I have plenty of reservations about Big Tech, but why can't Google bid on this? Sure we'd get ads on the ID card but at least they'd get the math right.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/28/my-flamboyant-...
I think Google's dropped the ball, badly, on identity and authentication (though they're ... making some movement with physical 2FA).
I've got massive misgivings myself about private tech firms getting into this space, though I do think they might have useful elements to add by way of suggesting protocols and standards. And I'd be really suprised if various majors aren't part of the discussion. Google, Facebook, Microsoft (remember Passport?), Oracle, IBM. And databrokers such as ADP. Plus banking and financial institutions, who've mostly created the mess....