI Trust, Agents & Content Authenticity
Is it real, and what is this agent allowed to do?
Agentic AI & Trust
AI agents that book, decide, sign, and transact on your behalf — autonomously. Who is legally responsible? Can an AI have a verified identity? Can it sign a contract? The frontier nobody has figured out yet.
Sovereignty & the corridor
A thread that runs through every pillar — not a category of its own. Does trust work across borders, and who controls the infrastructure?
Digital Trust Across Borders
Bulgaria, the Netherlands, and the EU single digital market. Where cross-border financial services work seamlessly — and where the friction still is.
Data Sovereignty
GDPR, the Data Act, and what "control" actually means when your data lives in five jurisdictions. Especially relevant for any business operating across EU borders.
How the afternoon flows
An afternoon of focused conversation, closing with an evening reception. Built to respect your time — substantial, but never sprawling.
Indicative timing. The full programme and speakers will be announced closer to the date.
Meet the speakers
Recognised voices from across government, industry and the forum itself.
Bart Lamot
Bart Lamot is a Senior Innovation Manager at the Dutch Ministry of Defence, where he works at the intersection of technology, innovation and organisational change.
With more than 20 years of experience in technology and digital innovation, Bart has worked across both the public and private sectors in senior technology, management and innovation roles. His career spans software development, digital transformation, emerging technologies and the creation and leadership of innovation programmes.
Today, his focus is on exploring how new technologies can be introduced responsibly in environments where security, resilience and trust are critical. He is particularly interested in AI, cybersecurity, Zero Trust, data-centric security and the changing relationship between technology and human decision-making.
As a speaker, Bart looks beyond technology itself. He challenges audiences to think about what technological change means for organisations, leadership and trust, and how we can innovate without losing control of what matters most.
Jeroen van Hertum
Jeroen van Hertum is the founder of Sourcelab, a European technology consultancy bridging the Dutch and Bulgarian business ecosystems, and a board member of the Dutch Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce.
He has spent years working at the intersection of Dutch and Bulgarian business, helping organisations build digital products, work across borders, and navigate a rapidly changing technology and regulatory landscape — from digital identity to AI to financial compliance.
Jeroen initiated the Digital Trust Forum to bring practitioners, policymakers and curious minds together around the question of what trust means in a digital Europe, and opens the afternoon with the forum's signature talk.
More speakers — keynote, fireside and panel voices from across government, industry and policy — are being confirmed over the coming weeks. Know someone who should be in the room? Let us know. Want to speak yourself? Pitch a talk.
Hyatt Regency Sofia
A five-star hotel on Vasil Levski Square, right in the heart of Sofia — easy to find, easy to reach.
Sofia Center, Vasil Levski Sq
1504 Sofia, Bulgaria
The rules are changing. Fast.
Europe is rolling out the most significant digital identity and AI regulation in its history — all at once. Organisations that understand the landscape now will shape it. Those that wait will play catch-up.
eIDAS 2.0 is live
The EU Digital Identity Wallet is rolling out across member states. For fintechs, this changes how KYC and customer verification work — fundamentally.
The EU AML overhaul is here
The new EU AML Regulation and the AMLA authority (based in Frankfurt) are rewriting compliance obligations across financial services. The clock is already ticking.
DORA is in force
Since January 2025, the Digital Operational Resilience Act applies to banks, fintechs, payment institutions, and crypto providers. Many are still figuring out what it means in practice.
Trust is a competitive advantage
In a world of synthetic identities, AI-generated fraud, and tightening regulation — the fintechs that get trust right will win the customers that matter.
This started as a conversation.
I've spent years at the intersection of Dutch and Bulgarian business — helping organisations work across borders, build digital products, and navigate a rapidly changing technology landscape.
What kept coming up was trust. Or rather, the lack of it. Trust in digital identities. Trust in AI-generated content. Trust in the systems that hold our data. The regulations are arriving — eIDAS, the AI Act, DORA — but the conversations haven't caught up yet.
That's why I'm starting this forum. Not as a product, but as a space — where practitioners, policymakers, and curious minds can sit together and figure this out.
If that sounds like something you'd like to be part of — let's talk.
We're building this together.
The Digital Trust Forum is not a product — it's a collaboration. We're looking for organisations who want to put their name and energy behind a conversation that matters. Not sponsors with a logo slot, but partners who help shape what this becomes.
If your organisation works in technology, policy, identity, security, or simply cares about the future of digital Europe — we'd love to hear from you.
The organisers
A small, motivated group with deep roots in both the Bulgarian and Dutch business communities — and a shared belief that digital trust matters.
European technology consultancy bridging Dutch and Bulgarian business ecosystems. Sourcelab initiates the Digital Trust Forum and coordinates the programme.
sourcelab.eu
The bridge between Dutch and Bulgarian business communities. As a co-organiser, the Dutch Bulgarian Chamber brings the cross-border perspective that makes this forum genuinely European.
dutchchamber.bgBuilt with people who actually know.
The best sessions come from practitioners, not presenters. We're assembling a small group of organisations who work at the frontier of digital trust — QTSPs, identity providers, RegTech builders, compliance specialists — and giving them a real role in shaping what gets discussed.
Programme contributors don't sponsor the summit. They co-create it. In return, they get genuine visibility with an audience that is exactly their market — and the credibility of being the people who made the conversation happen.
QTSP Knowledge Partner
Bringing expertise on qualified electronic signatures, eIDAS accreditation, and the legal backbone of digital identity in Europe.
RegTech / AML Partner
Practical expertise on AML, KYC, and the technology making financial compliance faster and more reliable.
AI Trust Partner
Navigating the intersection of AI-generated content, synthetic identity, and what trust means when you can't trust your eyes.
Interested in contributing? Let's talk
Keep me posted
Leave your details and we'll keep you posted with regular emails about the forum and the organisation.
Whether you want to partner or speak — drop us a line. We read every message and respond to all of them.