The presentation introduced a practical architecture that addresses a critical gap in industrial cybersecurity: securely managing external technician access to sensitive robotic systems. Traditional approaches rely heavily on centralized identity management, creating bottlenecks and security vulnerabilities when external suppliers need temporary system access.

The demonstrated solution leverages Verifiable Credentials issued directly by external suppliers to their technicians, enabling cryptographically verifiable identity without dependency on centralized systems. This approach ensures that identity verification and policy enforcement occur at the application layer, providing security even in legacy infrastructures with basic MQTT firewalls.

Key technical innovations highlighted include:

• Dual authentication modes: Internal staff use existing corporate OIDC systems while external technicians present cryptographic Verifiable Credentials
• Zero Trust overlay implementation: Using OpenZiti as a prototype, though the architecture applies to any Zero Trust framework
• Fine-grained access control: Role-specific permissions that prevent unauthorized actions regardless of network position
• Legacy system compatibility: The framework integrates with existing industrial protocols while adding modern identity verification

The research demonstrates how emerging Web3 identity standards can solve real-world industrial challenges, offering organizations a concrete migration path from traditional identity management to decentralized trust models.