Organizations | Identosphere Blogcatcher

Deutsche Telekom is bringing to market Web 3 infrastructure solutions for the energy sector in order to accelerate global efforts to transition towards a global economy based on efficiency and renewable energy

Zug, Switzerland, 5 June 2023 — Deutsche Telekom continues to expand its portfolio of solutions in the field of Web 3 technology. A subsidiary, Deutsche Telekom MMS, recently joined the Energy Web Foundation’s established ecosystem of energy majors and IT service providers by validating Energy Web’s decentralized operating system and bring new sources of value to Deutsche Telekom customers

Deutsche Telekom’s Participation in Energy Web’s Ecosystem

As both an infrastructure operator and validator for the Energy Web ecosystem, Deutsche Telekom is contributing to enhanced network security for the Energy Web Chain — the world’s first public blockchain designed explicitly for the energy sector — and by extension all enterprise software solutions that leverage the Energy Web technology stack.

Energy Web solutions are designed to unlock a more decentralized, digitalized, and decarbonized energy system. “Green Proof” solutions in the Energy Web ecosystem bring radical transparency to new green product supply chains while Data Exchange solutions enable small-scale clean energy assets like electric vehicles and rooftop solar systems to be networked together and used to maintain grid stability.

“Energy Web’s collaboration with Deutsche Telekom shows that Web 3
technology can be an important tool in the fight against climate change,” says Dirk Röder, Head of Deutsche Telekom’s Blockchain Solutions Center.
“Deutsche Telekom is not only securing the energy grid, but also accelerating progress towards climate targets while promoting renewable energies.”

“Established, trusted digital infrastructure providers like Deutsche Telekom are key players when it comes to helping some of the world’s largest energy
companies digitize in order to manage increasingly renewable and complex energy systems. We are proud to have them in the Energy Web ecosystem,” said Jesse Morris, CEO of Energy Web.

About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. Our solutions for enterprise asset management, data exchange, and Green Proofs, our tool for registering and tracking low-carbon products, are underpinned by the Energy Web Chain, the world’s first public blockchain tailored to the energy sector. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, IoT, telecommunications leaders, and more. More information on Energy Web can be found at www.energyweb.org or follow us on Twitter @EnergyWebX

Deutsche Telekom AG
Corporate Communications
Tel.: +49 228 181–49494
E-Mail: media@telekom.de
Further information for the media at:
www.telekom.com/media
www.telekom.com/photos
www.instagram.com/deutschetelekom

About Deutsche Telekom: https://www.telekom.com/companyprofile

Deutsche Telekom Partners with Energy Web to Accelerate the Energy Transition was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Cybercrime is an enormous problem in today’s world and continues to grow at an exponential rate. In fact, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, the cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $8 trillion in 2023 and will grow to a whopping $10.5 trillion by 2025.

One of the main enablers for the escalation in cybercrime is the over-reliance on passwords. According to the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance, passwords are the root cause of more than 80% of data breaches. This is because passwords can easily be phished, intercepted in transit, and uncovered via a variety of attacks. Further, users are often overburdened with remembering passwords across, on average, 90 different online accounts. It’s no surprise then that 51% of people re-use non-complex passwords across multiple accounts. As a result, weak or re-used passwords are effortlessly accessed by criminals. So, rather than execute complex hacks, threat actors simply log in to accounts to execute cybercrimes. The good news is, there is a better way: passwordless authentication, also known as phishing-resistant Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

The post Axiad Blog: FIDO Series Part 1: What is FIDO Passkey and Why is it Important? appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Passkeys could replace the password. You are safe and the technology is in almost all operating systems and browsers. Now the providers are in demand. 

The post heise: Password: goodbye appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

According to Jonathan Van der Merwe, group lead product manager at Entersekt, one of the biggest stumbling blocks toward a passwordless future is the technological and behavioral hesitations that come with it. Van der Merwe suggests that moving away from static passwords toward one-time passwords (OTPs), in-app authentication and fast identity online (FIDO) is the way forward. “Moving on to newer technologies like FIDO, which allows for federated authentication ID within the application that you’re using to authenticate yourself, is effectively using the application using your device, whether that’s a laptop, a PC, or a mobile device,” he told PYMNTS. 

The post PYMNTS: Delegated authentication helps speed the shift to passwordless future appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Goodbye passwords, passkeys are here. Passwords are all set to be deleted and relegated into the recycle bin, as a more secure alternative has now been developed. Known as ‘passkeys’, they are the new more convenient and safer way to sign into your accounts across all your computing devices, including smartphones, sans your password. 

The post The Federal: Explainer: What are passkeys, how to get them, why they’re safer than passwords appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Passkeys are the next evolution of login credentials. They replace hard-to-remember passwords and verify anyone’s identity with biometric information, providing an easier and more secure way to access apps and websites. Thanks to our partnership with Google, DocuSign customers can now take a step toward a passwordless future by using passkeys to log in on mobile devices and web browsers. 

The post DocuSign Blog appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

On the dark web, cybercriminals have developed markets where passwords are bought and sold. Ransomware attacks are often performed using stolen passwords, Axios reports. Passkeys are generally considered more secure than passwords because hackers would need both the user’s information and the information from the company. If 1Password’s beta testing is successful, its current business model will fade into obscurity, and modern-day passwords will be a relic of a past, less secure age.

The post Leaders: The slow phaseout of passwords appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

The FIDO Alliance has released new user experience (UX) guidelines to help accelerate deployment and adoption of passkeys. The FIDO Alliance UX Guidelines for Passkey Creation and Sign-ins aim to help online service providers design a better, more consistent user experience when signing in with passkeys, the company states. 

The post Security Brief: The FIDO Alliance releases UX guidelines all about passkeys appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

At the 2023 Identiverse conference, the nonprofit standards organization FIDO Alliance unveiled its new user experience guidelines for passkeys, which are generated and stored securely on users’ devices after those individuals register for a web application or service via their biometric data or a PIN. Among the various benefits: Users do not have to remember any credentials, nor are they prone to losing them via phishing scams. Moreover, passkeys can be synched across multiple user devices without having to re-enroll each time. 

The post SC Media: New passkey milestones ‘ready for prime time,’ says FIDO Alliance leader appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

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1. What is the mission and vision of FinClusive?

FinClusive is a global Compliance-as-a-Service (CaaS) infrastructure provider that enables increased financial engagement by facilitating traditional banking’s connectivity with emerging technology networks, existing and alternative payment rails and financial services providers.

2. Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

Identity supports FinClusive’s goal to empower its clients to confidently demonstrate compliance with global banking standards, while expanding their services and engagement to businesses, communities and alternative technologies that have been traditionally underserved or unwelcomed within in the global financial system.

3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does your organization address challenges associated with this transformation?

FinClusive does this primarily by providing strong identity assurance tools, coupled with a global, full-stack, financial crimes compliance/anti-money laundering (FCC/AML)—CaaS, which provides a Compliance-Enabled Credentialing Environment (CECE ™) through its Gateway services, which seamlessly embeds digitally verifiable compliance credentials into both the customer onboarding and transacting processes.

4. What role does Canada have to play as a leader in this space?

Canada is a trusted member of the G7 and global financial network with its strong banking, insurance and securities sectors. Canada’s strong dedication to information security, privacy and fighting financial crime principles needs to be translated into interoperable international standards and practices to ensure that these principles are supported in technology evolution and future networks. Canada needs to be at the table for online evolution and actively participate for it to succeed.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

DIACC is the center of digital innovation in Canada and we look forward to contributing, networking and progressing the industry.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

FinClusive’s wide range of features and tools can help fill in gaps in risk mitigation and enhance capabilities to build and maintain trust online. FinClusive helps in proofing and validation by helping to solve key problems with a wide ranging toolset of data from trusted sources, digital wallet or credential issuance, due diligence and Legal Entity Identifier Issuance. Partner with us or share us with your community! www.finclusive.com

For Haitian migrants that have made grueling journeys to the U.S.-Mexico border, the language barrier is one of the last roadblocks to entering the U.S. Jean Jeef Nelson, a case...

First public review of proposed errata ends June 15th

OASIS and the OSLC Open Project are pleased to announce that OSLC Change Management Version 3.0 Errata 01 is now available for public review and comment.

This document incorporates proposed errata for the OASIS Standard “OSLC Change Management Version 3.0.” The specific changes are listed in Appendix C of Part 1, at https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-spec.html#errata.

The Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) specifications collectively define a core set of services and domain vocabularies for lifecycle management including requirement, change and quality management.

This specification defines the OSLC Change Management domain, a RESTful web services interface for the management of product change requests, activities, tasks and relationships between those and related resources such as requirements, test cases, or architectural resources. To support these scenarios, this specification defines a set of HTTP-based RESTful interfaces in terms of HTTP methods: GET, POST, PUT and DELETE, HTTP response codes, content type handling and resource formats.

The documents and related files are available here:

OSLC Change Management Version 3.0
OASIS Standard incorporating Draft 01 of Errata 01
Project Specification Draft 01
23 March 2023

OSLC Change Management Version 3.0. Part 1: Specification
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-spec.html (Authoritative)
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-spec.pdf

OSLC Change Management Version 3.0. Part 2: Vocabulary
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-vocab.html (Authoritative)
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-vocab.pdf

OSLC Change Management Version 3.0. Part 3: Constraints
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-shapes.html (Authoritative)
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-shapes.pdf

Change Management Vocabulary definitions file: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-vocab.ttl
Change Management Resource Shape Constraints definitions file: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/change-mgt-shapes.ttl

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the specification documents and any related files in ZIP distribution files. You can download the ZIP file at:
https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/cm/v3.0/errata01/psd01/cm-v3.0-psd01.zip

How to Provide Feedback

OASIS and the OSLC OP value your feedback. We solicit input from developers, users and others, whether OASIS members or not, for the sake of improving the interoperability and quality of our technical work.

The public review starts 01 June 2023 at 00:00 UTC and ends 15 June 2023 at 23:59 UTC.

Comments may be submitted to the OP by any person via the project mailing list at oslc-op@lists.oasis-open-projects.org. To subscribe, send an empty email to oslc-op+subscribe@lists.oasis-open-projects.org and reply to the confirmation email. Please append the hashtag #publicreview to the end of the subject line of your message.

Comments submitted for this work and for other work of this OP are publicly archived and can be viewed at:
https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/search?q=%23publicreview or https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/topics.

All comments submitted to OASIS are subject to the OASIS Feedback License, which ensures that the feedback you provide carries the same obligations at least as the obligations of the OP members. In connection with this public review, we call your attention to the OASIS IPR Policy [2] applicable especially [3] to the applicable open source license. All members of the OP should be familiar with this document, which may create obligations regarding the disclosure and availability of a member’s patent, copyright, trademark and license rights that read on an approved OASIS specification.

OASIS invites any persons who know of any such claims to disclose these if they may be essential to the implementation of the above specification, so that notice of them may be posted to the notice page for this OP’s work.

Additional references:
[1] OASIS Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration (OSLC) OP
https://open-services.net/about/

[2] https://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/ipr/

[3] https://github.com/oslc-op/oasis-open-project/blob/master/LICENSE.md

The post Invitation to comment on OSLC Change Management v3.0 Errata 01 appeared first on OASIS Open.

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Second review of this draft specification ends June 15th

OASIS and the OASIS Collaborative Automated Course of Action Operations (CACAO) for Cyber Security TC are pleased to announce that CACAO Security Playbooks v2.0 is now available for public review and comment. This 15-day review is the second public review for Version 2.0 of this specification.

About the specification draft

To defend against threat actors and their tactics, techniques, and procedures, organizations need to identify, create, document, and test detection, investigation, prevention, mitigation, and remediation steps. These steps, when grouped together, form a cyber security playbook that can be used to protect organizational systems, networks, data, and users.

This specification defines the schema and taxonomy for cybersecurity playbooks and how cybersecurity playbooks can be created, documented, and shared in a structured and standardized way across organizational boundaries and technological solutions.

The documents and related files are available here:

CACAO Security Playbooks Version 2.0
Committee Specification Draft 02
26 May 2023

Editable source (Authoritative):
https://docs.oasis-open.org/cacao/security-playbooks/v2.0/csd02/security-playbooks-v2.0-csd02.docx
HTML:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/cacao/security-playbooks/v2.0/csd02/security-playbooks-v2.0-csd02.html
PDF:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/cacao/security-playbooks/v2.0/csd02/security-playbooks-v2.0-csd02.pdf
PDF marked with changes since previous public review:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/cacao/security-playbooks/v2.0/csd02/security-playbooks-v2.0-csd02-DIFF.pdf

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the specification document and any related files in ZIP distribution files. You can download the ZIP file at:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/cacao/security-playbooks/v2.0/csd02/security-playbooks-v2.0-csd02.zip

How to Provide Feedback

OASIS and the CACAO TC value your feedback. We solicit input from developers, users and others, whether OASIS members or not, for the sake of improving the interoperability and quality of our technical work.

The public review starts 01 June 2023 at 00:00 UTC and ends 15 June 2023 at 23:59 UTC.

Comments may be submitted to the TC by any person through the use of the OASIS TC Comment Facility, which can be used by following the instructions on the TC’s “Send A Comment” page (https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/comments/index.php?wg_abbrev=cacao).

Comments submitted by TC non-members for this work and for other work of this TC are publicly archived and can be viewed at:
https://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/cacao-comment/

All comments submitted to OASIS are subject to the OASIS Feedback License, which ensures that the feedback you provide carries the same obligations at least as the obligations of the TC members. In connection with this public review, we call your attention to the OASIS IPR Policy [1] applicable especially [2] to the work of this technical committee. All members of the TC should be familiar with this document, which may create obligations regarding the disclosure and availability of a member’s patent, copyright, trademark and license rights that read on an approved OASIS specification.

OASIS invites any persons who know of any such claims to disclose these if they may be essential to the implementation of the above specification, so that notice of them may be posted to the notice page for this TC’s work.

Additional information about the specification and the CACAO TC can be found at the TC’s public home page:
https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/cacao/

Additional information related to this public review, including a complete publication and review history, can be found in the public review metadata document [3].

Additional references:

[1] https://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/ipr/

[2] https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/cacao/ipr.php
https://www.oasis-open.org/policies-guidelines/ipr/#Non-Assertion-Mode
Non-Assertion Mode

[3] Public review metadata document:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/cacao/security-playbooks/v2.0/csd02/security-playbooks-v2.0-csd02-public-review-metadata.html

The post Invitation to comment on CACAO Security Playbooks v2.0 appeared first on OASIS Open.

Fabio Severino

CTO & Co-Founder, Traent

This Dashboard post is a guest contribution from the Traent team. For more
information about these topics, watch the webinar recording from 31 May 2023.

At Traent, we develop hybrid blockchain technologies to bring real-time and data-intensive applications on blockchain while preserving the confidentiality and auditability of data. Traent has developed a Web3 ecosystem for sustainable and transparent enterprises, that offers an end-to-end solution to easily store, process, and share data visually on blockchain.

The research conducted by Traent has focused on overcoming the challenges and limitations that prevented the widespread adoption of blockchain technology by enterprises. Traent’s research efforts have yielded significant innovations, leading to the filing of eight patent applications as of March through May 2022 (currently pending). In this post, we will explore how Traent technology can enable the implementation of a complete Blockchain Product Passport of a vehicle and its battery.

Hybrid blockchains

Before discussing the Blockchain Product Passports, it’s important to gain a better understanding of the key components of Traent’s ecosystem and the main difference with more traditional approaches:

A Hybrid Blockchain Infrastructure, able to create and manage billions of blockchains. This ensures scalability and enables us to handle billions of interactions securely and efficiently. Traent Era, a collaboration platform on blockchain, suitable for real-time and data-intensive interactions. Our platform facilitates seamless communication and collaboration among users, allowing them to leverage the benefits of blockchain technology in their daily activities. Our Portable Ledgers offer advanced flexibility for segregating confidential data. Thanks to our granular data disclosure feature, users have the freedom to select and share information from their blockchains, without compromising the auditability. After selecting the data, the user is able to share the ledger in different ways, through a dedicated App, or even with instant messaging services like WhatsApp. Traent Viewer, a web app that allows the visualization of selected verifiable data, making blockchain content easily accessible to any audience, from auditors to end consumers. Blockchain Product Passport in the Automotive Industry

The European Union is currently moving forward with the implementation of Digital Product Passports as part of the Sustainable Product Regulation proposal, which was adopted by the European Commission in March 2022.

Under this regulation, companies selling products in the EU market will be obligated to provide a digital product passport for both the product itself and its individual components. This requirement aims to enhance transparency and sustainability throughout products’ lifecycles.

The Blockchain Vehicle Passport changes completely the way information related to ownership, car maintenance, and components is managed and accessed. The Traent Viewer allows users to effortlessly view and interact with the digital passport, providing a comprehensive understanding of the vehicle’s usage and specifications. This enhanced visibility empowers customers with trustworthy information about the vehicle’s history, enabling informed decision-making and promoting the resale value of the vehicle.

You can access a live demo of our product passport by scanning the QR code or visiting https://bit.ly/3yAqqPE with your phone.

The Battery Passport showcases a seamless integration between real-time data from IoT devices and interactive applications stored on the portable blockchain. The sensors periodically transmit data related to the battery’s performance and condition, facilitating proactive maintenance planning and giving a new meaning to what we know today as battery end-of-life. Now, the used battery can be securely sold and reused in a different environment, where it can be utilized to its fullest.

To offer a more practical understanding of the entire process, we prepared a video demo that showcases how data is collected from the car, stored on blockchain, and then visualized by the end user in the Vehicle Passport.

In a real-world scenario, data is directly ingested using Era APIs. However, for the purpose of this demo, we are leveraging the Traent Era user interface and its features to better explain some key concepts.

As shown in the audit log, car data is integrated using Traent Streams. This feature allows for real-time continuous ingestion of data, stored on blockchain every 50-100 milliseconds. When considering the battery passport, we have the option to reduce the data rate in order to conserve storage space. However, in situations such as car telemetry, it becomes crucial to maintain higher data rates. Therefore, we empower customers to make informed decisions by providing sensible defaults that suit their specific needs.

Because all data is stored on a portable ledger, a car owner can decide to share with a buyer information about the number of recharging sessions while excluding sensitive data like the location of the charging stations used. During the sale of the car, the product passport can be shared and ownership transferred through a simple app.

Lastly, data from the portable ledger is shown in a tailor-made, interactive application based on the Traent Viewer technology. This provides a gateway to an array of functionalities: from live insights into the battery’s usage history and health to quick access to car functionalities.

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.

The most attentive readers will have noticed that during the video data was selected from two blockchains. One blockchain concerns engine data and the other blockchain concerns battery data. This technique enables us to add blockchain to the product passport, allowing us to add data and services to the passport and making the solution scalable and future-proof.

Traent and MOBI

At the beginning of 2023, we proudly joined MOBI, a prestigious community that shares our core values of sustainability, data verifiability, and privacy. We are honored and excited to work with some of the most renowned and well-respected companies in the automotive sector.

Being a part of MOBI allows us to actively contribute to the establishment of industry standards and the development of a robust Web3 digital infrastructure.

We appreciate the hands-on and pragmatic approach of MOBI’s members and hope with this article that we have contributed to making blockchain mobility closer to the user and easier to implement.

Conclusion

Traent hybrid blockchain solution can offer a wide array of benefits to the automotive industry. We’ve shown how we create a complete battery and vehicle passport using Traent Hybrid Blockchain. Here are some important takeaways:

Deploying our complete blockchain solution is a streamlined process that takes less than a day. Unlike traditional implementations that may take months, our integrated approach ensures a fast turnaround time, saving you valuable resources and accelerating time-to-market. Thanks to our granular data disclosure, you have the flexibility to choose which data to share and which to keep strictly confidential, without compromising the auditability of data. Our apps are as easy as Web 2.0, but they are Web3. By leveraging the power of IoT and blockchain technology, in conjunction with a human-centric approach, our no-code ecosystem facilitates seamless collaboration among individuals, organizations, and connected devices. Thanks to our hybrid architecture, Traent’s ecosystem enables the auditing of disclosed data even to people outside the network. Anyone with a simple web browser can verify the authenticity and integrity of information, overcoming the main limitations of private blockchains like Hyperledger.

We welcome all MOBI members to reach out and collaborate with us. Let’s work together to shape the future of product passports and drive interoperability in the automotive blockchain space. Contact us today to join forces and make a lasting impact!

Watch the Recorded Webinar

The post Traent Hybrid Blockchain: A Solution to Bring Real-Time and Data-Intensive Applications on Blockchain, Battery (Passport) Included! appeared first on MOBI | The New Economy of Movement.

In May, after 30 years of working as a taxi driver in Buenos Aires, 60-year-old Juan César signed up for Uber Taxi — an option on the ride-hailing app that...

DNA can be used for more than just biology and genetics, but also for applications in fields such as information storage, object marking and traceability.

The extraordinary information density of DNA that can be used for storing data is particularly useful given the explosion of digital data.

Starting from a basic understanding of DNA and its components, let’s take a look at how digital files can be encoded in DNA using the correspondences between A, C, T, and G bases. The processes for writing and reading DNA still have some limitations particularly in synthesizing long strands of DNA, but the revolutionary potential is there.

DNA: Memory resisting the passage of time.

The oldest DNA in the world is 2 million years old. Found in sediments in Greenland, it revealed hundreds of plant species and mastodons which populated Greenland at a time when it was still covered with forest.

This discovery follows on from the work of Svante Pääbo, an interpreter of ancient DNA and winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, for his research work on evolutionary genetics and particularly sequencing the Neanderthal nuclear genome. DNA is infinitely small, yet extremely revealing and durable, with possible use beyond palaeontology, biology, genetics and human health.

Researchers in synthetic biology exploit the ability to read, edit and write DNA for products such as vaccines and drug delivery devices or genome engineering to generate organisms with specific properties. But applications for cryptography, information storage, object marking, and traceability are fast-moving innovation areas.

DNA structure.

DNA is made up of four nucleobases (or bases), A, C, T, G, which are connected as base pairs A-T and G-C. Oligonucleotides are short single or double-stranded DNA sequences that can be synthesized in single or double-stranded molecules. Plasmids are small circular DNA fragments found in bacterial and yeast cells that can be synthesized in the lab.

DNA alphabets.

When DNA is read in the cells, it produces proteins for the functioning and reproduction of living beings. Over 3 billion years of evolution, the cellular machinery has developed spellcheckers, word removers and copy-and-paste mechanisms for DNA. Today, synthetic biology allows the same thing to be done and any digital file can be encoded in the form of DNA:  text, image, film, PDF, Excel, ZIP …

To convert data from binary format (with 0 and 1) to DNA format (with A, C, T and G bases), the two main options are :

1 bit/base :  00 = A ,  01 = C ,  10 = T ,  11 = G

2bits/base :  0 = A or C , 1 = T or G

Using the above codes, the word “hello” is converted in the corresponding DNA sequences :

DNA says “hello” h e l l o Binary 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 1101111 2 bits/base CTTA CTCC CTGA CTGA CTGG 1 bit/base AGTCGAAC ATGCATCG ATGCTGCA ATGCTGCA CTGATGGT

Writing (or synthetizing) DNA is like telegraphy, where the transmitter made holes in a ribbon to code characters. Writing DNA involves attaching the letters A, C, T, G to each other, through base-to-base addition.

The length of synthesized DNA strands is limited, with oligonucleotide lengths of more than 200 bases (i.e. 200 ACTG bases) representing the current limit of “industrial” production.

Reading technologies are evolving very quickly and allow DNA sequences to be read base by base. One of the most recent techniques uses so called “nanopores”: The oligonucleotides pass through holes. When a base passes through, an electric current is measured. The current is specific to each base, which makes it possible to detect the sequence of the oligonucleotides … and therefore the text. As each fragment has an identifier, the original data can be reassembled in the right order. This technique has the potential to greatly speed up the process of DNA sequencing, making it faster and cheaper than current methods which are still time consuming and expensive.

DNA for the dataverse.

Data storage is a massively expanding domain, with an estimated 75 zettabytes (ZB) (75 1021 bytes) of data to be stored in 2023, 95% of which will never be read again.

It is estimated that in 2030 nearly 300 ZB of data will be stored and that in 2040 one thousandth of the earth’s surface will be used for data centres – 10% of the surface of Switzerland! – to store all these data…

It would take more than 100 million years to download such data with a fibre with a speed of 100 megabits per second, and a serious energy bill!

Data centres alone consume almost 150 TWh per year (150 1012 Wh per year), which equals to 2% of the world’s electricity consumption.

Storing data in DNA is a promising solution since it has an extraordinary information density. All the world’s digital data (i.e. hundreds of ZB) would weigh between 50 and 100 grams of DNA, roughly the weight of a Swiss chocolate bar.

DNA for storage and tracing.

Resistant under specific conditions, DNA remains a fragile molecule, sensitive to high temperatures, humidity, chemical compounds and ultraviolet radiation. To maintain its integrity, it must be protected from these aggressive agents. One way to do this is to encapsulate it for instance in silica microbeads before use. Thus protected, the DNA can be stored or inserted into objects for later reading.

Objects could therefore carry their own immutable memory. A DNA of Things (DoT) for everything and for ever.

However, for DNA to be used as storage, it not only has to be easily written and read, but also easily searchable or indexable in a molecular filing system. This is still at research level, but it has been proven that silica particles used to encapsulate data encoded DNA sequences can also be barcoded or tagged for standard Boolean search. This would complete the absolute potential of DNA as a data carrier other than for biology, but for information storage and traceability.

As with any promising technological development, the issues of privacy and security must be considered so that DNA encoded information does not get misused by unauthorised parties. This calls for a multidisciplinary approach to creating and using synthetic DNA. Just like paleogenomics ermerged as a new discipline following Pääbo’s research, new fields of research and new applications for gene synthesis are already on the way, powered by the need for cost and energy efficient, forever accessible data storage solutions.

Facebook is helping stray cats and dogs find their forever homes.  Several groups on the platform have been facilitating the adoption of rescued animals in India. These groups, with tens...

On May 11, Nairobi-based bike taxi driver Quincy Okoth breathed a sigh of relief. He had paid off the final installment for the loan of 235,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,699) that...

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A pesar de que las mujeres negras están al frente de algunos de los movimientos por la justicia social más importantes de nuestro tiempo, liderando iniciativas extraordinarias con compromiso y creatividad, la mayoría de las veces lo hacen con financiamientos limitados.

Reconociendo esto, estamos ofreciendo apoyo gratuito en las áreas de tecnología y datos para las organizaciones feministas negras. Sigue leyendo para saber cómo tu organización puede ser una organización aliada.

El estado de la financiación de las organizaciones feministas negras: ¿qué tiene que ver con la tecnología?

Hace unas semanas, Foundation for a Just Society y Wellspring Philanthropic Fund publicaron un informe sobre cómo la filantropía ha pasado por alto a los movimientos feministas negros en América Latina y el Caribe. Un equipo de investigadoras feministas negras analizó el activismo en 17 países y concluyó que las iniciativas lideradas por mujeres negras en la región tienen un acceso extremadamente limitado al financiamiento y la mayoría depende de sus propios recursos para realizar su trabajo.

Estos resultados confirman investigaciones anteriores del Black Feminist Fund que mostraban que sólo entre el 0,1% y el 0,35% de las subvenciones de fundaciones concedidas en todo el mundo se destinaban a movimientos de niñas, mujeres y personas trans negras y que sólo el 5% de los financiamientos para derechos humanos se destina a organizaciones dirigidas por niñas, mujeres y personas trans negras.

En un contexto en el que el 81% de las organizaciones feministas negras no disponen de dinero suficiente para alcanzar sus objetivos, y – como vemos en nuestra propia investigación – la falta de acceso a financiación y redes fiables dificulta que las organizaciones de justicia social prioricen el fortalecimiento de su uso de la tecnología y los datos, queremos reafirmar nuestra oferta de apoyo a las organizaciones, colectivos o grupos liderados por mujeres negras que trabajan por la justicia social.

En The Engine Room, nuestra visión es que los movimientos por la justicia social utilicen la tecnología y los datos de forma segura, responsable y estratégica, mitigando activamente las vulnerabilidades creadas por los sistemas digitales. Esto incluye cosas como apoyar a las organizaciones que están repensando su uso de la tecnología y los datos, iniciando proyectos tecnológicos responsables y sostenibles, o mejorando su resiliencia digital, todo lo cual, aunque importante, puede llevar bastante tiempo (¡y recursos!).

Si formas parte de una institución dirigida por mujeres negras y te gustaría contar con nuestro apoyo en el uso de la tecnología y los datos para tu trabajo y organización, ¡nos encantaría colaborar contigo!

Cómo puedes trabajar con nosotros

En The Engine Room, trabajamos con grupos cuyo trabajo aborda los desequilibrios de poder, la injusticia y los abusos de derechos, y les ayudamos a utilizar la tecnología y los datos de forma que se ajusten a sus necesidades, políticas y principios.

Somos una organización sin fines de lucro con un equipo distribuido globalmente, compuesto por activistas, investigadores y tecnólogos experimentados y comprometidos (muchos de los cuales están ubicados o tienen una experiencia significativa de trabajo en América Latina). Desde 2011, hemos trabajado con más de 700 organizaciones de varios tamaños y de diferentes partes del mundo para fortalecer sus estrategias de tecnología y datos.

Ofrecemos dos tipos de apoyo gratuito: Light Touch Support (LiTS) e Intensive Support (Matchbox), y para otros proyectos intensivos, ofrecemos servicios de apoyo pagos según una escala variable. Adaptamos nuestro apoyo a las necesidades de cada organización asociada, y nuestro trabajo puede incluir cosas como:

Documentar tu trabajo y crear tu archivo digital: “El Internet tiene mucha memoria, pero de alguna manera parece que no puede recordar que las mujeres negras fueron las creadoras de las cosas”. Esta cita de Antoinette Luna Myers en Misogynoir Transformed es un recordatorio de la cantidad de trabajo, logros y conocimientos creados por las mujeres negras que a menudo se ignoran o no se registran (¡incluyendo el trabajo que dio forma al internet que tenemos hoy!). Podemos trabajar con tu organización en el proceso de documentar digitalmente su trabajo y compartirlo con tu público.

Fortalecer redes y conectar activistas de forma segura: En Resourcing Black Feminist Organizing, las feministas negras indicaron que establecer conexiones internacionales es una prioridad particular para poder construir movimientos autónomos en América Latina y el Caribe. Podemos apoyar a tu organización a encontrar las mejores herramientas digitales para conectarse con otros activistas y organizadores.

Datos responsables: Si hay información que no está disponible en tu contexto, y que sería crucial para tu trabajo y/o para las personas con las que trabajas, podemos apoyarte en la creación de un plan para la recolección y gestión responsable de estos datos. También podemos trabajar juntas para establecer un proceso responsable y ágil de conservación, archivo y eliminación de los datos que utilizas en tu trabajo diario.

Cuidado digital y resiliencia: Podemos trabajar juntas para fortalecer la capacidad de tu organización para protegerte de las amenazas a la seguridad digital (y responder a ellas), cuidar del bienestar de tu equipo y adoptar una infraestructura que responda a tus necesidades y contexto.

Diseño y ejecución de proyectos: Podemos apoyarte a diseñar proyectos que sean realistas, sostenibles y que logren el impacto buscado para abordar la complejidad de los desafíos de tu contexto, incorporando datos y tecnología.

Fortalecimiento de la intuición técnica: Podemos trabajar con tu equipo para fortalecer tu intuición técnica, tu aptitud para navegar por los matices del trabajo con tecnología y amplificar tu capacidad para equilibrar las oportunidades y los retos que la tecnología conlleva.

Si formas parte de una organización feminista negra en América Latina y el Caribe, o de otros territorios, y estás interesada en trabajar con nosotras, calendariza una llamada o escribe un correo electrónico a hello[at]theengineroom.org.

Si te organizas por la justicia social, incluyendo desde el antirracismo, decolonización, los feminismos, la justicia reproductiva, la defensa de la tierra/territorio, la justicia climática y/o económica (entre otros temas), usas tecnologías digitales para construir redes y conectarte con otras activistas, o tienes curiosidad sobre cómo podemos apoyar tu trabajo y activismo, ¡ponte en contacto!

Programa una llamada con nuestro equipo

Más información sobre nuestro trabajo:

Conoce nuestros proyectos recientes en nuestra retrospectiva anual 2022 (disponible en inglés). Consulta nuestra colección de preguntas frecuentes sobre tecnología y datos para organizaciones de justicia social (disponible en inglés, francés, portugués y español). 

Imagen de Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash. Illustración de Salam Shokor, Marie Dumont e Jihad Shokor.

The post Convocatoria para organizaciones feministas negras: apoyo gratuito en tecnología e información digital first appeared on The Engine Room.

English | Español

Embora as mulheres negras estejam na vanguarda de alguns dos movimentos de justiça social mais importantes de nosso tempo, liderando iniciativas extraordinárias com comprometimento e criatividade, na maioria das vezes elas o fazem com recursos limitados.

Reconhecendo isso, estamos oferecendo apoio gratuito nas áreas de tecnologia e dados para organizações feministas negras. Continue lendo para saber como sua organização pode ser nossa parceira!

O estado do financiamento para organizações feministas negras: o que a tecnologia tem a ver com isso?

Algumas semanas atrás, a Foundation for a Just Society e o Wellspring Philanthropic Fund publicaram um relatório sobre como a filantropia tem negligenciado os movimentos feministas negros na América Latina e no Caribe. Uma equipe de pesquisadoras feministas negras olhou para o ativismo em 17 países e concluiu que as iniciativas lideradas por mulheres negras na região têm acesso extremamente limitado a financiamento e a maioria depende de recursos próprios para viabilizar seu trabalho.

Estes resultados confirmam pesquisas anteriores feitas pelo Black Feminist Fund, mostrando que apenas 0,1% a 0,35% das doações de fundações feitas a nível global foram destinadas a movimentos de meninas, mulheres e pessoas trans negras e que apenas 5% do financiamento para direitos humanos foi direcionado a organizações lideradas por meninas, mulheres e pessoas trans negras.

Em um contexto em que 81% das organizações feministas negras não têm dinheiro suficiente para atingir seus objetivos e – como vemos em nossa própria pesquisa – a falta de acesso a financiamento e redes confiáveis dificulta que as organizações de justiça social priorizem o fortalecimento de seu uso de tecnologia e dados, queremos reiterar nossa oferta de apoio a organizações, coletivos ou grupos liderados por mulheres negras que trabalham pela justiça social.

Na The Engine Room, nossa visão é que os movimentos de justiça social usem tecnologia e dados de forma segura, responsável e estratégica, mitigando ativamente as vulnerabilidades criadas pelos sistemas digitais. Isso inclui coisas como apoiar as organizações parceiras que estejam repensando como elas têm usado tecnologia e dados, interessadas em embarcar em projetos de tecnologia de forma responsável e sustentável, ou dispostas a melhorar sua resiliência digital. E essas coisas, embora importantes, podem levar um pouco de tempo (e recursos!).

Se você faz parte de uma instituição liderada por mulheres negras e gostaria de nosso apoio no uso de tecnologia e dados para seu trabalho e organização, adoraríamos colaborar com você!

Como você pode trabalhar com a gente

Na The Engine Room, fazemos parceria com grupos cujo trabalho enfrenta desequilíbrios de poder, injustiça e abusos de direitos e os apoiamos no uso de tecnologia e dados de maneiras que atendam às necessidades, políticas e princípios.

Somos uma organização sem fins lucrativos com uma equipe global distribuída de ativistas, pesquisadoras, tecnólogas(os) experientes e comprometidos (muitos dos quais estão baseados ou têm experiência significativa de trabalho na América Latina). Desde 2011, trabalhamos com mais de 700 organizações de todos os tamanhos, de diferentes partes do mundo, para fortalecer suas estratégias de tecnologia e dados.

Oferecemos dois tipos de apoio gratuito: Apoio Leve (Light Touch Support) e Apoio Intensivo (Matchbox), e para outros projetos intensivos, também oferecemos serviços de apoio pagos de acordo com uma escala variável. Personalizamos nosso suporte para atender às necessidades de cada organização parceira, e nosso trabalho pode incluir coisas como:

Documentando seu trabalho e construindo seu arquivo digital: “A Internet tem muita memória, mas de alguma forma parece que não consegue lembrar que as mulheres negras foram as criadoras das coisas.” Esta citação de Antoinette Luna Myers em Misogynoir Transformed é um lembrete de quanto do trabalho, conquistas e conhecimentos criados por mulheres negras muitas vezes são ignorados ou não registrados (incluindo o trabalho que deu forma à Internet que temos hoje!). Podemos apoiar sua organização no processo de documentar digitalmente seu trabalho e compartilhar com seu público.

Fortalecimento de redes e conexão entre ativistas de maneira segura: Em Resourcing Black Feminist Organizing, feministas negras indicaram que estabelecer conexões internacionais é uma prioridade específica, para que possam construir movimentos autônomos na América Latina e no Caribe. Podemos ajudar a sua organização a encontrar as melhores ferramentas digitais para se conectar com outras ativistas e organizadores.

Dados responsáveis: Se no seu contexto, faltam dados que seriam cruciais para o seu trabalho e para as pessoas com quem você trabalha, podemos apoiá-la na criação de um plano para a coleta e gestão responsável destes dados! Também podemos trabalhar juntas para estabelecer um processo responsável e simplificado de retenção, arquivamento e exclusão de dados que você usa no seu dia-a-dia.

Cuidados digitais e resiliência: Podemos trabalhar juntas para apoiar a capacidade da sua organização de se proteger de (e responder a) ameaças de segurança digital, garantir o bem-estar de sua equipe e adotar infraestruturas que respondam às suas necessidades e ao seu contexto.

Criação e implementação de projetos: Podemos apoiá-la na concepção de projetos realistas, sustentáveis e impactantes para enfrentar desafios complexos em seu contexto, incorporando dados e tecnologia em seu trabalho.

Fortalecimento da intuição técnica: Podemos trabalhar com sua equipe para fortalecer sua intuição técnica, sua aptidão para navegar pelas nuances do trabalho com tecnologia e ampliar a capacidade de equilibrar as oportunidades e desafios que a tecnologia traz.

Se você faz parte de uma organização feminista negra (especialmente na América Latina e no Caribe) e tem interesse em trabalhar conosco, agende uma chamada ou escreva um email para hello[at]theengineroom.org. 

Caso você esteja atuando em questões de justiça social, incluindo anti racismo, feminismo, justiça reprodutiva, defesa da terra/território, clima e/ou justiça econômica (entre outros temas!), usando tecnologias digitais para construir redes e se conectar com outras ativistas, ou curiosa sobre como podemos apoiar seu trabalho e ativismo, entre em contato!

Agende uma chamada com nossa equipe

Saiba mais sobre nosso trabalho:

Conheça nossos projetos recentes na nossa retrospectiva anual de 2022 (disponível em inglês). Veja nossa coleção de perguntas frequentes de tecnologia e dados para organizações de justiça social (disponível em Inglês, Francês, Português e Espanhol). 

Imagem de Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash. Ilustração de Salam Shokor, Marie Dumont e Jihad Shokor.

The post Chamada para organizações feministas negras: apoio gratuito de tecnologia e dados first appeared on The Engine Room.

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Though Black women are at the forefront of some of the most important social justice movements of our time, leading extraordinary initiatives with commitment and creativity, most of the time they are doing so with limited funding. 

Recognizing this, we are extending a targeted offer of free tech and data support to Black feminist organizers. Read on to learn how you can partner with us!

The funding realities of Black feminist organizing: what’s tech got to do with it?

A few weeks ago, Foundation for a Just Society and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund published a report on how philanthropy has overlooked Black feminist movements in Latin America and the Caribbean. A team of Black feminist researchers looked into activism in 17 countries and concluded that Black women-led initiatives in the region have extremely limited access to funding and most rely on self-generated resources to enable their work. 

These findings echo previous research done by the Black Feminist Fund, showing that a mere 0.1% – 0.35% of foundation giving globally went to Black women, girls and trans movements/initiatives and that only 5% of human rights funding went to organizations led by Black women, girls and trans people. 

In a context where 81% of Black feminist organizations do not have enough money to meet their goals and – as we see in our own research – a lack of access to funding and trusted networks makes it difficult for social justice organizations to prioritize strengthening their use of tech and data, we want to reiterate our offer of support to Black women-led organizations, collectives or groups working towards social justice. 

At The Engine Room, our vision is for social justice movements to use technology and data in safe, responsible and strategic ways, while actively mitigating the vulnerabilities created by digital systems. This includes things like supporting organizations’ rethinking their use of tech and data, embarking on responsible, sustainable tech-heavy projects, or improving their digital resilience – all of which, though important, can take quite a bit of time (and resources!).

If you’re a part of a Black women-led institution and would like our support with using tech and data for your work and organizing, we would love to collaborate with you! 

How you can partner with us

At The Engine Room, we partner with groups whose work confronts power imbalances, injustice and rights abuses and support them in using tech and data in ways that meet the needs, politics and principles. 

We are a non-profit organization with a distributed global team of experienced and committed activists, researchers, technologists and community organizers (many of whom are based in or have significant experience working in Latin America). Since 2011, we have worked with more than 700 organizations of all sizes, from different corners of the globe, to strengthen their tech and data strategies. 

We offer two types of no-fee support partnership: Light Touch Support (LiTS) and Intensive Support (Matchbox) and for other in-depth projects, we offer sliding-scale based paid support. We personalize our support to serve the needs of each partner, and our work can include things like:

Documenting your work and building your digital archive: “The Internet has a lot of memory, but somehow it can’t seem to remember that Black women were the creators of things.”  This quote from Antoinette Luna Myers in Misogynoir Transformed is a reminder of how much of the work, achievements and knowledge created by Black women often go ignored or unregistered (including the work that went into shaping the Internet we have today!). We can support your organization with creating tech/data processes for digitally documenting your work.

Community building and connecting with fellow organizers in safe ways. In Resourcing Black Feminist Organizing, Black feminists named cross-border organizing as a particular priority, so they can build autonomous movements across Latin America and the Caribbean. We can support you in finding the best tools to connect with fellow activists and organizers.

Responsible Data: If there is data missing in your context that would be crucial to your work and the people you’re working with, we can support you in coming up with a plan for collecting and managing it responsibly! We can also work together to establish a responsible and streamlined process for retaining, archiving and deleting data you use.

Digital care and digital resilience: We can work together to support your organization’s ability to protect yourself from – and respond to – digital security threats, to ensure the wellbeing of your team, and to adopt infrastructures that respond to your needs and contexts.

Project design and implementation: We can support you in designing realistic, sustainable and impactful projects to address complex challenges in your context, while incorporating data and technology into your work.

Strengthening technical intuition: We can work with your team to strengthen your technical intuition, aptitude for navigating the nuances of working with tech, and ability to balance the opportunities and challenges tech brings.

If you are part of a Black feminist organization in Latin America and the Caribbean or beyond, and are interested in working with us, schedule a call or write to us at hello[at]theengineroom.org. 

Whether you’re organizing across social justice issues including anti-racism, decolonisation, feminism, reproductive justice, defense of land/territory, climate and/or economic justice (and more!), are using digital technologies to build community and connect with other activists, or are curious about how we could support your work and activism, get in touch!

Schedule a call

Learn about our work:

Explore some of our recent projects in our annual retrospective from 2022.  Check out our collection of key questions about tech and data for social justice organizations (available in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). Read more about our Light Touch Support (LiTS) Programme.

Image by Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash. Illustration by Salam Shokor, assisted by Marie Dumont and Jihad Shokor.

The post Calling all Black feminist organizations for no-fee tech and data support first appeared on The Engine Room.

The term ‘Digital Transformation’ has been echoing in the boardrooms of businesses, big and small, for the past decade. Despite its prevalence, its meaning and implications are often misunderstood or oversimplified. In essence, digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers. This comprehensive guide aims to demystify what digital transformation entails, its benefits, and how to successfully implement it in your business.

Understanding Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is not merely about updating your IT infrastructure or adopting the latest tools; it’s about creating new—or modifying existing—business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. It is an ongoing process of change, driven by the evolving digital landscape and the need for businesses to remain competitive and relevant.

Digital transformation can encompass a wide range of activities, from automating manual processes, leveraging data analytics for decision-making, embracing cloud computing, to adopting emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).

The Benefits of Digital Transformation

1. Improved Efficiency: Through automation and streamlined processes, businesses can reduce operational costs and increase productivity.

2. Enhanced Customer Experience: By leveraging data analytics and digital tools, businesses can provide personalized experiences, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

3. Increased Agility: Digital transformation allows businesses to respond quickly to changes in the market or customer behavior.

4. Improved Decision Making: With the help of big data and advanced analytics, businesses can make informed decisions.

5. Innovation and Competitive Advantage: By embracing digital transformation, businesses can innovate their products, services, and processes, gaining a competitive edge.

Implementing Digital Transformation

Implementing digital transformation is a complex process that requires a strategic approach. Here are some steps to guide you:

1. Define Your Strategy: The first step is to define your digital transformation strategy. What are your business goals? How can digital technologies help you achieve these goals?

2. Assess Your Current State: Understand your current digital maturity. Evaluate your existing technology, processes, and skills.

3. Identify the Gaps: Based on your strategy and current state, identify the gaps that need to be addressed.

4. Prioritize Initiatives: Prioritize your digital transformation initiatives based on their impact on your business goals and the resources required.

5. Implement the Change: Start implementing the changes. This could involve adopting new technologies, training your staff, changing your business processes, etc.

6. Monitor and Adjust: Digital transformation is an ongoing process. Monitor your progress, measure the results, and adjust your approach as needed.

Conclusion

Digital transformation is a necessary evolution for businesses to stay competitive in the digital era. It is a comprehensive and ongoing process that requires a clear strategy, constant monitoring, and adjustments. Despite the challenges, the benefits it brings—enhanced customer experience, improved efficiency, increased agility, and competitive advantage—make it a worthwhile endeavor. As we demystify digital transformation, it’s clear that businesses that embrace this change will be better equipped to succeed in the future.

Digital Transformation Businesses Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

The post Demystifying Digital Transformation: A Comprehensive Guide for Businesses appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

LAS VEGAS, Nev., May 31, 2023 – The FIDO Alliance today released new user experience (UX) guidelines to help accelerate deployment and adoption of passkeys.

The FIDO Alliance UX Guidelines for Passkey Creation and Sign-ins aim to help online service providers design a better, more consistent user experience when signing in with passkeys. The guidelines are available at https://fidoalliance.org/ux-guidelines/. 

Based on FIDO standards, passkeys are a replacement for passwords that provide faster, easier, and more secure sign-ins to websites and apps across a user’s devices. While far easier and more secure than passwords and legacy forms of 2FA, the research performed for these guidelines found that passkey sign-ins present a distinct user journey that service providers need to consider before providing passkey support. The FIDO Alliance UX Guidelines provide evidence-based best practices for key steps in the user journey for passkey creation and sign-in.

“As companies around the world accelerate their move toward passwordless authentication based on FIDO standards, the topic of user experience has risen to the forefront,” said Andrew Shikiar, executive director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance. “Passkeys uniquely can provide a phishing-resistant sign-in as well as a superior user experience which can drive top-line growth by enabling more seamless access to online services and engendering stronger brand affinity. We encourage online service providers to use these guidelines in their journey to rolling out passkeys to ensure a consistent, thoughtful, and simple user experience for their users.”

Passkeys are supported in the vast majority of consumer devices: Apple and Google have readied their operating systems for service providers to enable sign-ins with passkeys that sync across devices; Windows 10 and 11 have long supported device-bound passkeys in Windows Hello – and passkeys from iOS or Android devices can also be used to sign into sites in Chrome or Edge on Windows. 

Many leading service providers including Google, PayPal, Yahoo! Japan, NTT DOCOMO, CVS Health, Shopify, Hyatt, Instacart, Robinhood, Mercari and Kayak are providing their customers with passkey sign-ins. 

“When it comes to providing passkeys to consumers, technical implementation is only one piece of the puzzle,” said Kevin Goldman, chair of the FIDO Alliance UX Working Group and Chief Experience Officer at Trusona. “Simply put, the UX is a critical component in helping consumers adopt passkeys as a password replacement. These guidelines are a carefully researched set of best practices that will help online service providers design a better, more consistent user experience when signing in with passkeys and ultimately maximize adoption.”

The guidelines were created by the FIDO Alliance UX Working Group in partnership with usability research firm Blink UX – with added underwriting support from 1Password, Google, Trusona and US Bank. This group collectively conducted formal research of FIDO user journeys and actively engaged with FIDO Alliance stakeholders to establish these UX best practices. 

Learn more about the FIDO UX Guidelines for Passkeys at Identiverse 2023

Attending Identiverse? Learn more about the guidelines today, May 31, during the session “Optimizing UX for Passkeys” at 2:00 pm PDT.

Attend the Webinar Series

The FIDO Alliance is hosting a three-part webinar series to educate on the findings and best practices developed through the intensive research for the UX guidelines for passkeys. Attendees will get actionable tools to accelerate and optimize deployments of passkeys for consumer sign-ins. 

Webinars include:

10 UX Guidelines for Passkeys (June 13, 2023 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT) Driving Adoption of Passkeys with UX (June 20, 2023 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT) UX and Content Strategy Workshop for Passkeys (June 27, 2023 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT)

Register for the webinar series here.

About the FIDO UX Working Group

In order to accelerate adoption of FIDO solutions and achieve the FIDO Alliance’s vision of helping reduce the world’s overreliance on passwords, the UX Working Group (UXWG) serves as subject matter experts and internal advisors within the FIDO Alliance on issues related to usability and UX. The FIDO Alliance UXWG is composed of 79 product, design, accessibility, marketing and technical leaders from 31 diverse companies. A full list of members who contributed to this project can be found in the guidelines.

About the FIDO Alliance

The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, www.fidoalliance.org, was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. The FIDO Alliance is changing the nature of authentication with standards for simpler, stronger authentication that define an open, scalable, interoperable set of mechanisms that reduce reliance on passwords. FIDO Authentication is stronger, private, and easier to use when authenticating to online services.

Contact
press@fidoalliance.org 

The post FIDO Alliance Publishes Research-backed Guidelines for Optimizing User Sign-in Experience with Passkeys appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Baku Swimwear Founded on the beaches of Sydney, BAKU is an iconic Australian swimwear brand with 50 years heritage.

Needed more accurate inventory and stock counts through the supply chain to minimise out-of-stocks and maximise sales. BAKU also wanted to increase online sales as part of their omni-channel strategy.

Implemented RFID at the same time as moving to a new POS system by Retail Express. RAMP integrates with a range of leading POS systems to provide a powerful and easy-to-use inventory management system. Working closely together, RAMP and Retail Express have helped BAKU optimise inventory and purchase replenishment to maximise sales.

Baku_Swimwear_Case_study.pdf

IPC/Subway: Delivering the promise of end-to-end traceability throughout the Subway system IPC needed a system to enable full supply chain visibility to optimise its operations. Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC), a Subway® Franchisee-owned company, is responsible for the supply chain processes for the more than 43,000 Subway restaurants globally.

The Cooperative was focused on ensuring food safety for Subway guests and finding business efficiencies that end-to-end traceability would bring. To achieve this challenging initiative, IPC developed a strategy for getting all of its suppliers and distributors on board.

traceabilityreferencebook21-case-study-book-ipc-subway_2.pdf

7-Eleven Thailand boosts consumer safety and satisfaction with next generation barcodes 2D barcodes are providing consumers in Thailand a better experience at their local 7-Eleven 7-Eleven stores in Thailand wanted to ensure that expired products were not being sold to consumers.

Across Thailand, 7-Eleven began labelling products and upgrading equipment to be compatible with next generation barcodes powered by GS1. Benefits

Faster, simpler and more efficient operations, better stock management and most importantly, no more products sold past their “best before” dates.

case-study-7-eleven-gs1-thailand.pdf

Strengthening tequila supply chain integrity from Mexico to the U.S. By uniquely identifying individual bottles with GS1 standards, Mexican exporters can better manage their inventory. By scanning GS1 barcodes on boxes, they can assess whether the order was complete at the time of shipment, taking action early in the process, if needed.

Trading partners can also obtain information on a full-trailer load compared to lots shipped, along with a summary of the shipped boxes, significantly improving process efficiency.

Results

The tequila trade between Mexico and the U.S. can realise significant improvements in traceability as well as efficiency gains.

Processing time has improved by 30 percent and counterfeiting has been minimised.

Situation

The focus of this pilot was to ensure that the products were not stolen, altered or exchanged for counterfeit products. It was, therefore, based on monitoring the traceability of tequila shipments, knowing where specific products were located in the supply chain, at a specific point in time. Additional traceability information included knowing that the trailer had not been altered and that products had not been stolen or exchanged.

Approach

GS1 identifiers encoded in EPC/RFID tags uniquely identify each tequila product along with data such as the lot number and expiration date. The EzTrack EPCIS platform enables all stakeholders to track the movement of tequila shipments throughout the global supply chain. The Ministry of Economy and the National Chamber of the Tequila Industry chose the following tequila companies to participate in the project: Corporativo Destileria Santa Lucia S.A. de C.V.; the Patron Spirits Company; Proximo Spirits Inc.; Tequila Cuervo; and Pernord Ricard Mexico S.A. de C.V.

Tequila-case-study-APEC.pdf

The data quality journey of chocolate and candy giant Mars Wrigley Thanks to a range of data quality initiatives, product data accuracy is now close to 100% In the mid-2000s, an insufficient focus on product data prevented Mars Wrigley from being certified by distributors and vendors, slowing their speed to market, affecting their availability to launch new items and costing them sales.

Mars Wrigley rolled out GS1 standards, starting with Global Trade Item Number® (GTIN®) allocation and packaging measurement rules and progressing steadily to global data synchronisation and Verified by GS1. Today, Mars Wrigley has a purposeful, governed, proactive and federated approach to data quality.

Mars Wrigley product data now has meaningfully fewer errors and much greater consistency. Online product images are more accurate, mistakes are easier to spot and fix, and they are helping protect the reputations of their well-known global brands

verified-by-gs1-success-story-mars-wrigley.pdf

Making China’s customs clearance processes more efficient and more accurate with Verified by GS1 The GS1 GTIN and Verified by GS1 have become valued tools for China Customs, bringing benefits to all parties involved in the cross-border supply chain.
Thanks to a wide range of government initiatives and multilateral trade agreements, China has seen an exponential increase in cross-border trade, both in sheer volume and in the variety of products entering the country.

Unfortunately, import procedures requiring companies to manually enter product information multiple times were resulting in discrepancies, inaccuracies and wasted time.

The General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) now leverages the GS1 Global Trade Item Number® (GTIN®) and Verified by GS1 to expedite border declarations, minimise errors, improve compliance, watch for counterfeits and enhance a whole range of customs clearance processes.

For example, many companies and brokers importing goods to China can now auto-populate product information in the “single window” declaration system simply by entering the product’s GS1 GTIN.

verified-by-gs1-success-story-china-customs.pdf

Brazil’s Tax Administration knows the importance of valid product identification Using Verified by GS1 to authenticate the GS1 GTINs used to identify products on e-invoices, SEFAZ has seen a range of benefits for their team, Brazilian businesses and the country’s citizens. Calculating the right tax rate to apply to products is a complex affair for SEFAZ, the tax administration for Brazil’s states. To do it accurately, they need to know exactly what each product on an invoice is.

SEFAZ uses GS1 Brazil’s Verified by GS1 database to authenticate Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) on the e-invoices they manage, demonstrating yet again that trust and efficiency start with a valid ID.

Verified_by_GS1_CS_SEFAZ_Case_Study.pdf

Introducing serialisation at Johnson & Johnson Supply Chain Imagine trying to navigate a city with no addresses. The only information you have to go on is what the building looks like, or what landmarks it’s near.

With identifying information it would be so much easier.

Johnson & Johnson Supply Chain (JJSC) is leading the work of mapping the products from the Johnson & Johnson companies.

By using a variety of tools and mediums we are working to identify, trace, and make the products that the Johnson & Johnson companies create easily locatable.

gs1-healthcare-reference-book-2019-2020-us-introducing-serialisation-at-johnson-johnson-supply-chain_2.pdf

Airfield Estate: Using GS1 standards to improve traceability, reduce waste and increase consumer trust Airfield Estate is a farm located in suburban Dublin, Ireland and through its work aims to inspire people to make better food choices through education and awareness. Food waste, sustainable production and traceability are all identified concerns of customers locally and nationally.

Airfield recognised an opportunity to respond to those consumer demands for greater transparency through the provision of easily accessible information about the origin and production of their unique Jersey cow milk.

To illustrate the journey of a food product, Airfield Estate introduced a QR code and a GS1 DataMatrix barcode on its milk bottle labels. Through the use of GS1 data standards, combined with the fTRACE traceability platform, Airfield can provide batch-specific traceability information to their customers in real-time.

traceabilityreferencebook21-case-study-airfiled-estate_2.pdf

Plant-based ice cream brand Nomoo picks up all the benefits of GS1 GDSN In 2016, Rebecca Göckel and Jan Grabow created NRDS GmbH, a company that makes milk-free, 100% plant-based organic ice cream. The German company behind Nomoo ice cream is a perfect example of how the GS1 Global Data Synchronisation Network (GS1 GDSN®) makes it easy and affordable for entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses to share high-quality product information with their trading partners.

They named their sweet treat Nomoo, and it is today quite a success with vegans and non-vegans alike. Though the young company has only 30 employees, Nomoo is nevertheless present in more than 2,000 stores, not only in Germany but also in Austria and Switzerland, and is conquering the café and restaurant markets as well.

Along with this marketplace success came a pressing demand from retailers and end consumers for detailed and reliable product information about their ice cream. Several of their larger retailers, in fact, specifically requested that they make their product master data available via the GS1 GDSN.

gs1_gdsn_success_story_nomoo_atrify.pdf

The post GLBA Town Hall: Final Checklist & Your Questions Answered appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Uber driver Adams Ikemu Adakole diligently paid the daily installments on his car loan from Nigerian vehicle-financing firm Moove for three months. But in February 2023, his work came to...

Tosin Eniolorunda is the founder and CEO of Moniepoint, Africa’s second-fastest-growing company in 2023. He spoke to Rest of World about the impact of Nigeria’s recent cash crisis on the...

Trusted AI with OriginTrail: Join the fight against misinformation and participate in 1 million TRAC grants launched by Trace Labs

OriginTrail’s trusted knowledge foundation was launched in 2018 to improve trust and transparency in global supply chains. Similarly, OriginTrail’s new knowledge-based AI framework now aims to instill trust in AI solutions. Trace Labs — OriginTrail core developers are announcing a 1,000,000 TRAC token grant program for contributors to help advance ChatDKG — the open source framework for trusted AI to help fight misinformation.

AI Challenges: Navigating the Pitfalls to Unlock its Potential

According to Goldman Sachs Chief Information Officer, Marco Argenti, “the impact of advances in generative artificial intelligence on society could be comparable to the printing press” and with over 91% of top businesses currently investing in AI (NewVantage, 2022), those opportunities might be seized at a very rapid pace. However, with the internet already flooded with misinformation, AI is likely to amplify the problem.

One of the major challenges with generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is the occurrence of hallucinations or errors in AI-generated outputs. These errors could lead to incorrect decisions and actions, which could have severe consequences for individuals and society. Ensuring information provenance in AI systems is also essential, as without it, bias, misinformation, and propaganda may arise.

Furthermore, it is essential to address the implementation of proper data governance approaches. In fact, some AI solutions have already been banned in the EU due to data governance issues (e.g., Italy’s ban on ChatGPT). This highlights the urgent need for precise data access management and equitable business models based on data ownership to ensure sustainable AI solutions.

Finally, AI’s value is currently being held back by the difficulty of finding and accessing data and knowledge that is locked in legacy systems and not being used as a contributing corpus of knowledge for AI-based solutions. Addressing these challenges will ensure the safe and effective implementation of AI and its benefits to society.

Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) — trusted knowledge foundation

OriginTrail leads the development for decentralization of knowledge by enabling its discoverability, verifiability and information provenance. Its core technology, the Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG), has already proven valuable by facilitating trusted knowledge sharing in international trade for companies like Walmart and Home Depot, ensuring safety of rail travel in Switzerland and increasing transparency of healthcare supply chains for donated medicine.

The DKG is an open source network that brings together two technologies — blockchains and knowledge graphs. It creates a trusted knowledge foundation which is particularly useful for AI solutions as it makes it easy to search the DKG for the right knowledge, verify its provenance and interact with it.

ChatDKG — an open framework for trusted AI based on OriginTrail DKG

To accelerate the use of OriginTrail’s DKG with AI solutions, OriginTrail introduces ChatDKG — a framework for efficiently searching, accessing and utilizing trusted knowledge with AI tools. The ChatDKG framework is designed as an open community project exploring its diverse possible applications.

Supporting this effort, Trace Labs, the core developers of OriginTrail, are making a 1,000,000 TRAC grant pool available for contributors creating components connecting OriginTrail DKG with existing AI tools.

Join OriginTrail Discord channel to keep track of the grant program details as they become available over the coming weeks.

👇 More about OriginTrail 👇

OriginTrail is an ecosystem dedicated to making the global economy work sustainably by organizing trusted AI — grade knowledge assets. It leverages the open source Decentralized Knowledge Graph that connects the physical world (art, healthcare, fashion, education, supply chains, …) and the digital world (blockchain, smart contracts, Metaverse & NFTs, …) in a single connected reality driving transparency and trust.

Advanced knowledge graph technology currently powers trillion-dollar companies like Google and Facebook. By reshaping it for Web3, the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph provides a crucial fabric to link, verify, and value data on both physical and digital assets.

Web | Twitter | Facebook | Telegram | LinkedIn | GitHub | Discord

👇 More about Trace Labs👇

Trace Labs is the core developer of OriginTrail — the open source Decentralized Knowledge Graph. Based on blockchain, OriginTrail connects the physical world and the digital world in a single connected reality by making all different knowledge assets discoverable, verifiable and valuable. Trace Labs’ technology is being used by global enterprises (e.g. over 40% of US imports including Walmart, Costco, Home Depot are exchanging security audits with OriginTrail DKG) in multiple industries, such as pharmaceutical industry, international trade, decentralized applications and more.

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Trusted AI with OriginTrail: Join the fight against misinformation and participate in 1 million… was originally published in OriginTrail on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Webinar

Join Edge virtual Chief Information Security Officer, Dr. Dawn Dunkerley, for a town hall discussion focused on Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Security Compliance. As institutions across the country prepare for the June 9th, 2023 compliance deadline, Dr. Dunkerley fielded last-minute questions and reviewed a checklist of key compliance areas with attendees.

Complete the Form Below to Access the Webinar Recording [contact-form-7]

The post GLBA Town Hall: Final Checklist & Your Questions Answered appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

It was noon, and the Delhi summer sun was beating down on Rajeev. The food delivery driver was drenched in sweat and visibly exhausted, but he couldn’t afford to take...

We recently wrapped up our two Matchbox partnerships for 2022, with Uganda-based Albinism Umbrella and Namibia-based Y-Fem.

Here are some reflections on what we worked on and learned together. 

Working on Responsible Data with Albinism Umbrella Responsible Data to protect the rights of persons with albinism 

Albinism Umbrella, based in Uganda, works to reduce the vulnerability of persons with albinism, and to promote and protect their interests and rights. 

Within Matchbox, Albinism Umbrella had three main priorities:

Developing a Responsible Data Policy for the organisation, to ensure that they are able to take a holistic approach to strengthening their data management practices. The policy is a practical way to ensure that Albinism Umbrella treats the data they hold with care, through guiding the management of both sensitive and non-sensitive data within the organisation.  Ensuring that the data about the communities they work with, collected during their projects, is protected. This was particularly important for them as persons with albinism are at increased risk of violence, making personally identifiable information particularly sensitive.  Engaging their partner organisations (working on similar issues) in conversations about the relevance of responsible data for their work. This stemmed from the recognition that greater protection for the data of marginalised groups would come from collaborative approaches. 

“Addressing the risks around data collection, storage and management is critical to our mission because the population we serve is very high risk.” 

– Olive Namutebi, Executive Director at Albinism Umbrella

Committing to collective conversations

“We were so eager to share the importance of securing data and using it in equitable ways that we planned a community call with The Engine Room and invited our partners and other organisations so they could start transforming their practices as well.”

– Olive Namutebi, Executive Director at Albinism Umbrella

Throughout our partnership, Albinism Umbrella stressed the importance of encouraging similar efforts among their peers. We held a community call on responsible data for social justice organisations in June, and developed an introductory guide to responsible data for Albinism Umbrella to use to support their partners in embarking on their own responsible data journeys. 

This partnership was an important reminder that responsible data is something that the social justice sector as a whole needs to be thinking about.In walking this journey with their peers and partners, Albinism Umbrella pushed for the collective transformation it takes to better protect marginalised communities from potential harm. 

“We have learned a great deal from the people at The Engine Room and have appreciated how participatory their approach is.” 

–Janepher Nanyondo, Program Officer at Albinism Umbrella

To learn more about Albinism Umbrella and their work, follow them on Twitter or Facebook. 

Developing a safer internal tech and data ecosystem with Y-Fem

The Young Feminists Movement (Y-Fem) Namibia is a feminist human rights organisation dedicated to advancing women’s human rights by promoting women’s access to health, education and justice. Y-Fem promotes young women’s representation, decision-making, visibility, creativity and transformative leadership.

Y-Fem was wary of surveillance and wanted to make sure that they have the knowledge to establish a more stable and safer tech and data environment for their team and for the feminist movement in Namibia. Together, we decided to work on strengthening their tech and data ecosystem, in order to make it more secure and resilient. 

During the partnership we focused on three main areas:

Ensuring that Y-Fem is able to maintain their institutional memory through protecting their data and preventing data loss. This was particularly important for them, as they had dealt with the loss of devices before. Establishing secure systems to manage organisational passwords and platforms, as Y-Fem works with a distributed team and rotational voluntary staff. This allowed them to strengthen the security of their digital environment.  Strengthening the knowledge of the Y-Fem team when it comes to responsible data management, and ensuring they can safely store sensitive data.

Together, we assessed risk, anticipated future challenges and equipped the Y-Fem team to respond in ways that will enable greater protection. 

“Y-Fem is so honoured for this technical partnership with The Engine Room. It has truly strengthened the work of Y-Fem in so many ways.” 

-Florence /Khaxas, Executive Director, Y-Fem Namibia

To learn more about Y-Fem and their work, follow them on Instagram or Facebook. 

Learn more about our Matchbox programme here. If your organisation is interested in getting support from The Engine Room, please schedule a Light Touch Support call with us!  

Image by Li Zhang via Unsplash.

The post A look back at our 2022 intensive support partnerships  first appeared on The Engine Room.

On this special episode of Next Level Supply Chain, GS1 US CEO Bob Carpenter speaks with Frank Yiannas, Former Deputy Commissioner, Food Policy & Response at the FDA. While at the FDA, Frank was one of the architects for the Food Safety Modernization Act using his massive experience at Walmart and Disney, where he spent a combined 29 years in charge of food health & safety.

Bob and Frank discuss the importance of a smarter and more sustainable food system with the help of digitalization. Frank shares insights on the Food Traceability rule and how it was developed by the FDA. We also tackle the benefits of traceability, such as preventing illnesses and improving transparency in the food system. We talk about how data standards and emerging technologies can address challenges facing the food industry and how collaboration is key to implementing the new rule. Tune in to discover how compliance oversight is moving towards a 21st-century paradigm and how data sharing can create crucial public-private collaborations.

Key takeaways:

The food system needs collaboration between public and private sectors to implement traceability and prevent major outbreaks.

Emerging technologies like RFID and IoT pixels offer new ways to track and monitor food assets and increase predictive capabilities for identifying volatile seafood shipments.

The shift towards real-time monitoring and dynamic risk prioritization is already emerging, and the private sector should lead the way in reinventing how they do compliance oversight and share their practices with regulators around the world.

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with guests:

Follow Bob Carpenter on LinkedIn

Follow Frank Yiannas on LinkedIn

 

Today, as China’s tech companies expand their influence beyond the country’s borders, it’s hard to tell where Chinese internet begins and ends. TikTok, owned by Chinese tech juggernaut ByteDance, is...

Surveillance capitalism is a term that is increasingly becoming relevant in today’s digital age. Coined by Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff in her 2019 book, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” the term refers to the commodification of personal data by tech companies. Essentially, it’s a business model where companies collect, analyze, and sell user data to advertisers for profit.

The Genesis of Surveillance Capitalism

The rise of the internet in the late 20th century brought about a new age of technology and connectivity. As we welcomed the digital age, tech companies, such as Google and Facebook, began offering their platforms for free. Users happily engaged with these services, seemingly receiving something for nothing. However, this exchange was far from one-sided.

These companies developed a business model where the product was not the platform itself, but the data it collected. Every click, every like, every share became an integral part of a massive data-gathering mechanism. This data is then analyzed, packaged, and sold to advertisers who use it to target consumers with an accuracy that traditional advertising methods could never achieve.

The Implications and Concerns

Surveillance capitalism raises various ethical and privacy concerns. Central to these is the lack of transparency and user consent. Most users are unaware of the extent of the data collected and how it’s used. The user agreements are often complex and difficult to understand, leading to uninformed consent.

Moreover, users have limited control over their data. Once collected, it can be sold, shared, or leaked without their knowledge. This poses significant security risks and potential misuse of personal information.

Surveillance capitalism also fosters a power imbalance. The companies with the most data become the most powerful, creating monopolies and limiting competition. They can shape user experiences and behaviors through personalized content, reinforcing existing beliefs and preferences, and potentially manipulating user behavior.

The Future of Surveillance Capitalism

As the digital landscape evolves, so does surveillance capitalism. With the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), data collection extends beyond smartphones and laptops to smart speakers, wearable tech, and other connected devices. This means even more personal data is being captured, from our voices to our heart rates.

Addressing the challenges posed by surveillance capitalism requires a multi-faceted approach. Legal and regulatory measures, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, are one step in ensuring greater transparency and user control over data. More such regulations need to be instituted globally.

Technological solutions, such as privacy-enhancing technologies, can also play a role. These include end-to-end encryption, anonymization tools, and decentralized data architectures that limit data control by a single entity.

Finally, there needs to be a societal shift in understanding the value of privacy. Users need to be aware of their digital footprint and the implications of sharing personal data online.

Conclusion

Surveillance capitalism is an inherent aspect of our digital lives. While it has facilitated personalized experiences and connectivity, it has also paved the way for unprecedented levels of data commodification. As we navigate this digital age, striking a balance between the benefits of personalization and the preservation of privacy is crucial. To do so, we must foster an ecosystem of regulatory compliance, technological innovation, and informed digital citizenship.

Surveillance Capitalism Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

The post Surveillance Capitalism: The Price of the Digital Age appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

By Francis Beland, Executive Director, OASIS Open

Open standards are the building blocks of open innovation by providing a common foundation for innovation and collaboration. Open standards ensure interoperability and compatibility between different systems, enabling the development of new products and services to be integrated into existing infrastructure and ecosystems. This can help to drive innovation by making it easier for new solutions to be developed and adopted and by enabling the creation of new markets and opportunities.

Open standards can also help to reduce the barriers to entry for new and innovative companies, making it easier for them to enter and participate in existing markets. By providing a level playing field for innovation and competition, open standards can help to foster a more diverse and competitive marketplace, enabling the development of new and innovative solutions that meet the needs of different stakeholders.

In addition, open standards can help encourage collaboration between different companies, organizations, and communities. Multiple organizations’ collective knowledge, expertise, and resources to solve complex problems and drive innovation.

Overall, open standards are the foundation of disruptive open innovation programs by enabling interoperability, reducing barriers to entry, fostering collaboration, and encouraging the development of new and innovative solutions.

The post Open Standards: The Building Blocks of Open Innovation appeared first on OASIS Open.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) recently released a new 31-page document outlining best practices for identity and access management (IAM) administrators. The most secure types of MFA include fast identity online (FIDO) and public key infrastructure (PKI). 

The post Security Intelligence: CISA, NSA Issue New IAM Best Practice Guidelines appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

We’re going to Amsterdam 🙌🌷🇳🇱

We’re a geographically distributed team who work alongside clients all over the world, with the bulk of that work being done remotely. We’re pretty good at getting things done over the internet and are always looking for ways to improve our remote working habits. We even made an email course to share some of what we’ve picked up over the years with all of you.

That said, we recognise that it is vital to spend time together as a team and that some things are better/different/easier face to face.

So, following on from the success of our previous meetup we’re planning another trip. We Are Open Coop will be in Amsterdam from 19th to 22nd June and it just so happens that Mozilla Festival House will also be in town.

https://www.mozillafestival.org/en/house/

Laura, Doug, and I all met while working at Mozilla and the Mozilla Festival was a big part of our work there. I was gutted when MozFest finally moved away from London as I’d been become used to my network of colleagues/collaborators/comrades from across the globe arriving on my doorstep (side eye from the many people who travelled many many miles by plane/train/automobile to make it to London).

We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get involved again so we’ll be running a session titled “Fostering Transparency and Building a Cooperative Economy”

Our session will be a space to discuss and learn from each other about democratising power and wealth in Tech and beyond. Despite the brain melting scale of the global cooperative movement, coops exist in a blind spot for many people who setting up the companies/foundations/charities we need to challenge the status quo. Our five major themes in this session will be:

Decentring power and sharing ownership Pushing back against Big Tech Governance in co-ops Platform co-ops & cooperative economy Equity and inclusion: nonviolent communication and conflict resolution

Away from Mozilla Festival House, we’ll be taking time to reflect on our first 7 years, plan for the future, and play obscure Japanese arcade games. If you’re going to be in Amsterdam for Mozfest House, do give us a ping!

Principle 5 — Click to read about it, and the other 6 : Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO

We Are Open Coop X Mozilla Festival House was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Five miners onboard from launch

Zug, Switzerland, 24 May 2023 — Energy Web, an independent non-profit that develops open-source software for clean energy solutions, today announced the launch of Green Proofs for Bitcoin (GP4BTC), a
first-of-its kind initiative to establish an independent, standardized energy measurement system for the Bitcoin mining industry.

GP4BTC will provide transparency into the decarbonization efforts of Bitcoin miners and hosting companies, supporting the industry on its journey to net-zero. As part of the solution, certifications will be issued to Bitcoin miners based on their clean energy use and contributions to grid stability via demand response. By delivering verifiable metrics that are consistent across companies and geographies, GP4BTC will provide recognition and reputational benefit for companies mining sustainably, as well as improved access to institutional finance and other returns on their investments into sustainability practices.

Speaking on the launch of the certification initiative, Amy Westervelt, Senior Delivery Lead and head of the GP4BTC initiative at Energy Web, said “Today Bitcoin is scrutinized for its electricity consumption and associated climate impact. While leading miners are pursuing strategies to reduce their carbon footprints, the industry lacks a unifying definition of sustainable mining, as well as a shared framework for assessing and verifying miners’ sustainability practices. Green Proofs for Bitcoin seeks to provide this.”

Launched with five certified miners, the GP4BTC certification platform and registry assesses miners via a Clean Energy Score and a Grid Impact Score, each of which are calculated based on operational information
including location and energy consumption data. Together, these scores reflect miners’ procurement of renewable electricity, siting operations in regions with low grid carbon intensity, and their contributions to grid stability through demand flexibility. Developed in partnership with over 35 miners, NGOs, grid operators, and other energy and crypto market
participants, this approach to scoring is aligned with best practices for sustainability leadership in other industries, and to approaches to corporate ESG reporting in the financial sector and beyond.

“Until now, efforts to standardize clean energy procurement practices and drive collective action across the Bitcoin mining sector have been siloed and inconsistent,” added Westervelt. “While other electricity-intensive
industries have benefited from custom decarbonization roadmaps, Bitcoin has largely been ignored, creating a negative feedback loop where climate-conscious miners are left to forge their own paths. Our goal is to create a virtuous cycle where clean mining is easier to define, pursue, and monetize — so that it eventually becomes the status quo.”

For miners, GP4BTC offers a solution for miners to provide evidence of clean energy practices. Using Energy Web’s privacy-first Green Proofs technology, miners retain full ownership and control of their data. For
Bitcoin users and institutions, GP4BTC provides a one-stop-shop for discovering and validating miners’ sustainability credentials so they can make data-driven decisions regarding commercial strategy and policy.
At launch, certified miners and data centers include Argo Blockchain, Cowa, DMG Blockchain Solutions, Hive Blockchain Technologies, and Gryphon Digital Mining.

DMG’s CEO, Sheldon Bennett, commented,“We are pleased to be included among the initial Green Proofs for Bitcoin miner participants. We believe Energy Web’s launch of Green Proofs for Bitcoin represents a real
first step towards recognizing a broad swath of industry participants for powering their data center equipment utilizing primarily carbon neutral energy sources.”

“This initiative will settle the basis for long term sustainability within the Bitcoin mining industry. We are proud to contribute to the growth of the ecosystem and to have the ability to certify our commitment towards sustainability,” said Fiorenzo Manganiello, co-founder of Cowa.

“Decarbonization represents one of the main priorities for the sector, and by providing standardized and verifiable metrics, as well as acknowledging best practices with certifications, initiatives such as Energy
Web’s Green Proofs for Bitcoin serve a fundamental role in driving industry standards. At Argo, sustainable mining has been at the core of our business model and growth strategy ever since our foundation. We are
proud of our GP4BTC certification, and we look forward to contributing to the impact and success of this exciting initiative.” said Seif El-Bakly, Interim CEO at Argo Blockchain.

President and CEO of Hive Blockchain Technologies Aydin Kilic commented, “In our commitment to be green energy focused — which has been our mandate since HIVE went public back in 2017 as the first
publicly traded crypto miner — we are glad to see the industry embracing this strategy, and advocates like Energy Web helping to validate and certify the renewable aspects of crypto miners. This makes our industry
stronger. We hope that the public, along with policy makers and utility companies, realize that a large contingent of crypto miners are utilizing renewable energy.”

Gryphon Digital Mining’s CEO, Rob Chang, urges the Bitcoin mining industry to start providing concrete evidence of sustainable mining practices. “We need to move past pandering press releases and start offering tangible, coordinated, third-party certifications that confirm clean energy use,” Chang emphasized. “We believe in GP4BTC’s mission and proudly announce that Gryphon is one of the first recipients of its
certification. As Bitcoin mining continues to grow, it is critical to prioritize sustainable practices and hold the industry accountable for its impact on the environment.”

Energy Web is keen to work with any Bitcoin miner or other party interested in using Green Proofs for Bitcoin. Miners and data centers can learn more about the solution and apply for certification directly at www.GP4BTC.org or by contacting gp4btc@energyweb.org.

About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. Our solutions for enterprise asset management, data exchange, and Green Proofs, our tool for registering and tracking low-carbon products, are underpinned by the Energy Web Chain, the world’s first public blockchain tailored to the energy sector. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, IoT, telecommunications leaders, and more. More information on Energy Web can be found at www.energyweb.org or follow us on Twitter @EnergyWebX

Energy Web Launches Certification for Sustainable Bitcoin Mining was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

First Project Note published by NIEMOpen Open Project

OASIS is pleased to announce publication of “NIEMOpen Publication Process Version 1.0,” a Project Note from the members of the OASIS NIEMOpen Open Project (OP) [1].

NIEM, formerly known as the “National Information Exchange Model,” is a framework for exchanging information between public and private sector organizations. The framework includes a reference data model for objects, properties, and relationships as well as a set of technical specifications for using and extending the data model in information exchanges. NIEM promotes scalability and reusability of messages between information systems which allows organizations to share data and information more efficiently.

This document describes the terminology, deliverables, versioning, stages and processes involved in publishing a NIEMOpen version, including the model, specifications and tools.

This Project Note is available here:

NIEMOpen Publication Process Version 1.0
Project Note 01
02 May 2023

Editable source:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/niemopen/niem-pubs/v1.0/pn01/niem-pubs-v1.0-pn01.md (Authoritative)
HTML:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/niemopen/niem-pubs/v1.0/pn01/niem-pubs-v1.0-pn01.html
PDF:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/niemopen/niem-pubs/v1.0/pn01/niem-pubs-v1.0-pn01.pdf

Distribution ZIP file

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the Project Note in a ZIP distribution file. You can download the ZIP file here:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/niemopen/niem-pubs/v1.0/pn01/niem-pubs-v1.0-pn01.zip

Members of the NIEM Technical Architecture Committee (NTAC) of the OASIS NIEMOpen OP [1] approved this Project Note on 02 May 2023 as documented in the NTAC meeting minutes [2], and it is now available online in the OASIS Library as referenced above.

Our congratulations to all the members of the OP.

Additional references

[1] OASIS NIEMOpen OP
http://www.niemopen.org/

[2] Approval (NIEM Technical Architecture Committee (NTAC) of the OASIS NIEMOpen OP meeting minutes):
https://github.com/niemopen/ntac-admin/blob/main/meetings/docs/2023-05-02-minutes.md

The post NIEMOpen Publication Process v1.0 released by NIEMOpen OP appeared first on OASIS Open.

In the coming months, Engine Roomers will be at several different events, in person, and we’d love to see you there! Take a look at the events below and reach out if you’ll be there, too, and would like to meet up. 

This week, Helen was at the CHA Conference 2023 in Berlin, hearing from humanitarian practitioners and developing our thinking around what responsible tech use can look like in the sector and beyond.

We’re excited to be at RightsCon in San José, Costa Rica on 5-8 June. You can catch Paola, Laura and Cathy facilitating sessions in-person, Quito facilitating a session online, and other Engine Roomers participating in many other sessions! (Times below are for San José, and links are only available to registered participants.)

Tuesday, June 6, 2023 @ 10:15am | Boiling point: online hate in the face of the climate emergency (online) Tuesday, June 6, 2023 @ 12:45pm | The role of free and open-source software for digital resilience of civil society (in-person) Tuesday, June 6, 2023 @ 3:15pm | Embodying everyday technology, with a climate justice perspective (online) Wednesday, June 7, 2023 @ 8am | Walking new paths: practicing co-leadership for the futures we want, with Fondo de Acción Urgente de América Latina y el Caribe (FAU-AL) | FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund (hybrid) Wednesday, June 7, 2023 @ 2pm | Organising around digital ID systems: exploring advocacy strategies for civil society (in-person)

Julia will be at RightsCon representing her work as Senior Tech Policy Fellow with the Mozilla Foundation, organising a workshop to establish a roadmap for how the right to bodily integrity could be introduced in responsible tech advocacy efforts. Catch up with her at DataBody Futures: centering respect and integrity in the digital world (online) on Tuesday, June 6 at 9am.

Following RightsCon, Paola will be co-facilitating the “Sustainable and Equitable Infrastructures” track in a 2-day event organised by the Green Screen climate justice and digital rights coalition – Ford Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Ariadne Network, Stiftung Mercator and the Internet Society Foundation.

On 19-20 June, Quito will be at the Data Justice Conference in Cardiff while Bárbara is at MozFest House in Amsterdam. Quito is looking to learn more about how the collective can be reimagined in the pursuit of data justice while Bárbara is eager to connect with activists from global movements working for justice in the digital space. Bárbara will also be joining Lori Regattieri in a session called “Against Recursive-Colonialism in Tech: Mapping Ecological Practices of Friction and Reparations from the Global South”.

We’re excited and grateful to be attending events in person again. If there’s a space you think we should be at – as speakers or attendees – feel free to reach out to hello@theengineroom.org.

Image by Col·legi de Farmacèutics de Barcelona via Unsplash.

The post Meet us (in person!) at these data & tech for social justice events first appeared on The Engine Room.

Exploring the Future of Work and Learning Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO

Imagine a world where everyone has an equitable opportunity to showcase their skills and be recognised for them, regardless of whether or not they have a formal degree. A world where gatekeepers no longer control the keys, where learning and skills development are a natural part of life, and where recognition of these skills is open and transparent. This is the realm of Open Recognition, a realm we would describe as a ‘practical utopia’.

In this utopia, universities and other institutions still play a role, but they are no longer the sole arbiters of who is ‘skilled’ and who is not. They are nodes in a broad ecosystem of learning and recognition that includes employers, co-ops, communities, and self-directed learners. The power of recognition has been democratically distributed, with every individual having an active stake in it.

Learning, in this world, has been ‘rewilded’. It happens everywhere, all the time, fuelled by curiosity and the desire to improve rather than the mechanical necessity of earning a degree. Workplaces are transformed into vibrant learning hubs, with employees being recognised for the skills they develop on the job. Communities are engaged in recognising the skills and contributions of their members, fostering a culture of mutual support and lifelong learning.

The Limits of Microcredentialing

There’s been a huge growth in interest around microcredentialing in the last few years as an approach offering distinct, focused qualifications. It’s great for ‘brands’. It’s certainly useful to start reimagining what’s possible, especially when coupled with national incremental credentialing initiatives. However, the trend aligns with the neoliberal view of education as another ‘marketplace’. Students, due to high fees and a need for job security, increasingly resemble customers. Those who can’t pay are crowded out.

Microcredentials are usually based upon a standard known as Open Badges. The original dream for this standard was to solve the problem that lifelong learning happens everywhere, and but isn’t always recognised. Microcredentials tend to solve a subset of this, on students getting a ‘return on investment’ for their tuition fees by securing decent employment upon graduation. Inevitably, this has led universities to form partnerships with employers and incorporate microcredentials into their educational offerings.

Helping people into employment is an important thing to do. Microcredentials are indeed integral elements of the emerging new learning ecosystem, providing a flexible means for individuals to demonstrate their competencies. But they are not the only pieces in play. In our practical utopia, recognition is diverse and multifaceted, taking various forms from community awards, peer recognition, to self-assessment and reflection.

What happens if, instead of dividing the boxes of credentials into ever-smaller boxes of microcredentials, we… get rid of most of the boxes altogether?

Image CC BY WAO Open Recognition is a Better Lens

Open Recognition offers an alternative that could potentially disrupt the educational status quo. It’s an approach that facilitates recognition of lifelong learning and development, extending opportunities beyond the confines of traditional education.

“Open Recognition is the awareness and appreciation of talents, skills and aspirations in ways that go beyond credentialing. This includes recognising the rights of individuals, communities, and territories to apply their own labels and definitions. Their frameworks may be emergent and/or implicit.” (definition)

In recent years, our understanding of diversity has expanded significantly. We recognise and celebrate differences in ethnicity, neurodiversity, gender, as well as abilities and experiences. This broadened conception of diversity has enriched our communities and workplaces, leading to greater inclusivity and understanding. It’s high time we applied this expansive view of diversity to the recognition of learning and work.

We need to acknowledge the myriad ways in which people learn and the diverse skills they bring to their work. A person’s value should not be measured solely by their degrees or formal qualifications, but also by their unique abilities, experiences, and contributions. Open Recognition invites us to embrace this diversity, allowing everyone’s learning journey to be seen, appreciated, and valued. This is a key step towards a more equitable and inclusive society, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

When we apply McLuhan’s tetrads to Open Recognition, we gain insightful perspectives into its potential societal and educational impacts. This approach looks at what is enhanced, retrieved, obsolesced, and reversed due to an innovation.

Enhances: Open Recognition enhances the visibility and accessibility of skills and achievements. It amplifies the ability of individuals to showcase their talents and competences in a way that’s verifiable and portable across different platforms and communities. Retrieves: Open Recognition retrieves the concept of peer-to-peer validation and communal acknowledgement of skills and achievements, similar to how guilds or apprenticeships operated in the past. It also revives the importance of informal and experiential learning, as these forms of learning can now be recognised and valued alongside formal education. Obsolesces: Open Recognition could potentially render obsolete traditional, centralised systems of recognition and accreditation. For example, it might diminish the importance of formal degrees or certificates issued by educational institutions, as people can now receive recognition from various sources and in various forms. Reverses: If pushed to its limits, Open Recognition might flip into a situation where traditional forms of accreditation are disregarded or devalued. If the recognition landscape becomes fragmented or chaotic, the value and reliability of recognition could be diluted. It might become more challenging to discern the validity and worth of various forms of recognition, and this would likely make it difficult to ensure that people have the necessary skills for particular job roles.

The transition to Open Recognition carries profound implications for individuals and society. It eliminates barriers to entry for many jobs, fostering a more diverse and inclusive workforce. It encourages individuals to follow their passions and interests, rather than being herded into a narrow set of ‘approved’ careers. It acknowledges that learning is a lifelong endeavour, recognising that everyone has valuable skills and knowledge to contribute. While there are certainly some challenges that come with such a recognition utopia, the ultimate goal is a world in which people contribute to society in ways that are both meaningful and healthy.

It’s important to note that we are not against microcredentials. WAO hasn’t created the Keep Badges Weird community and evolved it into Open Recognition is for Everybody merely so that we can critique institutions. Our members are products of these institutions, with multiple degrees to prove it. We’ve worked with many institutions since our founding seven years ago, and we see value in alternative credentialing.

Instead, we are advocating for a society where institutions form just one part of a broader, more diverse ecosystem. We support the idea that young people should be able to access the workforce and secure decent jobs without being entirely dependent on traditional educational institutions. Not everybody has the same access to the institutions that shape our society, which is why society isn’t shaped in a way that benefits all of us. We need to rewild work and learning to give more people the ability to participate in society.

Image CC BY WAO Conclusion

Open Recognition requires a substantial shift in mindset, a transition from viewing education as a commodity to be consumed, to understanding it as a process to be engaged with. It demands us to challenge the status quo, to question the authority of gatekeepers, and to establish new, open systems of recognition.

The rewards of this transition, however, are immense. A world where everyone’s skills and knowledge are recognised and valued is a world of greater equality, opportunity, and fulfilment. It’s a world where work and learning are inextricably intertwined, a world where we are all simultaneously teachers and learners, and a world where the journey of discovery is unending. This is the world we envisage with Open Recognition, and it’s a world worth striving for.

Why not join a community discussing these ideas? Head on over to badges.community!

Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO

Co-written with Laura Hilliger

Open Recognition: Towards a Practical Utopia was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How Bitcoin Mining Can Apply Lessons From Other Industries to Promote Clean Energy and Align with a Net-Zero Future

In the early 2000’s a new digital system emerged that promised to revolutionize the way people interacted online. Though it started small, over the subsequent decade it was adopted by millions of people in nearly every country on Earth. As its popularity soared, so too did its value. But there was a hidden cost lurking beneath the surface: to enable its growth, it had to consume ever greater amounts of electricity. Between 2011 and 2021, its annual electricity consumption increased by 3500%. Today it consumes over 9,400 GWh each year — roughly the same amount as a small country like Costa Rica.

Of course, this is the story of Facebook. But it’s also largely the story of Google (18,287 GWh in 2021, on par with Iceland), and Amazon (30,880 GWh in 2021, on par with Serbia), and yes, Bitcoin. Fundamentally, all four do the same thing: convert electricity into bits of information. Indeed, whether it’s posts, search results, cloud services, or cryptocurrency, this is the core business model for the technology sector as a whole. Yet when it comes to energy use, Bitcoin attracts disproportionate scrutiny.

In recent months especially, the discourse surrounding Bitcoin’s energy consumption has reached a fever pitch, and mining has been singled out with punitive taxes, hand-wringing analysis, and even outright regulatory bans.

Why is there so much focus on the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining relative to that of mainstream technology firms?

The answer boils down to two factors: a philosophical argument over the social value of crypto, and a practical lack of transparency into the energy management practices of the mining sector. Too often the focus is on the former, but addressing the latter in a credible way is the key to overcoming the current hysteria.

Unfortunately the rancorous debate over the energy and climate impacts of Bitcoin is full of hyperbole and finger-pointing.

On the one hand are those who believe Bitcoin (and crypto more generally) has no social value, and therefore any and all electricity consumption is “bad” (even well-researched, nuanced analysis seemingly reflects this implicit assumption). A less extreme but common view is that because some Bitcoin mining operations demonstrably consume fossil-derived electricity, Bitcoin mining as a whole is an illegitimate end-use; even some degree of consumption of clean energy is not enough to justify its existence.

On the other side are Bitcoin proponents, many of whom make exaggerated or overly-simplistic claims about Bitcoin’s role as a clean energy solution, or deflect legitimate questions by highlighting the energy intensity of other industries and the traditional financial system.

Extending one’s worldview of crypto to either excoriate or glorify Bitcoin’s energy consumption is not productive. When it comes to real-world impact, attempts to shame or regulate Bitcoin out of existence are just as ineffective as defensive posturing and whataboutism. The reality is that Bitcoin does in fact consume a significant amount of electricity, and likely will for the foreseeable future. Like any energy-intensive industry it has the potential to hinder or advance the clean energy transition, depending on where, when, and how it is mined.

Asking whether the carbon footprint of Bitcoin — or other industries — is justified is the wrong question. A better way forward is to ask how Bitcoin can follow the trajectory of other established industries to become an active partner in the energy transition. In other words: What are the concrete actions that Bitcoin miners can take to promote clean energy and decarbonization?

Over the last twenty years, voluntary purchasing of clean energy by large corporate buyers was a catalyst that drove deployment and economies of scale for renewable electricity. Lessons learned and best practices are now socialized through established industry groups that provide decarbonization playbooks, procurement tools, and sustainability reporting mechanisms; as a result, it’s easy for companies to demonstrate climate leadership even if they consume significant amounts of electricity.

Unfortunately, no such thing exists for the Bitcoin community. Because Bitcoin lacks a shared framework to measure and recognize sustainability commitments and practices by miners, mining companies are left to fend for themselves and the industry cannot respond to criticisms about its climate impacts in a meaningful, data-driven way. What’s needed is an initiative to standardize clean energy procurement practices and drive collective action across the Bitcoin mining sector. That’s why we started Green Proofs for Bitcoin (GP4BTC).

GP4BTC is a solution to bring consistent metrics and much-needed transparency into the climate impacts of Bitcoin mining so industry stakeholders can make better decisions to align with a net-zero future. The GP4BTC certification spotlights climate-conscious miners who contribute to grid decarbonization through purchasing renewable energy, strategically locating mining operations in low-carbon grids, and participating in demand flexibility programs. Developed in partnership with over 35 miners, NGOs, governments, grid operators, and other energy and crypto market participants, GP4BTC criteria align (and will evolve) with best practices for sustainability leadership in other industries.

By showcasing miners operating sustainably, we aim to create a virtuous cycle where clean mining is easier to define, pursue, and monetize. Ultimately, our goal is to make sustainable Bitcoin mining ubiquitous and to make the Bitcoin industry an active supporter of the clean energy transition.

The notion that continued growth and adoption of Bitcoin automatically spells climate disaster is popular but false. Climate-conscious miners with sophisticated energy management strategies exist. Decarbonizing Bitcoin doesn’t require bans, taxes, or Proof-of Stake. By rolling up our sleeves and committing to transparency, we can scale these strategies, make carbon-free mining the new normal, and truly make Bitcoin a leader in the energy transition.

Less talk, more action: A productive approach to decarbonizing Bitcoin was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Bitwarden – in our view the best free password manager around – has announced Bitwarden Passwordless.dev, a toolkit to allow developers to integrate passkeys into consumer websites and enterprise applications.

The post TechRadar.pro: Bitwarden now lets you create passkeys for your business apps appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

FIDO Alliance has published a report examining how the behavior, patterns and adoption of authentication technologies reflect the consumers’ readiness for passwordless technologies.

The post Biometric Update: Consumers ready for passwordless technology and prefer biometrics; FIDO Alliance report appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

1Password customers are finally gaining partial access to the passwordless future we’ve been promised. Starting from June 6th this year, anyone with a 1Password account will be able to use it to save and manage their passkeys — a biometric-based login technology that allows users to ditch passwords in favor of their device’s own authentication. To access the open beta, you’ll need to download the 1Password beta browser extension for Safari, Firefox, or Chromium-based browsers (which include Chrome, Edge, Arc, and Brave). Support for passkeys on mobile is still in development and unavailable at this time.

The post The Verge: 1Password is finally rolling out passkey management appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Passkeys are easier to use and more secure than passwords, but getting started with them isn’t simple. We tell you how to set up and use passkeys for Google on all your devices.

The post PC Mag: How to Set Up Passkeys for Your Google Account appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Welcome back to another insightful Virtual Arena from FF News! In today’s episode, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the payments industry. As alternative payment methods and technologies continue to rise in prominence all over the world, the challenge of verifying the legitimacy of those payments only continues to grow. Today, we’ll be facing that challenge head-on with an in-depth discussion about authentication in the world of payments.

For this conversation, FF News’ Douglas Mackenzie is joined by Quentin Stephen of Giesecke + Devirent, Linda Weston of Barclaycard Payments and Andrew Shikiar of FIDO Alliance.

The post Fintech Finance News: Virtual Arena: Authentication in the World of Payments appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

My recent feature on passkeys attracted significant interest, and a number of the 1,100-plus comments raised questions about how the passkey system actually works and if it can be trusted. In response, I’ve put together this list of frequently asked questions to dispel a few myths and shed some light on what we know—and don’t know—about passkeys. This FAQ will be updated from time to time to answer additional questions of merit, so check back regularly. This author will not be monitoring or responding to comments going forward but can still be contacted through email.

The post Ars Technica: Passkeys may not be for you, but they <em>are</em> safe and easy—here’s why appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Google announced in early May that the company is moving accounts over to passkeys, a major move forward in the journey to a passwordless future.

The post IT Brew: At RSA, passkeys have the buzz appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

As we grapple with the global health crisis, several nations have implemented health passports, digital documents showing an individual’s health status. While they may seem like a practical solution to ensuring public health safety, these passports are not without concerns. In fact, they raise numerous ethical, legal, and privacy issues. Critics argue that such passports are inherently sinister, contributing to surveillance states and perpetuating inequality. An alternative solution, Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), could address these concerns, providing a more democratic, secure, and efficient system for verifying individuals’ health status.

Firstly, it’s crucial to delve into the darker side of government-issued health passports. Their design inherently grants governments unprecedented access to personal health information. The collected data could be used for purposes beyond pandemic control, making them a potent tool for surveillance. In an era where privacy is becoming increasingly scarce, the question arises – should we further enable governments with such profound access to personal information?

Moreover, these health passports can exacerbate social inequalities. Access to vaccines or tests is not universally equal; many communities, especially in developing countries, lack these resources. Hence, a health passport system could perpetuate global inequality, creating a world divided into health ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.

This inequality is also significant within nations. Marginalized communities often have reduced access to healthcare and, consequently, could face limitations in obtaining these health passports. It potentially bars them from engaging fully in society, further entrenching systemic inequities.

These inherent issues within health passports call for an alternative solution, and SSI can be the answer. SSI, or Self-Sovereign Identity, provides individuals with control over their personal data. It offers a digital identity that the person owns and controls, rather than a third-party entity or government.

With SSI, a person can prove their health status without revealing more information than necessary. For example, instead of showing a detailed health passport with sensitive health information, a person could provide a verifiable claim like, “I am vaccinated,” or “I have tested negative.” The underlying health data remains private, reducing the risks of misuse or surveillance.

Furthermore, SSI is a more inclusive solution. By decentralizing identity management, it can empower marginalized communities who often lack official documents or are distrustful of government systems. It offers an identity system that respects privacy and autonomy, reducing the risk of systemic bias and discrimination.

On the technical front, SSI is built upon blockchain technology, providing a secure, tamper-proof system for verifying identities and claims. This technological backbone ensures that SSI can be trusted, even in the absence of centralized authority.

In conclusion, while government-issued health passports might seem like an appealing solution for managing public health during crises, they can contribute to surveillance states and perpetuate inequality. We must consider these sinister aspects before embracing such a system. Instead, alternatives like SSI provide a more secure, democratic, and inclusive solution. SSI puts personal data back in the hands of individuals and offers a nuanced and privacy-preserving way to prove health status. As we navigate these complex issues, it is clear that we need solutions that prioritize both public health and personal freedoms. Self-Sovereign Identity is a promising step in that direction.

The post The Sinister Facet of Government-Issued Health Passports: Why SSI Is a Better Solution appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

This webinar took place on 31 May 2023.

Traent specializes in developing hybrid blockchains, an innovative solution that enables real-time and data-intensive applications on blockchain while ensuring data confidentiality and auditability. Traent’s patent-pending architecture combines the strengths of private and public networks, overcoming challenges that have hindered blockchain adoption by enterprises.

In this webinar, Fabio Severino, CTO and co-Founder of Traent, will introduce the Traent ecosystem and present practical use cases and case studies relative to the automotive sector. The lecture will demonstrate the Vehicle and Battery Passports, which utilize data from car connectivity to provide secure and real-time insights. Fabio will additionally show how Traent solution successfully implements key requirements for enterprise blockchains, such as:

Authentication: All actors within the system are properly identified, and any data managed by the system is non-repudiable, ensuring accountability.

Performance: Designed to serve as the primary data layer for data-intensive and real-time applications, our system ensures high performance and responsiveness.

Privacy: The system includes robust data access controls, allowing for limitations on data accessibility as needed.

Disclosability: Data generated within the system can be shared with external actors, such as end-users, auditors, or new network nodes, while maintaining the ability to verify its integrity, authenticity, and historical consistency.

Erasability: The system enables selective data erasure while preserving the ability to prove the integrity, authenticity, and historical consistency of the remaining data.

Usability: Traent prioritizes user experience by providing intuitive interfaces and data visualizations that do not require users to deal with blockchain technicalities. Easy as Web2.0 but it’s Web3.

About the Speaker: Fabio Severino

Fabio Severino is CTO and co-Founder of Traent S.r.l, a startup that develops hybrid blockchains to foster ethical, sustainable, and transparent behaviors between enterprises. With a blockchain background dating back to 2016, Fabio has successfully led numerous projects and software companies on both national and international levels. Notably, he lead the development of a trading app that transacted over C$23.2 trillion in 2020. He currently leads Traent’s research and development group, designing new blockchain-based architectures, creating patents and scientific articles, and providing strategic direction for all of the company’s products.

The post Traent Hybrid Blockchain: a solution to bring real-time and data-intensive applications on blockchain, battery (passport) included! | 31 May 2023 appeared first on MOBI | The New Economy of Movement.

The EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet, which is a core component of the emerging eIDAS2 regulation, is an area where the FIDO Alliance can provide support through its standards and credentials on authentication. The FIDO Alliance European Working Group and its EUDI Wallet subgroup have been actively supporting the EUDI Wallet initiative since 2021. This FIDO Alliance webinar will describe the FIDO EUDI Wallet subgroup and the potential technical solutions where FIDO may be used as an authentication standard for the EUDI Wallet.

The presentation covered the following FIDO use cases for the EUDI Wallet:

Enrollment of Person Identification Data to the EUDI Wallet with FIDO based eIDs Issuance of (Qualified) Electronic Attested Attributes with FIDO based eIDs The ISO 18013-5 mobile driving license PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication Access to remote QSCDs via the Cloud Signature Consortium API Access to cloud wallets, such as the Findy Agency web wallet

Presenters included:

Rayissa Armata, senior head of regulatory affairs, IDnow
Sebastian Elfors, senior architect, IDnow
Megan Shamas, senior director of marketing, FIDO Alliance

Register and Watch the Presentation

The post Video: FIDO Alliance Webinar: How to use FIDO with the EUDI Wallet appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Unleashing the Power of AI for DAOs

Ceramic and Autonolas, a platform for autonomous services, work to unlock new AI-powered tooling for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). This collaboration strives to optimize governance, token distribution, execution, and feedback in the growing DAO ecosystem.

New AI Features for Developers

This collaboration will pave the way for numerous AI-driven functionalities, including:

AI-powered governance: Speed up decision-making by storing DAO members' preference data on Ceramic and utilize Large Language Models in collaboration with Autonolas AI-powered token distribution: Allocate rewards to DAO participants based on impact, as assessed via AI models AI-powered execution: Introducing a plug-in model for autonomous actions on both Ceramic and blockchains AI-powered feedback: Automatically assess DAO effectiveness and generate proposals for improvements based on Ceramic data Groundbreaking Products at the Ceramic-Autonolas Intersection

Several innovative products are already under development or in alpha stages:

Centaurs

An innovative project that enables communities to train AI-powered bots, earn ownership of them and sell them:

Governatooorr

Governatooorr is an autonomous DAO governor. Delegate your tokens to it and tell it your preferences, and it will vote on proposals for you. The architecture depends heavily on user preferences, and the plan is to heavily use Ceramic for this going forward.

Contribute

Autonolas Contribute was updated to use IEKit recently. Contribute uses automated behavior tracking on Web2 apps, and rewards contributors with points on Ceramic for an end-to-end decentralized contribution tracking system.

The Ceramic-Autonolas Journey

Oaksprout, an early user of the 3Box product and long-term Ceramic community member, built the first AI-stream explorer, tiles.mechanaut.xyz. Since then, Autonolas has integrated Ceramic into an increasing number of services, revealing Ceramic's vital role in Autonolas' autonomous services architecture, especially in the emerging AI-powered DAO tooling space.

Strengthening Core Technologies and Looking Ahead

The Autonolas stack is Python-based, so robust Python clients will be needed to interact with Ceramic. As part of an ongoing grant, Autonolas will release and expand its Python client to ensure seamless integration.

This collaboration aims to push the boundaries of crypto-native organizational building, continuously refining the features, products, and tools described above to meet the evolving demands of developers and users. The future is bright for those involved in the rapidly expanding DAO ecosystem.

Learn more about building on Ceramic with ComposeDB and join our Discord community to get involved in the DAO tooling conversation.

New toolkit provides the underlying digital infrastructure for Australia’s Project EDGE and enables utilities, aggregators, and digital solution providers to harness the full potential of distributed energy resources

Zug, Switzerland, 18 May 2023 — Energy Web, an independent non-profit that develops open-source software to accelerate the global energy transition, today open sourced the Energy Web Digital Spine toolkit, the software powering Australia’s Project EDGE distributed energy resource (DER) marketplace.

This toolkit was developed to help electric utilities and DER aggregators configure and deploy Digital Spines — digital infrastructure that makes it secure, efficient, and simple for distributed energy resources to be fully integrated into local and regional electricity markets — on electric grids around the world. As described by the United Kingdoms’ Energy Digitalization Taskforce recent report on digitizing the grid, Digital Spines have been identified as a powerful tool to “Facilitate efficient system operation, improve access to new markets, and support development of new services for a smart and flexible energy system.”

Over the past year the Digital Spine toolkit has been operating in a production environment to support Project EDGE, an initiative focused on demonstrating the value that DERs can deliver to both wholesale energy markets and distribution networks. The Digital Spine powering Project EDGE enables DERs, via aggregators, to sell services (such as capacity and voltage support) to distribution utilities while simultaneously participating in the wholesale energy market. Bids and offers between DERs and utilities are constrained by operating envelopes — 5 minute voltage, frequency, and power limits DERs must follow to connect to and interact with the grid.

The Digital Spine toolkit currently offers a self-hosted integration gateway as well as cloud-based integration for electric utilities and DER aggregators on Microsoft’s Azure marketplace, and is compatible with a variety of communications protocols including IEEE 2030.5 utility server implementations. Energy Web plans to integrate the Digital Spine toolkit with more cloud marketplaces and release additional configurations to enable secure gateway devices and/or individual DERs, such as smart inverters, to directly integrate with Digital Spines. The Digital Spine toolkit is also designed to help electric utilities construct and launch new solutions focused on digital twinning of distribution networks, advanced distribution planning, demand forecasting, and optimizing DER dispatch.

“If we want to decarbonize the grid, we have to grow a Digital Spine,” said Jesse Morris, CEO of Energy Web. “Utilities today simply do not have the tools needed to fully harness grid flexibility from DERs — flexibility that grid operators will need in order to accommodate more electric load, more solar, and more wind. Digital Spines give utilities that capability.”

“Open source Digital Spines will make it easier for innovative companies to deploy advanced applications on top, “ said Audrey Zibelman, former CEO of AEMO and long-time advocate for the value DERs can bring to the grid. “If we can get companies who deliver DER optimization, forecasting, and other digital solutions to utilities around the world to embrace a consistent, open source template for Digital Spines, it will go a long way towards accelerating digitization — and by extension decarbonization — of the grid.”

The Digital Spine toolkit has five key components:

A data and message exchange module that enables grid operators to configure and deploy a centralized transport layer in order for market participants to securely exchange messages and datasets (ranging from real-time telemetry to bulk file uploads). A client gateway that provides a standardized interface for market participants to interact with the data exchange module. An identity and access management solution built-on self-managed, sovereign digital identities to give market participants the ability to mutually authenticate each other’s identity and authorize selective disclosure of data based on roles and responsibilities. A governance tool, enabling market participants to encode and enforce rules, roles, and responsibilities that must be met in order for companies to integrate with the spine The ability to jointly process data using Energy Web’s open source Worker Node technology. For Project EDGE, Worker Nodes are used to ingest and process data from AEMO, distribution utilities, and DER aggregators prior to partitioning and communicating operating envelopes to DER aggregators in order to maintain network integrity without disclosing sensitive data.

Making Digital Spines reality is at the top of Energy Web’s agenda. In addition to conducting additional related open source technology releases, Energy Web will soon publish thought leadership further defining the value and inner-workings of Digital Spines and is actively convening an ecosystem of digital solution providers to build commercial applications on top of them.

If you are an electric utility interested in learning more or growing a Digital Spine in your market, please contact us here.

If you are a digital solution provider or DER aggregator interested in joining our ecosystem of innovators building commercial solutions on top of Digital Spines, please join us by following the link here.

About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, internet-of-things, telecommunications leaders, and more. More information on Energy Web can be found at www.energyweb.org or follow us on Twitter @EnergyWebX

Energy Web Releases Digital Spine Toolkit to the Public was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In a world where digital transformation is the norm, the banking industry stands on the forefront, leading change, and embracing technology. However, these advancements haven’t come without their fair share of challenges. One of the most significant of these is cybersecurity.

We are thrilled to announce the release of our latest white paper, “The Current State of Cybersecurity in the Banking Industry: A Comprehensive White Paper.” It’s a deep dive into the state of cybersecurity within the banking industry, offering an insightful analysis of the prevalent threats, vulnerabilities, and best practices in this crucial area.

Why Cybersecurity in Banking?

Banks are treasure troves of sensitive data. From personal information to financial transactions, they hold what cybercriminals want most. The increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the digital transformation of banking services have made the need for enhanced cybersecurity measures more urgent than ever.

What Does the White Paper Cover?

Our white paper covers a range of pertinent topics, including:

Current Cybersecurity Landscape: Understand the most pressing cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities in the banking industry today, such as phishing attacks, ransomware, Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), insider threats, and third-party risks. Cybersecurity Measures in Place: Discover the measures banks are currently employing to guard against these threats, including multi-factor authentication, data encryption, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, regular system updates, and employee training. Best Practices and Future Trends: Learn about the best practices in cybersecurity and the emerging trends that will shape the future of cybersecurity in banking. This includes adopting a Zero Trust Architecture, continuous monitoring, implementing robust incident response plans, regular audits, penetration testing, and more. Who Should Read This White Paper?

Whether you’re a banking professional, cybersecurity expert, a student in the field, or simply someone interested in understanding the intersection of finance and technology, this white paper is for you. It’s packed with data, insights, and expert analysis that will help you grasp the current state of cybersecurity in banking and where it’s headed.

We invite you to download “The Current State of Cybersecurity in the Banking Industry: A Comprehensive White Paper” today and equip yourself with the knowledge you need to navigate the complex landscape of banking cybersecurity.

As always, we look forward to your feedback and are ready to engage in thoughtful discussions on this pressing topic. Stay tuned to our blog for more updates, insights, and industry-leading research.

Don’t wait until a cyber threat knocks on your door. Be prepared, be informed, and be proactive. Join us in discovering the future of cybersecurity in banking today!

Download the White Paper Here

Until next time, Your Cybersecurity Team

The post Discover the Future of Cybersecurity in Banking with Our Latest White Paper appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

By Francis Beland, Executive Director, OASIS Open

Disinformation can have serious negative impacts on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. It is important to be aware of the dangers of disinformation and take steps to address it.

The deliberate spread of false or misleading information can have serious and far-reaching consequences. Disinformation erodes trust in institutions, government, and the media. This can lead to a breakdown in social cohesion and make it harder for people to make informed decisions. It can amplify existing divisions within society, creating polarized opinions and attitudes. This can lead to increased social unrest, conflict, and even violence.

Disinformation can cause people to believe things that are not true. This can lead to harmful behaviors, such as refusing to take necessary health precautions or making important decisions based on false information. In addition, it can be used to manipulate people’s opinions and beliefs for political or financial gain. This can undermine democratic processes and lead to the spread of harmful ideologies.

Finally, disinformation can be used as a tool to spread malware or phishing scams, leading to data breaches and other cybersecurity risks.

We can help solve these challenges by preempting and responding to disinformation by enabling information to be shared at machine speed and scale.

We can bring the counter-disinformation community together to define a common data model that describes disinformation, influence and harm campaigns.

OASIS will be announcing a new open source project soon addressing disinformation threat sharing. Want to join us in tackling this grand challenge? For details on being a founding sponsor, contact join@oasis-open.org.

The post Recognizing the harmful effects of disinformation and how we can fight back appeared first on OASIS Open.

The OpenID Financial-grade API (FAPI) Working Group recommends approval of the following specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft:

Grant Management for OAuth 2.0

This would be the second Implementer’s Draft of this specification.

An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This note starts the 45-day public review period for the specification draft in accordance with the OpenID Foundation IPR policies and procedures. Unless issues are identified during the review that the working group believes must be addressed by revising the draft, this review period will be followed by a seven-day voting period during which OpenID Foundation members will vote on whether to approve this draft as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft. For the convenience of members, voting will actually begin a week before the start of the official voting period.

The relevant dates are:

Implementer’s Draft public review period: Wednesday, May 17, 2023 to Saturday, July 1, 2023 (45 days) Implementer’s Draft vote announcement: Sunday, June 18, 2023 Implementer’s Draft early voting opens: Sunday, June 25, 2023 * Implementer’s Draft official voting period: Sunday, July 2, 2023 to Sunday, July 9, 2023 (7 days)*

* Note: Early voting before the start of the formal voting period will be allowed.

The FAPI working group page is https://openid.net/wg/fapi/. Information on joining the OpenID Foundation can be found at https://openid.net/foundation/members/registration. If you’re not a current OpenID Foundation member, please consider joining to participate in the approval vote.

You can send feedback on the specification in a way that enables the working group to act upon it by (1) signing the contribution agreement at https://openid.net/intellectual-property/ to join the working group (please specify that you are joining the “FAPI” working group on your contribution agreement), (2) joining the working group mailing list at https://lists.openid.net/mailman/listinfo/openid-specs-fapi, and (3) sending your feedback to the list.

— Michael B. Jones

The OpenID Foundation membership has approved the following Financial-grade API (FAPI) specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft:

FAPI 2.0 Message Signing

An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This is the first Implementer’s Draft of this specification.

The Implementer’s Draft is available at:

https://openid.net/specs/fapi-2_0-message-signing-ID1.html

The voting results were:

Approve – 55 votes Object – 0 votes Abstain – 10 votes

Total votes: 65 (out of 276 members = 24% > 20% quorum requirement)

— Michael B. Jones

In this episode, we brought on two guests: Kevin Capatch, the Director of Process Engineering for Geisinger, which is a regional health provider out of Pennsylvania that services roughly 3 million people across 45 different counties in Pennsylvania, and Vicky Lyle, she's the Vice President of Industry Relations for Owens and Minor. They both discuss medical recalls, the current process, and where we are going in the future. 

Today, we're making great strides into automation for these recalls, but we still have a lot more to do and we need everyone involved. Please join us as Kevin and Vicky dive into the challenges the healthcare industry faces in managing recalls for medical devices and how automation and data standards like Unique Device Identification (UDI) can address these issues. 

Key takeaways:

The Internet is a powerful tool for collaboration and problem-solving, with significant untapped potential. There is a clear affinity for the Internet, citing its ability to connect people from different backgrounds and enable collaborative problem-solving. We are only starting to scratch the surface of what is possible with this technology, but there is still much to be discovered and leveraged in the years to come.

Automation and UDI hold promise for improved recall management. Despite the challenges of recall management in healthcare, there are several promising advancements in the field. Automation has increased in recent years, improving efficiency in the recall management process. The implementation of UDIs (Unique Device Identifiers) has likewise shown promise, as they can help to quickly locate products during a recall and provide more specific information beyond a catalog number.

Enriching medical records with specific product information can lead to more detailed analytics. There are a variety of potential benefits of enriching medical records with specific product information, such as catalog numbers and lot numbers. This data can provide medical professionals with more detailed analytics on patient outcomes and device performance, leading to better research opportunities and ultimately, better patient care.

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with guests:

Follow Kevin Capatch on LinkedIn

Follow Vicky Lyle on LinkedIn

 

John Perry Barlow was a man of many titles—a lyricist, poet, essayist, cyberactivist, and, most importantly, a pioneering advocate for digital rights and freedom. His contributions to the realms of online privacy and open source have laid the groundwork for much of today’s Internet landscape. His vision of the Internet as a sphere of liberty, unbounded by the restrictions of the physical world, has shaped the discourse around digital rights and freedoms in ways that resonate even today.

Born on October 3, 1947, in Sublette County, Wyoming, Barlow’s early life was rooted in rural conservatism, a stark contrast to his later cyberlibertarian ideals. From writing lyrics for the Grateful Dead to co-founding the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Barlow’s eclectic life path has consistently underscored a deep commitment to freedom—in music, in speech, and in the digital realm.

In the early 1990s, as the Internet began to permeate everyday life, Barlow recognized its transformative potential—and the potential dangers. His first significant move into digital rights advocacy was his co-founding of the EFF in 1990 with digital rights activists Mitch Kapor and John Gilmore. The EFF was born out of a recognition that the burgeoning digital realm was ripe for abuse—by both governments and corporations. Barlow’s vision for the EFF was to ensure that the Internet remained a space for freedom of expression and privacy, fundamental rights he believed should extend to the digital world.

One of Barlow’s most noteworthy contributions is his 1996 manifesto, “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace,” which became a seminal text in cyberlibertarian thought. In it, Barlow argued for the Internet as an inherently free space, unregulated by the governments of the physical world. He wrote, “We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into silence or conformity.”

Barlow’s advocacy for online privacy was deeply intertwined with his support for open source. He believed that the tools of the digital realm should be accessible to all, not locked away behind proprietary barriers. Barlow saw open-source software as a democratizing force, allowing users to understand, modify, and control the technology they use, thereby enhancing both their privacy and their freedom.

Through the EFF, Barlow contributed to major court cases that set the precedent for digital rights. He fought against restrictive legislation like the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which sought to impose stringent censorship regulations on the Internet. His belief in the power of open-source software led him to support the development of cryptographic tools like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), which provides users with the means to protect their digital communications from unwanted surveillance.

Barlow’s untimely passing in 2018 did not halt the impact of his life’s work. His concepts of online freedom and privacy continue to underpin debates on digital rights and shape the evolving landscape of the Internet. His recognition of the Internet as a new frontier of human interaction, requiring unique norms and protections, remains as pertinent today as it was three decades ago.

Despite criticisms and challenges, Barlow’s steadfast belief in the emancipatory potential of the Internet continues to inspire new generations of digital rights activists. His dedication to online privacy and open source is a testament to his vision of the Internet as a realm of freedom, where creativity and innovation can flourish unhindered.

In conclusion, John Perry Barlow’s legacy lies in his profound contribution to the discourse on online privacy and the open-source movement. His tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to digital freedom have etched his name into the annals

In conclusion, John Perry Barlow’s legacy lies in his profound contribution to the discourse on online privacy and the open-source movement. His tireless efforts and unwavering commitment to digital freedom have etched his name into the annals of cyberlibertarianism. His vision, outlined in foundational texts and legal battles, has helped shape the Internet as a domain of free expression, privacy, and community participation.

As we navigate the digital frontier, Barlow’s principles remain our guiding compass, reminding us that the Internet should be a space of liberty, creativity, and open collaboration. His foresight and advocacy continue to challenge us, urging us to uphold and expand digital rights and freedoms for all Internet users. Barlow’s life and work embody a powerful message: that the digital realm is a new frontier of human potential, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure it remains open, free, and respectful of our privacy.

The post John Perry Barlow: The Cyberlibertarian Championing Online Privacy and Open Source appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

Kia ora e te whānau

Trust is a fundamental component of human relationships. There are many ways to define trust, often depending on whether the relationship is personal or professional. One definition which resonates with me comes from leading expert on trust in the modern world, Rachel Botsman, who said ‘trust is a confident relationship with the unknown’. It means trust is key to giving people the confidence to try new things, from new technology to systems and processes. Earning trust is continuous, not a one-time thing.

Recent DINZ research reveals that New Zealanders are nervous about digital ID and feel they do not have sufficient understanding of these services to truly assess the impact on their privacy, legal rights and freedoms. It’s within this trust gap that digital ID service providers and legislators may find an opportunity to build trust into digital systems, which would then bridge the gap that enables people to move into the unknown with confidence.

Ethics and inclusion are the foundations of building that trust bridge in a digital environment, as they can create a virtuous cycle in which user trust leads to increased adoption and usage. These two principles should be at the heart of all phases of digital ID development, including governance and accountability frameworks, design, and implementation. Ethical considerations like privacy, security and informed consent can enable the creation of transparent and accountable systems that respect the rights of all users and build trust. Inclusion ensures that these services are accessible to all regardless of their background, abilities or circumstances.

In my capacity as DINZ Executive Councillor and Co-Chair of its Inclusive and Ethical Use of Digital Identity (IEUDI) working group I’d like to encourage those interested in our work to join and participate. We’re currently exploring strategies to shine the light on ethics and inclusion and ensure they are a key consideration of any digital identity legislation.

Angela Gill

DINZ Executive Councillor
(Head of Partner Relationships, Payments NZ)

Read the full news here: Ethics and inclusion – building trust for Digital ID Services | May Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE

The post Ethics and inclusion – building trust for Digital ID Services appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

May 2023

DIF Website | DIF Mailing Lists | Meeting Recording Archive

Table of contents Decentralized Identity Foundation News; 2. Working Group Updates; 3. Open Groups; 4. Announcements at DIF; 5. Community Events; 6. DIF Members; 7. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News

Introducing our new TSC Chair
DIF is delighted to announce the appointment of Andor Kesselman as Technical Steering Committee Chair.

Andor is the co-founder and CTO of Benri, a company that specializes in equipping developers with tools and infrastructure for onboarding onto the decentralized web. As chair, Andor is honored and enthusiastic about facilitating interactions between DIF members and various working groups, as well as promoting wider ecosystem participation in DIF's efforts towards decentralized identity. Within DIF, Andor is active in several groups, including Presentation Exchange, Trust Establishment, and Decentralized Web Nodes. Additionally, he is the co-chair of the Decentralized Web Node (DWN) working group.

Before joining the decentralized identity ecosystem, Andor served as a founding engineer at pathr.ai, focusing on ML pipeline engineering, and co-authored RK-Diagrams. Andor is also a co-lead of the Trust Registry Task Force at Trust Over IP.

Andor is from the US, and currently lives in India with his wife, whom he met during a sabbatical. He's traveled around the world, and loves taking trips into nature. The picture you see is from his wedding, which took place in Kerala, a state in India known for it's beautiful beaches and countless coconut trees!

Andor is eager to receive your suggestions on how to encourage healthy activity within DIF. Please don't hesitate to contact him on Slack and introduce!

New Senior Communications Director
Hello! I’m Damian Glover, DIF’s new senior communications director. My background is in journalism, web product management and customer strategy consulting. I've been participating in the decentralized identity community since 2019 and currently co-chair the IoT Special Interest Group, in addition to my role as communications director. If you’re using DIDs in production and would be interested in writing a guest blog highlighting your use case, have any ideas for or comments on the newsletter, or would just like to say hello, I’d love to hear from you! You can reach me on the DIF Slack @damianglover

Korea SIG
We’re extremely excited to announce the formation of the new DIF Korea Special Interest Group (SIG).

The Korea SIG will provide a forum for research into domestic applications of decentralized identity and will coordinate technical standardization work, with the goal to develop a Korean-style decentralized identity ecosystem and incorporate this into the country’s e-government framework.

Participants will include representatives from the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA), the National Information Society Agency, the Korea Internet & Security Agency and the Bank of Korea.

The Korea SIG will meet every two months, with the first meeting taking place in Busan on 19-20 July. The SIG will be chaired by Park Kyoung-Chul, CEO of K4-Security.inc, which is collaborating with the Ministry of Science and ICT to research decentralized identity. Kyoung-Chul also serves on the Blockchain & Information Security Standardization Committee within the TTA, a standards development organization.

For more information, read Kyoung-Chul’s guest blog

🛠️ Working Group Updates 🔐 Applied Crypto WG

BBS Signatures
DIF members Tobias Looker and Vasilis Kalos of MATTR presented their updated Draft of the BBS specification at the Crypto Forum Research Group (CFRG) during the recent Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Meeting in Yokohama Japan. The specification, developed by the Applied Cryptography Working Group, describes a pairing based, multi-message signature supporting selective disclosure and zero-knowledge proofs. You can watch their presentation here

More attendance, reviews and implementations are always welcome.

The DIF Crypto - BBS work item meets weekly at 11am PT/2pm ET /8pm CET Mondays

Crypto Revocation Work Item bi-weekly
The group is looking for more participation at this time, particularly from potential implementers of low-level libraries for the novel revocation schemes the group has been researching and documenting. If you’re interested in contributing and helping to drive work on this, please reach out to limari@identity.foundation.

The DIF Crypto Revocation work item meets bi-weekly at 11am PT/2pm ET/8pm CET Thursdays

🌳 Sidetree Weekly Work Group

The WG is working on improvements to the existing Sidetree protocol towards a v1.1 and could use help from people using/implementing Sidetree or who are generally interested. To get involved, join our calls and the slack channel #wg-sidetree - calls are every Tuesday at 10 pacific time.

Sidetree Weekly Work Group meets at 10am PT/ 1pm ET/ 7pm CET Tuesdays

📦 Secure Data Storage

DWN Task Force (Decentralized Web Nodes)
Work on the DWeb Node MVP reference implementation is finishing up this month.

The Task Force warmly invites all DIF members to join us every Wednesday bi-weekly at 9AM PST to listen in on the working group's progress. TBD, a division of Block, has also been working to open-source tooling and onboarding to DWNs, in addition to the core sample implementation.

Also a reminder that the DWN companion guide is now available.

DIF/CCG Secure Data Storage WG - DWN Task Force meets bi-weely at 9am PT/12pm ET/6pm CET Wednesdays

If you are interested in participating in any of the Working Groups highlighted above, or any of DIF's other Working Groups, please click here.

📖 Open Groups at DIF ☂️ DIF Interoperability Group

The DIF Interop Working Group welcomes Bonnie Yau from the Digital Identity Lab of Canada (IDLab) as our new Chair.

The Interop WG kicked off May with a brand new series on User Adoption and Interoperability. This series is an opportunity for problem solvers and technology innovators to exchange stories on their journey thus far. For our first presenter we were pleased to welcome Dan Giurescu, founder of Credivera. Credivera is the world’s first secure, open exchange for verifiable credentials and Dan shared a great overview of his company’s journey, how they have made a positive impact in the hazardous goods industry, their ecosystem, and challenges and successes in interoperability.

You can see the whole presentation at this link

The DIF Interoperability group meets you bi-weekly at 8am PT/11am ET/5pm CET Wednesdays

[📡 DIDComm User Group] (Open Group)

Several of the DIDComm user-group members participated in a DIDComm v2 connect-a-thon at IIW. We showed several different vendor agents messaging, issuing credentials, and other DIDComm sub-protocols. Click here
for more information.

Reminder: for those who have been away from DIF for a while, the DIDComm “Unsyc” has now been reformed into the DIDComm User Group, which meets Mondays at 12 pm PT. The group is open and non-IPR protected. The group is currently discussing creating a DIDComm user guide in addition to a DIDComm testing tool, a training course, and a browser-based DIDComm-focused playground with the intention of helping the community understand and extend DIDComm v2. Feel free to join the group meeting or contribute to the discussion on Discord.

The DIDComm user group meets weekly at 12pm PT/3pm ET/ 9pm CET Mondays

📻 IoT SIG

Tram Vo, CEO of MOBI, the smart mobility consortium, and CTO Andreas Freund recently spoke to the IoT SIG about the alliance’s technical work and how they are leveraging DIDs and VCs to enable a range of use cases within the automotive industry. We also heard from Michael Ford of IPC International, the global association of the electronics industry, on how the industry is assessing how DIDs and VCs can dovetail with existing standards for digital twins and provenance of materials in the electronics supply chain. Nicky Hickman shared insights into key IoT market segments and led a discussion on prioritising IoT-related use cases for DIDs and VCs.

The IoT SIG meets bi-weekly at 10am PT/1pm ET/ 7pm CET Wednesdays

🏦 Banking and Finance SIG

Following a time change for the Banking and Finance SIG Call, the SIG now meets bi-weekly at 2pm PT/ 5pm ET/ 11pm CET Thursdays

🌏 APAC/ASEAN Discussion Group

We invite everyone in the APAC region to join our monthly calls and contribute to the discussion. You will be able to find the minutes of the latest meeting here.

The DIF APAC call takes place Monthly on the 4th Thursday of the month. Please see the DIF calendar for updated timing.

🌍 DIF Africa Discussion Group

We are in need of someone to chair this process. Let us know if you’re interested in building, organizing and hosting monthly meetings.

Occurs on the first Thursday of the month at 9am UTC

📢 Announcements at DIF

IIW XXXVI
DIF members and friends gathered at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California for the 36th Internet Identity Workshop. IIW attracts an international audience and has a history of incubating important identity standards including OAuth and OpenID Connect. In the words of event co-founder and DIF Steering Committee member Kaliya Young, “The event continues to be the biggest tent for collaboration and ideation across the various user-centric identity spheres and communities. The open culture of DIF and its commitment to integrations with today’s identity technologies thrive in this environment, and many key DIF collaborations have begun or successfully recruited new participants at IIW.”

Our new Executive Director, Clare Nelson, provided an update on the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF):

Limari Navarrete, DIF’s Senior Director of Community Engagement and Stephen Curran from the British Columbia Government’s Digital Trust Team gave a presentation on Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) 101:

DIF members and friends of DIF led sessions including:

ABC’s of Writing DIDs with Universal Registrar (and how it’s different from Universal Resolver) (Ankur Banerjee of cheqd and Markus Sabadello of Danube Tech):

Advanced Topics in DID Resolution (Ankur Banerjee and Markus Sabadello) Interoperable Trust Registries with DID-Linked Resources (DRLs) (Alex Tweeddale of cheqd and Andor Kesselman of Benri.io) 30 days from Web5: A preview of the stack and Developer Preview release next month (Daniel Buchner and Gabe Cohen of TBD) Using HUMOR (ha ha ha) and Visual Communication To Gain TRUST (Chance McGee and Zack Jones from Trinsic).

Notes from these and other proceedings will be published on the IIW website shortly. In the meantime here's a few post-event reflections from DIF members:

“I saw three major themes: Trust Registries/Trust Establishment, AI (and how decentralized identity may help us sort things out) and Government (many representatives in attendance and leading sessions)” Mike Ebert

“Some of the topics I found most interesting: SD-JWT - not necessarily related to any work item, but was a great topic and super informative session. Advanced Topics in DID Resolution - might want to reach out to Markus / Ankur for a synopsis, but as you might guess it covered some aspects of DID Resolution other than simply getting a DID Document (e.g. querying the historic state of a DID). Fun with DIDComm Protocols - I led this session where we brainstormed what some fun DIDComm protocols could look like. I hope to discuss this in one of the upcoming DIDComm User Group calls, but some of my favorite ideas were: Transform - a protocol for transforming DIDComm messages (e.g. from one language to another, or from text to audio); Shout - a lightweight social feed based on DIDComm; Chess - we're gonna make Chess over DIDComm happen!” Nick Reynolds

At this IIW we were fortunate to be joined by Chance McGee who brought a unique look at humor, visual representation and storytelling to the SSI space:

You can see more of his work and connect at snappyscience.com

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate's (S&T) Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP) Demo Week
SVIP holds its annual Demo Week conference in Washington, DC on 18-19 May. The two-day event features a keynote speaker from DHS Leadership, panels of DHS operational agencies, investors, and international government partners, and technology demonstrations from across SVIP’s portfolio of startups, including Computer Vision, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, HealthTech, Identity, Language Translation, and Sensors. The event will also include expert panel discussions and breakout sessions led by S&T and SVIP leadership. To register, click here

Digital Identity unConference (DICE) Europe 2023
DICE is an ‘unconference’ inspired by IIW that aims to foster a more connected ecosystem of companies working on digital identity in European countries. The two facilitators and producers of IIW, Kaliya Young and Heidi Nobantu Saul, are collaborating with a local partner, Trust Square, and the Swiss Digital Identity and Data Sovereignty Association (DIDAS) to host the inaugural DICE event in Zurich from 7-9 June.

DICE 2023 brings together innovative startups, large companies, and governments, who are building products and developing services using emerging digital identity technologies. Damian Glover will present an introduction to Self-Sovereign Identity and decentralized identity during the pre-conference session. To find out more or to register, click here

🗓️ ️Community Events

AMA on Presentation Exchange with Brent Zundel
Following the recent ratification of version 2 of Presentation Exchange, Brent Zundel, chair of DIF’s Applied Crypto working group, featured in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session about Presentation Exchange, hosted by Limari Navarrete, on 27th April. Click here in case you missed it.

Power of DIDs
Steering Committee member Markus Sabadello published the second installment in his ‘Power of DIDs’ video series, in which he explains the process of creating DIDs. Watch the video here

Markus was also a guest on the SSI Orbit podcast, talking about Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs): DID Methods, DID Documents and DID Resolution. Listen here

Pharmaledger @ next IoT SIG meeting
Daniel Fritz, Executive Director of the Pharmaledger Association, is joining the upcoming IoT SIG on 24 May to share his insights into how the pharmaceutical industry is collaborating to create a digital trust ecosystem and how this is benefiting members, starting with a shared product enabling members to switch from paper to electronic Product Information leaflets.

This is an open meeting so please feel free to drop-in, spread the word, and invite non-members to attend and participate!

did:hack
Join us online for did:hack, a decentralized identity hackathon!

🎉 What this hackathon is about

did:hack is an open event for people to learn, collaborate, and think creatively about how decentralized identity technology can be leveraged to improve digital interactions in the future.

The event takes place in two sessions on 5 and 8 June and is designed to be inclusive to individuals from all backgrounds no matter their technical skills, professional experience or familiarity with decentralized identity.

Register here to participate

🗣️ DIF Member Announcements

New Member Orientations
If you are new to DIF join us for our upcoming new member orientations. Please subscribe to DIF’s eventbrite for upcoming notifications on orientations and events which can be found here.

🆔 Join DIF!

If you would like to get in touch with us or become a member of the DIF community, please visit our website.

Can't get enough of DIF?
| Follow us on Twitter
| Join us on GitHub
| subscribe on YouTube
| read our DIF blog
| read the archives

DIF recently announced the formation of the new DIF Korea Special Interest Group (SIG).

We invited group Chair Park Kyoung-Chul, CEO of K4-Security.inc, to share some insights into the decentralized identity landscape in South Korea, and the purpose for forming the DIF Korea SIG.

How advanced is the adoption of Decentralized Identity in South Korea?

Blockchain and blockchain applications in Korea have been continuously underway since 2018, and PoCs for 5 to 8 blockchain applications (including decentralized identity) are in progress every year through KISA under the Ministry of Science and ICT.  However, we are still at the proof of concept of decentralized identity, and national standards for decentralized identity for specific applications (e.g. driver's license) are being made.

Does the government support decentralized identity in South Korea?

In Korea, technical verification and small-scale business verification of decentralized identity are continuously progressing. However, there is a lack of standardized technology application, and we are in the process of preparing a government-level control tower. The Yoon Seok-yeol government has announced and is carrying out a national task called "Digital Platform Government". The core technical issues are materializing in the direction of a decentralized identity ecosystem, and additional research funds and related business funds plans are being established.

What do you want to achieve through the Korea SIG?

We understand that DIF creates specifications, profiles, and reference implementations which are incorporated into standards at standards development organizations including the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

Domestic research on decentralized identity will be discussed at Korea SIG, and technical standardization will be carried out through the Korean standardization organization TTA (Telecommunications Technology Association) and DIF.

In addition, DIF's technical standards are consulted with NIA, KISA, and BOK through Korea SIG so that they can be applied to the establishment of a Korean-style decentralized identity ecosystem, and ultimately loaded into NIA's e-government standard framework, so we want to contribute to expanding the business to supply e-government standard framework to underdeveloped countries through the UN.

What types of organizations are you looking forward to participating in the Korea SIG?

We are trying to involve all the institutions (universities, research institutes, enterprises, and government departments/regulatory institutions) included in the 5-year blockchain project of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

In particular, efforts will be made to involve the National Information Society Agency (NIA), Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), Bank of Korea (BOK), and Korea Minting & Security Printing Corporation (KOMSCO). NIA is carrying out "Digital Platform Government" project, "e-government standard framework" and "u-City" project, KISA is promoting "MyData" project, BOK is in charge of Korea CBDC, and KOMSCO is in charge of Digital Identity project.

In addition, ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute),  which researches decentralized identity together, will participate as a research institute to verify decentralized identity technology.

The data economy is the economy of tomorrow being built today. It is one piece in the big puzzle of how we ensure that our future is fair, sustainable and prosperous. It is relevant to companies, individuals and societies in all regions, industries and roles. For businesses, new ecosystem business models and networked data collaborations […]

We are proud to announce the launch of the Findynet Test Network – the first milestone in our roadmap to build a national trust network of verified data. Digital credentials are the cornerstone of future trust-based business, and the Findynet Test Network is the perfect place to explore and familiarise yourself with their potential future business opportunities.

An excellent development platform for digital wallets and proofs

The newly announced Test Network provides a flexible and secure platform for the development and testing of digital wallet use cases. Digital wallet service providers can use it not only to develop wallet implementations, but also to test the interoperability of different wallets without the efffort and time of setting up and maintaining a trust registry.

Focus on simplicity, security and scalability of technologies and services

The Findynet Test Network is based on open source Hyperledger Indy technology, which supports the issuance, management, sharing and verification of digital credentials. The use of the test network, maintained by Findynet, is facilitated by a web-based wallet management portal. To ensure performance and fault tolerance, the Test Network operates in a Microsoft Azure environment, providing a secure and reliable cloud service.

Welcome to the pioneer ecosystem!

Your organisation does not need to be a member of the Findynet Cooperative to use the Test Network. Instead, we welcome users from other organisations, even outside the cooperative, to join the Test Network. Joining the Findynet Test Network offers a unique opportunity to develop, test and productise new services using digital wallets as part of a pioneering ecosystem.

Learn more about the service here or contact our team directly (info@findy.fi) and we will take you on a fast-paced journey into the world of digital wallets!

More information:

Santtu Pulli
Head of Ecosystem and Offering
Findynet Osuuskunta 
puh. +358 (0) 40 594 4488 
santtu.pulli@findy.fi

The post Findynet Test Network launched! appeared first on .

There was never a question that it would take years to transition the world away from passwords. The digital authentication technology, though deeply flawed, is pervasive and inveterate. Over the last five years, though, the secure-authentication industry association known as the FIDO Alliance has been making real progress promoting “passkeys,” a password-less alternative for signing into applications and websites.

The post Wired: The war on passwords enters a chaotic new phase appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

1Password customers are finally gaining access to the passwordless future we’ve been promised. Starting from June 6th this year, anyone with a 1Password account will be able to save and manage their passkeys — a biometric-based login technology that allows users to ditch passwords in favor of their device’s own authentication.

The post The Verge: 1Password is finally rolling out passkey management appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Safety and security have long been at the heart of identity and access management, and indeed the trends report states that “indications are that there will be a renewed focus on access control, entitlements, and permissioning over the next few years.” In keeping with the trend of the death of passwords equaling better authentication, the Identiverse report also celebrates the deployment of passkeys, the Apple-Google-Microsoft system that lets you log into websites with a smartphone instead of a password. We ourselves have had some trouble using passkeys — and the report hints at “the successes and learnings of early deployments” — but there’s no denying that passkeys will be a major step toward a passwordless future.

The post SC Magazine: The 2023 Identiverse Trends Report appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

About 57 percent of US consumers expressed interest in using passkeys to replace passwords, according to new survey data from the FIDO Alliance. According to FIDO Executive Director and CMO Andrew Shikiar, that points to rapidly growing excitement, given that only 39 percent of survey respondents said they were familiar with the passkey concept in a FIDO survey released last October. Passkeys essentially store complex passcodes for a user’s various online accounts on their mobile device, locking them behind a PIN or biometric scan. Google recently launched passkey support for its own Account login process, garnering considerable media attention in the process.

The post Find Biometrics: Identity News Digest appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Passkeys are intended to be more secure and easier to use than passwords. Instead of typing in a password (or letting a password manager do it) and verifying with a multi-factor authentication method, passkeys only require a trusted device and either biometric or PIN verification. Part of why passkeys seem likely to replace passwords is that they’re designed by a consortium called the FIDO Alliance and championed by Apple, Google, and Microsoft. These three companies have already baked support for passkeys into their browsers and ecosystems, which means that for the first time, there’s a viable alternative to passwords. That said, passkeys have yet to see widespread adoption.

The post PC Mag: How to set up passkeys for your Google account appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

I no longer need a password to sign into Google. From now on, it’s “Adios, passwords…Hello, passkeys!” Sort of. This new form of login is like a digital lock and key.  For sites and apps run by financial institutions and other slower-moving, ultracareful services, the shift will take more time, said Andrew Shikiar. He’s executive director of the FIDO Alliance, which creates the standards for online authentication technology such as passkeys. But there are already dozens of services where you can use passkeys to sign in.

The post The Wall Street Journal: Hate passwords? It’s time to try passkeys appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

WAO expertise and focus now and into the future

On May 1st, 2023 We Are Open Cooperative turned seven years old. Like no seven year old ever, we used our birthday to reflect on who we are, what we want, where we’re going and all the other existential questions that a collective of ethical thinkers and makers might expect.

In our conversation, we realised that we often explain what we do in opposition to something else.

Cooperative, worker-owned democracies in opposition to capitalist, shareholder-driven oligarchies. Sustainability in opposition to grind culture. Recognition in opposition to credentialing. Community engagement in opposition to consumer marketing. Climate consciousness in opposition to consumption and value signalling.

We don’t want to set ourselves in opposition all the time, but would rather define ourselves by our own terms. We have thus identified some areas of focus for We Are Open. These areas both explain our expertise and our vision for the world.

Sustainable work

One of the areas we believe it’s important to advocate for has to do with the future of work. Whether it’s helping organisations like the Wellbeing Economy Alliance integrate community well-being into their digital strategy or advising LocalGov Drupal on the governance and form of a new entity, WAO works to ensure that organisational growth is paired with healthy cultural initiatives and ecologically conscious advice. We know that a healthy culture surrounding an organisation or community is absolutely essential to having impact, and we work with ethical organisations that care about the kind of impact they have.

What do we mean by sustainable work?

Our work practices promote environmental, social, and economic sustainability We pay attention to the resources we use and we promote fair labour practices. We aim to balance the needs of collaborators, organisations we work with, and the environment to create long-term viability and well-being.

Learn how to create a sustainable organisational strategy that takes culture into account.

Open Recognition

WAO is well-known for our work around Open Recognition, partially in thanks to a lovely and productive partnership with Participate. Did you know that we believe in recognising others even without badges? We build recognition into all our work because we know that recognising the talents, skills and behaviours of others helps people feel motivated, appreciated and supported. What a better world we’d live in if positive, constructive feedback were a normal part of society.

What do we mean by Open Recognition?

We recognise the skills, knowledge, talents, behaviours and competencies of our collaborators and networks through transparent and accessible means. We challenge traditional forms of recognition to promote inclusivity and equity. We use digital technologies and verifiable credentials such as Open Badges, with the goal of empowering individuals and promoting lifelong learning.

Join the global conversation around Open Recognition.

Open Working

Working openly underpins so much of what we believe in. The clue’s in the name of our co-op! We believe in the five principles of open organisations — transparency, community, adaptability, inclusivity and collaboration. We have always worked to spread the benefits and culture of openness, and we offer everything from introductory to the most in-depth, contextual advice on this topic. Open working has given each of us the ability and opportunity to ‘jump over our own shadows’ and help others jump over theirs.

What do we mean by Open Working?

We use collaborative approaches to working that involve sharing openly-licensed knowledge, resources, and results to create impact. We use and recommend Open Source software and transparency in development processes to promote collaboration and innovation. We prioritise communication, transparency, and collaboration between coworkers and between levels of management.

What we talk about when we talk about open.

Climate Action

We see ourselves as part of nature not the rulers of it and acknowledge that there is a climate emergency. We are conscious of the lost lessons and spirit of the indigenous and strive for climate justice, both individually and through the work that we do. We take steps to reduce our own and other human beings’ impact on the planet. We prioritise climate focused organisations and campaigns whenever possible because our service to our planet has been historically, well, a disservice.

What do we mean by climate action?

We support organisations making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change impacts. We work to ensure that climate action groups are working in ways that promote diversity and inclusion, and we are committed to working together for the greater good. We find creative ways to address the climate crisis using the skills and talents that are part of our DNA.

Listen to the Tao of WAO for more on how climate action underpins our work.

Worker Ownership

We promote democratic workplaces, values and behaviours to empower people and support a collective movement to change the status quo. In our seventh year, we remain enthusiastic and confident that worker-owned cooperatives and the co-op economy can have a positive impact on all of our lives. Working together towards a better future was always on our mind.

What do we mean by worker ownership?

We’re a cooperative, and our members have ownership and agency in terms of the current running and future direction WAO. We promote democratic decision-making and empower people to have a greater say in the direction of their organisation. We adhere to the seven principles set forth by the International Cooperative Alliance which list everything from cooperation among co-ops to concern for community

We Are Open Cooperative

It’s all about the overlaps

We work in these five areas with thoughtful, ethical organisations and partnerships that help us clear a space in the forest of modern noise. The most interesting work for us happens in the overlaps. While we do projects focused in one area, we are always keen to bring our values and understandings of other areas to the foreground.

While we are happy to work on climate campaigns, we will likely recommend working on them openly with the communities those campaigns will impact. While we’re happy to advise leadership on sustainable work practices, we’re even happier to start recognising people in the organisation for their contributions!

Does this sound like a good fit for you and your work? If so, get in touch via hello[at]weareopen.coop

This post written in collaboration with Doug Belshaw!

Practical utopias and rewilding work was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

On Thursday, June 1, we’re hosting our first ever video-conference AMA (ask me – us – anything)! From 5-6pm CET, members of our team will gather in a video conference to answer your questions about responsible data. 

Responsible data refers to our collective duty to prioritise and respond to the ethical, legal, social and privacy-related challenges that come from using data in advocacy and social justice work. 

At The Engine Room, we work with social justice organisations to ensure that their use of tech and data is safe, responsible and strategic. In our day-to-day, we help our partners assess and mitigate the potential risks and consequences of using data for their work, while continuing to do the exciting, relevant work they do. 

For this AMA, we’re inviting social justice organisers who have questions about using data for social justice work. This can include practical questions like:  

What is responsible data and how can I put it in action in my organisation? How can we responsibly manage and store the data we already have?  How can we tell stories with data? What are some responsible data best practices for research projects?  What are some strategies and tools that can help us manage data and keep it safe? Join us

Our “Ask Us Anything” session is happening on Thursday, June 1, starting 5pm CET. Our team members – experienced and committed activists, researchers and technologists – will be available to answer your questions! 

Register here

If you’re unable to attend but would still like to get support from our team, learn more about our work and get in touch to explore ways to work together.

Image by Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash.

The post Come to our AMA (Ask Me Anything): responsible data and social justice edition first appeared on The Engine Room.

The digital age has brought immense convenience and efficiency to our daily lives, but it has also introduced new challenges when it comes to verifying the authenticity of documents. PDFs are a widely used format for sharing important information, but the ease with which they can be altered leaves room for fraud and misrepresentation. This has led to a demand for a more secure way of sending and receiving PDF documents. Enter Lissi and its ID-Wallet solution for verifiable PDFs.

Lissi is a cutting-edge digital identity platform that enables organisations to establish trusted relationships, and send and receive verifiable credentials, including PDFs. With Lissi, the integrity and authenticity of your documents are ensured, eliminating the need for lengthy verification processes. In this blog post, we will delve into the challenges associated with verifying PDF documents, the benefits of using verifiable PDFs within your organisation, and how this technology is integrated into the Lissi Wallet.

This technology is a game-changer for organisations, which deal with sensitive information and want to secure their customer relationship. In this article, we will focus on the Lissi Agent, which organisations use to interact with ID-Wallets such as the Lissi Wallet.

The Challenge with Verifying PDF Documents

Verification processes of PDF documents can be time-consuming and cumbersome, often involving multiple steps to ensure the authenticity of a document. This can lead to delays and increased costs for organisations, hindering their ability to operate efficiently. Furthermore, these processes are not foolproof, and there is always a risk of human error or oversight, potentially exposing organisations to fraud and other risks.

In a world where trust is paramount and speed is essential, these challenges have created a pressing need for a more secure, efficient, and reliable way to verify PDF documents. Our verifiable PDF feature addresses these challenges head-on, offering a solution that is both user-friendly and highly secure.

Using Verifiable PDFs in your organisation: The Lissi Wallet with showing interactions with verified contacts and verifiable PDF documents. Employee documents: Provide your employees with verifiable documents about their income, benefits, certifications or accounting documents. Public reporting: Provide verifiable annual reports, financial statements, management reports, auditors reports and much more. Contracts: Provide your clients with legal certainty by providing them with verifiable insurance, sales, service, or warranty contracts. Project milestones and protocols: Automatically send members of a project team updates and protocols into their wallet. Confidential documents: Provide your shareholders with verifiable documents such as shareholder agreements, board meeting minutes or executive compensation plans. Benefits of using Lissi for verifiable documents: Seamless Integration

A verifiable PDF is seamlessly integrated as an attribute of a verifiable credential, providing an intuitive and user-friendly experience. Recipients can easily access and manage their verifiable PDFs within the Lissi Wallet. When requested by an organisation, the document is automatically pre-selected waiting for explicit consent to be presented to a requesting entity.

Robust Security

Security is a top priority for Lissi, and this extends to the verifiable PDF feature. State-of-the-art cryptography ensures that the authenticity and integrity of documents are maintained throughout the entire process, protecting organisations and their data from fraud and tampering.

Interoperable and Standards-Based

Our integration of verifiable PDF is built on open standards, ensuring interoperability with a wide range of digital identity solutions and platforms. This means that organisations can confidently adopt the technology, knowing that it will work seamlessly with existing systems and meet industry requirements.

Step-By-Step Guide on How to Send and Receive Verifiable PDFs

To get started with sending and receiving verifiable PDFs using Lissi, follow these simple steps:

Setup your company agent
Request a free Lissi Agent and set up your company agent according to your needs. This includes the type hosting and type of document / credential you want to issue. Establish a connection to your target audience
Your clients or members can directly connect to your company agent with their ID-Wallet. Once connected the communication can be used to interact and form a more robust and trusted relationship. Automatically issue verifiable PDF documents.
Trigger the issuance of a new document to all or a subset of your contacts who should receive the document within their wallet. Request and verify existing documents and credentials
Your company agent can also be connected to your business partners, such as suppliers, which potentially already have verifiable credentials or documents such as organisational-IDs or verified IBAN credentials to streamline your internal processes.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, the need for secure and efficient document verification has never been more critical. Lissi’s verifiable PDF feature addresses this need by providing a solution that is both user-friendly and highly secure.

With verifiable PDFs, organisations can streamline their processes, reduce the risk of fraud, and enhance data privacy. The seamless integration, robust security, and interoperability of Lissi Wallet make it an ideal choice for organisations looking to revolutionise their stakeholder relationship with trusted transactions.

About Lissi:

We offer simple applications for organisations build trusted relationships and issue, manage and store digital credentials. This includes the Lissi Wallet and our applications for organisations. Contact us here.

Maybe history will defeat itself.

Remember FreePC? It was a thing, briefly, at the end of the last millennium, right before Y2K pooped the biggest excuse for a party in a thousand years. This may help. The idea was to put ads in the corner of your PC’s screen. The market gave it zero stars, and it failed.

And now comes Telly, hawking free TVs with ads in a corner, and a promise to “optimize your ad experience.” As if anybody wants an ad experience other than no advertising at all.

Negative demand for advertising has been well advertised by both ad blocking (the biggest boycott in human history) and ad-free “prestige” TV, (or SVOD, for subscription video on demand). With those we gladly pay—a lot— not to see advertising. (See numbers here.)

But the advertising business (in the mines of which I toiled for too much of my adult life) has always smoked its own exhaust and excels best at getting high with generous funders. (Yeah, some advertising works, but on the whole people still hate it on the receiving end.)

The fun will come when our own personal AI bots, working for our own asses, do battle with the robot Nazgûls of marketing — and win, because we’re on the Demand side of the marketplace, and we’ll do a better job of knowing what we want and don’t want to buy than marketing’s surveillant AI robots can guess at. Supply will survive, of course. But markets will defeat marketing by taking out the middle creep.

The end state will be one Cluetrain forecast in 1999, Linux Journal named in 2006, the VRM community started working on that same year, and The Intention Economy detailed in 2012. The only thing all of them missed was how customer intentions might be helped by personal AI.

Personal. Not personalized.

Markets will become new and better dances between Demand and Supply, simply because Demand will have better ways to take the lead, and not just follow all the time. Simple as that.

 

The city of Vancouver, a burgeoning tech-hub in Canada, is ripe for a technological revolution. Already recognized for its vibrant start-up ecosystem and tech-savvy talent pool, Vancouver is ideally placed to host a trifecta of events that could set a new standard in quantum computing and cryptographic advancements: a Quantum Strategy Codefest, Hackathon, and the world’s first-ever zk-SNARKs Rodeo.

The Need for a Quantum Strategy Codefest and Hackathon

Quantum computing is a rapidly evolving field with potential to revolutionize our computational landscape. From drug discovery to climate modeling, quantum computers promise to solve complex problems far beyond the reach of classical machines.

However, despite its potential, quantum computing is still largely inaccessible, with a significant knowledge gap existing between quantum scientists and traditional developers. A Quantum Strategy Codefest and Hackathon in Vancouver could help bridge this gap, fostering an environment where quantum researchers and software developers can collaborate, learn from one another, and drive innovation.

These events would provide a platform for developers to gain firsthand experience with quantum algorithms, quantum circuits, and quantum hardware. By doing so, they would stimulate the development of a new wave of quantum software, accelerating the transition from quantum theory to practical quantum applications.

The World’s First zk-SNARKs Rodeo

zk-SNARKs, or Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge, have become a cornerstone of privacy-preserving protocols in the blockchain space. Yet, despite their rising popularity, there is a shortage of developers proficient in implementing these cryptographic proofs.

Hosting the world’s first zk-SNARKs Rodeo in Vancouver would address this deficit, offering an unprecedented opportunity for developers to delve into the world of zk-SNARKs. The event could involve challenges, workshops, and keynotes from industry leaders, covering everything from the theoretical underpinnings of zk-SNARKs to their practical implementation in blockchain systems.

A Catalyst for Change

These three events – the Quantum Strategy Codefest, Hackathon, and zk-SNARKs Rodeo – have the potential to become a catalyst for technological growth in Vancouver. They would not only enhance the city’s reputation as a tech hub but also attract global tech companies, investors, and talent.

Moreover, these events could stimulate academic-industry partnerships, driving research and innovation in quantum computing and cryptography. They could also inspire the next generation of tech professionals by showcasing the exciting developments in these cutting-edge fields.

Conclusion

Vancouver is more than ready to host these groundbreaking events. The city is already home to a thriving tech scene, world-class universities, and a diverse talent pool. By hosting a Quantum Strategy Codefest, Hackathon, and the world’s first zk-SNARKs Rodeo, Vancouver could propel itself to the forefront of quantum computing and cryptographic advancements, cementing its status as a leading global tech hub. The time for a quantum leap is now, and Vancouver is poised to lead the way.

The post The Quantum Leap: Championing Quantum Strategy Codefest, Hackathon, and the World’s First zk-SNARKs Rodeo in Vancouver appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

The post Aon named in Forbes Blockchain 50 list for 2023 for it’s use of Velocity Network™ appeared first on Velocity.

A Brief History of zk-SNARKs

zk-SNARKs, an acronym for Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge, are a form of cryptographic proof that allows one party to prove to another that they know the value of a specific piece of information, without revealing the information itself or requiring any interaction between the prover and the verifier.

The roots of zk-SNARKs can be traced back to the early 1980s when the concept of zero-knowledge proofs was first introduced by Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali, and Charles Rackoff. This revolutionary concept proposed the idea of proving knowledge of a secret without revealing the secret itself.

In the ensuing years, researchers worked to improve the efficiency and practicality of zero-knowledge proofs, leading to the development of non-interactive zero-knowledge (NIZK) proofs in the 1990s, a variant which did not require back-and-forth communication between the prover and the verifier.

The term “zk-SNARKs” itself was introduced in a 2012 paper by Nir Bitansky, Ran Canetti, Alessandro Chiesa, and Eran Tromer. This marked a major milestone in the development of practical zero-knowledge proofs, making them significantly more efficient and thus more suitable for use in real-world applications.

zk-SNARKs and Cryptocurrencies

The introduction of zk-SNARKs has had a profound impact on the world of cryptocurrencies. The most notable implementation of zk-SNARKs in cryptocurrency is in Zcash, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that was launched in 2016.

Zcash uses zk-SNARKs to provide enhanced privacy to its users. With zk-SNARKs, Zcash transactions can remain fully encrypted while still being verified as valid under the network’s consensus rules. This is a significant departure from Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies, where transaction details are transparent and visible to all network participants.

In addition to Zcash, several other cryptocurrencies have integrated zk-SNARKs into their protocol to improve privacy, efficiency, and scalability. Ethereum, for instance, has incorporated zk-SNARKs into its protocol to enhance transaction privacy and improve scalability. zk-SNARKs are used in Ethereum’s Layer 2 scaling solutions, like zk-Rollups, which bundle multiple transactions into a single proof that can be verified quickly.

Furthermore, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Horizen (formerly known as ZenCash) also uses zk-SNARKs to enable private transactions. Similarly, Coda Protocol (now Mina Protocol), uses zk-SNARKs to keep the blockchain size constant, ensuring high scalability.

While it’s difficult to give an exact number of cryptocurrencies using zk-SNARKs, as of 2023, it’s estimated that dozens of projects use some form of zero-knowledge proofs, with many specifically choosing zk-SNARKs due to their efficiency and non-interactivity.

Conclusion

zk-SNARKs represent a powerful tool in the realm of digital privacy and have already seen significant adoption within the cryptocurrency sector. As privacy and scalability continue to be pressing issues in the blockchain space, it’s likely that zk-SNARKs and related technologies will only grow in importance. Despite the technical complexity, the promise of efficient, non-interactive proofs of knowledge that maintain user privacy is a compelling proposition for many in the digital world.

The post zk-SNARKs: A Brief History and Their Implementation in Cryptocurrencies appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

In today’s interconnected world, the concept of digital identity is becoming increasingly significant. One revolutionary approach that is gaining traction is Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs), a cornerstone of decentralised identity technology. In this context, we’re going to focus on one key aspect of DIDs – DID Delegation.

What are Decentralised Identifiers (DIDs)?

To understand DID Delegation, we first need to grasp the concept of DIDs. DIDs are globally unique identifiers that are created, read, updated, and deactivated by their owner without requiring a central registry or authority. They are typically associated with a set of cryptographic keys, allowing the owner to prove control over the DID.

What is DID Delegation?

DID Delegation is a concept that allows the owner of a DID to delegate certain rights or capabilities to another entity. This delegation is done in a cryptographically secure and verifiable manner. It’s like handing over a digital power of attorney, where the delegator assigns some of their authority to another party, known as the delegatee. In the W3C DID Core Specification DID Delegation is described as:

The capabilityDelegation verification relationship is used to specify a mechanism that might be used by the DID subject to delegate a cryptographic capability to another party, such as delegating the authority to access a specific HTTP API to a subordinate.

Why is DID Delegation Important?

DID Delegation is crucial for several reasons:

Flexibility: Delegation allows DID owners to flexibly manage their digital identities. They can delegate specific tasks to other parties without giving up total control. Scalability: DID owners can delegate responsibilities to multiple parties, making it easier to manage larger systems and networks. Security: Delegation maintains security by ensuring only authorised parties can perform specific tasks. The delegator can also revoke access if necessary, maintaining control over their digital identity. Privacy: DID Delegation can help enhance privacy by enabling the delegator to limit the information shared with the delegatee to only what is necessary to perform the delegated task. How Does DID Delegation Work?

DID Delegation for did:oyd involves a few key steps and are described below using the command line utility oydid:

Creating a Delegation Record: The delegatee creates a delegation proof using their private key and publishes it in the DID Log. This entry in the log record includes the public key and explicitly states the rights or capabilities to be delegated. oydid delegate --doc-enc z6M... did:oyd:zQm...

Note: the response of the command is the log reference (hash value) of the newly created records

Confirming the Delegation Proof: While the first step only publishes a delegation record (that can be done by anyone) the DID owner needs in the next step to confirm / sign the delegation record for inclusion echo '["log-reference"]' | oydid confirm did:oyd:zQm...

Note: the input is an array of log-references to be included 

Using the Delegation: The delegatee can now act on behalf of the delegator within the bounds of the delegated rights. When a delegatee performs an action, he/she provides the delegation proof, which can be verified using the delegator’s public key. To retrieve all currently active public keys you can use the following command: oydid pubkeys did:oyd:zQm...

Examples for the use of delegation in the did:oyd method infrastructure are retrieving Verifiable Credentials from the online wallet or updating a DID Document itself.

Here is an example DID Document with delegation information (for did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95):

{ "@context": [ "https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1", "https://w3id.org/security/suites/ed25519-2020/v1" ], "id": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95", "verificationMethod": [ { "id": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95#key-doc", "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020", "controller": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95", "publicKeyMultibase": "z6Mv9jNrbButvkd6rcR6cjH5q3XnNi8sLncxK3y5HWCvVcfd" }, { "id": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95#key-rev", "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020", "controller": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95", "publicKeyMultibase": "z6MutbEUJQkFCDQiYS9Ccb9acLvs7MvrSiYRmkQTMqv2srq6" } ], "capabilityDelegation": [ { "id": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95#key-delegate-doc-1", "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020", "controller": "did:oyd:zQmRTHTMPvbaEuvSDfsZZhWkMdaJNS2Zzy73sg3g4BzJo95", "publicKeyMultibase": "z6Mv2qS3ntVzPo5gvZQa3Sq3DYRr8CRujTD65riMV5seqanF" } ], "alsoKnownAs": [ "did:oyd:zQmNZh64xxX3vt3FrZuo2MzmKUDcpSNbWDVd54Dg8rqKey5" ] } Findings Along the Way

Implementing delegation for the did:oyd method provided some insights and learnings that might also be relevant for other DID methods:

Describing Capabilities

While the W3C DID Core Spec has dedicated Verification Methods for Capability Invocation and Capability Delegation, I could actually not find a way to describe a capability itself. In the did:oyd method there is the possibility to delegate the capability associated with the document-key (to be used e.g. when establishing a secure communication channel with DIDComm) and for the revocation-key (necessary to publish an update of the DID Document). In addition it would make sense to have dedicated cryptographic material in a DID Document associated with service endpoints and consequently allow delegation for accessing a service.

This might be addressed in upcoming versions of the DID Specification to allow a more explicit referencing of capabilities.

Available Capability Delegation in Other DID Methods

When searching for Capability Delegation in other DID methods I found surprisingly litte information. Reading the specifications in the DID Method Registry actually made me aware that the use of Verification Methods is not part of the typical DID Method Specification and I assume that those are interpreted quite differently in the various implementations. Which brings us to the final finding:

DID Rotation

Migration between different DID methods is hard – at least I’m struggling for a while now to implement such a functionality for did:oyd. And with implementing more functionalities like Capability Delegation it becomes even harder since it would require to research and develop peculiarities for each other DID method. This might be an area that the upcoming DID Resolution Specification could address.

For now I made the design decision for did:oyd that any capability delegation needs to be explicitly renewed upon updating a DID Document, i.e., the default behaviour when publishing a new DID Document is to automatically disable any previous delegations.

 

In conclusion, DID Delegation is an essential component of decentralised identity systems, providing flexibility, scalability, security, and privacy. This blog posts described how DID Delegation works for the did:oyd method and explained the various mechanisms involved in the process.

Der Beitrag DID Delegation erschien zuerst auf www.ownyourdata.eu.

By Francis Beland, Executive Director, OASIS Open

Why is participating in open standards essential? 

This is the most common question I am being asked. The answer is quite simple: do you want to help write the rules of the game, or do you stand back and let the market and your competitors do it for you?

Here the metaphor refers to shaping the market, industry norms, and regulatory environment in which your company operates.

Here are several reasons why this can be beneficial:

Influence over Market Conditions: If you’re actively setting industry standards or influencing regulations, you can shape these to align with your business strategy.

Competitive Advantage: By helping to create the rules, you’re likely to have a deep understanding of them and can therefore design your business strategies to leverage them effectively.

Predictability: Being involved in rule-making can provide insights into future changes, allowing you to anticipate and prepare for them rather than react.

Reputation and Trust: Businesses shaping industry norms and regulations can enhance their reputation.

Innovation: In many cases, regulation can spur innovation. By being part of the rule-setting process, a company can better understand where opportunities for innovation might lie.

As with any open standard, this opportunity comes with responsibility. We must create fair, sustainable, and beneficial rules for all stakeholders and our global community.

The post Embracing Open Standards for Business Success appeared first on OASIS Open.

Cyberinfrastructure for Research Data Management Workshop
May 23-24, 2023
Princeton University

Princeton University, Edge, Globus, and EPOC (TACC and ESnet co-PIs) hosted the Cyberinfrastructure for Research Data Management workshop at Princeton University on May 23-24, 2023. The in-person workshop was designed to help research computing professionals deploy next-gen cyberinfrastructure that can effectively support data-intensive science.

The workshop consisted of two days of presentation material that focused on the concepts of the Science DMZ, Data Management using Globus, perfSONAR network measurement, and other affiliated Research & Education best common practices that are designed to operate modern research and education networks to support data intensive science. 

The content was intended for anyone supporting infrastructure and/or developing applications for research and education, and would be particularly useful to the following groups:

NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure awardees (and those preparing for the next CC* solicitation) Research computing administrators and technical staff Campus enterprise storage infrastructure managers Core facility (NGS, cryoEM, fMRI, etc.) IT staff

Outcomes: By the end of the event, attendees had a better understanding of the requirements for supporting scientific use of the network, architectural strategies that can simplify these interactions, and tools that can transform and automate data management for researchers.

Please contact Forough Ghahramani at research@njedge.net if you need additional information. DRAFT AGENDA Cyberinfrastructure for Research Data Management Workshop
May 23-24
Princeton University  •  Romo Rabinowitz Building, Room 399 Tuesday May 23, 2023

8:00 AM-9:00 AM  •  Breakfast & Informal Discussion

8:45 AM-9:00 AM  •  Opening Remarks and Introductions
Curt Hillegas, Associate CIO, Research Computing, Princeton University Office of Information Technology and Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering

Forough Ghahramani, Assistant Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs, Edge

9:00 AM-9:25 AM
Edge Network
View Presentation Here »
Jim Stankiewicz, Principal Network Architect, Edge

Princeton University’s Next Generation Network
View Presentation Here »
Chris Tengi, Senior Architect, Network Services Office of Information Technology, Princeton University

9:25 AM-9:45 AM  • TigerData and Other DataRepositories
View Presentation Here »
Wind Cowles, Director of Data, Research & Teaching, Princeton University Library
Curt Hillegas, Associate CIO, Research Computing, Princeton University Office of Information Technology and Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering

9:45 AM-10:30 AM  •  Science DMZ Architecture
View Presentation Here »
Jason Zurawski, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)

10:30 AM-10:45 AM  •  BREAK

10:45 AM-11:30 AM  •  Data Transfer Hardware
View Presentation Here »
Ken Miller, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)

11:30 AM-12:30 PM  •  Introduction to Globus for Researchers
View Presentation Here »
Vas Vasiliadis, Chief Customer Officer, Globus, University of Chicago

12:30 PM-1:30 PM • Lunch (Provided)

1:30 PM-2:30 PM  •  Globus for System Administrators
View Presentation Here »
Vas Vasiliadis, Chief Customer Officer, Globus, University of Chicago

2:30 PM-2:45 PM  •  BREAK

2:45 PM-3:30 PM  •  Science DMZ Security Policy
View Presentation Here »
Jason Zurawski, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)

Ken Miller, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)

3:30 PM-4:00 PM  •  Day 1 Closeout & Discussion

5:00 PM-8:00 PM  •  Dinner Reception at Palmer House »
Reception is sponsored by generous support Princeton University Office of Information Technology.

Wednesday May 24, 2023

8:00 AM-9:00 AM  •  Breakfast & Informal Discussion

9:00 AM-9:30 AM  •  Princeton Research Case Study
View Presentation Here »
Matthew Cahn, Systems Administrator for Biology and Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Princeton University

9:30 AM-10:45 AM  •  Research Automation with Globus
Rachana Ananthakrishnan, Executive Director, Globus, University of Chicago

10:45 AM-11:00 AM  •  BREAK 

11:00 AM-12:00 PM  •  perfSONAR / Measurement
Ken Miller, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)

Doug Southworth, Engineering Scientist, Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC), Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), University of Texas at Austin

12:00 PM-1:15 PM  •  Lunch (Provided)

1:15 PM-2:00 PM  •  Advanced Globus Topics 
View Presentation Here »
Vas Vasiliadis, Chief Customer Officer, Globus, University of Chicago

2:00 PM-2:45 PM  •  NetSage Network Visibility
Ken Miller, Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC)

Doug Southworth, Engineering Scientist, Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC), Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), University of Texas at Austin

2:45 PM-3:00 PM  •  BREAK 

3:00 PM-3:45 PM  •  Intro to Globus Platform / Portal
View Presentation Here »
Steve Turoscy, Professional Services Manager, Globus, University of Chicago

3:45 PM-4:00 PM  •  Discussion and Workshop Wrap-up
Curt Hillegas, Associate CIO, Research Computing, Princeton University Office of Information Technology and Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering

Forough Ghahramani, Assistant Vice President, Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs, Edge

Presenter Biographies

Rachana Ananthakrishnan
Executive Director, Globus, University of Chicago

Rachana Ananthakrishnan is Executive Director & Head of Products at the University of Chicago, and has a Joint Staff Appointment at Argonne National Laboratory.  In her role at the university, she leads the Globus (www.globus.org) department, which delivers a research data management platform to national and international research institutions. She currently serves on the Internet2 InCommon Steering Committee, Earth System Grid Federation Executive Committee and Scientific Advisory Board for National Microbiome Data Collaborative

Her work is focussed on cyberinfrastructure for enabling research across a variety of domains, and she has lead security and data management for several NSF, DOE, and NIH funded initiatives. Rachana was member of the Globus Toolkit engineering team and customer engagement teams, leading the efforts in web services and security technologies. Rachana received her MS in Computer Science at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Matthew Cahn
Systems Administrator for Biology and Lecturer in Molecular Biology, Princeton University

Matthew Cahn reports to the Research Computing Department of the Office of Information Technology, in support of the Department of Molecular Biology. He has both programming and Linux systems administration responsibilities. He maintains the department’s Linux high-performance computing systems, creates web/database applications in support of faculty research, and creates automation software for processing cryoEM data.  Additionally, he trains users in the use of Princeton’s high-performance computing clusters, and teaches Python language programming to Molecular Biology graduate students as well as other members of the Princeton University community.

Prior to his time at Princeton, Matthew worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in support of the Protein Crystallography group.  There he worked on a team that automated the protein crystallization process, and he built Bristol-Myers’ database application for verifying, storing, and retrieving x-ray protein structures.

Wind Cowles
Director of Data, Research & Teaching, Princeton University Library, Princeton University

With over 20 years of experience in research and leadership in higher education, Dr. Wind Cowles is the Director of Data, Research, and Teaching at Princeton University Library, where she leads the development and implementation of strategic initiatives involving research and teaching services, including in research data and digital scholarship. She leads a division of librarians and other information professionals who provide services, training, and technological infrastructure to advance research and scholarship, providing strategic direction and oversight of three Library branches covering the sciences, social sciences, and engineering. 

Before joining Princeton University, Wind worked at the National Institutes of Health, where she oversaw the review of grant applications related to language, communication, and Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to NIH, Wind was an Associate Professor in Linguistics at the University of Florida and Director of the Language and Cognition Lab. She received her PhD in Cognitive Science and Linguistics from UC San Diego.

Forough Ghahramani
Assistant Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs, Edge

As chief advocate for research and discovery, Forough serves as an advisor and counsel to senior higher education leaders to help translate vision for supporting research collaborations and innovation into actionable strategy leveraging regional and national advanced technology resources. Forough was previously at Rutgers University providing executive management for the Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute (RDI2). Forough’s experience in higher education also includes previously serving as associate dean and department chair. Prior to joining academia, she held senior level engineering and management positions at Hewlett Packard (HP) and consulted to Fortune 500 companies in high performance computing environments. Forough’s research interest areas include: fostering diversity and inclusion in the university innovation ecosystem, and broadening the reach through models for federated data sharing infrastructure for advancing discovery. Forough is Co-PI on numerous NSF projects, and her research has resulted in publications. Forough has a doctorate in Higher Education Management from University of Pennsylvania, an MBA in Marketing from DePaul University, MS in Computer Science from Villanova University, and BS in Mathematics with a minor in Biology from Pennsylvania State University. 

Curt Hillegas
Associate CIO, Research Computing, Princeton University Office of Information Technology and Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering

Curt Hillegas is Associate CIO, Research Computing (previously Director of Research Computing) at Princeton University managing Princeton Research Computing, a collaboration between the Office of Information Technology and the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering. He has helped to build a centrally managed research computing infrastructure that includes 10 PFLOPS of computational systems and 20 PB of shared storage as well as staffing for system administration, programming, visualization support, and Research Software Engineering. He has been active in EDUCAUSE Research Computing and Data community group and through the annual conference program committee and Top 10 IT Issues. Dr. Hillegas’s past work at Princeton University includes managing the enterprise Unix group, architecting enterprise server and storage solutions, designing and managing central email infrastructure, and general Unix system administration. Dr. Hillegas received his B.S. in Chemistry from Lehigh University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University.

Ken Miller
Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC) 

Ken Miller joined the Science Engagement team at ESnet in 2020. He also assists the Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC) team with Roadside Assistance, technical workshops/training and science deep dive workshops. Previously, Ken was the lead designer of Penn State’s CC* Science DMZ grant. He developed a holistic view of research workflow through researcher engagement and using sFlow streaming telemetry of network packet samples and interface counters, as well as host-sFlow from physical systems, virtual, GPUs, containers, and applications. This data was used to develop a Research Data Security and Networking service that scaled and expanded the Science DMZ to multiple colleges and campuses across the commonwealth. Ken also developed a financial model which sustains the maintenance and continuous improvement of the Science DMZ beyond the original NSF investment.

Doug Southworth
Engineering Scientist, Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC), Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), University of Texas at Austin

Doug Southworth is an Engineering Scientist assisting th Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC) at  Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). joined International Networks in 2018. Prior to joining the International Networks team, Southworth worked in network design and implementation until accepting a position in 2008 with Baugo Community Schools, where he served as the lead network/systems administrator until 2015. He was then promoted to Director of Facilities where he oversaw operation of both computer and automated building systems. From 2017 to 2018 he worked as the Senior Systems Administrator for the Indiana Southern District of the US Courts. 

James Stankiewicz
Principal Network Architect, Edge

Jim Stankiewicz leads the technical management team with a future-forward approach that embraces a long-term vision of an integrated K-20 portal for the NJ educational community. With responsibility for the Edge network infrastructure, Jim guides his team through complex engineering project activities that drive customer performance, utilization, problem resolution and the overall effectiveness of the Edge network. Jim’s 35+-years of experience in communications and network development are key drivers for Edge’s commitment to adaptive and defined technology solutions. 

Chris Tengi
Senior Architect, Network Services Office of Information Technology, Princeton University

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjtengi/

Vas Vasiliadis
Chief Customer Officer, Globus, University of Chicago

Vas is Chief Customer Officer for Globus, innovative software-as-a-service for research data management, developed and operated by the University of Chicago. His responsibilities include sales, marketing, customer support, training, and generally working with current and prospective users to grow adoption of the service and make it sustainable. Vas is also a lecturer in the Masters Program in Computer Science, where he teaches courses on Cloud Computing and Product Management.

Vas has over 30 years of experience in operational and consulting roles, spanning strategy, marketing and technology. An experienced software product marketing professional with a passion for shaping emerging technologies to bring innovative products to market, Vas has nurtured early stage companies into successful businesses, and consulted to companies on a wide range of strategic issues.

Jason Zurawski
Science Engagement Engineer, ESnet (DOE Office of Science – Energy Sciences Network), Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC) 

Jason Zurawski is a Science Engagement Engineer at the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) in the Scientific Networking Division of the Computing Sciences Directorate of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. ESnet is the high performance networking facility of the US Department of Energy Office of Science. ESnet”s mission is to enable those aspects of the DOE Office of Science research mission that depend on high performance networking for success.  Jason’s primary responsibilities include working with members of the research community to identify the role of networking in scientific workflows, evaluate current requirements, and suggest improvements for future innovations.

Jason has worked in computing and networking since 2004, and has a B.S. in Computer Science & Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University earned in 2002, and an M.S. in Computer and Information Science from The University of Delaware earned in 2007. He has previously worked for the University of Delaware and Internet2. Jason resides and works in Bloomington, IN, and may be reached via email at zurawski@es.net.

The post Cyberinfrastructure for Research Data Management Workshop appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

We're excited to announce the release of two new tools: Wheel and SimpleDeploy. Whether it's for local development and testing or production use, these tools are designed to make it easier for developers to deploy and manage Ceramic and ComposeDB infrastructure. With Wheel, you can easily install and configure your Ceramic node and ComposeDB index with just one command for local deployments, while infra scripts allow you to easily spin up clusters in the cloud or locally using containers.

Wheel: A Streamlined CLI Tool for Ceramic and ComposeDB

Wheel is a CLI starter tool that simplifies the process of setting up and running a Ceramic node enabled with ComposeDB, primarily for local development and testing. With just one command, Wheel takes care of installing necessary packages, configuring the setup, and running a ComposeDB-enabled Ceramic node locally in minutes.

Visit the Wheel guide & reference to understand your config options and Wheel repository to get started.

SimpleDeploy: Easy Ceramic and ComposeDB Infrastructure Deployment

SimpleDeploy is a set of infra scripts that enable app developers and node operators to deploy Ceramic infrastructure in just two simple commands. It supports cloud-agnostic deployments using Kubernetes and Docker, offering compatibility with major cloud providers like AWS, GCP, Digital Ocean, and Heroku.

The repo also contains templates that make it easy to get started for those who prefer to use Ansible in their node setup.

Check out the guide and repo for more information on how to get started.

Limitations and Future Work

In the future, we plan to expand Wheel's functionality with additional features, including native Windows support, integration with template apps, and integration with the infra scripts for an end-to-end developer experience.

For SimpleDeploy, the current guide is focused on Digital Ocean, but guides for other cloud providers are coming soon.

We’d love to hear from you - please share your feedback with us in Discord or receive support on the Forum.

Shoutouts

We extend our gratitude and appreciation to dedicated beta testers in the community: Andy, Jose, Kantaro, Nick, Lucas, and Armie for their contribution of testing and providing feedback for this release!

Webinar
Thursday, June 8, 10:00 AM

Are you looking to accelerate your scientific research and stay ahead of the latest trends? Join us for this exciting webinar as we explore how the cloud can help you achieve your goals.

Our experts will showcase real-world use cases of how cloud services have been leveraged to accelerate scientific research across a range of disciplines. Via these use cases, you’ll learn how Google Cloud has enabled researchers to achieve breakthroughs in their fields.

Additionally, we will discuss the following topics:

Current trends in scientific research: We will discuss the latest trends in scientific research and how the cloud can help researchers stay ahead of the curve and leverage advances in machine learning, data analysis, and other key areas. Why cloud for research: We will discuss the benefits of using Google Cloud for research, including scalability, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use. Repeatable solutions: We will discuss how the cloud can help researchers create repeatable solutions to help you achieve greater reproducibility and reliability in your work. Research programs: We will discuss Google Cloud’s research programs and how researchers can get involved.

Whether you’re a seasoned or new researcher, or an IT professional supporting research efforts, this webinar is a must-attend. Register now to discover how the cloud can help you unlock the power of scientific research and accelerate new breakthroughs.

Register Now »

The post Unlocking the Power of the Cloud for Scientific Research: Real-World Use Cases and Technologies for Repeatable Solutions appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

By Harm Jan van Burg, OASIS Open

My role as a Senior Policy Advisor on International Standards at OASIS Open often takes me to various conferences and meetings around the world. These days, many are conducted remotely, but sometimes it helps to be in the same room as your colleagues. This week, I’ve had the honor to help lead the third working meeting of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Team of Specialists (ToS) on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Traceability of Sustainable Value Chains in the Circular Economy.

The conference (at UNECE’s historic and gorgeous Palais des Nations headquarters in Geneva) is attended by ESG experts from all corners of the globe. Government representatives, trade associations, industry professionals, and other international organizations were all present, demonstrating the significance of the topic at hand. I had the privilege of serving as vice-chair and moderator of a session on ESG traceability in supply chains.

During the meeting, I emphasized the importance of integrating ESG reporting and monitoring into existing industry practices. Our goal was to ensure that these new requirements, which serve important goals. wouldn’t create additional reporting burdens but instead become a natural part of existing trade and transactional frameworks. We also stressed the need for transparency and responsiveness to evolving customer demands regarding circularity efforts. By aligning these practices with established reporting mechanisms, we can achieve more effective and efficient traceability in supply chains. The work we do here is essential for shaping the future of ESG traceability and contributing to a more sustainable and circular economy.

One aspect that made this particular meeting unique was the way I chose to travel. I decided to make the journey south from my home in the Netherlands to the meeting in Geneva in my campervan. Not only is this a more sustainable choice, but it also provided me with a cost-effective solution in the notoriously expensive Swiss city. It has been quite an adventure, so far, navigating the roads and having my own office on wheels.

The post An OASIS Staff Member’s Green Journey to ESG Meetings in Geneva appeared first on OASIS Open.

Verifiable credentials (VCs) are digital credentials that enable individuals to prove their identity and qualifications in a secure and tamper-proof way. VCs can be used in a variety of real-life scenarios, from representing a driver’s license and enabling secure access to your medical records to verifying college and university degrees and academic achievements.

Many industries, such as financial services, healthcare, transport, IoT, government, and education are beginning to adopt VCs to manage a sizable amount of sensitive and confidential information about their clients, including financial and personal data. But companies are just beginning to investigate what is required to comply with various regulations and standards to protect their clients’ information and maintain their trust. By adopting a standard for VCs, companies can streamline their processes for verifying clients’ identities and credentials, reducing the risk of fraud and identity theft.

You can read the full article published on Biometric Update here. 

OASIS is launching the Lightweight Verifiable Credential Schema and Process (LVCSP) Technical Committee (TC). The schema can help create a safer digital identity environment as individuals share their identity attestations across platforms and services. The inaugural meeting will be held on June 8, 2023 at 10:30am ET. Please check the group calendar for meeting links closer to the date. Participation in the TC is open to all interested parties. Please contact join@oasis-open.org for more information.

The post Developing a more secure digital identity ecosystem using verifiable credentials appeared first on OASIS Open.

Author: Mélissa M’Raidi-Kechichian. Additional contributions made by members of DIACC’s Outreach Expert Committee.

Digital identity aims to make our life easier, avoid long waiting lines to prove who we are, and access online spaces in a secure way while safeguarding our personal data. It also enables organizations to establish their online identity and protect users against online threats. Falling under the umbrella of the broad tech ecosystem, digital identity is evolving along with the responsible tech movement, itself growing and already impacting Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance, as seen in the principles of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and the EU AI ACT. According to the US based think tank dedicated to grow the responsible tech ecosystem All Tech Is Human, responsible tech is ensuring that technology is aligned with the public interest, concerned with reducing the harms of technology, and promotes diversity in its space. The responsible tech movement may not be a framework but rather a school of thoughts, it brought many practitioners to wonder about the question of responsible tech practices regarding users’ data privacy.

Along these lines, a growing number of citizens (i.e., users), became aware of how precious and sensitive their personal data is, how it is being used, for better (easier and faster access to bureaucracy) and for worse (the centralization of individual identifiers in insecure and opaque systems, data shared without consent with data brokers, or fuelling Weapons of Math Destruction*, for instance), especially thanks to the work of scholars and data activists. The latest shed light on the social implications of AI in a vulgarized and accessible way. Scholars and activists explained the risks of technology and lack of regulations over personal data in plain English and by using relatable use cases, through documentaries and workshops.

The concept of “good” digital identity aligns with DIACC’s mission to provide the framework to develop a robust, secure, scalable, and privacy enhancing digital identification and authentication ecosystem for Canadians, but is yet to be defined and standardized by this industry. Building on Kim Cameron’s digital identity work legacy, better known as the Laws of Identity, this blog aims to explore the possibilities and meanings behind the concept of “good digital identity”.

“Good” is an adjective that seems to carry a subjective meaning depending on the point of view of a practitioner (or user, for that matter). Since the term has not yet been defined and standardized by the digital identity industry, we are interpreting the word good as a digital identity practice that is beneficial for most and does not harm or disadvantage any users. Before getting into the principles of good digital identity, let’s note that “consent” is a recurring term in this blog piece. In this case, consent refers to the clear and informed decision of a user to permit access to their data to a third party. This consent should not be transferred from one third party to another without the knowledge and consent of a user.

Principles.

The first principle of good digital identity is privacy, and gathers the first 3 laws of Kim Cameron on identity. Users should have control and consent over how their data is being used, and minimize data sharing to the minimum required to access a service depending on the context of use.

Interoperability, which echoes law 5 of Kim Cameron, should be a core component of good digital identity. Users should be able to choose between different providers of digital identity solutions, and these distinct entities should be able to trust each other in a common framework.

Digital identity should have a social and collective benefit rather than a solely individual benefit. Therefore, digital identity must be inclusive and serve traditionally marginalized communities that have been excoded** rather than encoded in digital “solutions” in the past. That means moving consciously and with care rather than moving fast and breaking things, until or alongside a legal framework that guarantees protection of users’ rights, integrity, and privacy.

Digital identity should be optional, as an alternative to traditional identity verification, until the widespread use of digital identity is proven efficient, safe, and secure for every user so that our traditional identity verification process gradually falls into disuse on its own. It is important to recognize that a number of people are worried about digital identity, what it means for them, and what it implies. In some cases, it is due to personal experiences as minorities (in the Canadian context, an example would be Indigenous communities specifically, who have a record of having been the victim of crimes committed by public entities), in others it is due to disinformation and unfounded narratives, or even lack of accessible public resources about digital identity. One might argue that it would be an avoidable financial cost if the traditional methods had a sunset date, rather than to invest in maintaining both processes. However, users should be left with a choice regarding digital identity.

Digital identity should be understood by any user, regardless of their background, in order for them to make informed decisions and consent, meaning that resources to understand digital identity and how it impacts a user must be available in plain English and use relatable use cases as examples. Explainability not only empowers users, it also gives less space for speculations that feed disinformation.

Fairness and trust should be the red line guiding good digital identity. Fairness and trust come from acknowledging and fixing mistakes. To do so, good digital identity should have a mechanism that bridges the gap between users and providers in order for users to share feedback and adapt its practices when needed and avoid ongoing unnecessary harm that have historically correlated with the implementation of a new technology.

Good digital identity should promote transparent data processes, storing, and use. Transparency allows for greater accountability and therefore also aligns with fairness and trust.

Scalability was previously formulated by Kim Cameron in his seventh law of identity. Good digital identity should allow users to share only the desired and necessary parts of their identity, and therefore be scalable across contexts and needs, i.e., following data minimization principles.

Regularly auditing digital identity solutions should be part of good digital identity practices. These audits should be comprehensive but also meaningful and relevant for the users.

Take Aways

In this blog, we explored what the concept of good digital identity could mean, following principles that would lead to a practice that is beneficial for most and does not harm or disadvantage any user. However, the concept of good digital identity should be collectively defined by practitioners in the field in order to standardize and adopt a definition. Beyond actionable principles, good digital identity should also promote a culture where a diversity of voices participates, and where users’ consent, choice, and control over their personal data prevails.

Definitions

* Weapons of Math Destruction is a term coined by data scientist Cathy O’Neil in her book “Weapons of Math Destruction: how Big Data increases inequality and threatens democracy”. The term describes mathematical models (algorithms) that attempt to quantify human traits and characteristics and have an opaque data sourcing and processing that, as a consequence, leave big scale damages on one or several communities. ** Excoded is a term coined by Dr. Joy Buolamwini, MIT, in her work conducted at The Algorithmic Justice League that she founded, that refers to the minorities excluded from the data that composes the code of models powering technologies. The excoded are usually the most negatively impacted from said technologies.

Implementing Safe on dedicated Energy Web infrastructure simplifies the process of creating, configuring, and managing smart contract accounts on the Energy Web Chain

Over the last several years, Safe has emerged as the leading open-source tool for generating and interacting with customizable smart contract accounts on Ethereum-based blockchains. Within the Energy Web ecosystem, Safe has been primarily used to create multi-signature wallets and build custom transaction workflows.
Up until recently Safe was available as-a-Service under the global Safe web application (which is integrated with over a dozen blockchains). To simplify adoption for our members, Energy Web has been working behind the scenes to configure and deploy a separate version with default integration to the Energy Web Chain and Volta test networks. Today we’re pleased to announce that Energy Web Safe is now available at https://gnosis-safe.energyweb.org/welcome.

For users with existing Safe account(s), there are no impacts to account configuration or functionality. You can continue to use and interact with your Safe(s) simply by connecting your existing wallet and entering the associated Safe address in the landing page:

For users who haven’t worked with Safe before but are interested in deploying accounts on the Energy Web Chain, you can learn more about the features and functionalities in the main Safe documentation pages before using the Energy Web Safe homepage to get started.

While the vast majority of features and functionalities have been preserved, there are two known limitations at this time (all of which will be addressed going forward):

UI and Branding: The Energy Web Safe implementation still features the global Safe branding and color palette; to avoid confusion in the future the UI will be rebranded. For now, the best way to confirm you are using the correct application is to bookmark https://gnosis-safe.energyweb.org/welcome Safe Transaction builder is not integrated by default yet. If you need Transaction builder app, you can add in Custom app section: Click on Apps

2. Click on tab — My custom apps → Add custom app

3. Provide this URL https://apps.gnosis-safe.io/tx-builder/ to App URL

4. Click Add

5. App will only be visible only to you.

About Energy Web

Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. Our solutions for enterprise asset management, data exchange, and Green Proofs, our tool for registering and tracking low-carbon products, are underpinned by the Energy Web Chain, the world’s first public blockchain tailored to the energy sector. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, IoT, telecommunications leaders, and more.

www.energyweb.org

Same Safe, New Home: The Safe Decentralized Custody Protocol is Now Deployed on Energy Web was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Cardea, a complete open-source verifiable credential ecosystem for sharing health information in a way that preserves patient privacy, has been accepted as a Hyperledger Lab.

Cardea emerged from a project to share proof of Covid 19 test status for entry to Aruba. Developed by Indicio, a leading developer of privacy-first decentralized identity and verification solutions, for SITA, the leading global supplier of IT to the air transport sector, the solution went on to win an EIC and SuperNova award for advancing decentralized identity. 

Cardea contains all of the necessary components to issue, share, and verify a variety of health information using decentralized identifiers, a mobile application, and a distributed ledger. The unique parts of the codebase were built on Hyperledger Indy and Hyperledger Aries and originally donated by SITA as the Cardea Project to Linux Foundation Public Health, where it was further developed to address the broader need for a complete open source solution for sharing health data in a privacy-preserving and secure way. (Read this white paper for a deep dive into how Cardea works and some of the initial use cases.)

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Be sure not to miss our next meeting on 5/11/2023 at 12 noon Eastern Time featuring Sarah Samis, VP of Public health Products and Platforms of GCOM, on vital records!
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Preserving privacy is a critical need both for digital health credentials and travel passes. A recent poll from IATA highlighted that 78% of passengers who took part in the survey will only use a travel health credential app if they have full control over their data. 

Data privacy and security are equally critical in healthcare. In 2021, 93% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach, while 57% of healthcare organizations have had more than five breaches. By using a decentralized approach we are putting control of the end user’s data back into their own hands to store locally on their own verifiable credentials, reducing both the impact of these breaches and the incentive for bad actor’s to attempt them.

By becoming a Hyperledger Lab, Cardea aims to empower public health authorities to design, build, and deploy open-source, privacy-first, and simple-to-use digital health solutions. With this technology, the community can work together to reopen economies without people having to give up their privacy.

“With the migration of Cardea to Hyperledger,” says Heather Dahl, Indicio’s CEO  “Indicio has taken the lead on privacy-first decentralized identity technology. And as a Public Benefit Corporation, we believe that open sourcing decentralized identity technology through Hyperledger Foundation will lay the foundation for a better, fairer world to come.”

To learn more about how you can participate in the Cardea lab, keep an eye on our wiki: https://wiki.hyperledger.org/display/labs/Cardea+Lab or sign up to receive emails at https://lists.hyperledger.org/g/labs 

The post Cardea, a privacy preserving open-source ecosystem for verifying health data, joins Hyperledger Labs appeared first on Hyperledger Foundation.

About a year ago, we started a three-year project to examine and strengthen our own digital resilience and, in doing so, increase our capacity to support others. Since then, we’ve been reflecting about digital resilience, making changes to our tech infrastructure, and supporting several partners as they strengthen their own systems. 

One thing I’ve noticed while talking to partners about digital resilience is that the term “digital resilience” can sound really appealing to some social justice organisations; while seeming a little too jargon-y, unattainable and even unclear to others. 

“Digital resilience” has many definitions (including our own current working definition: “a set of practices that support the ability of an organisation to protect itself from – and respond to – digital security threats, to ensure the wellbeing of its members/individuals, and to adopt infrastructures that respond to the ever-changing needs and contexts of the organisation and its members.”), but the term doesn’t necessarily spark a crystal clear image for those who hear it for the first time. 

Knowing what digital resilience looks like can be an important step for groups who want to strengthen their tech infrastructures. More than a jargon-y definition, digital resilience should be an achievable reality for social justice organisations.

So, in order to help make digital resilience a little more tangible, I asked my coworkers to tell me what came to their minds when they thought about it. Here’s what they had to say:

For Cathy and Lesedi, digital resilience involved having a plan for when things don’t go as planned:

“Digital resilience is knowing what to do next in case systems fail. It’s investing in our future selves while going about our day to day now.”

Cathy, Tech Lead

“I see digital resilience as a dynamic process, in which organisations and individuals collaborate to create robust action plans: after identifying vulnerabilities, developing holistic strategies to address them.”

Lesedi, Technical Engagement Coordinator

Olivia talked about the ongoing process of choosing tools and practices that support safety and wellbeing:

“I see digital resilience as a process of continually strengthening online tools (and access to these tools) and digital security practices to stay safe online”

Olivia, Research & Engagement Assistant

Laura emphasised how digital resilience is about building processes and culture within an organisation, focusing on increasing protection from risks and making values-aligned tech decisions: 

“When I think of digital resilience, I think about building the processes and culture that enable an organisation to: anticipate risks, work more smoothly with technology, and align technology choices more closely with their values. It’s about weaving in holistic ways of using – and sometimes not using – digital technologies in the process of doing our work.”

Laura, Co-deputy Director

For Quito, digital resilience is about working your way towards being more adaptable and responsive to challenges:

“Digital resilience is about building the muscle of digital security, responsible data practices and broad-based digital literacy to be able to respond to a changing landscape of digital challenges.”

Quito, Research Manager

Lesedi and Steffania highlighted the importance of building sustainable infrastructures and engaging in long term thinking: 

“For me, digital resilience is about having a proactive and adaptive approach to digital security. This includes learning from past experiences and anticipating future challenges in order to protect ourselves and build robust, sustainable infrastructures in the long term”.

Lesedi, Technical Engagement Coordinator

“Digital Resilience to me is the ability to prepare for unexpected events in the present and in the future. It is the “behind the scenes” work that allows the digital day to day to run smoothly. It’s the ability to navigate through digital challenges in a smooth, informed and prepared way.”

Steffania, Resilient IT Infrastructure Manager 

Reflecting about what digital resilience looks like to you

After reading what my coworkers had to say about digital resilience, you might be curious about what that would look like for your organisation. Reflecting about your tech infrastructure can be a good place to start. 

You can start with questions about the tools you use: 

Are they aligned with your values?  Are they supporting you in doing your work,or are they creating more challenges for your team?  Are they the most appropriate options for keeping you, your team and the people you work with safe? 

Other steps organisations can take to strengthen digital resilience include learning about why digital security matters to your work, adopting internal policies for data retention, archival and deletion, shifting to privacy-respecting tools, figuring out how to stay online through emergencies, getting more familiar with responsible data, and more. 

Ultimately, building up your digital resilience can be a messy process – but so worth it! If you’d like support in that journey, schedule a call with our team! 

Read more: Our FAQ with key questions about tech and data for social justice organisations

Image by Landsil via Unpslash.

The post What do we think about when we think about digital resilience? first appeared on The Engine Room.

Verifiable credentials can revolutionize how we store and share personal information. This technology promises greater privacy, security, and convenience in many contexts by enabling individuals to control their data. However, as with any new technology, there are significant challenges to be addressed by developers, implementers, and adopters if society is to realize its potential fully.

The comments and findings presented in this report reflect interviews conducted with representative organizations concerning the level of interest in using verifiable credentials in their respective organizations and industry sectors as part of their identity management offerings. This report does not examine or consider enabling technologies related to the generation, use, and management of verifiable credentials (e.g., blockchain, digital wallet, and public key cryptography components) except in broad terms.

Download the report here.

Perspectives-on-the-Adoption-of-Verifiable-Credentials-1

ORE is nearly out of liftoff and approaching orbital flight

ORE is a bigger tent for the KBW community, find out more here.

Almost exactly a year ago, we wrote a post looking at Emily Webber’s Community of Practice Maturity Model in association with the KBW community. A short time later, we wrote about the growth and dynamic of this community, which we then “studied” with our post on collecting data in a community of practice. With a growing number of members and a sense of shared purpose, it’s time to check in on our maturity once again.

cc by WAO

We’re happy to report that the community has made significant progress towards becoming a fully matured and self-sustaining entity. Our new branding reflects our need for a bigger tent, and our data is showing growth both in size and engagement.

Greater impact and visibility cc-by-nd Bryan Mathers

Since collecting our baseline data, our community has grown by 18%. Such an increase in membership means we have a greater impact both within our own field and beyond. Community members are collaborating on projects and initiatives that have helped to advance our shared goals. We’ve also been able to raise our profile through events, community calls, and other forms of outreach. We feel that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, and that our collective efforts are making a meaningful difference in the world.

Increased participation cc-by-nd Bryan Mathers

We’ve also seen an 11% increase in “active” engagement. The engagement activities we look at are whether or not people have introduced themselves, starting or commenting on posts, or attendance in community calls. More people are engaging and more people are engaging in multiple ways.

Our concerted effort to reach out to individuals and groups who had expressed interest in our community but had not yet become fully engaged has paid off. We have worked to have more structured opportunities for people and our pointed cadence has help us mature as a community. Our goal is always a more vibrant and dynamic community, with a wider range of perspectives and experiences represented.

Improved governance and decision-making cc-by-nd Bryan Mathers

A key aspect of community maturity is the ability to make decisions and govern ourselves in a way that is transparent, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of all members. We’ve held off on establishing a more formal governance structure, choosing instead to work collectively, mostly in our monthly community call. There’s been a small increase in participation in this call, so clearly word is getting around that all members have a voice in shaping the direction of the community. We’ve become better at documenting our decisions and sharing information about our activities, which has helped to build trust and foster a sense of collective ownership.

Community maturity is an ongoing process

There is always more work to be done, and we know that community maturity is an ongoing process rather than a destination. But we’re proud of how far we’ve come, and we’re excited about the possibilities opening up for Open Recognition is for Everybody.

We look forward to sharing more updates as our journey continues. Join us!

We Are Open is a collective of independent thinkers and makers helping charities, ethical companies, NGOs and educational institutions with community building, sensemaking, digital transformation and more. Get in touch!

ORE is orbital was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In IDunion we develop concepts for wallet security with verifiable credentials. In the PDF below, you will learn about the three pillars of wallet security, the attestation process and trust model, and much more.

The three pillars of wallet security are:

1. Integrity of the Credential

2. Authenticity of the Holder

3. Authenticity of the Wallet

These pillars are important because they ensure that the credentials issued by an issuer are secure and cannot be tampered with, that the holder is who they claim to be and can prove it, and that the wallet itself is authentic and trustworthy. By maintaining these three pillars, trust can be established in the SSI triangle between the verifier, issuer, and holder/wallet.

More security-relevant use cases demand new requirements for trust in the holder/wallet relationship. One example of such a use case could be a situation where a holder is required to present their credentials to access sensitive information or perform a critical action, such as accessing medical records or transferring large sums of money.

In these cases, it is important to ensure that the holder’s authentication is strong enough to meet the requirements of the regulated use case and that their wallet is authentic and trustworthy.

This document was created by Paul Bastian from Bundesdruckerei in the context of developing a secure attestation service based on OpenID4VC flows. This flow was tested and presented at the Internet Identity Workshop with the Lissi Wallet.

PDF: Concepts for Wallet security in SSI

OpenID Foundation is pleased to announce that the first set of FAPI 2.0 self-certifications have been published and can now be viewed on the Certification Listings.

We congratulate Authlete, Cloudentity, ConnectID, Ping Identity, and Raidiam for achieving compliance with the current FAPI 2.0 certifications and for being thought leaders on the leading edge of this important work. We are grateful to ConnectID in Australia who adopted FAPI 2.0 for their ecosystem and funded the FAPI 2.0 conformance test suite development, as noted in our announcement. We expect further announcements of FAPI 2.0 adoption and additional certifications later in the year.

We also thank all these members and the FAPI Working Group for their valuable feedback on the FAPI 2.0 specifications and the certification tests. The conformance tests and certification programme are a vital part of ensuring interoperable, secure Open Banking and Open Data ecosystems.

The FAPI 2.0 specification has been through formal security analysis by the University of Stuttgart as previously announced. The Foundation encourages existing and future implementers to consider their adoption plans for FAPI 2.0 now as the current Implementor’s Draft 2.0 is mature and stable, and Implementor’s Draft’s are commonly selected by public and private entities to implement against. The working group expects the specification advance to Final before the end of the year.

About the OpenID Foundation 

The OpenID Foundation is a non-profit open standards body with a vision to help people assert their identity wherever they choose and a mission to lead the global community in creating identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving. One of the OIDFs strengths is creating identity protocols that serve billions of consumers across millions of applications. In that context, OIDF welcomes the opportunity to help fund and facilitate this ambitious yet pragmatic effort in service to the global community.

The Open ID Foundation’s vision is to help people assert their identity wherever they choose, and to deliver on that vision by leading the global community in creating identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving.

Membership in the Foundation is not required to contribute to working groups or community groups. Contributors only need to sign up to the Contribution Agreement or Participation Agreement of each (or all) working groups or community groups in which an individual or an entity would like to contribute. Nonprofit and government entities may become members for $250, individuals may join for $50, and private entities may join on a sliding scale based on number of employees. With this structure, the Foundation seeks to ensure a sustainable, and accessible model for the global community. For noting, the Foundation is funded roughly ⅓ by membership, ⅓ by certification fees, and ⅓ by directed funding projects requested by members. 

 For more information on the Foundation including membership details, please visit https://openid.net or contact director@oidf.org.

Tirsdag den 20. juni 2023 kl. 13-15 og evt. fortsat fra kl. 15.30 holder WAYF sit 16. erfamøde, på Zoom. Link til møderum offentliggøres her på sitet forud for mødet.

Language Danish Read more about Kom til WAYF-erfamøde på Zoom!

The post European Digital Identity and the Velocity Network: Building a Secure Future for Digital Credentials   appeared first on Velocity.

Digital Trust Hui Taumata: Registrations now open!

We’re leading the digital trust conversation in Aotearoa. The annual Digital Trust Hui Taumata on 1 August, 2023 is the must-attend event for New Zealand’s digital identity and trust ecosystem.

This year, new legislation will define the rules for the delivery of digital identity services and we’re uniting the digital trust ecosystem for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

Our one-day programme features keynote presentations, panel discussions, roundtables and more. This is your opportunity to connect, share and gain valuable insights for a thriving digital trust economy. Register now and take advantage of your 2 for 1 member discount plus Super Saver pricing!

REGISTER NOW

Join us and explore the key issues:

developing authentic digital trust in Aotearoa adopting a modern approach to cybersecurity, identity and inclusive access overcoming challenges and collaborating on growth opportunities data ethics, privacy, protection and security. plus, we take a closer look at the financial, healthcare and retail sectors.

Speakers Include:

         Victor Dominello
MP NSW
Director
Trustworthy Digital Society
Hub (UNSW and UTS) Ngapera Riley
Chief Executive Officer
Figure.NZ Roxanne Salton
Chief Digital Officer,
Southern Cross
Health Society

Event details

Date: Tuesday 1 August Time: 8.30am – 6.00pm Event type: Physical Location: Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington

REGISTER NOW

Ngā mihi nui,
The Digital Trust Hui Taumata team

PS: If you are interested in learning how you can partner with us, please email Nikki for further sponsorship information.

Supported by:

Platinum Gold

Exhibitor

       

Presented by:

       

The post Digital Trust Hui Taumata: Registrations now open! appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

Rebranding Keep Badges Weird

Big news — our community of practice has a new name! Say hello to “Open Recognition is for Everybody!” or “ORE”.

our new logo as a banner image. CC-BY-ND Bryan Mathers

Why the change? Well, we wanted to create a more diverse and inclusive space. It represents our desire to create a bigger tent for anyone interested in Open Recognition, no matter where or how learning is being recognised.

Read: What is Open Recognition, anyway?

Why rebrand? CC-BY-ND Bryan Mathers

Our community is made up of people interested in the intersection of Open Badges (a web-native way of issuing recognition) and CoPs, but there are other interests as well. We have people interested in recognition at a city-wide level, people integrating recognition into social policy, people looking at recognition in the workplace.

Our CoP has been growing, and the scope of our discussions expands beyond open badges and beyond more formalised learning initiatives.

We’ve seen an 18% increase in size and an 11% increase in engagement since just last October!

Read: How to Gather Data on a Community of Practice

Recognition is a fundamental human need and there are many ways to recognise and validate learning, skills, behaviours, talents and achievements.

So, with our new name, we’re doubling down on our commitment to inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility. We believe that everyone should have access to recognition, no matter where they come from or what their background is. We want to create a safe space where people can share their experiences and ideas, collaborate on new projects, and learn from each other.

But KBW is a great name!

You know, KBW really is a great name. So don’t worry — KBW will live on. It will live within the community’s collective memory and as a specialised space in the (drumroll) new community home! We’re also excited to announce that our CoP has been invited to be an early adopter of the new Participate platform!

screenshot of the new ORE CoP

In the coming weeks, we’ll be inviting people into the new ORE community to bang on buttons, explore new features, and help figure out how we want our new home to be. There are a number of features that will help us set up our new, bigger ORE tent with individual spaces for people and communities that are in various places on their Open Recognition journey.

We’ll be able to explore new and innovative ways to recognise and validate social learning, and we’ll be able to work with people from all sectors to understand their recognition needs and find ways to support them.

We’ll continue to build and share best practices, resources, and tools to help individuals and organisations create effective, efficient, and equitable recognition programs.

Get involved!

We’re really excited about this new chapter in our community’s story, and we can’t wait to see where it takes us. So come join us — let us know if you want early access to the new community platform. In the meantime, we’ll continue to update the KBW Community at our current home here.

Let’s work together to create a world where recognition is a default, and where everyone’s unique talents and contributions are recognised and valued. See you soon!

Open Recognition is for Everybody: Time for a Bigger Tent was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Andrew Shikiar, FIDO Alliance Executive Director & CMO

Yesterday, Google announced support for simple and secure sign-ins with passkeys for all Google Account users. This is a huge milestone in our journey towards a passwordless future. Why?

It’s been only a year since Apple, Google and Microsoft announced their commitment to passkeys with plans to expand support for a common passwordless sign-in standard created by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium. Since then, Apple and Google have readied their operating systems for service providers to enable sign-ins with passkeys that sync across devices; Windows 10 and 11 have long supported device-bound passkeys in Windows Hello – and passkeys from iOS or Android devices can also be used to sign into sites in Chrome or Edge on Windows.

Additionally, service providers like PayPal, Yahoo! Japan, NTT DOCOMO, CVS Health, Shopify, Mercari, Kayak, SK Telecom and more are committed to or already providing passkey sign-ins. Google now joins them, and will serve as a great way for large swathes of consumers to become familiar with passkeys, while also helping accelerate deployments from other service providers.

Consumer Readiness On the Rise
The growing number of service providers supporting passkeys matches a growth in consumer awareness and readiness.

According to a new survey released today by FIDO Alliance, over 57% of U.S. consumers said they are interested in using passkeys to replace passwords, compared with 39% who said they were familiar with the concept of passkeys in FIDO’s 2022 Online Authentication Barometer, released in October 2022.

Recovering or resetting passwords is one of the many hassles that consumers face. Only 9% of those surveyed report that they never need to recover their password – with 13% having to recover passwords daily or several times per week and nearly 60% reporting several password resets per quarter.  It is little wonder then that 29% of consumers prefer signing in with biometrics (e.g. fingerprint or face scan) versus 19% who prefer to enter a password manually.

Passkeys are resistant to threats of phishing, credential stuffing and other remote attacks often used to take over online accounts. Based on the survey, approximately 65% of people who prefer to use biometrics to sign in would be interested in using a passkey and nearly half (45%) of people who prefer to use passwords to sign in would be interested in using a passkey. This is another clear signal telling us that consumers want less friction and greater ease of signing into their online accounts.

Passwords Create More Friction for Online Transactions

Consumers are tired of the hassle and complexity of passwords and are ready to embrace passkey sign-ins, which enable them to access online services simply and securely. Passkeys can help reduce shopping cart abandonment and turn the tide against the ongoing plague of data breaches and identity theft.

In addition to security implications, passwords continue to be costly for online retailers – according to the survey, nearly 60% of consumers said they have abandoned their carts due to a forgotten password in the past six months. 

Simply put, passkeys stand to dramatically improve consumers’ online shopping experiences – as well as their service providers’ bottom lines.

Perceived Password Risk
Despite the large number of breaches and warnings, many consumers maintain poor password hygiene, unmoved by the risks passwords pose to their digital lives. According to the survey, 70% of people use passwords that are at least one year old. Despite the known risks of phishing attacks and other security breaches, the survey shows that 21% of respondents believe entering their password manually is the most secure authentication method. 

Nearly 60% said they would not pay for increased security measures or official verification on social media platforms. Earlier this year, Twitter warned users they would lose the ability to secure access to their account via text message two-factor authentication unless they pay to subscribe to Twitter Blue. It seems clear from this data that consumers would naturally look to passkeys as a seamless and secure alternative.

To review the FIDO Alliance’s full survey results, click here.

What’s next?
Both the data and the increasing number of organizations rolling out passkeys shows that the future of authentication is here. But this does not mean the work is done. The FIDO Alliance and its members continue to iterate to improve the experience of passkeys. Be on the lookout for upcoming UX research and guidelines to further increase the adoption and usability of passkeys. The FIDO Alliance is also continuing to provide education, UX guidance, adoption perspectives and more through upcoming industry events. Attend our sessions at Identiverse and be sure to attend the FIDO Alliance’s conference, Authenticate, in Carlsbad, CA (or virtually) on October 16-18, 2023.

The post <strong>An Inflection Point in the Journey to Passwordless</strong> appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

The post CV Wallet joins the Velocity Network Foundation appeared first on Velocity.

The OpenID Foundation is pleased announce the final publication of the white paper on “Government-Issued Identity Credentials and the Privacy Landscape,” published here (https://openid.net/Government-issued-Digital-Credentials-and-the-Privacy-Landscape-Final). The Foundation joins with five other non-profits (the Kantara Initiative, ID4Africa, Open Identity Exchange, Secure Identity Alliance, Better Identity Coalition, and the Trust Over IP Foundation) along with a wide range of experts from civil society, government, and the private sector for this thorough assessment of the global privacy landscape in the context of government-issued digital identity credentials.

This paper is an especially timely as governments around the world seek to scale their existing digital identity credential implementations, or chart a path to deliver new digital identity credential programs. It seeks to offer a balanced, global view of privacy concerns by exploring laws, implementations, gaps, and tradeoffs facing the people developing these new ecosystems. It builds on the thoughtful work of other studies and concludes with tangible recommendations in three areas:

The Basics of Security and Privacy Addressing Ongoing Concerns Getting Ahead of Emerging Concerns

Beyond identifying issues, the contributors to this paper seek to point our concrete areas that will inform how to build more privacy preserving ecosystems, and what issues the community needs to continue working on together. This is a final paper, but  those interested in taking part in future discussions and papers on this topic are welcome to share your interest to director@oidf.org.

Our thanks to lead editor Heather Flanagan, who has distilled a complex and rapidly changing domain space for the benefit of lay people and experts alike.

The astonishing accessibility and sophistication of generative AI tools is outpacing our objective understanding of where content comes from and forcing us to establish new norms. How do we distinguish realistic AI-generated content from journalistic work? How does transparency about generative AI benefit creators and consumers? How, and when should we add verifiable provenance to our media?

Our relationship with synthetic content—from social media face filters to visual effects in film and entertainment—is changing with generative AI’s power to enhance creativity but also amplify mis- and disinformation.

In this community event, the Content Authenticity Initiative presented a panel to discuss how transparency tools and context meets the challenges and opportunities in generative technologies.

Speakers

Andy Parsons, Sr. Director, Content Authenticity Initiative, Adobe

Claire Leibowicz, Head of AI and Media Integrity, Partnership on AI

Gene Kogan, Artist, Co-Founder, Eden

Tom Mason, CTO, Stability AI

More from the CAI

📬 Get news and updates

🌏 Join the CAI community

🤝 Connect with us on Discord

Google’s announcement of its passkey rollout comes on the eve of World Password Day on Thursday. But passkey proponents are ramping up their efforts to make the occasion obsolete. 

“Eventually, it’s going to be like World Horse and Buggy Day, I think,” Shikiar says. “For the time being, it’s a good reminder of the challenge we have to get rid of passwords.”

The post Wired: Google is rolling out password-killing tech to all accounts appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

The post SHRM’s Guillermo Corea on the Velocity Podcast appeared first on Velocity.

A conversation with Elodie Vialle, affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center and Senior Advisor on Digital Safety and Free Expression at PEN America Photo courtesy of Elodie Vialle

Death threats. Defamation campaigns. Doxxing.

These are just some of the threats journalists face in their day to day, especially women and journalists of color who are disproportionately targeted for their work. Online harassment remains one of the largest threats to world press freedom, with 73% of women journalists worldwide experiencing online violence in their course of work, according to UNESCO and ICFJ. To combat this issue and preserve press freedom around the world, it is crucial to increase safety measures for journalists in online spaces.

In her work as a 2022–2023 RSM Assembly Fellow with the Institute for Rebooting Social Media at the Berkman Klein Center, journalist and press freedom defender Elodie Vialle proposed creating an escalation channel within social media platforms to better support journalists and human rights defenders harassed online. While social media platforms do have features like “reporting” and “blocking,” Vialle’s proposed system would provide customized support in emergencies and situations of severe online abuse such as doxxing or coordinated attacks. The “Escalation Channel 2.0” would act as customer service for journalists and human rights defenders, making targeted, trauma-informed support more accessible to journalists around the world with a focus on protecting marginalized voices.

“What I felt in my own experience is the feeling of being powerless when your peer journalists reach out to you being traumatized, facing a situation that no one can help with or that no one is listening to. I wanted to listen to them, and I wanted to find a solution,” Vialle said when I asked her about what led to the creation of Escalation Channel 2.0.

As we talked, I thought about my own experiences as a young woman of color, GenZ journalist, and a student press freedom activist. Malicious online comments about my age, race, and gender are not unique to me, as these proliferate for young women and journalists of color everywhere. Online harassment is creating a chilling effect on free speech, not just through censorship but also through self-censorship.

I sat down with Vialle to further discuss her proposal, her work preserving press freedom online, and challenges with press freedom around the world.

Photo by Joël de Vriend on Unsplash

Pratika Katiyar: How do you approach women, people of color, or younger, student journalists facing harassment? These are three different groups who receive uneven support and attention when it comes to harassment online. Do you find that focusing on women or other marginalized groups is effective?

Vialle: Women and marginalized groups are becoming deplatformed because of online harassment. And, we have research in the US showing that journalists of color are particularly targeted. Trying to build solutions to tackle this issue is a way to better enhance diversity. There’s a lot of interest in promoting diversity, but actually, it’s only a layer of communication if you don’t create the conditions to make sure that people can work safely within the newsroom. So acknowledging that women and marginalized groups are disproportionately targeted by online harassment, newsrooms that are committed to work on enhancing diversity can put in place better safety measures.

There’s a lot of interest in promoting diversity, but actually, it’s only a layer of communication if you don’t create the conditions to make sure that people can work safely within the newsroom.

Katiyar: In your presentation, you briefly discussed Taylor Lorenz’s article on how online groups and mobs are coming for student journalists, who already don’t have a lot of protections. Aspiring journalists or younger, GenZ journalists are dropping out of the journalism industry in large numbers because of both online harassment and the tumultuous nature of the media industry right now. How can solutions combating online harassment help bring some younger journalists back into the field or encourage them to continue pursuing journalism?

Vialle: We cannot do our work as journalists without being on Twitter or on Facebook. We have to be visible and engage with our readers. As journalists, this is a tool we have to use for our work. I cannot just stop tweeting; freelancers need to be visible. The same goes for young journalists entering the field; they need their work to be visible.

I spoke with student journalists in the US facing death threats, and they didn’t have any idea how to deal with that. There’s two layers of action here. One is institutions. The institution or organization has to set up and implement safety protocols and training. And as always, we acknowledge that newsrooms today are struggling to survive, and that it is difficult to implement additional costs. So when we have these discussions about safety, we really want to acknowledge the limited [financial] constraints for student newspapers too. In universities, building connections between the existing support helplines to get access to therapists or getting a special connection with safety hotlines for students in journalism, because we do know that they face a higher level of risk. Students can also learn how to better protect themselves using PEN America’s resources.

Katiyar: There is a lot going in terms of press freedom around the world. The recent arrest of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia is an example of a physical violation of press freedom, but there’s also a lot of online censorship in countries like India, where the government is blocking access to information. Additionally, in the United States, there’s so many news outlets shutting down or laying off staff, with BuzzFeed News being one of them recently. The landscape for the future of journalism looks very uncertain right now. What challenges do you anticipate in preserving press freedom around the world right now, and is there any hope?

Vialle: Today, journalists are facing, I will say, a new array of threats, between arbitrary detention, physical attacks, arrest, murder, online harassment, intimidation, and defamation campaigns. The situation is really bad for the journalism field. The fact that in democracies now, we are facing threats that are similar to the one we’re used to in authoritarian regimes, that’s also a signal that things are going badly.

The fact that in democracies now, we are facing threats that are similar to the one we’re used to in authoritarian regimes, that’s also a signal that things are going badly.

The rise of disinformation and the lack of trust in the media normalizes attacks against journalists. All these narratives developed by governments and enemies of the free press, trying to use journalists as scapegoats, leads to direct physical attacks. I observed this in France because we had some protests, of course during COVID. The rise of disinformation led to attacks on journalists and attempts to censor content. A Reuters Institute report saw that there’s a lot of disinformation that exploits the fact that underrepresented communities don’t feel served, they don’t feel represented well in the media outlets.

I want to give you a sign of hope though. We’ve mentioned the social media platforms relating to my project. These platforms are being used to amplify online abuse and gender-based violence, but but they can be a part of the solution as well, if they implement features to mitigate the impact of online abuse and proactively work with civil society on code signing solutions

Katiyar: Thank you for that answer and for your time today.

The theme for World Press Freedom Day 2023 is “Freedom of expression as a driver for all other human rights.” When freedom of expression is suppressed, access to information and all other human rights are put at risk. It is more important than ever to ideate and implement sociotechnical solutions to better support journalists who are attacked and abused online beyond the traditional methods within social media platforms. That rings especially true with the recent layoffs of trust and safety roles in the tech industry, specifically at Twitter, a platform known extensively for the presence of journalists.

Centers like Berkman Klein showcase how to best combat this pervasive issue: by putting practitioners — civil society folks, technologists — and academics together. But more attention needs to be paid to including young journalists. GenZ is chronically online, and solutions to combat online harassment should start at the university/journalism school level. That includes advocating for classes on online safety, working on public policy efforts in conjunction with social media companies to educate GenZ on online abuse, and pressing news organizations and journalists to prioritize hiring young journalists of color. Newsrooms highlight their innovation and diversity efforts, but those efforts cannot succeed if journalists are currently under threat and if the next generation is dropping out of the industry altogether.

Pratika Katiyar is a research assistant at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, a student at Northeastern University, and a board member for the Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit that defends students’ press freedom rights. She is a GenZ free expression activist that has been profiled in Teen Vogue, NBC Washington, and ABC for her work and has spoken on panels for the United Nations, PEN America, and Georgetown Law School.

Online harassment makes world press less free was originally published in Berkman Klein Center Collection on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

AMD, Dell, Google, Intel, Marvell, Red Hat, and Others Aim to Provide Orchestrated and Scalable Solutions for Large Data Center Operations and Vendors

Boston, MA – 3 May 2023 — Members of OASIS Open, the international open source and standards consortium, are working together to define a standard Network Data-Plane Function PCIe device (peripheral component interconnect express). The Infrastructure Data-Plane Function (IDPF) Technical Committee (TC) will establish a high-throughput, low overhead operation and develop a standard interface that allows for scalable provisioning and orchestration. The IDPF TC will deliver the specification and a general model of a networking device attached to a PCIe, in which the software can work towards this device, regardless of who makes the underlying hardware.

The TC’s work will address the needs of both large data center operators (especially public cloud service providers) and vendors of host-attached networking devices such as network interface cards (NICs) and accelerators. The IDPF multi-vendor standard device will allow operators and vendors to be more efficient. 

“As the network evolves, we need to define standard interfaces that scale to provide the performance, the advanced features, and the hardware assists needed by highly distributed applications. The OASIS IDPF TC was formed to meet those goals,” said IDPF TC co-chair, Anjali Singhai Jain of Intel. “A standard such as this would help the customer pick from a wider set of network accelerator providers; the providers would benefit from a broader customer base; and everyone would benefit from software reuse.”

“With IDPF, we hope to break new ground in a standard defining a virtual network device with modern hardware speeds and features. High performance is the device’s marquee feature; it runs on the ethernet, and will eventually run on remote direct memory access (RDMA),” said IDPF co-chair, Michael Tsirkin of Red Hat. “It’s designed to run on several operating systems, or on a virtual machine in the same way you could run it on a bare metal system. In all cases, you’re going to be working to the same model, and you will be able to compose it and do the virtualization in any way that you see fit for your particular implementation.”

Vendors will be able to avoid per-customer customization while still allowing feature extensibility and differentiation. Datacenter operators will have a scalable solution that can be orchestrated as a generic good, avoiding the need for per-supplier customization and constraints. Tenants will be able to get high-throughput, feature-rich networking connectivity over standard transports while being decoupled from data center operator concerns and constraints.

Participation in the OASIS IDPF TC is open to all through membership in OASIS. Networking software architects and implementers; operating systems device driver writers; PCIe network cards, infrastructure processing units, and accelerator vendors; original equipment manufacturers and original system/software vendors; operating systems vendors; data center operators; and others impacted by this work are invited to join the group.

Support for the IDPF Technical Committee

AMD
“We are passionate about solving the most difficult challenges faced by customers in the cloud through the inherent flexibility of data center processors, adaptive SoCs, SmartNICs, FPGAs and DPUs. IDPF will further our commitment to delivering standards-based networking technologies that meet the needs of modern data center operators while creating an open standard that will benefit both customers and vendors.”
-Robert Hormuth, corporate vice president, Architecture and Strategy, Data Center Solutions Group, AMD

Dell
“Dell supports flexibility for our customers, and IDPF can provide a simple and scalable standards-based framework to set up their data centers. IDPF will enable future composable and disaggregated infrastructure to provide that greater flexibility.” 
-Tommi Salli, VP/CTO Future Growth Engines, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies

Google
“At Google, we believe in supporting open, interoperable standards that work at scale for the broader industry’s benefit. IDPF solves our need for a high performance PCIe device interface that supports large scale network virtualization and NIC offloads which can be efficiently implemented in NIC hardware. We are pleased to partner with OASIS and the IDPF TC members to make these advances available to the rest of the industry.”
-Dan Lenoski, VP of Engineering for Networking Infrastructure, Google

Additional Information
IDPF TC Charter

Media Inquiries
communications@oasis-open.org

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, EPYC, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

The post Industry Leaders Collaborate at OASIS to Define Open Standard for Multi-Vendor Networking Device Interface appeared first on OASIS Open.

Michael Pytel has years of experience in the manufacturing world from developing wheelchairs, greeting cards, shoes, poultry and meat products, and even rockets. Through all of this, he felt like there wasn't a lot of innovation in warehouses. His aim to change that is by building a platform that uses machine learning and AI from the ground up, rather than antiquated warehouse management systems that were built 15, 20 years ago. So what are these cutting-edge technologies that Michael has created and how do they lead to efficiency and success?

Michael Pytel, Co-Founder & CTO at Fulfilld, explains the importance of technology in the warehouse for mapping products, eliminating fork truck traffic, and how it all leads to success.

 

Key takeaways:

An optimized warehouse is one that focuses on reducing waste. Wasteful time, wasteful travel, wasted movements, and focusing on where you want employees to feel engaged and successful in the day. Fulfilld is focused on creating technology to structure the ballet in the warehouse where movement is optimized and there is no wasted travel.

Fulfilld is focused on creating a ‘digital twin’ for mapping out products in the warehouse. They take the CAD drawing of a manufacturing space, of a warehouse space, and load it into a computer model, and essentially generate their own version of Google Maps. It can create routes for employees to optimize their travel on a forklift or on foot.

Transparency creates efficiency. By having something be visible, you can optimize more! Fulfilld’s technology has given customers the ability to see where their order is in the process so they aren’t constantly wondering when it’s going to ship. This creates a great consumer experience.

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with guest:

Michael Pytel’s LinkedIn

 

This month we kicked off our collaboration with the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), a Uganda based organisation working on inclusive and effective use of information and communications technologies across Africa. Through our Matchbox Programme, we will provide intensive support to CIPESA’s team for a period of six to eight months. 

Get to know CIPESA: defending digital rights in East and Southern Africa

CIPESA was founded in 2004, in response to the findings of the Louder Voices Report for DFiD, which cited the lack of easy, affordable and timely access to information about ICT-related issues and processes as key barriers to effective and inclusive ICT policy making in Africa. Since then, the organisation has been working to defend and expand the digital civic space to enable the protection and promotion of human rights. 

Among other initiatives, CIPESA has tracked the impact of Covid-19 on digital rights in Africa, contributed towards the development of the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, initiated the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), documented digital rights trends, and created the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa (FIFAfrica).

Learn more about their work on their website and social media channels (they’re on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook).

Robust digital infrastructures and responsible data

Our work with CIPESA will be focused on strengthening their internal digital infrastructure and communications systems, which will include exploring self-hosted tools and adopting new strategies to mitigate potential security risks. 

We will also support CIPESA in implementing responsible data practices in their work, to support their organisational data management.

If your organisation is interested in getting support from The Engine Room, please schedule a Light Touch Support call with us! Visit our blog to learn more about ways we can support your work.

Image by Moren Hsu via Unsplash.

The post Stronger digital infrastructures with CIPESA first appeared on The Engine Room.

Aventus and Energy Web Announce Partnership to Accelerate Energy Transition via Web3 and Energy Web X Via the partnership, Aventus will support Energy Web with enhanced Web3 capabilities and become a validator in Energy Web’s ecosystem

ZUG, Switzerland, London, United Kingdom — 2 May 2023: Aventus, a Web3 solutions provider for enterprises, today announced a partnership with Energy Web, a non-profit building open-source technology solutions for energy systems. The partnership will see Aventus support Energy Web with launching Energy Web X, a new decentralized technology that will enable Energy Web to more efficiently and effectively service its clients and achieve its goal of decarbonising the grid.

Via Aventus’ parachain-as-a-service offering, Aventus will enable Energy Web to launch Energy Web X, a parachain compatible with Relay chains such as Polkadot, bringing enhanced scalability, speed, interoperability and security to the Energy Web ecosystem.

Aventus will also deploy for Energy Web its own instance of Aventus’ key architecture, including:

Gateway API — allowing Energy Web’s clients to plug into the ecosystem quickly and easily via a familiar API web entry point; Block Explorer — enabling enhanced transparency of Energy Web’s ecosystem by allowing any developer to query any on-chain data; and Governance Application — democratising and further decentralising the Energy Web network by allowing holders of EWT (Energy Web’s native token) to vote on all major Energy Web development decisions

Aventus will also become a validator in Energy Web’s ecosystem, contributing to the security, decentralisation and capacity for innovation of Energy Web solutions. Additionally, Aventus will offer a managed service for any further validators in Energy Web’s ecosystem, allowing trusted entities to benefit from helping to secure the network, without any technological requirement on their part.

Alan Vey, Founder & CEO, Aventus, comments: “We couldn’t be more excited to begin working with Energy Web. Its mission to use open-source Web3 technologies to help companies navigate and accelerate the energy transition is an incredibly important use case of blockchain, and we’re thrilled to be able to help make it more accessible and seamless.”

Jesse Morris, CEO, Energy Web, adds: “Energy Web’s technology already powers decarbonisation in dozens of countries, but in order to effect global change, we need to take our technology to the next level. Aventus’ in-depth understanding of our needs, flexibility in creating a solution and high-quality technology stack made the partnership an obvious one. We’re thrilled to be working with such an innovative team and can’t wait to see where this partnership takes Energy Web.”

About Aventus

Aventus onboards enterprises to Web3, enabling them to generate new revenue streams, improve operational efficiencies, and future-proof their business.

It works with each enterprise to scope out potential use cases, and customize a SaaS-style product from its extensive suite of modular, composable architecture, as well as maintains and manages the solution — so enterprises can focus on what they do best.

www.aventus.io/

About Energy Web

Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. Our solutions for enterprise asset management, data exchange, and Green Proofs, our tool for registering and tracking low-carbon products, are underpinned by the Energy Web Chain, the world’s first public blockchain tailored to the energy sector. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, IoT, telecommunications leaders, and more.

www.energyweb.org

Aventus and Energy Web Announce Partnership to Accelerate Energy Transition via Web3 and Energy Web… was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Second Implementer’s Draft of OpenID for Verifiable Presentations Specification Approved

The OpenID Foundation membership has approved the following specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft:

OpenID for Verifiable Presentations

An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This is the second Implementer’s Draft of this specification. This specification is a product of the OpenID Connect Working group.

The Second Implementer’s Draft is available at:

https://openid.net/specs/openid-4-verifiable-presentations-1_0-ID2.html

The voting results were:

Approve – 64 votes Object – 0 votes Abstain – 7 votes

Total votes: 71 (out of 266 members = 27% > 20% quorum requirement)

— Michael B. Jones

FIDO Alliance at Identity Management Day 2023

Everyone agrees it’s time to kill the password to better the overall identity ecosystem, but the question of “with what” makes things a bit trickier. FIDO Authentication standards are touted by the public and private sectors as the best tools to get us there. 

This presentation will help you to understand the importance of the authentication piece of the identity puzzle, find out about the latest trends and standards for simpler and stronger authentication, and learn what we all need to do to reduce the world’s reliance on passwords on a global scale.

Speaker: Andrew Shikiar, Executive Director and CMO, FIDO Alliance

The post Video: Stronger Authentication; Stronger Identities: The State of the Industry’s Path to Passwordless appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Gitcoin Grants Beta Round kicked off last week, providing an opportunity for developers and creators to raise funds for their projects by connecting with potential donors. The platform has been instrumental in supporting open-source projects and fostering innovation in the Web3 ecosystem over its past grants rounds, with over $50,000,000 donated toward public goods.

Gitcoin created Passport in 2021—a reputation system integrated with Ceramic—to ensure that each vote cast during the Gitcoin Grants rounds are linked to a unique human. Since then, the use cases have expanded to help a plurality of communities better detect when a wallet is linked to a unique human. Gitcoin Passport offers critical scoring mechanisms to keep Web3 communities safe from malicious actors. So far, Gitcoin Passport has been used in conjunction with a number of other data science analyses to prevent $3M of fraud during the grants rounds.

As part of Gitcoin's efforts to decentralize and democratize the grant funding process, they are transitioning from a centralized grants platform to a decentralized protocol—Gitcoin Allo. This protocol and the accompanying dApps in Gitcoin’s Grants Stack will enable multiple grants rounds to run concurrently on-chain, empowering any community to permissionlessly coordinate its own grants program and create a more inclusive and community-driven funding ecosystem.

We're excited to see how developers leverage the decentralized Grants Stack, with tools like Gitcoin Passport, to launch and manage their own projects. Passport enables developers to verify the 'unique humanity' of a wallet that wants to access an application or project. The data collected is intended for broad interoperability for any system that wishes to issue or consume VCs to establish the unique humanity of an individual through their direct ownership of multiple accounts (Twitter, BrightID) or Web3 assets (ENS).

To determine who gets access to a developer's application, the new and improved Passport Scorer App gives users a 'Unique Humanity Score'. Developers can check out this starter video to integrate it into their application—helping to increase the trustworthiness of Web3 and onboard more users. Developers can also check out ComposeDB on Ceramic if they're just getting started building a decentralized application.

The Gitcoin Grants Beta Round runs from April 25th to May 9th, you can read more about quadratic funding and sybil resistance with Passport on Ceramic here.

The RSA Conference further proved that passwords are a problem. The solution, we’re told, lies in using Passkeys, or cryptographic credentials that securely authenticate individuals without usernames or passwords and have multi-factor authentication (MFA) built-in. Several sessions at RSAC focused on the benefit of Passkeys, while also taking a look at the challenges still ahead. 

The post PC Mag: Misinformation, MFA Doubts, and AI: Everything We Saw at RSAC 2023 appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

In our “post”-pandemic world, marked by climate crisis, inflation and threats of recession, the desire to do more with less seems reasonable – admirable, even. 

Within the humanitarian sector, recent data from the UN and the ICRC shows that available funding falls far short of what’s actually needed to meet existing and expected crises, and the needs are growing. An estimated 339 million people will require some form of humanitarian aid in 2023, according to the UN, who are also calling the current global food crisis the “largest in modern history.” Impacts from the climate crisis, ongoing international conflicts, national violence and human rights violations have driven forcible displacement, with over 100 million people forced to leave their homes. 

So, here, where the need to do more with less is urgent, we’ve seen a lot of hope that emerging technologies can make for “smarter and faster” disaster response, create greater impact with fewer resources, and even anticipate crises before they strike. In some cases, as we found in our 2021 research on the use of predictive analytics, there is emerging evidence of these benefits. However, it is not straightforward; nor are benefits guaranteed.

We need more evidence on the realised benefits of emerging tech

Over the decade that The Engine Room has been providing support and conducting research, we’ve explored this question of how, in practice, different digital technologies can augment the work of humanitarian organisations.

We examined the potential of biometric technology use in aid – resulting in Oxfam choosing to enter a temporary moratorium on adopting the technology in order to take more time to understand potential risks. We’ve documented the lived experiences of different impacted communities and refugee populations as they engage with the digital ID systems needed to access aid and government benefits. We’ve taken deep dives on predictive analytics, socially assistive robotics and chatbots (forthcoming). We’ve developed ethical frameworks for engaging in technological innovation, documented efforts to deeply ingrain responsible data practices into workflows, and built actionable tools for ethical decision-making.

Our findings paint emerging technologies’ impact as mixed at best – clear-cut cases of benefits “outweighing” harms are few and there’s a clear need for a more accurate accounting of the benefits of these systems versus the costs to fundamental rights. 

The research we’ve done, instead, highlights the need to approach each situation holistically, considering sustainability needs, staff and resource constraints, localisation, root-level problems and integration with existing efforts. Each wave of shiny new technology brings additional cost and complexity – more efficiency or improved outcomes are never guaranteed.

What can we do? 

We’ve found that adopting an emerging technology, adapting it to a unique and quickly evolving context and implementing safeguards requires serious time, financial and human resource costs. 

In their quest for efficiency, then, humanitarians may end up investing a great deal of resources into sometimes unproven solutions without a clear return on investment, redirecting attention and resources from other (perhaps less technologically “cutting edge”) programming that’s more time-tested. Though these costs are not a reason in and of themselves to avoid adopting a new technology, they do point to a need for more research about the actual impacts these technologies have, especially as weighed against the costs and risks.

Learning from our research, several trends emerge. These point to key considerations to keep in mind to ensure tech interventions meet short-term real needs in a sustainable manner. Among other things, we’ve seen:

It’s always worth digging deeper into the problem that one is trying to address with technical solutions. Tech interventions can masquerade as solutions to root-level problems, while actually being a band-aid. Often, the lowest-resource, highest-impact solution is not high-tech.

There’s a need to be realistic about the upfront and ongoing human resource cost of adopting a new digital technology or digital process. As would be the case with any new intervention, time and resources are needed for learning, adaptation, iteration and ongoing maintenance. Though we’ve seen this generally recognised on a conceptual level, we’ve heard from practitioners that actual allotment of resources are typically undercounted. In particular, resources tend to be scarce around data protection/digital risk mitigation and ensuring that frontline staff have access to resources and time to learn new skills or adopt new policies.

We must account for the likelihood of new digital technologies actually adding inefficiencies into project resourcing and planning. As part of our forthcoming research on chatbot use in humanitarian contexts, interviewees shared multiple instances where the new technology had increased both start-up costs and ongoing work (e.g. by introducing a need to review all of the chatbots’ interactions to spot cases that were improperly addressed).

We must be clear-eyed about the costs of working with third parties, as there may be a mismatch of incentives, expectations and standards that jeopardises long-term sustainability or success. For example, in the case of the IRC partnering with mobile networks across several countries to provide digital cash aid, a commonality across the challenges documented was a misalignment of practices and incentives between the IRC and mobile network operators. These challenges often resulted in delays and reduction in impact. 

As with all new interventions, new digital technologies must be integrated into existing processes. As we saw in our forthcoming research on chatbot use, new technologies can  perform badly when understood as a replacement for other forms of engagement, programming or communication. Instead, they should generally be seen as a complementary component of a larger ecosystem of tools.

Keep an eye on our blog for our forthcoming research and more cross-project findings at this intersection. As always, we would love to hear your ideas, research and comments!

Image by Janke Laskowski via Unsplash.

The post In the humanitarian sector’s search for efficiency, are we falling short? first appeared on The Engine Room.

Nok Nok, a leader in passwordless authentication for the world’s largest organizations, today announced a partnership with Carahsoft Technology Corp. The Nok Nok S3 Authentication Suite is the first passwordless authentication platform based on FIDO standards that includes full support for both device-bound and synced passkeys and compliance solutions

The post CIO Review: Nok Nok Partners With Carahsoft to Provide Phishing-Resistant MFA Solutions to Federal, State and Local Government Agencies appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

A new analysis by password manager NordPass stresses that major companies open themselves up to security risks by using passwords that lack creativity. While password trends slightly vary each year across different audiences, the general take is that people continuously fail with their password management, and the world desperately needs to switch to new online authentication solutions such as passkeys. Various progressive businesses such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, PayPal, KAYAK and eBay have already adopted passkey technology and are offering their users password-less logins. It is thought that in no time at all, other online companies will start following this trend.

The post Wealth Management: The Financial Industry’s 10 Most-Common Passwords appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

The EU Digital Identity Wallet represents a significant growth opportunity for FIDO authentication, according to a new white paper from the FIDO Alliance. The 45-page white paper on ‘Using FIDO for the EUDI Wallet’ was written by IDnow Senior Architect Sebastian Elfors from the proceedings of the FIDO subgroup on the EUDI Wallet to help government agencies weigh the use of FIDO for the EUDI Wallet under the eIDAS2 regulation. 

The post Biometric Update: FIDO Alliance paper positions protocol for EU Digital Identity Wallet authentications appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

How Institutions Can Take the Lead on their Digital Education Future

Long before remote learning became part of the norm amid the higher education community, many institutions were seeking solutions to expand their digital education capabilities. For several years, Online Program Managers (OPMs) have provided a suite of services, including course design and technology solutions, marketing and enrollment services, and academic coaching. This industry has grown substantially since the early 2000’s and quickly expanded during the pandemic when colleges and universities needed to bring their courses and services online quickly. Unfortunately, the digital learning options provided by OPMs are often costly and cannot be customized to meet the unique needs of each institution. Plus, many organizations have made investments in their own digital learning capabilities in recent years and no longer wish to outsource their online program management. Add in tightening federal guidelines and regulations on OPM providers, and we are seeing greater opportunities to foster successful home-grown digital learning programs.

Origin and Growth of OPMs

Outsourcing online program management and recruitment to OPMs often does not require upfront costs, but their educational and backend services are in exchange for 40-60 percent of student tuition payments. “The U.S. law bars colleges that receive financial aid from giving incentive-based compensation, which includes commissions or bonuses to companies or employees that recruit and enroll students into their programs,” explains Edge Chief Digital Learning Officer, Josh Gaul. “The Education Department considers tuition sharing to be incentive compensation, however, agency guidance released in 2011 allows OPMs that provide recruiting services to have such arrangements with colleges if they meet certain criteria. Without this loophole, OPMs would have a hard time existing at the current way they are built.”

In addition to the services they provide, many OPMs offer the upfront capital necessary to launch an online program. “After the OPM has built the program and an institution begins receiving student enrollments, they will take a percentage of those dollars as part of a revenue sharing agreement,” says Gaul. “In the beginning stages, OPMs faced the uphill battle of providing online students with services on par with what they receive on campus, so they had several risks to consider. Twenty years ago, launching an online program was expensive, with all the instructional, technology, and marketing costs associated with this endeavor. From an educational standpoint, many institutions were also concerned if the online education program would be on par with a traditional campus experience. In addition, an online program raised a host of operational questions and concerns. How is this program managed? How does it compare with in-person classes? For faculty that teach online, do they get paid the same amount for teaching in person? How does load look for faculty in terms of teaching online courses versus in-person courses? How does IT manage online programs versus in-person classroom digital technology?”

When online programs were beginning to expand in the early 2000’s, many institutions were also concerned of how this would affect their reputation. “Many people perceived online education as second rate,” says Gaul. “There was a worry that key constituencies, alumni, foundations, and hiring corporations would see an entry into the online world as a symptom of institutional weakness. Thankfully, these unknowns are not as mysterious today. While the OPM pitch was appealing over two decades ago, they have become a larger part of the problem, rather than the solution.”

“Edge does not take a dollar from your tuition and all intellectual property and content that we create in collaboration with you is yours to keep, reuse, and repurpose however you want to in the future. Many institutions have similar needs, but we can customize your solutions based on your organization’s culture and unique processes, and our goal is to provide the services you need at as low a cost as possible. OPMs will continue to face regulatory risk and evolving federal rules, while Edge, being a non-profit organization, is solely focused on serving the needs of its member institutions.”

– Josh Gaul
Associate Vice President & Chief Digital Learning Officer
Edge

Drawbacks of OPMs

Using an OPM partner can offer benefits, but with the evolution of the online education space, the challenges have begun to outweigh the advantages. “The cost of technology and services to build and run an impressive online program have dropped, but OPMs still expect schools to part with a huge percentage of their tuition,” explains Gaul. “High tuition is a critical problem in higher education and OPMs are adding to this issue. If you work with a traditional OPM, your students will pay $20,000 to $40,000 in loan repayments just to cover its profit. This is becoming increasingly hard to justify imposing that burden on your students and that cost locks you into a long-term competitive disadvantage and could cause your rankings to potentially drop.”

“Schools that find ways to go online at lower costs will be able to reduce their tuition costs and invest more in compelling programs and great staff and faculty,” continues Gaul. “Typically, an OPM’s contract with a college or university allows it to continue sharing tuition revenue for several years, even after the relationship ends. These long-term restrictive contracts can be very difficult to terminate and can extend between five and ten years with limited remediation options for institutions if enrollment objectives are not met. Many traditional OPMs also operate in a silo, so when they build an online program, they are not incorporating input and involvement from faculty and other departments. Instead of moving towards a more agile future, the OPM structure reinforces rigidity and does not support the high-flex models that are becoming increasingly popular among current and prospective students.”

Among the drawbacks of outsourcing an online program management to an OPM is the increased risk. “A traditional OPM invests its marketing dollars where it can make the greatest return, typically the programs are the least selective and most expensive,” says Gaul. “If an OPM discovers they can steer a student elsewhere with less expense or more revenue, your enrollment can suffer. Given that online programs are increasingly core to institutional missions, working with an OPM can mean adding an existential risk. A more subtle risk is when a traditional OPM represents schools in different parts of the country and will steer students in each region to their nearest client. This cuts the OPM’s marketing costs, while making it impossible for you to grow your school’s reach geographically or demographically.”

Due to the nature of revenue sharing contracts, there is no incentive to share the OPM’s strategies and data, particularly in marketing admissions. “There is a complete lack of transparency around what tactics are driving performance,” says Gaul. “This prevents a school from learning the operational analytical nuances of operating at scale and understanding why certain decisions are made and what is effectively attracting students to the institution. In addition, OPMs typically focus their efforts on the specific programmatic offerings with the highest profit margin and are highly selective in what they’re willing to support—which often does not align with an institution’s mission and individual needs. OPMs also may not align with a school’s culture. Some OPMs’ tactics taken on behalf of an institution may be seen as aggressive or not in line with the school’s ethos. Furthermore, some strategies can be in direct competition with tactics the institution is already employing to recruit students from non OPM-supported programs.”

Without access to the strategies and technology benefits, many institutions can be left without the capabilities, expertise in recruiting pipeline, as well as the data and insights into what worked and what it took to launch their online programs and grow their enrollments. “In a revenue shared agreement with an OPM, the company often has ultimate decision-making authority on non-academic processes,” shares Gaul. “This can cause friction with faculty and leave schools with no way to intervene and lead to less revenue generation over the long term.”

Launching Sustainable Online Programming

Since no one knows an institution and its business objectives better than its own organization, setting up and running a program management system in house without third party support can be an appealing prospect. “There are obvious benefits of saving money and retaining full control of developing your online program, but not every school has the resources, whether it is human, time, or financial to organically create and maintain online programs,” says Gaul. “Not everyone has a fleet of faculty and staff, instructional designers and technologists, enrollment management, and recruiters who are all working together toward a common goal with no delineation and no other responsibilities on their plate. This is why OPMs have had such success. Unfortunately, this is not a true partnership and you’re unable to gain access to a fully scalable system wherein you only pay for the services, features, and functionalities that you need.”

To help institutions launch and maintain sustainable online programming, Edge can support a successful shift away from OPMs. “Our team of expert instructional designers understand the methodologies, rubrics, and standards that go into creating high-quality curriculum rooted in industry best practices and research,” says Gaul. “This includes understanding compliance and instructional design and helping you grow your own methods and vision, not offering a cookie-cutter solution. Teaching and learning online is far different from traditional classroom learning and we help support your institution through faculty and student development. We can prepare your staff and students for this challenge through engaging student-centered experiences built to encourage online presence and active learning methodologies. Working in collaboration with your leadership, faculty, and current employees, we can help you scale up and build out more detailed programs that can be self-paced and supplement your current training.”

Accelerating Digital Learning Efforts

Edge’s Digital Learning & Collaboration solutions also include course and curriculum evaluation services to ensure courses meet all the standards for technology-enhanced education. “These assessments offer risk management and quality assurance for your online program,” says Gaul. “Through EdgeLearn, you can also receive learning space design assessments to evaluate and analyze campus learning spaces. Every face-to-face classroom now has an online or digital component, and we can offer assessments and project management services to help your institution build and support 21st century classroom spaces that meet your academic goals and technology strategies. When you partner with Edge, we work with facilities, academic affairs, IT, and enrollment management to determine the best use of the classroom space and how it fits into the larger infrastructure of the organization. Our goal is to find solutions that best fit into your current processes and procedures and find ways to improve quality and efficiency.”

“Edge does not take a dollar from your tuition and all intellectual property and content that we create in collaboration with you is yours to keep, reuse, and repurpose however you want to in the future,” continues Gaul. “Many institutions have similar needs, but we can customize your solutions based on your organization’s culture and unique processes, and our goal is to provide the services you need at as low a cost as possible. OPMs will continue to face regulatory risk and evolving federal rules, while Edge, being a non-profit organization, is solely focused on serving the needs of its member institutions. To an OPM, you are a client, not a collaborator. With Edge, it is a true partnership, and we recognize that each organization’s culture and vision should be respected and celebrated. We ensure that the solutions we build are scalable and you can continue to reach your students, support your staff, and help your graduates become the next generation of thriving professionals who will go on to transform the future.”

For details about any of Edge’s Digital Learning & Collaboration solutions, which are available for consortium-based procurement as an entire solution suite or a la carte, visit njedge.net/solutions-overview/digital-learning.

The post Evolving Beyond OPMs appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

When Brandon Wagner joined The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) as a systems administrator in 2017, cloud technology was only beginning to be incorporated into their IT strategy. Two years later, the need to move more systems to the cloud became necessary. “Cloud migration began as one-off projects, but then the pandemic happened and our Basic Data Infrastructure (BDI) at the time was no longer sufficient for our engineering groups,” explains Wagner. “We needed an environment that could handle heavier processing, including graphical processing. As we explored our options, we decided on Amazon AppStream 2.0, and I was tasked with heading up this transition. I earned the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification and part of my current role as Cloud Operations Manager is managing the services we provide within AWS.”

Connectivity and Network Infrastructure

Cloud migration is an ever-evolving journey for many institutions and TCNJ continues to expand its strategies for leveraging the cloud for technology applications. “Originally, we were running all of our applications on-premises,” says Wagner. “Now we use Amazon Route 53 for our external Domain Name System (DNS) which responds to user requests for both AWS-hosted and local resources. When we expanded to AppStream for our engineers, it was to give them the necessary GPU availability to do modeling as well as other tasks that require a more powerful system. We expanded AppStream with additional fleets for special courses, and we also have a campus-wide deployment that has general applications available for students, faculty, and staff. Our team also deployed a storage gateway that we have linked to some of our Simple Storage Service (S3) buckets to conduct important backups. This high-speed, web-based service allows for online backup and archiving of our critical data and applications.”

Using S3 can offer a variety of benefits, including being highly scalable, highly available, secure, cost-effective, and provides unlimited storage capabilities. “Choosing to use S3 has provided cost optimization and many options for redundancy as well as storage object lock,” says Wagner. “In our Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) environment, we have additional domain controllers, so we’ve expanded our network and our Active Directory (AD) infrastructure out to Amazon. In the event campus is closed or in-person classes are suspended, we can maintain functionality within AppStream and offer single sign-on capabilities.”

“We’ve deployed our direct connects through EdgeNet, which has increased our speed substantially,” continues Wagner. “This is used for our workspaces, AppStream, and we’re currently working towards using this for S3 and other Amazon public services. Once we’ve established these routes, we’ll be able to access  many Amazon services over the direct connect and can move even further with systems like Amazon FSx, which allow you to run high-performance file systems in the cloud and support a wide range of capabilities. Edge provides our internet connection, Dark Fiber, and direct connects. My networking team has been very happy with the internet service and support provided by Edge. Our questions are answered quickly and correctly, and the partnership has helped make our cloud transition very successful.”

Creating a Flexible and Focused Strategy

Migrating to the cloud is often a multi-layered process and can happen in phases, as the needs of an institution and its initiatives evolve. “Our goal was never to lift and shift our entire environment,” shares Wagner. “We do rely on systems and applications on-premises, and I don’t see that changing in the near future. Many organizations may look at cloud migration as an all-or-nothing process, but we’ve always tackled this transition with a piecemeal approach. If there is a need to fill, we analyze the costs and performance, and if it makes sense, we move that existing or new service to the cloud. By taking things one step at a time, approaching cloud migration slowly, deliberately, and exploring the costs closely, I think you can optimize costs and prevent runaway spending.”

AppStream allows secure access to applications and desktops from any location and allows an institution to deliver online learning. “Our AppStream deployments were very beneficial by providing the infinitely scalable resources of Amazon,” explains Wagner. “When the pandemic first hit, we couldn’t have predicted how many people would be needing to access applications. But by having the flexibility provided by AppStream, we could rapidly and dynamically scale higher. After extending our network to Amazon, applications that run in EC2 are essentially just virtual machines (VM) that act the same as they would on-premises.”

“Our scanning tools continue to scan and patch the systems that are running in EC2. Amazon has their best practices clearly defined and they consistently make improvements to these standards,” continues Wagner. “I’ve worked with many representatives from AWS to discuss best practices, ask them about the nuance in the networking, and receive recommendations for optimizing security. Combined with the expertise and experience of our own security team, we’re able to ensure a secure environment.”

“Migrating to the cloud is often a multi-layered process and can happen in phases, as the needs of an institution and its initiatives evolve. Our goal was never to lift and shift our entire environment. We do rely on systems and applications on-premises, and I don’t see that changing in the near future. Many organizations may look at cloud migration as an all-or-nothing process, but we’ve always tackled this transition with a piecemeal approach. If there is a need to fill, we analyze the costs and performance, and if it makes sense, we move that existing or new service to the cloud. By taking things one step at a time, approaching cloud migration slowly, deliberately, and exploring the costs closely, I think you can optimize costs and prevent runaway spending.”

– Brandon Wagner
Systems Administrator
College of New Jersey (TCNJ)

Overcoming Challenges of Cloud Migration

Shifting systems to the cloud can prove challenging, especially without a strong, well-planned migration strategy and the commitment of the entire organization. “Getting all necessary teams on the same page and distributing relevant information to everyone is essential,” says Wagner. “You must connect your enterprise infrastructure group, security and networking team, and enterprise app stakeholders to ensure your migration goes smoothly. Also, though Amazon support is very responsive, you do not have the same amount of visibility as you do when you’re dealing with on-premises networks or systems, so some of the challenges that can arise  are not having hardware or software accessibility.”

Successful cloud adoption requires thorough planning and creating a roadmap to incrementally accomplish an organization’s goals. “Before you get started, it’s important to do the research and conduct detailed prep work,” says Wagner. “Talking to the teams at Edge and Amazon has been extremely helpful to gather information and provide insight into successful strategies. If you’re just starting out, instead of moving everything to the cloud at once, I think looking at it as a stepped process can be beneficial and more cost-effective. Concentrate on what you need in the cloud and what needs to be redundant. Taking on too much at once can easily lead to failure, so taking a step back and deciding where to focus can make your migration more successful and will allow you to stay aligned with your mission, budget, and future plans for expansion.”

The post Leveraging the Cloud for Technology Applications appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

In an age of digital transformation, more and more institutions of higher education continue to incorporate new technology, migrate to cloud-based solutions, and expand their online learning curricula. With these growing changes, the need for bolstered practices around student privacy and data security has become paramount. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) is a federal law that requires financial institutions to have information security and privacy provisions that protect consumer financial data. This Act has recently been amended to strengthen data security requirements for nonbank financial institutions, including colleges and universities that provide financial aid to students.

Dr. Dawn Dunkerley, Edge’s Principal Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO), says following security standards addressed in the GLBA is important and any necessary changes were required to be completed by June 9, 2023. “Throughout my years of experience in supporting higher education, I’ve seen the letters that are sent out that indicate if your organization is not in compliance. They state that if you do not make updates to your security practices, the ability to process financial aid will be terminated. Many of the GLBA provisions are also current or anticipated insurance carrier requirements, so GLBA compliance oftentimes aligns with maintaining a good standing with your insurance carrier.”

The GLBA has two components, the Privacy Rule and the Safeguards Rule. Under the Privacy Rule, institutions are required to ensure confidentiality of Nonpublic Personal Information and comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). As part of the recent amendments, the Safeguards Rule outlines several key elements that must be included in an institution’s information security program.

Key Changes Affecting Institutions

By complying with the GLBA, organizations lower their risk of reputational damage and penalties for unauthorized sharing or loss of student data. According to the Safeguards Rule, colleges and universities must secure and ensure the confidentiality of private and financial information by adhering to the following provisions.

Designate an individual who is responsible for implementing an information security program. According to the new amendment, a single qualified individual must have the sole responsibility of overseeing and enforcing an institution’s information security program. “The definition of ‘qualified’ has not been specified, but there are no particular requirements for education, experience, or certificates for this role,” explains Dunkerley. “This person is often the IT director or chief information officer who has the ability to enforce these safeguards.”

Integrate risk assessment into information security programs. The Safeguard Rule states that the individual assigned to implement their organization’s information security program must submit annual risk assessments in writing. “Assessments must include criteria to assess the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of customer information,” shares Dunkerley. “Customer information defined in the updated GLBA goes beyond financial information like credit card and bank account details. This can also include personal health and personal identifiable information, so I encourage institutions to explore what systems might include this information. Risk assessments are now required to be in writing and must describe how identified risks will either be accepted or mitigated. When Edge conducts risk assessments for example, we look at the risks to customer information and identify the impact. For instance, does the risk have a confidentiality impact? This means that if an organization had a data breach of sensitive information, would this cause harm to the customer and cause harm to the institution?”

“Risk will never be zero,” continues Dunkerley, “But once we’ve applied controls, we’re accepting a level of risk and trying to mitigate it further. We must remember that risk assessments need to be reviewed and updated at least annually. If an institution changes systems or implements a new strategy, they must understand how their risks have changed and reassess the controls associated with them. Risk assessments are living documents and must grow and change as our environment changes.”

“Customer information defined in the updated GLBA goes beyond financial information like credit card and bank account details. This can also include personal health and personal identifiable information, so I encourage institutions to explore what systems might include this information. Risk assessments are now required to be in writing and must describe how identified risks will either be accepted or mitigated. When Edge conducts risk assessments for example, we look at the risks to customer information and identify the impact. For instance, does the risk have a confidentiality impact? This means that if an organization had a data breach of sensitive information, would this cause harm to the customer and cause harm to the institution?”

– Dr. Dawn Dunkerley
Principal Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO)
Edge

“Implementing multi-factor authentication can be time consuming and expensive, but now there is a mandate that requires this security measure to be put in place,” says Dunkerley. “We’re also seeing some insurance carriers not renewing policies unless and institution has MFA. In regards to inventorying and classifying data according to sensitivity, each organization must know the location and sensitivity of their data, especially to effectively create access controls for customer information. Not every faculty member needs to have access to every piece of student information, and not all staff members need to have access to financial aid or the human resources information.  We must take the principles of least privilege and apply access controls to include physical storage.”

“If your institution has a room where they house servers and store information, there must be physical controls on those doors to limit access,” continues Dunkerley. “The security control, encryption of customer information in transit, refers to the data flowing between an institution and external entities and having encrypted connections. Customer information at rest, meaning it’s not being processed or transmitted, must also be encrypted in an organization’s internal systems. Institutions must also use a secure change management process for both adding new software and making changes within their environment. If they are adding a new system into the environment, for example, they must make sure they have reviewed that system and the security associated with a new piece of software. Again, each institution must know and have inventoried the location of their data; understand what is on their network; and have controls in place that protect sensitive information.”   

Logging and system monitoring practices allows an organization to review logs and monitor traffic in and out of their network. “If someone breaches or attempts to breach your institution, you need to have a system in place that alerts you. Edge has been working with organizations to implement these measures, including annual penetration testing and vulnerability assessments. Vulnerability assessments differ from vulnerability scans, where external scans should be conducted at least monthly, and assessments are much larger and encompass the actual vulnerabilities associated with an organization. Edge conducts these assessments quite regularly and they include a closer look at people, processes, and technology, including documentation requirements and network traffic, not just a vulnerability scan.”

As part of the newly revised GLBA, institutions must also have requirements outlined for disposing of customer information. “We must consider what we do with information after a student graduates, or if a student steps away from school for a few years and then comes back,” says Dunkerley. “This requirement is causing a lot of challenges in higher education, because in many cases, there are policies stating not to get rid of that information. The GLBA document indicates that if you are not going to dispose of this information, you must have procedures in place that protect this information and policy details that explain the reasoning for keeping this information past the stated time frame.”   

Ongoing security training for personnel. GLBA already requires security training for staff, but the new provision adds that training be continually updated to include relevant and timely information. “If you do not have a training and awareness program in place, you must now train your personnel at least on an annual basis,” explains Dunkerley. “Sometimes getting leadership and faculty and staff on board with this training can be challenging, but by providing sufficient training, an institution can address relevant security risks and ensure they have the most up-to-date knowledge necessary to successfully maintain their information security program.”

Oversight of service providers. Institutions must now “periodically assess” their service providers on an ongoing basis based on the risk they present and the continued adequacy of their safety measures. “When assessing new service providers that are brought on board, an organization must ensure the contracts have the same level of safeguards for the customer information they will be storing and processing,” says Dunkerley. “An institution must also periodically assess the risk being brought to them. Has the service provider had a breach in the past? If so, did they follow their requirement to alert us? To follow best practices, I would suggest these assessments be conducted at least quarterly.”

Tapping into Security Expertise

Many institutions seek to create a holistic security approach, but have difficulty finding expertise that aligns with their needs and budget. Edge offers security services to IT leaders that can help them set programmatic goals, identify and address vulnerabilities, and improve security outcomes. Depending on an organization’s current security profile and risk management needs, Edge’s team of vCISOs can help guide the improvement of cybersecurity planning, integrate proactive assessment and remediation practices, and ensure an institution meets GLBA compliance requirements.

To learn more about strengthening information security at your institution and creating risk management strategies, visit njedge.net/solutions-overview/cybersecurity.

“Edge has been our trusted partner for over two decades. It was an easy decision to move one of our commodity internet 100Gb links to Edge. The cutover was seamless, and the move resulted in annual savings.”

– Adrienne Esposito
Director of Network Operations and Architecture
Rutgers University

Facilitating Connections

EdgeNet’s direct connection to AWS can help speed migrations to the Cloud, allow a smooth and efficient flow of research data, and deliver a secure transit of data connections. To minimize service disruptions, all traffic entering the Edge network is monitored and any issues are mitigated to ensure the EdgeNet core and all connected members remain protected.

The transition from a commodity internet provider to EdgeNet and the network’s advanced layer 3 service capability allow for member-to-member connectivity and will support institutions like FDU and Rutgers as they continue to grow and enhance their education and research initiatives. In addition to meeting the growing data and network demands of students and faculty, the need for high-speed research and collaboration continues to rise across the higher education community. Having a network that facilitates these national and global connections will be an essential factor in driving innovation and discovery forward and giving current and incoming students a superior educational experience.

To learn more about how the high-performance network, EdgeNet, can help your institution step into the future, visit njedge.net/solutions-overview/network-connectivity-and-internet2.

The post Understanding Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Security Requirements appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Even before the frequency of remote and hy-flex learning greatly increased, many institutions were trying to keep pace with students’ growing technology requirements and network demands. From computers, smartphones, and iPads to gaming systems and video streaming, campuses can quickly be overloaded with the number of students and faculty connecting their devices to the network. In an Educause 2022 Students and Technology Report, unstable internet connections were among the top technology challenges stated by college students, with 35 percent saying this issue caused them stress. With these quickly expanding needs, existing networks may struggle to meet the demand of increasingly mobile students and staff.

Among the institutions facing this challenge was Edge member, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). Having a greater number of students and staff looking to connect to their network for both personal and educational use, FDU knew they had to revisit their current technology strategy and determine how to update the approach to address both present and future needs. “We wanted to enable our students and staff to use technology, collaborate with other universities, and utilize external services at higher data rates,” explains Michael Reekie, Director of Networking, FDU. “We also wished to alleviate any of the bottlenecks in our current environment that could potentially slow down the user experience.”

Fairleigh Dickinson University

As FDU began to explore solutions to better manage network traffic and plan for the future, they first looked at installing traffic shapers at the Internet edge. This bandwidth management technique can be very useful in decreasing congestion, however, the cost and maintenance of these devices can be expensive, especially as bandwidth increases. Instead, FDU chose to upgrade their connection to the Edge optical fiber network, EdgeNet, from 2x 10 Gbps to 2x 100 Gbps—making them the first institution in New Jersey to connect to EdgeNet at this advanced speed. “We found that increasing our bandwidth and installing faster Internet edge routers and firewalls would be a more cost-effective investment and could provide a better user experience for our students and faculty,” says Reekie.

“Along with updating our core, we also upgraded our wireless and Internet edge to meet the upcoming demands of the new wireless capabilities,” Reekie continues. “Making the jump to 2x 100 Gbps will help us meet our bandwidth requirements over the next several years, and with Edge as an existing partner, it was a very easy transition to upgrade our existing connections, while still allowing a highly available networking experience. Edge was able to provide bandwidth to us at a better cost and value than installing technologies that would shape the use of Internet traffic.”

With a focus on promoting student and faculty success and opening the door to more future-forward opportunities, Neal Sturm, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, FDU, says they are committed to providing a superior level of network accessibility and connectivity. “This recent upgrade has not only created a more cost-efficient operating model, but will also help enhance the educational experience and better accommodate incoming students as the University continues to grow in the coming years.”

“Along with updating our core, we also upgraded our wireless and Internet edge to meet the upcoming demands of the new wireless capabilities. Making the jump to 2x 100 Gbps will help us meet our bandwidth requirements over the next several years, and with Edge as an existing partner, it was a very easy transition to upgrade our existing connections, while still allowing a highly available networking experience. Edge was able to provide bandwidth to us at a better cost and value than installing technologies that would shape the use of Internet traffic.”

– Michael Reekie
Director of Networking
Fairleigh Dickinson University

Rutgers University

Similarly to FDU, Rutgers University began to explore solutions for increasing their bandwidth capacity to better meet student and staff needs and improve the overall user experience. Over the past several years, Rutgers and Edge have been well partnered with network services and collocate in data centers located in Philadelphia and Newark. Edge also provides the University with their guest wireless network Internet service. As part of their traffic optimization strategy, Rutgers chose to receive internet services directly from Edge, and at the end of 2022, Rutgers became the second institution in New Jersey to connect to EdgeNet network services at an advanced speed of 100 Gbps.

Despite initial supply chain issues, Edge helped Rutgers secure the hardware for the upgrade and successfully completed the migration in less than four months. “Edge has been our trusted partner for over two decades,” shares Adrienne Esposito, Director of Network Operations and Architecture, Rutgers University. “It was an easy decision to move one of our commodity internet 100Gb links to Edge. The cutover was seamless, and the move resulted in annual savings.” Through this network enhancement, Rutgers not only benefits from a reliable peering infrastructure with reduced latency that optimizes network performance, but they can also leverage the peering connection to Internet2 and a direct connection to the AWS cloud infrastructure.

“Edge has been our trusted partner for over two decades. It was an easy decision to move one of our commodity internet 100Gb links to Edge. The cutover was seamless, and the move resulted in annual savings.”

– Adrienne Esposito
Director of Network Operations and Architecture
Rutgers University

Facilitating Connections

EdgeNet’s direct connection to AWS can help speed migrations to the Cloud, allow a smooth and efficient flow of research data, and deliver a secure transit of data connections. To minimize service disruptions, all traffic entering the Edge network is monitored and any issues are mitigated to ensure the EdgeNet core and all connected members remain protected.

The transition from a commodity internet provider to EdgeNet and the network’s advanced layer 3 service capability allow for member-to-member connectivity and will support institutions like FDU and Rutgers as they continue to grow and enhance their education and research initiatives. In addition to meeting the growing data and network demands of students and faculty, the need for high-speed research and collaboration continues to rise across the higher education community. Having a network that facilitates these national and global connections will be an essential factor in driving innovation and discovery forward and giving current and incoming students a superior educational experience.

To learn more about how the high-performance network, EdgeNet, can help your institution step into the future, visit njedge.net/solutions-overview/network-connectivity-and-internet2.

The post Sparking Growth & Development Through Technology Transformation appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Helping to Advance Research, Education, and Economic Development

Dating back to 1997, NJEdge.net, Inc., commonly referred to as Edge, has had a mission to serve as a valued and trusted partner to its members through secure high-performance optical infrastructure, network services, technology solutions, and expert support, training, and industry insight. That original mission continues to drive Edge to this very day. Over the years, Edge has grown its member community to include institutions of higher education, K-12 school districts, libraries, state and local government agencies, and healthcare facilities. As a nonprofit member-based research and education network, Edge spans New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and New York, and looks to empower organizations with the tools and services they need on their digital transformation journeys.

Enhancing Connectivity

Edge’s origin story begins in 1994 when the New Jersey President’s Council was established by statute with the mission of statewide planning for higher education including research on higher education issues. Later in 1997, the Higher Education Technology Infrastructure Fund was enacted, creating a capital bond initiative to help New Jersey colleges and universities develop the integrated technology infrastructure important to increasing their effectiveness and efficiency, educational opportunities, and workforce training. The law established a fund with the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority to build that infrastructure both within and among institutions and to help enhance connectivity with libraries and elementary and secondary schools.

Within the same year, the Commission on Higher Education convened its technology task force looking to the new millennium and New Jersey’s plan for higher education. The task force was integral in developing the state’s $50 million higher education technology infrastructure fund, setting aside $5 million for interconnectivity. A total of $45 million was committed to enhance individual campus infrastructure and required a dollar-for-dollar match. The funds for interconnectivity also required a combined institutional match by the members and were targeted to support the creation of a single broadband network utility to support the collaborative efforts of colleges and universities in the state.

After the taskforce completed its work, a technology advisory committee was established to assist the Commission and President’s Council in developing a statewide network and governing structure.  As part of that effort, the New Jersey President’s Council commissioned a study by consulting firm Walsh Lowe to explore the need for a statewide higher education network. The study revealed that there are many benefits to this network and that establishing connectivity could bring the state into parity with over thirty other states in establishing research and education networks and connecting higher education to the Internet and the national research and education network, Internet2.

Supporting a Collaborative Community

In 2000, the network government structure was established with the President’s Council executive board serving as the board of directors for this not-for-profit corporation named NJEdge.net. The consortium, NJEdge, was developed as part of the state plan for higher education to provide collaborative resources and networked information services to its members and affiliates in support of education, research and development, outreach and public service, and economic development throughout the state. In providing a statewide network infrastructure, NJEdge began to establish standards for interoperability, achieved economies of scale, and supported new and emerging technology that could enable inter institutional collaboration among its member community. Over the years, the leadership structure has changed, including adding a board of trustees to provide leadership and oversight to the organization. In 2015, an amendment to the statutes codified NJEdge as a lead agency or contracting unit for the purposes of procuring technology on behalf of the members. One of the original requirements for institutional participation in the technology infrastructure fund was the commitment to support NJEdge through network connectivity.

Looking to create a collaborative national research platform where institutions could access advanced computing resources, leading-edge technology, and research training and partnerships, NJEdge created the research as a service (RaaS) solution, EdgeDiscovery, in 2019. This technology-based research and discovery framework also aimed to help member institutions fulfill prerequisites to attracting grants from preeminent research funding entities. In particular, the platform aimed to help more institutions in the community gain access to data and research tools and help under-resourced organizations who would otherwise be unable to invest in next generation research infrastructure. Combining a NJEdge research network DMZ with an optimized technology stack residing on their backbone, EdgeDiscovery is outfitted with hardware and software components which enable researchers to streamline their research projects, schedule compute cycles, and access applications, analytics tools, and storage resources.

NJEdge, now known as Edge, celebrated 20 years in 2020 and currently supports 46 connected members in higher education and research, K-12 districts, healthcare, and municipal governments. Since the beginning, Edge’s strategy has been to create network connections that drive additional value, lower costs, and support an institution’s capabilities, while offering technology solutions that help advance research, education, and economic development.

Designing a High-Performance Network

To deliver an exceptional connectivity experience to its members, Edge created the optical fiber network, EdgeNet, a purpose-built solution specifically designed for higher education in New Jersey. EdgeNet was designed to support 100 percent of member demand, so unlike traditional Internet service providers (ISP), Edge never oversubscribes the network where one member’s traffic competes for bandwidth with another member. More specifically, 80 percent of Edge member’s external traffic is exchanged to be private peering relationships as opposed to traversing the unsecure and best effort public internet.  Within this 80 percent, there is access to critical cloud services providers, such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Apple.

Designed with redundant nodes and Internet transit providers distributed throughout the state of New Jersey, the network minimizes service interruptions by never relying on any one service provider; delivering a highly survivable, highly available networking experience to connected members. This original design, and all subsequent iterations, has been driven by member input and to help institutions be better equipped to meet their changing needs. Specifically, many institutions needed redundancy in both the network architecture and member connectivity to effectively meet the needs of their students, faculty, and staff. In recent years, esports peering was added to support member organizations as they build and expand world-class esports programs to attract and retain students interested in this field.

Along with celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2020, Edge also extended their backbone footprint into two new points of presence at Princeton University, with added path redundancy to enhance the redundancy to the network. In addition, Edge expanded their capability and capacity for research computing by creating a dedicated research network segment within EdgeNet. The foundation of this Internet2 GigaPOP created a research network that is physically and logically separated from the production network that members use to get to the Internet. As a major interconnection point with Internet2, members can connect with both national and international research assets. During this same year, a new feature was added to EdgeNet where members can access real-time network utilization reporting that shows an organization’s own network connections to the Edge network. This allows an institution to proactively monitor the network and troubleshoot any issues more efficiently.

1994

The New Jersey President’s Council was established by statute with the mission of statewide planning for higher education including research on higher education issues.

1997

The higher education technology infrastructure fund was enacted to help New Jersey colleges and universities develop the integrated technology infrastructure imported to their effectiveness and efficiency.

The Law established a fund with the new Jersey educational facilities authority to build that infrastructure both within and among institutions and to enhance connectivities with libraries and elementary and secondary schools.

The Commission on Higher Education convened its technology task force looking to the new millennium and New Jersey’s plan for higher education. The task force was integral in developing that state’s $50 million higher education technology  infrastructure fund which set aside $5 million for interconnectivity.

2000

The network government structure was established with the President’s Council executive board serving as the board of directors for this not-for-profit corporation named NJEdge.net.

2015

An amendment to the statutes codified NJEdge as a lead agency or contracting unit for the purposes of procuring technology on behalf of the members. One of the original requirements for institutional participation in the technology infrastructure fund was the commitment to support NJEdge through network connectivity.

Edge officially launches with first President and CEO, Dr. Samuel Conn, and fifth generation network.

2020

NJEdge, now Edge, celebrates 20 years with major milestones including Internet2 GigaPop.

2021

Successful launch of EdgeNet Research Segment, EdgeMarket cooperative pricing system, and expansion of services to include Digital Transformation Professional & Managed Services.

Sixth generation network introduced.

2022

Post-Pandemic Edge and its partners re-emerge with in-person member events to rave reviews!

During the pandemic when remote work and learning became a necessity, Edge established local broadband peering with major residential providers to improve the student and employee experience. The most recently added cloud connectivity supports members’ needs for digital transformation by deploying cloud infrastructure and software as a service capabilities with major cloud providers. This addition allows members to leverage Edge connections to move data center services into the Cloud, access all major cloud providers without additional access costs, and benefit from a shared services model that helps to reduce expenses.

With network engineers who have decades of experience building wide area network solutions that support members’ needs, Edge continues to expand the features and capabilities that EdgeNet has offered to help institutions meet their evolving needs and step into the future with confidence.

Expanding Solutions and Services

To ease the burden of the procurement process and speed members’ time to implementation and innovation, Edge launched EdgeMarket in 2021. Delivering the latest technologies at an affordable price, EdgeMarket was designed to be a solutions and service “easy button” that gives members access to the latest technology solutions. The cooperative pricing system delivers consortium purchasing agreements and helps minimize the time and resources spent researching, analyzing, and procuring essential tools. With solutions designed to support an entire digital ecosystem, EdgeMarket allows members to take advantage of existing contracts and strategic partnerships to speed the procurement process and shorten the time to implementation for advanced technology solutions.

Throughout Edge’s evolution, the consortium has expanded to not only deliver optimum value to members through network connectivity and technology procurement, but also by meeting the growing needs of its member institutions in the areas of digital transformation, cybersecurity, educational and digital learning technologies, cloud computing, research community engagement, and professional managed services. Edge also hosts signature events, like its annual conference EdgeCon, to allow community thought leaders, industry partners, and solution providers to learn, connect, and problem solve together.

Enabling opportunities for collaboration and technology transformation have always remained at the heart of the Edge consortium, even as the challenges of the pandemic quickly shifted priorities for many member institutions. Amid a rapidly-changing landscape, Edge further broadened organizational capacity to assist institutions with technology solutions and services related to digital transformation and helped them continue to meet the needs of their students, faculty, and staff.

The world has greatly changed in the last several years, where digital learning and collaboration has solidified its position in our everyday lives and classrooms have evolved in many new and exciting directions. In 2022, many member institutions looked to Edge for instructional design support, digital transformation strategies, and subject matter expertise in the development of new courses and programs. By remaining in tune with members’ changing needs and objectives and staying on top of the latest technology trends, Edge will continue to expand its value proposition and help institutions to achieve their strategic goals and capitalize on the opportunities that arise in this digital era.

The post The Evolution of Edge appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Transferring from a community college to a four-year college or university can be an exciting experience, but for some students, making sure they are following all the necessary steps can feel overwhelming. To take the guesswork out of transferring, the New Jersey Statewide Transfer Initiative (NJ Transfer) was created to be a go-to resource for course equivalencies, recommended coursework, and later, transcript evaluations. “When our web presence was launched in 2001, the site was created to help students, faculty, staff, and parents in the state to explore course equivalencies between community colleges and four-year institutions,” explains Théa Olsen, Executive Director, NJ Transfer. “Over the years, NJ Transfer’s website has become an even greater source of information, including transfer-specific recruitment events, as well as direct links to general information about an institution, links to their application, and transfer-specific points of contact. Students can begin the process at NJ Transfer, rather than having to start at several individual institutions’ websites to find the same information.”

Having that point of contact and/or knowing the specific department to reach out to allows students to establish their first relationship with the institution and have a support system they can count on throughout their undergraduate years. “NJ Transfer not only offers a database of course equivalencies for the participating four years, but also hosts transfer programs that list out the recommended coursework for the first two years of study for any of their degree programs that accept transfer applicants,” says Olsen. “Students can take advantage of our transcript evaluations which provide a course-by-course evaluation. This tool can apply the results to the Transfer Programs to show the recommended courses that have been completed and how many are left outstanding. By using our website and working with their academic advisor, community college students can confidently register for their upcoming terms and make well-laid plans to achieve their academic goals fulfilling both their current degree requirements and the recommended coursework of the transfer program they hope to apply to.”

Creating a Positive User Experience

To deliver the most up-to-date and accurate information to users, NJ Transfer depends on long-standing data maintenance processes that operate and interact with key points of contact at each of the 43 participating institutions. “Every institution reports on a monthly or annual basis to ensure that all data is reviewed and changes are being reported,” explains Olsen. “When we call it the New Jersey Statewide Transfer Initiative, it truly is that. Keeping our system current and accurate to ensure students are receiving the information that they need is a statewide effort.”

“Specifically, we have the public-facing website, NJtransfer.org, and an admin site we log into to make necessary edits to the web pages, however NJ Transfer also has two more user facing systems,” continues Olsen. “Our WebAdmin system is built to allow the two-year account holders to submit new and revised courses, as well as maintain their syllabi, and conversely, the four-year account holders have access to the newly submitted courses so they can review and award them transfer credit. Once reviewed and approved, the information will be publicly accessible on the NJtransfer.org site. In addition, we manage an Electronic Transcript System where the two-year institutions can send their transcripts via our electronic data interchange (EDI) and the four-year institutions will receive the transcripts with the traditional data points. In addition NJ Transfer’s service provides a document that includes a column containing the course equivalencies based on when the student took the course, the grade they earned, and what our data shows as awarded based on that information.”

In recent months, Olsen says she has made several changes that have greatly improved both their internal workload and the user experience for the staff who engage in the website and handle data maintenance at their institutions. “To help reduce the time between when changes are happening at the campuses and when these revisions are being reported to us, we now manage these processes via a Google Drive per institution; which has significantly cut down on our email volume. This approach provides a history of requests and confirms the changes were made, and also allows for a smoother transition when a staff member may leave and a new hire steps into the role. We have streamlined our procedures so each NJ Transfer team member handles different processes or pieces of the processes to ensure things are completed in a timely manner. This also helps our team of three people to balance our workloads, keep all of the pieces moving in the background, and have the opportunity to participate in any large projects that may come our way.”

NJ Transfer maintains a large database dating back twenty years, and while managing data of that size can prove challenging, Olsen says relationship management is key to turning any challenges into opportunities. “Making sure we have well-developed, consistent channels of communication and relationships with staff members across the 43 institutions is essential. I cannot speak highly enough of the people we partner with at the two- and four-year institutions who work diligently with students every day. Our goal is to make the volume of work they do more manageable and allow them to help students more efficiently. A crucial part of our job is being able to see patterns and identify pitfalls when working on large data sets and evaluating our business practices. Along with our existing annual operations calendar, we’ve needed to build processes around bulk updates and decide how to delegate these updates appropriately across the team to ensure we are delivering a positive customer experience and making the updates in a timely manner.”

Helping Students Make Confident Decisions

Through NJ Transfer’s evolution, new features and tools continue to be added to help users access the information they need to support their path in pursuing their higher education. “Over the years we have added tutorials under our Help drop down menu that give an overview of the website and specific instructions for using the various tools and resources found on NJ Transfer,” says Olsen. “We also added a staff and faculty drop down where those users can easily access the information they need from a single location. In 2022, we implemented additional changes that were geared toward improving the experience and workload of the staff user, to enhance their evaluation turnaround time and ultimately provide students with the information they need more quickly. When we change something or add a new feature, we do it with the student and staff users in mind, to either directly and positively impact the student user or positively impact staff user. This helps them work smarter, not harder, which in turn indirectly, but positively, impacts the students.”

“Making sure we have well-developed, consistent channels of communication and relationships with staff members across the 43 institutions is essential. I cannot speak highly enough of the people we partner with at the two- and four-year institutions who work diligently with students every day. Our goal is to make the volume of work they do more manageable and allow them to help students more efficiently. A crucial part of our job is being able to see patterns and identify pitfalls when working on large data sets and evaluating our business practices. Along with our existing annual operations calendar, we’ve needed to build processes around bulk updates and decide how to delegate these updates appropriately across the team to ensure we are delivering a positive customer experience and making the updates in a timely manner.”

– Thea Olsen
Executive Director
NJ Transfer

Over the last two years, Olsen has provided workshops that train staff on the site and help ensure they feel confident about how to use all the tools and resources. “Going forward, I would like to expand the audience of these workshops to include guidance counselors who work directly with high school juniors and seniors, and their parents. They are all involved in the decision-making process and helping students understand how to use NJ Transfer’s academic planning tools. Using these tools as early as possible will help students use the website more effectively, work with their advisor, and feel confident in their registration decisions. We want all students to feel empowered in their transfer experience.”

In looking ahead, Olsen says they will continue to enhance the tools and resources available through NJ Transfer to help more students on their academic journey. “In recent years, college enrollment has been impacted, not only in New Jersey, but across the country. There is definitely a spotlight on transfer students, including traditional populations, but also adult learners. My goal is to help every partner at each participating institution and as many staff as possible in the K-12 secondary education institutions understand the value of NJ Transfer and how to use this resource to help students make informed decisions. We want more students and parents to see community college as a realistic path to expand their horizons and earn their associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. NJ Transfer is not just a place to find course equivalencies, but is truly an academic planning tool that allows students to maximize their transfer credits, keep them on track to achieve their dreams, and make the most of their higher education experience.”

To learn more about NJ Transfer and how its resources are helping improve the transfer student experience throughout New Jersey, visit www.njtransfer.org.

The post NJ Transfer Empowering Students on Their Academic Journey appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

A Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) Trust Anchor is a trusted entity within an SSI ecosystem that is responsible for issuing and verifying digital credentials. In other words, a Trust Anchor acts as a gatekeeper, ensuring that only legitimate and verified credentials are added to an individual’s digital identity.

To become an SSI Trusted Provider, a company must meet certain criteria set by the SSI ecosystem in which it operates. These criteria may include demonstrating expertise in the technology and processes involved in issuing and verifying digital credentials, complying with relevant data privacy and security regulations, and demonstrating a commitment to ethical and transparent business practices.

Becoming an SSI Trust-Anchor can generate revenue for a company in several ways. Firstly, as a Trust Anchor, the company can charge fees for issuing and verifying digital credentials on behalf of individuals and organizations. These fees can be based on a per-credential or per-user basis, depending on the Trust Anchor’s business model. Secondly, being a Trust Anchor can create new business opportunities for the company, such as providing consulting or training services to other organizations looking to become Trust Anchors. Finally, being a Trust Anchor can enhance the company’s reputation and visibility within the SSI ecosystem, which can lead to new partnerships, collaborations, and revenue-generating opportunities.

SSI Trust anchor companies

It is challenging to provide an accurate analysis of the earnings of SSI Trust Anchor companies as they are relatively new and not yet widely adopted. Additionally, as the SSI market is still in its early stages, there are only a few companies currently offering SSI Trust Anchor services.

However, here are some companies that can be considered as competitors in the SSI Trust Anchor market:

Evernym: Evernym is a leading SSI company that offers a range of solutions, including Trust Anchor services. The company has partnerships with several organizations and governments, and its products are used in various industries, including finance, healthcare, and education. While Evernym does not disclose its earnings, the company has raised over $30 million in funding and has been valued at over $100 million. Sovrin Foundation: The Sovrin Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides SSI infrastructure and Trust Anchor services. The organization is focused on creating a decentralized and open-source SSI ecosystem, and its products are used by several organizations and governments worldwide. While the Sovrin Foundation does not disclose its earnings, the organization has received funding from several sources, including the United Nations, and has partnerships with several companies and organizations. uPort: uPort is a decentralized identity platform that offers SSI services for individuals and organizations. The company’s products are used in various industries, including finance, healthcare, and logistics. While uPort does not disclose its earnings, the company has raised over $5 million in funding and has partnerships with several organizations and governments. Civic: Civic is an SSI company that offers a range of solutions, including Trust Anchor services. The company’s products are used in various industries, including finance, healthcare, and retail. While Civic does not disclose its earnings, the company has raised over $40 million in funding and has partnerships with several organizations and governments.

Overall, while the earnings of SSI companies are not yet well-known, these companies are well-funded and have partnerships with various organizations and governments. As the adoption of SSI continues to grow, we can expect to see an increase in the revenue and earnings of these companies.

The post Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) Trust Anchor Facts appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

Guest blog by Mathieu Glaude

I had the good fortune of attending the Internet Identity Workshop 36 in Mountain View, California this week. This event has become a must-attend for me, as it always leaves me feeling both inspired and intellectually stimulated.

The conference brings together a diverse group of individuals working on various aspects of standards, technologies, business, legal, governance, and other facets required to improve how our digital identities are managed today. I feel fortunate to have been able to not only attend on behalf of Northern Block alongside my UX specialist colleague Ariane Bordeleau, but also to have had sponsor the conference alongside many great peers in the field (as you can see in the banner image above).

With over 150 different sessions held across three days, it’s impossible to attend them all, and sometimes tough decisions must be made when multiple interesting sessions coincide. While I can’t provide a comprehensive overview of everything that happened at the workshop, I wanted to share a summary from my perspective, focusing on the subjects that interest me the most:

So, here it is:

OpenID4VC has legs – OpenID for Verifiable Credentials (OpenID4VC) has gained traction due to its pre-existing dependency on OAuth 2.0, which provides a sense of safety and security for this credential exchange protocol, primarily focused on personal identity. The majority of the corporate world has existing investments in systems that leverage OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect, making it easier for them to use these protocols to adopt verifiable credentials for interacting with their customers and employees. OpenID4VC is a protocol to watch out for as it is agnostic to credential types, supporting various W3C credentials such as mobile driver’s licenses and more. It’s also been included in the EU’s wallet architecture reference framework as a must for credential issuers to use. If you’re interested in learning more about OpenID4VC, I recently recorded a podcast with one of the specification’s authors, which I believe you’ll find insightful. You can listen to it here: https://northernblock.io/open-id-4-vc-openid-for-verifiable-credentials/. On the Northern Block side, we have recently incorporated OpenID4VCI support into our AFJ mobile wallet, and we’re exploring how we can contribute towards the presentation side of the protocol. Digital Trust in the Age of AI – During the second and third days of the event, there were multiple sessions discussing the intersection of AI and digital identity. One session that caught my attention was “Digital Trust in the Age of AI,” led by Wenjing Chu, co-chair of the Trust over IP’s AI and Metaverse Task Force and  Trust Spanning Protocol Task Force. The discussion highlighted the dilemma of content authentication, as voice, video, and biometric authentication are dead. A recent viral AI-generated song showcases how easy it is to now impersonate voices [https://www.thedailybeast.com/ai-generated-drake-and-weeknd-song-yanked-from-streaming-after-umg-statement].  If content authentication is dead, the challenge is now to determine whether the content comes from a trusted source. With the rise of AI-generated deep fakes and the potential for abuse of public identifiers such as email addresses and phone numbers, the need for private and specific identifiers for our different relationships is reinforced. The session also raised questions for me personally about whether AI might incentivize the privatization of data and hinder the open-source movement or protocol-client separation (example of Reddit here: [https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/04/reddit-will-start-charging-ai-models-learning-from-its-extremely-human-archives/]). Large proprietary data owners could have new ways to monetize their datasets through AI systems, potentially leading to more closed platforms – the opposite of what we’re striving to achieve. It’s crucial to engage in conversations about AI’s rapid disruption and its impact on digital trust, as this will help us stay ahead of the curve. I plan to record a podcast with Wenjing on this topic soon, and I believe it will be an insightful discussion. The SPAC Tradespace – During the three days of the event, Sam Smith led a series of sessions on Security, Privacy, Authenticity, and Confidentiality, highlighting the challenges in achieving all these simultaneously. These discussions are closely related to the ongoing work at the Trust Over IP Foundation’s Trust Spanning Protocol Task Force. The aim is to build a layer that enables trust tasks, such as credential exchanges, interactions with trust registries, and secure messaging, to occur between any two clients across the internet. To establish trusted connections, a trust layer is needed. In the world of Hyperledger, our version of this is the DIDComm protocol. However, DIDComm doesn’t encompass every element required as defined by the ToIP specs. These ongoing discussions are fascinating and essential, and Sam Smith’s sessions at the event contributed to advancing the dialogue on these critical issues. Trust Registries are hot – There were numerous conversations surrounding trust registries. Building upon discussions from last fall’s IIW 35, the role of governance in establishing digital trust was a central theme. The trust registry space is witnessing significant activity and innovation. During the conference, I attended sessions that covered the trust establishment specification recently defined by DIF. There was also mention of the trust registry work happening at the Trust over IP Foundation’s Trust Registry Task Force. Interesting conversations took place about how the Domain Name System (DNS) could facilitate the discovery of trust registries or even host them on DNS servers. Additionally, examples of hierarchical trust registries being implemented by organizations like the UN were discussed. A consensus on the best approach has yet to be reached – I also think there will be many valid implementations. Questions remain about using verifiable credentials to determine authority and the legitimacy of the credential issuer within a governance framework. At Northern Block, we are remaining abreast of all innovations happening in this space and have recently concluded a proof of concept alongside CIRA [https://www.loom.com/share/57db10ddc9f448bf8ff2fb7b10138283]. Here are a couple other resources that you may find interesting: video demo of a UN Universal Postal Union use case we worked on: [https://youtu.be/8Lnx-PTzrK0], and a recent blog post: [https://northernblock.io/leveraging-dns-in-digital-trust-credential-exchanges-and-trust-registries/] describing the work above I mentioned with CIRA. Many KERI sessions – There were several discussions about KERI (Key Event Receipt Infrastructure) during the event, and one session I particularly enjoyed was “KERI for Dummies,” led by Timothy Ruff. The main objective of this session was to emphasize that KERI’s primary purpose is to ensure authenticity, rather than focusing on privacy or confidentiality. Authenticity in KERI centers on two main aspects: provenance and integrity. KERI allows for the authenticity of keys during rotations, maintaining the provenance and integrity of the keys. This enables continued authenticity between two endpoints interacting with each other, as they agree on a protocol to exchange keys instead of relying on a central place like a verifiable data registry.
  DNS for digital trust & Creating a credential exchange protocol comparison matrix – During the event, I proposed two sessions. The first one, on the opening day, focused on using DNS for authenticating decentralized identifiers and discovering trust registries. You can find the link to the demo video showcasing our work and its integration into the Orbit enterprise during a credential assurance flow here (same link as above): [https://www.loom.com/share/57db10ddc9f448bf8ff2fb7b10138283]. On the third day, I held a second session inspired by the credential profile comparison matrix created by some individuals over the past year, which is linked here: [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z4cYfjbbE-rABcfC-xab8miocKLomivYMUFibOh9BVo/edit#gid=1590639334]. The goal was to explore the possibility of achieving similar outcomes with credential exchange protocols. This was a lively session and included a large group of people comparing credential exchange protocols such as Aries AIP 2.0, OpenID4VC, VC API, and ISO 18013-5. The session successfully kicked off the creation of a v1 table with criteria across both issuance and verification protocols. There was a consensus to continue working on this, as we believe it is an important exercise that will be valuable for implementers and decision-makers of digital identity systems. More on this to come!

The post Internet Identity Workshop 36 in Review appeared first on Trust Over IP.

Two Project Specifications from Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration Open Project take next step towards OASIS Standard

OASIS and the Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration Open Project [1] are pleased to announce that OSLC Configuration Management V1.0 PS01 and OSLC Tracked Resource Set V3.0 PS02 are now available for public review and comment.

Managing change and configuration in a complex systems development lifecycle is very difficult, especially in heterogeneous environments that include homegrown tools, open source projects, and commercial tools from different vendors. The OSLC initiative applies World Wide Web and Linked Data principles to enable interoperation of change, configuration, and asset management processes across a product’s entire application and product lifecycle.

Configuration Management Version 1.0 defines an RDF vocabulary and a set of REST APIs for managing versions and configurations of linked data resources from multiple domains.

Tracked Resource Set Version 3.0 allows a server to expose a set of resources in a way that allows clients to discover them, track additions to and removals from the set, and track state changes to the resources in the set. The protocol is suitable for dealing with sets containing a large number of resources, as well as highly active resource sets that undergo continual change.

Configuration Management received 3 Statements of Use from MID, SodiusWillert, and IBM.

Tracked Resource Set received 3 Statements of Use from IBM, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and SodiusWillert [3].

The candidate specifications and related files are available here:

OSLC Configuration Management Version 1.0. Part 1: Overview
Project Specification 01
30 May 2022

HTML: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/config/v1.0/ps01/oslc-config-mgt.html (Authoritative)

PDF: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/config/v1.0/ps01/oslc-config-mgt.pdf

OSLC Tracked Resource Set Version 3.0. Part 1: Specification
Project Specification 02
24 November 2022

HTML: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/trs/v3.0/ps02/tracked-resource-set.html (Authoritative)

PDF: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/trs/v3.0/ps02/tracked-resource-set.pdf

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the specification document and any related files in ZIP distribution files. You can download the ZIP file at:

Configuration Management: https://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/config/v1.0/ps01/config-v1.0-ps01.zip Tracked Resource Set: http://docs.oasis-open-projects.org/oslc-op/trs/v3.0/ps02/trs-v3.0-ps02.zip

Public Review Period

The 60-day public review starts 29 April 2023 at 00:00 UTC and ends 27 June 2023 at 23:59 UTC.

This is an open invitation to comment. OASIS solicits feedback from potential users, developers and others, whether OASIS members or not, for the sake of improving the interoperability and quality of its technical work.

Comments may be submitted to the OP by any person via the project mailing list at oslc-op@lists.oasis-open-projects.org. To subscribe, send an empty email to oslc-op+subscribe@lists.oasis-open-projects.org and reply to the confirmation email.

Please append the hashtag #publicreview to the end of the subject line of your message.

All emails to the OP are publicly archived and can be viewed at:
https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/topics.

All comments submitted to OASIS are subject to the OASIS Feedback License, which ensures that the feedback you provide carries the same obligations at least as the obligations of the OP members. In connection with this public review of Configuration Management and Tracked Resource Set, we call your attention to the Open Project’s LICENSE.md file [4] that applies to the work of the OP. All members of the OP should be familiar with this document, which may create obligations regarding the disclosure and availability of a member’s patent, copyright, trademark and license rights that read on an approved OASIS specification.

OASIS invites any persons who know of any such claims to disclose these if they may be essential to the implementation of the above specification, so that notice of them may be posted to the notice page for this OP’s work.

==============

[1] Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration Open Project
https://open-services.net/

[2] Approval ballot:

Configuration Management: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op-pgb/message/296 Tracked Resource Set: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op-pgb/message/303

[3] Statements of Use:

Configuration Management: MID: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/message/1138 SodiusWillert: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/message/879 IBM: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/message/1215 Tracked Resource Set: IBM: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/message/1225 KTH Royal Institute of Technology: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/message/1246 SodiusWillert: https://lists.oasis-open-projects.org/g/oslc-op/message/1240

[4] https://github.com/oslc-op/oasis-open-project/blob/master/LICENSE.md

The post Invitation to comment on OSLC Configuration Management V1.0 and OSLC Tracked Resource Set V3.0 before call for consent as OASIS Standard – ends June 27th appeared first on OASIS Open.

In the digital age, personal data has become one of the most valuable commodities. However, the traditional methods of managing digital identity have been fraught with challenges, such as data breaches, identity theft, and lack of privacy. Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) offers a new approach to digital identity management, which gives individuals full control over their personal data. As such, it presents a unique business opportunity for companies that can provide a reliable and user-friendly SSI management solution. This essay explores the concept of SSI as a business opportunity and discusses some of the challenges and opportunities presented by this emerging trend.

What is Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)?

SSI is a decentralized and secure way of managing digital identity. In this approach, individuals control their digital identities and data, allowing them to share it with others securely. The concept of SSI is based on the principles of user-centricity, privacy, and security. It provides users with a private and secure digital identity that is not tied to any central authority or organization.

The traditional approach to digital identity management involves relying on third-party organizations, such as governments or social media platforms, to manage personal data. However, this approach has several drawbacks, such as lack of control, vulnerability to data breaches, and limited privacy. SSI offers a new way of managing digital identity, which gives individuals control over their data and the ability to share it securely.

Business Opportunities in SSI

The emergence of SSI presents several business opportunities for companies that can provide reliable and user-friendly SSI management solutions. The following are some of the potential business opportunities in SSI:

Identity Verification and Authentication

One of the main challenges of digital identity management is verifying and authenticating users’ identities. SSI provides a new way of verifying and authenticating user identities, which is more secure and reliable than traditional methods. Companies can offer identity verification and authentication services using SSI, which will enable them to create a secure and user-friendly identity management solution.

Data Storage and Management

SSI allows individuals to control their personal data and share it securely. Companies can offer data storage and management services using SSI, which will enable users to store and manage their personal data securely. This will create a new market for companies that can provide reliable and secure data storage and management solutions.

Digital Signatures

Digital signatures are becoming increasingly important in the digital age. SSI provides a secure way of creating and managing digital signatures, which is more reliable than traditional methods. Companies can offer digital signature services using SSI, which will enable users to sign documents securely and reliably.

Access Control

SSI allows individuals to control who has access to their personal data. Companies can offer access control services using SSI, which will enable users to control who has access to their personal data. This will create a new market for companies that can provide reliable and user-friendly access control solutions.

Challenges in SSI

While SSI presents several business opportunities, it also presents some challenges. The following are some of the challenges in SSI:

Lack of Standards

One of the main challenges of SSI is the lack of standards. Currently, there are no established standards for SSI, which makes it difficult to create interoperable and scalable solutions. This lack of standards also makes it difficult for companies to create reliable and user-friendly SSI management solutions.

User Adoption

Another challenge of SSI is user adoption. SSI is a new concept, and many users may not be familiar with it. As such, it may take some time for users to adopt SSI, which may slow down the growth of the market for SSI management solutions.

Technical Complexity

SSI is a technically complex concept, which may make it difficult for companies to create user-friendly solutions.

Business Plan for Lions Gate Digital to become a by invitation only membership to protect members SSI and an employee-owned company with a multi-level marketing plan Executive Summary:

Lions Gate Digital is a self-sovereign identity (SSI) business that provides a secure and user-friendly platform for managing digital identities. The company aims to expand its services by becoming an invitation-only membership to protect members’ SSI and an employee-owned company with a multi-level marketing plan that uses the numbers found in sacred geometry. The proposed business plan aims to provide a unique value proposition to individuals and organizations looking for a reliable SSI management solution while creating a sustainable business model.

Market Analysis:

The market for SSI management solutions is growing rapidly, with increasing demand for secure and user-friendly digital identity management solutions. By becoming an invitation-only membership, Lions Gate Digital can create a sense of exclusivity and privacy for its members, which can be a unique selling point for the company. Moreover, by becoming an employee-owned company with a multi-level marketing plan, Lions Gate Digital can create a sustainable business model that benefits its members.

Marketing and Sales:

The marketing and sales strategy for Lions Gate Digital’s new business model will be focused on creating awareness about the benefits of SSI management and the exclusivity and privacy offered by the invitation-only membership. The company will leverage social media and influencer marketing to reach its target audience. Moreover, the multi-level marketing plan will incentivize existing members to refer new members, creating a network effect that can drive growth.

Operations and Management:

The operations and management structure of Lions Gate Digital will be restructured to accommodate the new business model. The company will create a tiered membership structure, with different membership levels offering different benefits and access to exclusive features. The company will also create a new management structure that allows members to have a say in the company’s decision-making process.

Financial Plan:

The financial plan for Lions Gate Digital’s new business model will focus on creating a sustainable revenue stream while providing value to its members. The company will generate revenue through membership fees and commissions from the multi-level marketing plan. The company will also create a profit-sharing plan that allows members to benefit from the company’s success.

Conclusion:

Lions Gate Digital’s proposed business plan to become an invitation-only membership and employee-owned company with a multi-level marketing plan can create a sustainable business model that benefits both the company and its members. By leveraging the numbers found in sacred geometry, the company can create a unique marketing strategy that differentiates it from its competitors. The proposed business plan offers a unique value proposition to individuals and organizations looking for a reliable SSI management solution while creating a sustainable business model that benefits its members.

Contact Invest Offshore

The post Self-Sovereign Identity as a Business Opportunity appeared first on Lions Gate Digital.

In January we launched the pilot of our new cohort learning programme, designed to equip social justice leaders with the knowledge and tools needed for implementing responsible data.

We were delighted to receive many incredible applications from social justice organisations in nearly 30 countries! This resulted in a fantastic cohort of 10 practitioners based in Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, working on sectors such as environmental law, LGBTQI+ rights, gender-based violence and more. Together, we’re working on strengthening their approach to tech and data. 

What we’ve covered so far 

We kicked off our collective learning by getting more familiar with the concept of Responsible Data: together we reviewed resources such as the introduction to the Responsible Data Handbook, some key RD lessons for social justice organisations and principles that responsible data and acrobats have in common.

In our second session, we focused on the relationship between power, justice and data. We looked at some of the ways that data plays a role in reproducing, replicating, and exacerbating power structures in our societies, and explored some frameworks that bring questions of power and justice to discussions about data, including relevant aspects of responsible data, data justice (and its various meanings and practices), and data feminism. 

After collectively considering how elements from these approaches could be applied in participants’ contexts, our next step was figuring out what responsible data would look like for each organisation participating, including mapping out some of the main responsible data issues participants have, and identifying some of the ways they’re already applying RD principles in their work.

What’s next? 

We still have a few more sessions to go before wrapping up our pilot and we’ll share more updates from those soon, including more resources and useful tools we’ve been using. 

By the end of this learning programme, we hope that members of the cohort will be able to apply responsible data principles to their own work, be able to identify and reject data practices that cause harm to the communities they serve, and continue to build connections with each other. 

Once the programme is finalised, cohort learning participants will be connected to our Light Touch Support programme to receive guidance for their organisation to strengthen a responsible data area of their choice. If you weren’t able to join our cohort learning programme but would like our support – reach out!

Title image by Valery Fedotov via Unsplash and in-text image by Salam Shokor.

The post Updates from our Responsible Data cohort learning programme  first appeared on The Engine Room.

Energy Web’s IAM stack now supports SIWE authentication for all types of applications, enabling new use cases for developers.

At Energy Web we are strong believers that self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a key enabling technology for the global energy transition. Last year we took an initial step in unlocking the potential for SSI within the energy sector with the release of Switchboard, an enterprise identity and access management (IAM) solution.

Today we are pleased to announce the next step in our journey with the implementation of Sign In With Ethereum (SIWE) in Energy Web’s IAM stack. SIWE is a feature-rich, decentralized authentication mechanism that enables users to log into any web application (not just blockchain-based dApps), set preferences, and manage sessions using their Ethereum address and private key instead of a username and password. Within the Energy Web ecosystem, SIWE offers another way to empower users with greater control over their digital identity and data while strengthening application security and improving user experiences.

SIWE is currently implemented in the Switchboard dev environment, and will be released in production Switchboard in early May 2023.

In this post we will explain why SIWE is being integrated into Switchboard, show how it works, and provide examples of use cases that SIWE unlocks for developers.

Why SIWE for EWC?

An application is only as useful as its ability to verify that users are who they claim to be (and thus grant access to the appropriate systems and accounts). As the sophistication, risks, and consequences of cyberattacks that exploit user credentials have increased, authentication mechanisms have evolved to augment or replace conventional passwords with more robust cryptographic signatures.

SIWE, which was originally proposed as a formal standard in 2021, provides an open-source, standardized framework to securely authenticate users with any web-based services using an existing Ethereum address and private key. Beyond simply enhancing security, SIWE also provides a much more feature-rich login experience by enabling users to set preferences, initiate and resume sessions across time, and log into multiple services with a single set of credentials — all of which are hallmarks of popular single-sign-on identity providers.

It has numerous benefits, including security and UX improvements, over other PKI based signatures, including:

A standard human readable verifiable message to confirm signatures. An EIP-standard message schema to incorporate all the information needed for a secure authentication. Verification for domain and uri, this assures the authenticity of the requester / verifier. Users can validate the domain the transaction was initiated from and the URI to which the access would be provided to (redirection) upon signing for authentication / authorization. Preventing replay attacks with a nonce, which could be a challenge from a server or a random token. Sample SIWE Message

With all these benefits, SIWE was a logical upgrade for Energy Web’s Switchboard IAM solution. Now any application using Switchboard (or the underlying passport-did-auth v2.0.0 repository) for authentication gets the benefits of SIWE. The diagram below explains how SIWE is currently implemented in Energy Web’s identity stack:

Lets see a quick demo to understand the flow

Note: The highlighted text from the first MetaMask pop-up for signing is the SIWE message.

How developers can use SIWE with Energy Web’s Solutions

SIWE offers a bridge to leverage Web3 authentication (i.e. signatures from Web3 wallets) in conventional Web2 applications and services. For application developers who want to offer users the option to login with an Energy Web account, SIWE now enables federated identity management via a single identity service that can be used across multiple services using OpenID Connect (OIDC) for user’s session management.

An example of implementing SIWE-OIDC is shown below:

Current scope for SIWE-OIDC

SpruceID has deployed an OpenID Connect Provider (OP) which has support for SIWE and is hosted under https://oidc.signinwithethereum.org/. This deployment is a DAO-governed OP supported by ENS DAO.To use the hosted OIDC server it is required to register the application as an OIDC client using the OIDC client registration of https://oidc.signinwithethereum.org/. Currently, no user interface for OIDC client registration is supported. For that reason, developers will need to use the REST API.

REST APIExample Response

A client can then be updated or deleted using the registration_client_uri with the registration_access_token as a Bearer token. The authentication could be similar to the following workflow:

Note: This flow is just a possible flow, it could be different for a different use case. In addition to the functionality already provided by SIWE, future extensions are possible such as support for Decentralized Identifiers and Verifiable Credentials and support for EIP-712 (type structure data hashing and signing).

The Energy Web team regularly participates in open-source digital identity initiatives including the W3C Credentials Community Group and Open Wallet Foundation, and we’ll continue to support and adopt new features and frameworks as they become available.

About Energy Web

Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, internet-of-things, telecommunications leaders, and more. More information on Energy Web can be found at www.energyweb.org or follow us on Twitter @EnergyWebX

Switchboard Gets a Powerful New Tool: Sign In with Ethereum Now Available! was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

DeiC og WAYF var 19.-20. april værter ved en workshop i København om genbrug af webbaseret login i SSH-baserede adgange. Forskningsinstitutioner har typisk en meget veludviklet brugerstyring for deres webbaserede systemer, og der er meget at vinde hvis man kan genbruge dén i systemer som traditionelt ikke har direkte webbaseret adgang og næppe heller får det, fx supercomputeranlæg (HPC-anlæg).

Language Danish Read more about WAYF med i international workshop om SSH-adgang med fødereret login

Many are saying that we have wallet wars in our hands. Is it really war of wallets? It’s actually all about ecosystems. In this post we look through few main wallet approaches and how their ecosystem models work.

The post Credential Engine’s Deb Everhart of the Velocity Podcast appeared first on Velocity.

The official voting period will be between Tuesday, May 9, 2023 and Tuesday, May 16, 2023, once the 45-day review of the specification has been completed. For the convenience of members, voting will actually open on Tuesday, May 2, 2023 for members who have completed their reviews by then, with the voting period still ending on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

The Financial-grade API (FAPI) working group page is https://openid.net/wg/fapi/. If you’re not already a member, or if your membership has expired, please consider joining to participate in the approval vote. Information on joining the OpenID Foundation can be found at https://openid.net/foundation/members/registration.

The vote will be conducted at https://openid.net/foundation/members/polls/316.

– Michael B. Jones

This article describes the benefits of the OpenID4VC standard and provides insight into its development and incubation within the IDunion project. 

OpenID for Verifiable Credentials (OpenID4VC) is a suite of standards for issuing and using digital credentials in online scenarios. IDunion has tested the suite and contributed to its evolution since 2021. Today, the standards have already found their way into products on a global scale. 

In June 2022, the OpenID Connect Working Group as part of the OpenID Foundation published a whitepaper detailing the usage of verifiable credentials in combination with the OpenID Connect communication protocol. In the document, the lead editors Kristina Yasuda, Torsten Lodderstedt, David Chadwick, Kenichi Nakamura and Jo Vercammen describe how trust will shift with increased control for end users, by putting them in the centre of the exchange between the verifier and the credential issuer. 

The whitepaper further describes what use cases OpenID4VC can be used for, such as employee onboarding, entitlement management, driver licences (mDL) or SMART health cards. The variety of scenarios illustrate the flexibility regarding the used credential standards as well as the issuer-verifier relationship. 

Benefits of using the OpenID4VC specification family as a credential transport protocol: 

Existing mass adoption of the OpenID Connect Standard with existing Single sign-on solutions (“Sign in with … ”)  Developers of decentralised identity applications benefit from the proven simplicity and security of OAuth and OpenID  Implementation flexibility of other components including identifier types, credential formats, revocation schemes, crypto suites, trust mechanism etc.  Incubation in a well known and recognized standardisation organisation. 

The first time an implementation of the standard was demonstrated to the public was in 2021 when yes.com and Lissi did a prototypical implementation to enable a passwordless authentication to Nextcloud with verifiable credentials and demonstrated it at the European Cloud Identity Conference 2021. The implementation is based on Hyperledger Indy, using Anoncreds within the Lissi Wallet. 

Recently, gematik’s Futurelab built a prototype based on Hyperledger Aries Cloud Agent Python, which they extended to support Verifiable Presentation Exchange over HTTP and OpenID for Verifiable Presentations. The concept was presented to the public in April 2022 at the Internet Identity Workshop. Their proof of concept uses W3C Verifiable Credentials and allows for multi-format credential requests, ultimately making it easier for Relying Parties to ask for a credential without being aware of the format it was issued in. Further the concept demonstrated holder binding using a JWS.

Torsten Lodderstedt from yes.com and Kristina Yasuda from Microsoft presented a summary of the standard at the same Internet Identity Workshop in April 2022. Videos of a demonstration of the user flow (on device / cross device) are also available. 

The implementation was done as part of the IDunion Research Project. We are especially proud that OpenID for Verifiable Credentials has found its way into the Architecture Reference Framework (ARF) as part of the revision of the eIDAS regulation to create a European digital identity ecosystem. Currently the IDunion partners are developing the Tech-Stack 2.0 including OpenID4VC as communication protocol and SD-JWT as credential format to ensure alignment with the eIDAS Regulation. 

About IDunion

The IDunion research project builds an ecosystem for trusted identity credentials. The project is fostered by the Ministry of Economics Affairs and Climate Action of Germany and comprises more than 60 organisations. Recently a European Cooperative (IDunion SCE) has been founded as a governance entity. 

About yes.com

yes.com operates an Open Banking Ecosystem, where bank customers can use their identity data and login credentials with their financial institution to authenticate, identify themselves with 3rd parties, digitally sign with Qualified Electronic Signatures according to eIDAS and pay.  

About gematik

Gematik is the German national agency for the digitalisation of the healthcare system. It develops the concept for the telematics infrastructure as an all-encompassing and secure data room, setting the standards for the use of this data room, and coordinating its reliable operation and establishment in line with market requirements.

About Lissi

Lissi provides convenient applications for companies and organisations to receive, organise and share trusted data from end users while respecting privacy and data sovereignty. This includes the Lissi Wallet as well as the Lissi Agent. 

The post Talview becomes India’s 1st issuer of verifiable credentials appeared first on Velocity.

ZUG, Switzerland — 25 April 2023, Energy Web, a global non-profit accelerating the energy transition by developing open-source technology, has released a new technology roadmap detailing its plan to launch Energy Web X, the latest addition to the Energy Web Decentralized Operating System.

Based on over five years of experience developing digital solutions with dozens of major energy companies from over 25 countries, Energy Web has narrowed its focus on accelerating decarbonization to two specific areas where the organization’s technology stack has the strongest business case. The first is helping electric utilities digitize and integrate distributed energy resources to the grid. The second is bringing deep levels of transparency and verifiability to emerging green product supply chains including but not limited to 24/7 matched renewable electricity, sustainable aviation fuel, and sustainably produced bitcoin.

The solutions Energy Web applies to these areas, dubbed Data Exchange, Green Proofs, and Asset Management, are powered by a brand-new web 3 technology: worker node networks. Each worker node network is a decentralized group of computers that jointly execute sensitive business processes that involve or impact multiple companies. To unlock their full potential, Energy Web and partner organizations have developed Energy Web X, a new technology enabling enterprises to deploy thousands of independent worker nodes, coordinate them in cohesive networks, and allow the public to verify the results of their work.
For more information on the business value of worker node networks, a high level explanation on how Energy Web X works, and Energy Web’s 2023 technology roadmap, download the lightpaper here.

About Energy Web

Energy Web is a global non-profit accelerating the clean energy transition by developing open-source technology solutions for energy systems. Our enterprise-grade solutions improve coordination across complex energy markets, unlocking the full potential of clean, distributed energy resources for businesses, grid operators, and customers. The Energy Web ecosystem comprises leading utilities, renewable energy developers, grid operators, corporate energy buyers, automotive, internet-of-things, telecommunications leaders, and more. More information on Energy Web can be found at www.energyweb.org or follow us on Twitter @EnergyWebX

Energy Web Releases Energy Web X Lightpaper and Technology Roadmap was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Interoperability is crucial for developing efficient, sustainable, secure, and useful identity ecosystems. Identity interoperability is the ability to share identity standards, frameworks, or protocols between identity systems or models to allow computer systems or software to exchange and use identity information within and across organizational, regional, and national boundaries. Assurance frameworks in particular, like the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF), help to establish an expected baseline and frame of reference for both public and private sector digital identity capabilities while prioritizing user-centered design, privacy, security, and convenience of use.

The content herein has been developed with contributions from members of the DIACC’s Innovation Expert Committee including Consult Hyperion, the Digital Identity Laboratory of Canada, Autorité Des Marchés Financiers, Northern Block, Stonebridge Solutions, and Vaultie with additional support by Accenture and Outlier Solutions.

Download the briefing here.

DIACC-Briefing-Introduction-to-Identity-Interoperability

The post Nuevosmedios launches Latin America’s 1st career wallet appeared first on Velocity.

We know that the MyData 2023 Conference is the most impactful event in the area of personal data sharing. But why?  Ever since the very first MyData Conference in 2016, this annual event has shown that collective effort, learning and communication can do wonders for the complicated field of data and technology. MyData conferences have […]

The post EBSCO joins Velocity appeared first on Velocity.

Despite exciting progress toward more secure and usable factors, the best MFA mechanism for consumers really isn’t MFA at all — it’s passkeys. Passkeys are a FIDO authenticator with the advantage of being backed up to the cloud, so if you lose your device or buy a new one, all you must do is sign into your iCloud or Google Play account to recover your passkeys. Passkeys use public key cryptography and device biometrics, making them resistant to many known attacks, and are easy for the user.

The post Dark Reading: Twitter’s 2FA is a call for passkey disruption appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

There is a strong appetite amongst consumers for easier-to-use login experiences; according to human-centric security and privacy company 1Password – which has released its ‘Preparing for a Passwordless Future’ report. Andrew Shikiar, executive director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance, said: “Passwordless technology brings great benefits for companies and their customers alike—making it easier to securely access online services while greatly reducing fraud and user frustration. This has been the mission of the FIDO Alliance since day one, with authentication experts from hundreds of companies, including 1Password, collaborating to make this vision a reality with passkey sign-ins.”

The post The Fintech Times: Are passwords a thing of the past? A passwordless future: 1Password Report appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Over the last five years, though, the secure-authentication industry association known as the FIDO Alliance has been making real progress promoting “passkeys,” a password-less alternative for signing into applications and websites.

The post Wired: The war on passwords enters a chaotic new phase appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Toronto, April 20, 2023 – The Digital Identity & Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) has released the results of its 2022 Digital Identity Perspectives Research. The study provides insight into Canadians’ attitudes and perceptions toward digital identity, privacy, and their adoption of digital wallets.

The research reveals a strong majority of Canadians believe they should be able to control the data about them held and issued by both governments and the private sector. In addition, while most respondents are concerned about protecting their privacy, they feel only somewhat knowledgeable about the subject, presenting an opportunity for education and awareness.

“The results of our Digital Identity Perspectives Research provide valuable insights into the attitudes and perceptions of Canadians towards personal data control and privacy,” said Joni Brennan, President of DIACC. “We are committed to working in partnership with the public and private sectors to secure, trusted, and privacy-enhancing digital benefits for all Canadians.”

One notable finding is that caregivers are among the most interested in the benefits and adoption of digital identity to meet their dependents’ caregiving needs related to school and health records for example. The study also revealed that most Canadians are concerned about their personal information being available online, with concerns about identity theft and senior scams at the forefront.

When creating a digital identity framework, most respondents feel that collaboration between the public and private sectors is the best approach, with a slight preference for the private sector. This sentiment has increased from 65% in 2021 to 71% in 2022.

Regarding digital wallets, familiarity with the concept continues to grow, with 59% of respondents being familiar in 2022, compared to 54% in 2021. In addition, the use of digital wallets is also increasing, with 41% of respondents using one in 2022 compared to 38% in 2021. Apple Wallet’s use has increased from 17% in 2021 to 24% in 2022.

Finally, the study found that 2/3 of Canadians feel that the COVID-19 pandemic has made secure, trusted, privacy-enhancing digital identity and verification solutions more critical to help Canadians who chose to use this technology, transact safely online, virtually unchanged from 2021.

“The PCTF offers a practical tool for meeting Canadians’ transparency and personal data control demands. The PCTF sets the basis for digital trust, clearly defining the duty of care people and partners should expect when utilizing digital verification solutions,” said Dave Nikolejsin, Chair of the DIACC Board.

“The public and private sectors have a unique opportunity to put the PCTF into action to help Canadians secure personal data control, reducing the threat of fraud while also promoting economic growth opportunities. A safe and secure data environment benefits everyone,” said Ibrahim Gedeon, Board Member of DIACC and Chief Technology Officer for TELUS.

About DIACC

DIACC (Digital Identity & Authentication Council of Canada) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the development and adoption of secure, trusted, and privacy-enhancing digital identity and access management solutions in Canada. DIACC works closely with the government, private sector, and academia to ensure Canadians access secure, convenient, and user-friendly digital identity solutions. For more information, please visit the DIACC website at https://diacc.ca/.

Download the report here.

DIACC-Canadian-Digital-Identity-Research-2022-Wave-4-1

This white paper describes the eIDAS2 ecosystem and how to use the FIDO standard with the EU Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet.

This white paper is aimed at governmental agencies that are interested in using FIDO for the EUDI Wallet according to the eIDAS2 regulation. The intended readers are project managers, technical experts, and developers.

The post White Paper: Using FIDO for the EUDI Wallet appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Findynet Cooperative conducted an SSI technology survey to guide the selection of technologies for Findynet Test Network. Based on the conclusions drawn from this technology survey, the Findynet Cooperative will build its test network on Hyperledger Indy.

During March 2023, Findynet Cooperative conducted a survey on technologies supporting Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI). We reached out to esteemed experts and thought leaders and asked them, what technologies they would use if they were to build an SSI ecosystem. In particular, we wanted to focus on tried and tested technologies that are usable right now.

The survey was conducted by an on-line questionnaire and follow-up meetings. We received 15 responses by the end of March.

The results are published in the report Findynet Test Network Technology Survey Results.

Warm thanks to survey respondents:

Luca Boldrin, R&D, Infocert Lal Chandran, Co-Founder and CTO, iGrant.io Stephen Curran, Technical Architect and Founder, Cloud Compass Computing, Inc Timo Hotti, Principal Technology Strategist, OP Financial Group Riley Hughes, Co-founder and CEO, Trinsic Dr. André Kudra, CIO, esatus AG Harri Lainio, Technology Strategist, OP Financial Group Darrell O’Donnell, President & CEO, Continuum Loop Inc Markus Sabadello, Founder, Danube Tech

Other respondents wished to stay anonymous.

Based on the conclusions drawn from this technology survey, the Findynet Cooperative will build its test network on Hyperledger Indy. The test network will serve as a sandbox for our cooperative members and other stakeholders to test various wallet implementations and develop test use cases.  We will announce the availability of our Test Network during H1 of 2023.

Later in 2023, we will select a technology stack for our pilot network. The technology choices for the pilot network will be more forward-looking and also aim to define the architecture for the production network. Pilot and production networks may be built on different technologies than the first version of the test network.

We continue to evaluate other standards, protocols, and technologies for the services we are planning to offer in addition to the current Test Network.

For more information, please contact:
Samuel Rinnetmäki, CTO, Findynet Cooperative, tel. +358 40 534 4332, samuel.rinnetmaki@findy.fi

The post Findynet Test Network technology survey results appeared first on .

When Vishaal B. Bhuyan found himself with a seemingly insurmountable supply chain issue, he never expected his journey would lead to a revolutionary new approach to food safety. With the help of a synthetic biologist, they created traceable tags that not only allowed for better tracking but could also kill pathogens. But will this breakthrough technology be adopted?

Vishaal B. Bhuyan, CEO of Aanika Biosciences, explains the importance of food safety, the potential that’s out there to enhance this safety, and more.

Key takeaways:

Food safety is not only important for people, but it’s vital for businesses. Vishaal says it’s important for companies to have insurance to cover incidents like this. In fact, a company he knows lost 30% of its top line revenue from this. Aanika is creating cutting-edge technology to combat pathogens in food. They developed a probiotic microorganism that's been deactivated which contains a unique DNA sequence does things like addressing pathogen growth, killing pathogens, and many different secondary functions. The value between biology and insurance is incredibly valuable. Aanika’s insurance program converts this thing that many people don't understand–but need–into a digestible narrative around cost savings.

 

Connect with GS1 US:

www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

Connect with guest:

Vishaal Bhuyan’s LinkedIn

 

Kia ora e te whānau

If identity is the foundation of society, and the way in which we communicate shapes how our society operates, then I wonder how our society will change as our communication of identity changes?  

Some recent developments for identity communication are Decentralised Identifiers and Verificable Credentials (DID’s and VC’s), which make identity communication more efficient, accessible and effective (as most new technologies do). The use of DID’s and VC’s propose some new opportunities and challenges for us as an industry and a nation.

Earlier this month we had a great discussion about digital identity and what this means for Māori. And while we identified that Māori already have a long history of developed systems for communicating identity, there has been a need to develop new methods to communicate identity to different organisations and institutions for different purposes. Some examples of these being Tribal registries, Māori land court records, and Iwi or Hapū membership cards. This raises questions around whether Te Ao Māori will then adopt the use of DID’s and VC’s and how this technology could strengthen Māori identity and Tino Rangatiratanga. 

It’s also important for us as an industry and a nation to prepare for new identity issuers and credentials and ensure we avoid situations like this, where an Indigenous grandfather and 12-year-old were handcuffed in front of a Vancouver bank after trying to open an account.

Ben Tairea

Deputy Chair
Digital Identity NZ

Read more here: How we communicate identity’s changing landscape matters to society

Subscribe for more

The post How we communicate identity’s changing landscape matters to society appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

Recruitment for volunteers to work at the MyData 2023 conference is now open! Join us to create a most impactful personal data event.

The post Nuevosmedios launches 1st Spanish-language career wallet on Velocity appeared first on Velocity.

FIDO Alliance held a virtual conference to assess recent advancement in creating simpler, stronger, authentication methods. The half-day event included panel discussions and fireside chats with experts from Google, Microsoft, Amazon and leading global brands that support FIDO’s mission to create secure, scalable alternatives to passwords. In opening remarks, Andrew Shikiar, executive director of FIDO Alliance, stated that FIDO deployments have helped companies reduce fraud, lower operational costs and boost employee productivity. He additionally noted that companies are looking at top-line benefits of getting users online faster with greater satisfaction and reduced shopping cart abandonment.

The post The Green Sheet: Passwordless future within reach, experts say appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Impressive new technology to fight fraud is emerging from businesses. The tech industry association called the FIDO Alliance is working toward replacing passwords — a key vulnerability — with more secure technologies, including biometrics. Executive Director Andrew Shikiar says this could be done for most online passwords within five years.

The post AARP: Fraud fighters are working to keep scam “epidemic” at bay appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Usernames and passwords have been the most common authentication method for digitally accessing an account. However, passwords are vulnerable to compromise through a variety of attack vectors. “Passwords are fundamentally flawed, because they can be hacked, forgotten, and stolen,” says Andrew Shikiar, executive director and chief marketing officer for the FIDO Alliance. “It’s also tough to enter passwords on keyboardless devices. Plus, more than 80% of data breaches can be tracked back to passwords.”

The post Digital Transactions: Why the password is going extinct appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Researchers from the cybersecurity company Home Security Heroes have trained an AI to decipher millions of passwords. It took less than a minute to find most of them. But the AI stumbles for some passwords. Passkeys are a way to strengthen security.

The post Futura Sciences: AI breaks most passwords in less than a minute: here are the ones that stand up appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

It’s nearly two decades since Bill Gates predicted the passing of the traditional username and password, warning that this archaic security combo simply wasn’t up to the task of keeping information safe and secure in the long term. Passwords will not be around forever and if we are ever to get serious about cyber security and the protection of data, we have to find another way. That’s one of the main reasons why passwordless authentication is gaining so much popularity as a more secure and convenient alternative to traditional passwords. And it seems the industry agrees. Tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft announced last May that they would support FIDO2 — authentication specifications based on public key cryptography and international standards — to enable passwordless authentication across devices. 

The post Compare the Cloud: The passwordless future appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Three lenses to improve your digital strategy

“You’ve got to have a system”, as they say. At WAO, we’ve got one that we often apply to strategy projects of all shapes and sizes. Especially digital ones. And it’s easy to remember! 3Ps: People. Process. Product*.

In practice, the 3Ps are a series of lenses we use with clients to ensure that we’re thinking through projects holistically. Below, we give an introduction on how to use it in practice.

*A note on the ordering — when we’re talking, we find it easier to say “People. Product. Process” rather than “People. Process. Product”, don’t you? But you can put them in any order, it’s up to you!

The Power of People

The foundation of any successful organisation is the people who are a part of it. When we talk about ‘People,’ we’re talking about the individuals who make up organisational teams, along with your stakeholders (such as your board), as well as the audience you serve. We also make sure to think about community members and volunteers who are furthering an organisation’s mission through their engagement. We place people at the heart of our approach to prioritise the building of meaningful relationships and also to promote diversity. After all, if we’re not working to strengthen connections and help people find purpose, what are we doing?

We find that people need:

Common language — there are often too many buzzwords in business, so clear and effective communication ensures that everyone understands one another. Having a shared understanding of a problem or a solution starts with the language we use. Synergy! Bias towards open — create a more inclusive and engaging environment by encouraging open communication and embracing diverse perspectives. That means not just letting your files languish in unshared folders and making sure people have an opportunity to engage with the work. Established trust — improve decision-making by creating a positive working environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and supported. Nonviolent communication strategies help here, even though the name is a bit weird.

The anthropologist Margaret Mead is credited with saying:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Behind every good project, initiative, and product are a group of talented people, working together. To harness the creativity and innovation of that group, we need to remember that they are humans with thoughts and feelings, as well as biases and complexities. Every group of people is different, so listening to the individuals you are working with and for is priority number one.

Streamlining Processes

By ‘Process,’ we mean the workflows and approaches that enable organisations to work effectively and sustainably. Efficient and well-structured processes play a crucial role in achieving an organisation’s strategic goals. It also leads to a more satisfying, productive, working environment.

We think that the following leads to better processes:

Adaptability in teams — the world is always changing, so organisational processes should be flexible and adaptable enough to change with them, to respond to new opportunities and new people. Flexibility isn’t just for gymnasts. Challenge assumptions — it’s important for us all to reassess our existing beliefs, assumptions, and practices so that we can identify areas for improvement and innovation. Just because you’re used to doing things one way doesn’t make it the best one. Data driven decision making — while Gary from Marketing might have a great idea, what does the data say? Organisation should base decisions and strategies on objective data and evidence rather than relying on intuition or guesswork.

A hugely important piece of developing effective processes is ensuring that they work for the people who will use them. More often than not, this includes documentation. Potentially boring? Yes. Skippable? No.

This doesn’t mean that you have to have rigid processes. In fact, adaptability is the key to all of this, and there should be an expectation that an organisation’s knowledge base is kept up-to-date by whoever used it last.

Embracing Innovative Products

The ‘Product’ component of our approach refers to the software platforms and tools we use and develop to support collaboration among internal and external stakeholders. You’re reading this on a screen thanks to several products. We use them all of the time, so it’s important to get the right ones.

The best products support:

Iterative strategies — organisations have to evolve to keep pace with changing circumstances, so the tools you use should enable you to continuously improve processes and outcomes. If you feel like you’re having to fight your tools, then perhaps they’re no longer the best ones? Distributed power / Autonomy — every tool has one or more ‘default’ ways of being used. So we should both use and make tools available that enable users to make decisions as independently as possible. Learning by doing — the tools we use and develop should solve real-world problems rather than create new ones for users. I’m looking at you, Clippy.

It should be fairly easy to find products that support processes that help people work well together. Sometimes, though, it involves taking multiple products and linking them together in new and interesting ways.

Although salespeople would like to tell you otherwise, there’s likely no ‘one platform to rule them all’, so we recommend making use of other techniques. You might like our Architecture of Participation and System Ecosystem tactics to help make sure your bases are covered.

Getting Started with this approach

If you want to use the ‘People, Product, Process’ approach within your organisation, consider the following steps:

First, take a step back and have a good look at your organisation’s culture. Think about how you can improve things like people management, communication, and teamwork. This might involve taking your digital strategy out of the desk drawer. Or, indeed, writing one. Next, check out your current processes and workflows. Find any points of friction and opportunities to make things smoother. A diagram might come in handy to visualise all the things. Now it’s time to explore some tools and tech to help boost your team’s collaboration and productivity. Give them a test run and see which ones might work. Let other people try them out. Following this, it’s all about crafting a plan to bring those changes and improvements to life. Make sure your team’s in the loop and excited about the process by being open and keeping them in the know. Last but not least, keep an eye on how things are going with your new approach. Embrace the iterative mindset and tweak things as needed to keep things moving forward! Conclusion

This approach provides a really simple but powerful series of lenses to unlock your digital strategy’s true potential. It’s designed to be a versatile approach, catering to organisations of all shapes and sizes. So, if you’re ready to embark on this transformative journey and could use some guidance, let us know! We’re here to help you every step of the way.

This post was co-written with Doug Belshaw and reviewed by some of our awesome collaborators at We Are Open Co-op. Images in this post are licensed cc-by-nd Bryan Mathers for WAO.

People. Process. Product. was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In IDunion we looked into digital product passports and developed a case study based on a battery-powered screwdriver. It demonstrates how a combination of SSI technologies and existing standards are used to meet the requirements for the digital product passport. The results were summarised in a white paper. It provides an introduction to the SSI world and demonstrates the advantages of verifiable product information with a customer journey. For more information please click here.

The post Legal Dive publishes article on Velocity appeared first on Velocity.

We’re Skeptical of UN-sponsored Guidance for Content Regulation

Jessica Fjeld and Sol Bensadon

An arm of the United Nations has taken up the challenges of content moderation, aiming for a September 2023 release of guidelines to help countries regulate online platforms while protecting free expression. A great idea, in principle, but the devil is in the details — or in this case, the devil is in the implementation of vague language about “protecting democracy” that’s as likely to be weaponized against dissidents in some contexts as it is to curtail election misinformation in others.

UNESCO was created in 1945 with the mission of contributing to peace and security by promoting “international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information” and “knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas, to accelerate mutual understanding and a more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives”. As part of this mission, UNESCO is now engaging in consultations with multiple stakeholders with the objective of developing global guidelines for the regulation of digital platforms. UNESCO has already circulated two drafts and the second one of these was discussed at the Internet for Trust conference that took place last month. UNESCO has nearly 200 member states, representing a great diversity of cultures, ideas, and governance models. They also represent the full spectrum of internet freedom — both the lowest-ranked (China) and the highest-ranked (Iceland) countries in the most recent Freedom House Freedom on the Net report are members.

The law and jurisprudence around free expression are characterized by basic tensions, which can never be resolved, but are managed through the three-part test of legality, proportionality, and necessity. It’s not an area where bright lines can be easily drawn. Most basically in the context of content moderation, protections for free expression require both leaving content up (to allow a range of views) and taking content down (to ensure an environment that does not drive away marginalized folks).

This comes to a very fine point when we consider that the aim of the UNESCO guidance: “to support the development and implementation of regulatory processes that guarantee freedom of expression and access to information while dealing with content that is illegal and content that risks significant harm to democracy and the enjoyment of human rights.” These categories simply are not coherent across the range of UNESCO’s member states, and it’s not clear that there is one policy framework that could achieve them and accord with International Human Rights Law (“IHRL”).

There is a large risk that the guidance document will be misused by authoritarian states to legitimize existing arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression and to justify new ones — and we’re not the only ones to make this point. Consider a few examples, all UNESCO member countries:

In 2020, Nicaragua passed the “Special Cybercrimes Law,” prescribing imprisonment for whoever disseminated “fake news” online that risked “economic stability, public health, national sovereignty or law and order.” This regulation, also known as the “gag law,” was used as a tool to silence dissenters. The gag law was first applied in January 2022, after the government had already imprisoned dozens of opposition members based on their social media activity in the context of the November 2021 general election. In Vietnam, internet content advocating for human rights and democracy is actively censored. In other words, content that promotes “democracy and the enjoyment of human rights” is illegal. Under the 2018 Cybersecurity law, intermediaries are forced to regulate content in cooperation with the state, preventing the sharing of information that opposes the republic, threatens national security and the social order, or defies national traditions, among other broadly worded provisions” and deleting information after government requests. Finally, how the government of the Philippines has treated Maria Ressa — a keynote speaker at the UNESCO conference — further illustrates the use of the legal system and the spread of disinformation online to silence criticism. There were at least ten criminal cases filed against Maria Ressa, three of which were under the Cybercrime law, which has been criticized as threatening free speech.

In authoritarian states, the coherence between national law and IHRL is extremely limited: the imposition of an IHRL-based framework to produce the result of limiting domestically illegal content may well distort that framework beyond recognition. The current UNESCO guidance does not give us any insight into the application of the proposed schema in contexts where the state itself is the preeminent actor in the repression of free expression. It is not enough to simply note that the application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) the guidance document does not impact the ICCPR’s enforceability in these states and is highly unlikely to make changes on the ground. Moreover, even so-called “advanced democracies” have adopted or are considering restrictions on internet speech that many digital rights advocates find troubling — the UK’s Online Harms Bill is a good example.

Fortunately, there’s a way to avoid the worst manipulations of UNESCO’s work: require procedural guarantees, which would ensure that they can’t be used to whitewash repressive laws. The current draft already includes some such elements, such as the opposition to hostage laws2 and upload filters3 and the support for broad media literacy investments from both states and companies. However, we think additional, well-tailored measures will be needed.

A guarantee of anonymity is an essential protection for individuals’ free expression, especially but not only in repressive contexts. As the United Nations suggested, anonymity provides individuals “with a zone of privacy online to hold opinions and exercise freedom of expression without arbitrary and unlawful interference or attacks.” In addition, the guidelines should include robust whistleblower protections, mandating states to ensure that government and private-sector whistleblowers are protected from any form of retaliation, and to create internal safe channels for employees to report concerns and potential harmful choices. This is essential, considering the important role that whistleblowers have in revealing biased enforcement of the law and general misuse of regulation to restrict freedom of expression.

Finally, under IHRL, restrictions on freedom of expression need to be sufficiently precise to enable individuals to regulate their conduct accordingly. Were any state to adopt the broad and overbroad language of the guidelines, it would lack precision, as it is not clear, outside of certain edge cases, what constitutes “content that risks significant harm to democracy.” Especially in the context of authoritarian or non-democratic states, regulations with vague and overbroad language can be used to censor dissidents.

Careful attention must be paid to the language of the procedural protections incorporated into the guidelines. A good illustration of this point is transparency requirements: the same processes for review of corporate policy and decision-making that can allow countries with relatively free information environments to promote free expression, can be used in less free environments to tighten an authoritarian hold. Berkman Klein’s Lumen Database has shed light on the global climate of online expression, censorship, and rights enforcement for 20 years. Our Lumen colleagues have thought long and hard about designing transparency for the possibility of misuse and abuse, and have been consulted on the design of the new database contemplated by the EU Digital Services Act.

Sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information or materials that a state might seek to persecute groups or individuals, should still be considered for inclusion in a transparency data corpus, and made available for study, with increased security, oversight, and control. In more open contexts, this can be achieved with levels of restricted access, allowing only accredited researchers, who agree to be bound by relevant strictures, to see data that has a high risk of misuse. It would take some creative thinking to establish a data governance plan that would facilitate research where the state itself is part of the threat model.

If UNESCO is serious about protecting — and not further threatening — free expression in platform regulation around the world, the range of stakeholders who are invested in internet freedom that were represented at February’s convening was a step in the right direction, but not a destination in itself. Between now and the guidelines’ launch, the organization should have a laser focus on the thorny challenges of defining procedural protections that will be effective even in the least protective regulatory environments.

One Law to Rule Them All was originally published in Berkman Klein Center Collection on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Since the launch of Hyperledger Indy, a DLT purpose-built for decentralized identity, in 2017, Hyperledger Foundation has been a proud sponsor, attendee and contributor to the Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) community. We continue that commitment in 2023 and welcome new and existing Hyperledger community members to join us at IIW. Not only is it a good event with great people, but it is an event/space/community where the work is getting done. 

“IIW is not the place where CEOs gather to spread their feathers and show off. That’s one reason it’s the most leveraged conference in the world. Actual work happens at IIW, and all of that work is toward starting and moving projects forward. It’s where fully constructive people and organizations such as Hyperledger Foundation come to roll up sleeves and get together with participants old and new, to make new connections and leave knowing more, doing more and working faster on stuff that matters.” — Kaliya Hamlin, Doc Searls and Phil Windley, IIW Organizers

Identity, privacy, anonymity and agency have been intrinsic concepts for the blockchain and decentralized technology ecosystem since the beginning. Even before Satoshi’s whitepaper was released, the Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) was a twice-yearly “gathering of the clans” for the identity space. It has a long tradition of being where connections are made, projects are presented, code is shared, (vigorous) debate occurs, and people of varied and diverse skill sets who are passionate about these topics work to bring these solutions to life. 

“Hyperledger Foundation’s presence at IIW means that the projects that we believe are central to advancing decentralized identity — Hyperledger AnonCreds, Hyperledger Aries, and Hyperledger Indy — have the presence they need to receive the attention they deserve from the community. As Indicio relies on these Hyperledger projects we, as a longstanding attendee of IIW, are grateful for Hyperledger’s presence and support.” — Sam Curren, Senior Architect and Deputy CTO, Indicio

Hyperledger Foundation is a sponsor of IIW because it is a rallying point for the decentralized identity community, including those contributing to Hyperledger and other LF Identity projects as well as standards and technologies such as W3C Verifiable Credentials and DIF. We look forward to attending for a number of reasons, including:

Potential users of and prospective contributors to Hyperledger projects are at IIW, and we want to meet them.  Stephen Curran and Timo Glastra, new members of the Hyperledger Technical Oversight Committee, will be there talking about Hyperledger technologies and community.  Contributors and maintainers working on Hyperledger identity projects like Hyperledger Indy, Aries, Ursa and now Anoncreds are there to gather, share, hear feedback and work. This list includes Char Howland, Sam Curren, Berend Sliedrecht, and many others.  For the Linux Foundation, IIW is an open forum where other LF Digital Trust initiatives like Open Wallet Foundation, Decentralized Identity Foundation and Trust Over IP can cross-pollinate ideas, get direct feedback from the community, find consensus on direction and build relationships.  IIW is where members of the ecosystem gets to roll up their sleeves. One great example of this is the DIDComm Connect-a-thon. The most engaged and vocal thinkers and doers in the identity space are at IIW, and it is a critical opportunity for the team to collaborate with them in person, gather their insights and work that feedback back into our community.

Hyperledger Foundation’s sponsorship of IIW takes different forms for every event, but we as a team feel supporting this community is critical to the identity ecosystem in general and Hyperledger identity projects. We are thrilled to fund the incredible work that goes into putting on each IIW, the community that emerges and the work that results.

Please join us April 18, 19 and 20 for IIW #36. Hyperledger community members save 20% using this link.

If you want to find out more about Hyperledger identity initiatives, please check out 

Identity Implementers call Hyperledger Anoncreds Hyperledger Aries  Hyperledger Indy

The post Why Hyperledger Foundation Sponsors, Attends and Works at Internet Identity Workshop appeared first on Hyperledger Foundation.

Since 2016, MyData conferences have brought together the change-makers, pioneers and champions in human-centric personal data management to meet, share and learn, and ultimately influence the policy and practice of data sharing in Europe and globally. Over the years, the conferences became known as the most impactful event of the year and THE place to […]

The mission of the Trust over IP (ToIP) Foundation is to define a complete architecture for Internet-scale digital trust that combines cryptographic assurance at the machine layer with human accountability at the business, legal, and social layers. Part of that mission is to define generally accepted requirements for standard roles that play a critical part in accountability in digital trust.

Today our Governance Stack Working Group is forming a task force to define standard requirements for issuers of verifiable credentials. While many schemes in the US, UK and Canada have focused on elements of identity credential issue and use, this will be the first effort to define what are standard requirements expected of issuers of verifiable credential to ensure that their processes are transparent, consistent and meeting the needs of relying parties and ecosystem owners.

While we have a core team of spirited technologists and governance architects assembled, we need more voices from the verifiable credentials community to broaden our perspectives and solidify our expected deliverables. This task force could produce artifacts that have global implications.  

We need your voice!

Meetings plan to start on Wednesday April 12 at 7:00am PT/10:00am ET.

In order to actively participate, you need to be a member of the Trust Over IP Foundation and a member of the Governance Stack Working Group.

Contributing Membership rates are free so just fill out our membership agreement to join. If you need assistance just fill out the contact us form.

The post Volunteers Needed – ToIP Announces new Issuer Governance Requirements Task Force appeared first on Trust Over IP.

The official voting period will be between Monday, April 24, 2023 and Monday, May 1, 2023, following the 45 day review of the specification. For the convenience of members, voting will actually open on Monday, April 17, 2023 for members who have completed their reviews by then, with the voting period still ending on Monday, May 1, 2023.

The OpenID Connect Working Group page is https://openid.net/wg/connect/. If you’re not already a member, or if your membership has expired, please consider joining to participate in the approval vote. Information on joining the OpenID Foundation can be found at https://openid.net/foundation/members/registration.

The vote will be conducted at https://openid.net/foundation/members/polls/311.

– Michael B. Jones

The OpenID Foundation is pleased to announce the 2023 Kim Cameron award recipients. The goal of the awards is to increase representation from young people’s who’ve demonstrated an interest in subjects consistent with best practices and identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving.

First, many thanks to the many qualified applicants who requested a 2023 award as all award requests were of a high quality. We hope that those that did receive an award will consider a request in the future.

The Foundation also thanks our conference partners, the European Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC) and Identiverse, as award recipients receive complimentary access to these important industry events as part of their award. Awardees will participate in Foundation events at the respective conferences as well as introduced to the identity domain experts and industry leaders at the conferences while being welcomed by our colleagues in other industry organizations.

The 2023 Kim Cameron award recipients:

Isaac Henderson
Senior Security Researcher at the University of Stuttgart IAT/Fraunhofer IAO

Isaac Henderson is a Senior Security Researcher at the University of Stuttgart IAT/Fraunhofer IAO, Stuttgart, Germany in Team Identity Management. His Research Interests include Digital Trust and Decentralized Identity Management. He has received his Master’s Degree in Informatik from the University of Stuttgart. For the past 5 years, he has contributed to the development of Open Source Trust infrastructures in various International, EU, German Government, and Industry Projects. One of the notable projects is EU-ESSIF-LAB TRAIN where he served as Technical Project Lead and Solution Architect, which provides trust infrastructure to verify the SSI Verifiable Credentials.  He is also currently serving as a Co-editor and Co-author of W3C specification Verifiable Issuers and Verifiers v0.1. He also serves as a Contributor in ToIP, and Gaia-X Working groups.

 

Rachelle Sellung
Senior Scientist Researcher in the Identity Management Competence Team at Fraunhofer IAO

Rachelle Sellung is a Senior Scientist Researcher in the Identity Management Competence Team at Fraunhofer IAO in Stuttgart, Germany. She conducts socio-economic and user experience research on a variety of emerging technologies in Identity Management and IT security. Currently she is conducting user experience research in the German Research Project, ONCE, which is a show case project that aims to be the next German Digital Identity wallet. In addition, she is contributing to the EU funded project mGov4EU, which is a project that focuses on mobile cross-border governmental services for Europe. She is leading the user experience research for a privacy assistant tool for smart health devices in the TESTER project. Moreover, she has worked in many other EU and German funded research projects and Industry projects focused on Trust management (e.g. LIGHTest), Digital Wallets (DECIDE,ONCE) and Identity Management (FutureID, Skidentity, and SSEDIC).

Rachelle Sellung holds a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Mississippi, USA. An overview of her publications can be found here.

Amir Sharif
Researcher in the Security & Trust Research Unit of the Cybersecurity Center of Fondazione Bruno Kessler

Amir Sharif is a researcher in the Security & Trust Research Unit of the Cybersecurity Center of Fondazione Bruno Kessler. He received his Ph.D. in Secure and Reliable Systems from Università Degli Studi di Genova in 2021. He is currently involved in the Security & Trust Research Unit at FBK, in the context of a joint laboratory between FBK and the Italian Government Printing Office and Mint (Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato Italiano, responsible for producing Italian eID cards), whose primary goal is to conduct research and innovation activities in digital identity solutions.

 

 

Charlie Smith
Doctoral Student at the Oxford Internet Institute

Charlie Harry Smith is a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute. As an empirical political theorist, his research considers the normative and theoretical issues surrounding digital identities and digital government. Charlie is particularly interested in the UK Government’s ongoing attempts to develop both a digital identity system for state identification purposes and a marketplace for reusable identities in the private sector.

Alongside his research, Charlie regularly consults on contemporary digital identity issues. He currently monitors the social media landscape for the Open Identity Exchange and has recently completed an identity-focused research sprint at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center. Previously, he worked with the Digital Equity Association to bring the SMART Africa Trust Alliance (a cross-continental federated identity scheme) to the pilot stage.

The Foundation will publish blogs from the 2023 award recipients once they have participated in the conference of their choice describing their experiences as Kim Cameron award recipients.

If you have any questions or comments about the Kim Cameron award or are a Foundation member that would like to get more involved through directed funding or otherwise, please send inquiries to director@oidf.org.

OriginTrail yearly report — 2022 | TOWARDS AI-GRADE KNOWLEDGE ASSETS

The year 2022 has been a momentous one for the OriginTrail ecosystem, marked by significant progress in the development of solutions created in collaboration with our partners, groundbreaking technological advancements, and the successful achievement of project milestones. Additionally, we have undertaken numerous marketing initiatives and garnered significant media coverage throughout the year. This comprehensive report provides an in-depth analysis of all these achievements and highlights the substantial growth of our ecosystem. Notably, we have updated our ecosystem map reflecting the significant expansion of our ecosystem. Through this report, we invite the OriginTrail community and everyone interested to join us on a journey of exploration and discovery, as we delve into the various accomplishments of the OriginTrail ecosystem in the past year.

Decentralized Knowledge Graph adoption update BSI solutions

In early 2022, Trace Labs gained recognition in Interface Magazine for its partnership with BSI and the innovative solutions that the team is currently developing. These include SCAN, designed to secure security audits for more than 21,000 factories in South-East Asia, Training Certificates solution, AidTrust for donated medicines, and several other notable projects.

Since its inception in 2021 AidTrust, the solution co-developed by BSI and Trace Labs, has been bringing transparency and trust to pharmaceutical supply chains. AidTrust utilizes the power of OriginTrail DKG, which transforms data related to events, locations, vaccines and more into verifiable and discoverable Web3 assets. To gain wider awareness, BSI’s Courtney Soulsby and OriginTrail’s Ziga Drev presented the AidTrust milestones and work behind the scenes at the WEF Davos adjacent conference held by Polkadot. While we were approaching the DKG V6 launch, we reached an important milestone of 4000+ vials dispensed to patients in India and 25 locations active there, with the rollout to additional 40 countries. With the V6 release in December last year we started migrating AidTrust to the new network allowing the AidTrust data to become verifiable, discoverable and composable Knowledge Assets on the OriginTrail DKG. Learn more in this article published on BSI’s blog on how AidTrust is building transparency into pharmaceutical supply chains with discoverable and verifiable Web3 assets, secured on the OriginTrail DKG. More information on the solution is available also here.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "AidTrust uses @origin_trail #DKG v6 to transform data on donated pharma products into #Web3 assets. Each product becomes an asset on #DKG linked to other assets & events, enabling #trust & #transparency in pharma supply chains. #data2assets Read more👉https://t.co/WRA5us4TSD pic.twitter.com/wxZZEFK9F2 / Twitter"

AidTrust uses @origin_trail #DKG v6 to transform data on donated pharma products into #Web3 assets. Each product becomes an asset on #DKG linked to other assets & events, enabling #trust & #transparency in pharma supply chains. #data2assets Read more👉https://t.co/WRA5us4TSD pic.twitter.com/wxZZEFK9F2

SCAN Trusted Factory is the solution that harnesses OriginTrail DKG to secure security audits of over 22k factories across Asia for the largest retailers like Home Depot and Walmart. After receiving an upgrade of auditors being able to verify that they have an up-to-date level of SCAN audit training in 2021, last year we observed the growing number of audit assets being secured on the OriginTrail DKG. Last summer it went up from 30K to 35K in only 3 months. As all other solutions, SCAN will be also migrated to V6 with its release in December, where the numbers of audits assets will have new capabilities.

Trace Labs and BSI joined the Innovate UK consortium to work on the Trusted Bytes project to develop new digital solutions for the food and trade industry utilizing the OriginTrail DKG. In 2022, the project reached its second year of maturity, as BSI and Trace Labs worked closely with the consortium to develop cutting-edge solutions aimed at improving supply chain transparency and security. This partnership has resulted in significant advancements in the food and trade industry, paving the way for a more secure and sustainable future for businesses and consumers alike. In September 2022 BSI published a blog post showcasing how OriginTrail DKG is used to facilitate international trade of goods crossing borders and digitize UK’s fresh produce supply chains.

In 2022, Trace Labs and BSI continued to make significant progress with the Training Certificates solution, which uses OriginTrail technology to transform BSI training certificates into Web3 assets secured on the DKG.Trace Labs announced in March 2022 that 12.5K certificates had already been secured on the OriginTrail DKG, and by September, the number had increased to 30K certificates. Towards the end of 2022, Trace Labs announced that the solution would be migrating to DKG v6 and would be empowering over 200k individuals annually by issuing their certificates as Web3 assets on the DKG.

Trace Labs and BSI continued their collaboration with Church of Oak in 2022, building upon the progress made in 2021 with the completion of the immersive experience application and collection of farm data as part of the NGI Atlantic data marketplace project. The distilling process began in 2022 after the construction of the distillery in Monasterevin was finalized in 2021, with OriginTrail DKG serving as the backbone for ensuring trust and transparency for each bottle of whiskey, from grain to glass.

The supporter for all these solutions is the new version of nOS launched at the end of 2022, that allows siloed and poorly interoperable data be transformed into real world knowledge assets on the OriginTrail V6 network, where assets are made discoverable and verifiable. Check out the nOS demo that was presented by the Trace Labs team as part of the DKG V6 launch event.

GS1

In 2021, Trace Labs continued its engagement in the GS1 EPCIS and CBV 2.0 working group, contributing to the development and validation of the new supply chain event visibility standard. As predicted, the EPCIS 2.0 standard was finalized and officially released. In Q1 2022, Trace Labs deployed the first OriginTrail DKG solutions utilizing EPCIS 2.0, delivering enhanced supply chain transparency and traceability for clients.

Trace Labs has since partnered with several other organizations to implement the new GS1 standard. For example, Swiss Railways SBB worked with Trace Labs to improve the DKG-based GS1 EPCIS repository initiative. The initiative was enhanced with increased interoperability, additional features, and onboarding of more suppliers to drive network effects. The team deployed the AidTrust solution, which applies GS1 EPCIS 2.0 in the pharmaceutical industry to capture events along the supply chain of donated medicine, ultimately ensuring that donated products reach their intended patients as well as Trusted Bytes to apply GS1 EPCIS 2.0 for facilitating international trade by providing UK Customs with shipment risk profiles.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "Enterprise solutions of @TraceLabsHQ combine the power of @origin_trail #DKG & global data standards. @gs1 #EPCIS standard is used to enable event-based supply chain visibility & our solutions are one of the first to employ the latest EPCIS 2.0 standard in production setting!1/3 / Twitter"

Enterprise solutions of @TraceLabsHQ combine the power of @origin_trail #DKG & global data standards. @gs1 #EPCIS standard is used to enable event-based supply chain visibility & our solutions are one of the first to employ the latest EPCIS 2.0 standard in production setting!1/3

Trace Labs also added support for RDF/SPARQL and other semantic technologies in OriginTrail V6, further increasing the capabilities and flexibility of its technological stack for builders seeking standardized, open-source tools. This integration with GS1 standards allows for even more powerful data integration, standardization, and interoperability.

Trace Labs’ General Manager, Jurij Skornik, and BSI’s Global Healthcare Director, Courtney Soulsby, attended the GS1 Healthcare Conference where they discussed how Web3 technology and OriginTrail DKG-based solutions can be leveraged to address humanity’s biggest challenges, with even more power after the V6 release.

TheFSM

In 2022, TheFSM project entered its final year. Trace Labs’ impact on TheFSM platform was of great significance at this stage. The implementation of blockchain services was performed in a blockchain neutral approach, enabling utilization of different blockchains, and has been successfully tested in different environments. Trace Labs participated at several international events presenting and promoting the project. The team attended one of the largest Internal fair of agriculture and food in Central Europe whose exhibitors come from more than 30 different countries. Among others, the company organized a webinar at the beginning of the year, where founder and CTO Branimir Rakic presented how DKG works and its role in the TheFSM marketplace. This webinar enabled us to bring OriginTrail technology closer to the wider audience interested in the agri-tech sector, especially the food safety experts.

In October, TheFSM consortium held a plenary meeting in Athens, where Branimi Rakic presented the next and final steps of project implementation. As the project draws to a close in Jan 2023, many activities have intensified, especially in the final quarter of the year. Just before the completion of the project, the results of the mission to transform the European food certification market with the power of big data and the support of blockchain technology are very satisfactory.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "Last week @TheFSMeu🇪🇺consortium partners held a successful meeting where they discussed the next steps of project implementation. @BranaRakic showcased how will @origin_trail #DKG v6 transform #agri industry & boost food certification.More👉https://t.co/v6AbJBdyqK#Data2Assets pic.twitter.com/L5bb7Vv3Em / Twitter"

Last week @TheFSMeu🇪🇺consortium partners held a successful meeting where they discussed the next steps of project implementation. @BranaRakic showcased how will @origin_trail #DKG v6 transform #agri industry & boost food certification.More👉https://t.co/v6AbJBdyqK#Data2Assets pic.twitter.com/L5bb7Vv3Em

OriginTrail DKG: Decentralized and Scalable Knowledge Graph Economy Tools Supporting the “Trusted, traceable and transparent ontological knowledge on blockchain — ONTOCHAIN”

In 2022, OriginTrail DKG played a crucial role in the ONTOCHAIN project, which is funded by the European Union’s Next Generation Internet initiative. As part of the project, DKG-based Knowledge Economy tools were developed and integrated into the ONTOCHAIN technology stack, allowing for the creation and exchange of trustworthy, transparent, and traceable ontological knowledge. Trace Labs worked alongside other innovative developers, contributing to the ONTOCHAIN distributed storage, core protocols, and application protocols stack. During the ONTOCHAIN Summit held In June 2022 in Berlin, OriginTrail’s CTO Branimir Rakic showcased the Knowledge Tools to the ONTOCHAIN partners and community, and highlighted their capabilities and how they enable the creation and exchange of reliable, transparent and traceable ontological knowledge in a decentralized manner. As the ONTOCHAIN project ended last year, the capabilities of the OriginTrail DKG continue to be valuable for new ONTOCHAIN participants, enabling them to leverage the platform to transition towards a proven, trusted, semantic, human-centric, and privacy-by-design knowledge economy.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "[SNEAK PEEK] @origin_trail core team just completed an important milestone towards the knowledge economy, as the @ONTOCHAIN - supported knowledge tools development reaches completion and are ready for #v6 integration. Check out the demo video👉https://t.co/SdXccAHBXW pic.twitter.com/h5nCR1yzw0 / Twitter"

SNEAK PEEK] @origin_trail core team just completed an important milestone towards the knowledge economy, as the @ONTOCHAIN - supported knowledge tools development reaches completion and are ready for #v6 integration. Check out the demo video👉https://t.co/SdXccAHBXW pic.twitter.com/h5nCR1yzw0

Demeter

As part of the Demeter project, Trace Labs continued to collaborate closely with its consortium partner DunavNET, to enable trusted product passports for food products in poultry and wine supply chains utilizing the OriginTrail protocol, which is also supporting the Demeter platform interoperability. Dissemination activities were diverse and impactful. An article on trust and transparency of data in the agri-food supply chain was published, which explains how OriginTrail contributes to reshaping and building a more interoperable, data-driven, innovative, and sustainable European agri-food sector. Together with DunavNET, Trace Labs participated at Synergy Days, which was held during the SmartAgriHubs final event in Lisbon in early autumn 2022. As a proud employer of women, Trace Labs was invited to deliver a workshop, which addressed gender inequality in the agro sector.

Ekopakt

In 2022, Trace Labs achieved a significant milestone by successfully establishing a traceability model for organic beef in Slovenia as part of the EU-funded EKOPAKT project. The project’s primary focus was on developing a traceability framework that utilized the OriginTrail DKG for reliable data exchange and data integrity. In August 2022, the Trace Labs team presented a Provenance tool at the AGRA fair, demonstrating how data can be transformed into discoverable, verifiable, and valuable Knowledge Assets on the OriginTrail DKG. The Provenance tool and traceability model built on top of the OriginTrail DKG were presented at the final project conference, marking the culmination of the project activities. The successful integration of the Provenance tool with the OriginTrail DKG was met with interest and appreciation from attendees, highlighting the project’s impact and success.

Buildchain

In 2022, Trace Labs joined the EU-funded BUILDCHAIN project, which seeks to enhance efficiency, transparency, and trust within the construction industry and create a more sustainable built environment across the European Union. To achieve these goals, the project will utilize the capabilities of the OriginTrail DKG to develop new solutions for trusted data exchange and transparency. As part of the BUILDCHAIN project, Trace Labs will integrate the OriginTrail DKG with the EU Digital Building LogBook system. This integration will create a tamper-proof and decentralized knowledge base, promoting transparency and ensuring data integrity across the construction industry. By leveraging the DKG’s capabilities, Trace Labs aims to promote trust, transparency, efficiency, and sustainability in the construction domain and make a positive impact on the built environment.

Technology development

In 2022, we witnessed significant milestones in terms of technological development, including the deployment of the OriginTrail Parachain on Polkadot and the release of the latest version of the DKG network, V6. Please read on for further details.

Decentralized Knowledge Graph updates

In 2022, the OriginTrail network underwent significant advancements with the launch of the DKG V6 — a vastly more performant and versatile next generation Internet engine that ushered in a new knowledge economy era.

The launch of V6 was divided into three stages. The first stage involved the deployment of the V6 testnet, where developers could test and refine the new version before it was ready for public release. This stage was crucial in ensuring that V6 was stable and reliable before it was released to the broader network.

The second stage of the launch involved the release of the DKG V6 on the OriginTrail Parachain, where it was feature-locked and ready for full-scale deployment. This stage marked a significant milestone for the network, as it marked the completion of the development process and readiness of V6 for deployment. During this stage, V6 was feature-complete and ready for mass adoption by users and businesses.

Finally, the third and final stage involved the migration of the entire network to V6. This stage was carefully planned and executed to ensure a smooth transition from the old version to the new version. The migration process was designed to minimize any disruptions to the network’s operations and ensure that users could continue to access the network without any issues.

In July 2022, the OriginTrail team announced the completion of the second stage of the V6 launch. The new version had several key features, including an improved consensus mechanism that helped increase the network’s security and scalability. Additionally, the new smart contract layer allowed for more complex data processing and analysis, while the implementation of a decentralized identifier (DID) system enabled secure and verifiable data sharing.

The launch of the DKG V6 led to significant growth and adoption of the OriginTrail network. The enhanced security and scalability features of V6 made it more attractive to individuals and businesses. The addition of the smart contract layer and DID system opened up new possibilities for data processing and analysis, allowing businesses to derive insights and value from their data.

The successful launch event marked the release of the DKG V6 at the end of the year. At the event the team touched upon the global economy and trust challenges, and looked at how trusted knowledge will be grown within the OriginTrail ecosystem. At the event the team launched the newest version by creating the first asset on it and demonstrated the application of real world Knowledge Assets using the brand new Network Operating System (nOS) by igniting the creation of the first 40K Knowledge Assets on the network.

Overall, the launch of the OriginTrail V6 was a significant milestone for the network. As the network continues to grow and evolve, it is expected that the V6 will play a crucial role in its ongoing success and development.

Polkadot integration updates

In 2022, the DKG-tailored blockchain, OriginTrail Parachian was launched. For this to happen, the team first released a new, comprehensive whitepaper covering advancements to the OriginTrail ecosystem, specifically, those introduced by the OriginTrail Parachain. With the OriginTrail Parachain as a layer 1 network coming to life, the team also introduced a native OriginTrail Parachain token (OTP) — a utility asset that is not only used for blockchain gas fees and inclusive governance, but also enables a way to incentivise the growth of DKG usage.

To aid with contributions for the OriginTrail Parachain crowdloan, support was opened on platforms including Parallel, Bifrost, and Kraken. To support the success of the OriginTrail Parachain and the growth of the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph, it was announced that OTP (OriginTrail Parachain tokens) would be distributed to community members. The distribution to both v5 node runners and TRAC token holders was successfully completed.

The OriginTrail Parachain was officially confirmed as the winner of Polkadot’s 17th parachain auction on May 18th, 2022 and in early June OriginTrail successfully launched with its first genesis block being validated. This marked the beginning of a new era where AI-grade Knowledge Assets can be brought to Polkadot, and other Polkadot parachains can integrate the OriginTrail DKG with their blockchain networks.

A few months after the launch, Security Research Labs started executing their automated static and dynamic testing suite for the OriginTrail Parachain in an attempt to identify vulnerabilities with the implementation and we were happy to report that they completed the security review of the OriginTrail Parachain with no issues discovered. The number of blocks on the OriginTrail Parachain started growing fast and the year concluded with 1.4M blocks being validated.

In order to transfer TRAC tokens from the Ethereum blockchain to the OriginTrail Parachain on Polkadot, a “one-way Teleport” system was implemented, which was described in RFC-12 with 15 teleport batches set in place. At the end of 2022 10th teleport batch was completed.

After the RFC-12, also the RFC-13 was published discussing the proposed implementation of the TRAC token on the OriginTrail Parachain, a move that could provide significant benefits to the OriginTrail ecosystem. This implementation would result in a number of important improvements, including enhanced security, reduced transaction fees, and improved scalability. In addition, the implementation would enable OriginTrail to take advantage of Polkadot’s cross-chain interoperability, allowing for seamless interaction with other blockchain networks.

Key ODN adoption metrics

Exciting developments took place in the OriginTrail Ecosystem during 2022, leading up to the highly anticipated release of the OriginTrail V6 at the end of the year, first implemented on the OriginTrail Parachain on Polkadot. OriginTrail V6 is a major upgrade to the way the DKG functions, introducing new primitives such as Knowledge Assets and UALs, and runs as a separate network alongside OriginTrail V5.

This requires a rethinking of how network activity and adoption are measured. Starting with 2023, some of the existing metrics will be retired and replaced with more relevant ones focusing on the OriginTrail V6, for example the number of Knowledge Assets on the OriginTrail DKG. As a result, the current metrics show a slowdown in activity on the OriginTrail V5 in the second half of 2022, as network activity transitions to the more powerful OriginTrail V6.

Total graph size (TGS)

Total Graph Size (TGS) is a fundamental metric developed to assess the expansion of the OriginTrail Decentralized Network. It quantifies the volume of knowledge accommodated by the Decentralized Knowledge Graph by integrating two crucial elements of a knowledge graph: data objects and their interconnections. In more precise terms, it combines the aggregate number of graph vertices (alternatively termed as graph cardinality or the order of the graph) and the complete number of graph edges (known in graph theory as graph size) of a decentralized graph. The term vertices encompass all the distinct objects appended to the graph (e.g., identifiers or specific details of supply chain events, products, attestations, locations, and certificates), while edges signify the connections among these objects.

In 2022 we observed a steep growth in TGS, with an increase from 116 million to over 248 million TGS mark. TGS is one of the metrics that remains relevant as we fully transition to OriginTrail V6, and we expect to see accelerated growth due to the enhancement in network efficiencies and expanded usability of the technology in a variety of industries.

Other metrics — New publishings on the DKG

The number of publishings on the V5 network experienced a decline during the latter part of 2022 as network activity transitions to the new and vastly more powerful OriginTrail V6. This metric will be retired starting 2023 and replaced by a more relevant one to measure activity on the OriginTrail V6.

Other metrics — TRAC Staked

Due to the OriginTrail V6 release and related winding down in activity on the V5 network, there was a decrease in total TRAC staked in 2022, starting the year at 11.42 million and ending at 4.04 million. However, with 100 million TRAC teleported to the OriginTrail Parachain and ready to power the V6 network with millions of Knowledge Assets, as well as the upcoming V6 staking capabilities, we expect this metric to increase significantly going forward.

Marketing & communications DKG version 6

The year began with the launch of stage 1 of the version 6 Decentralized Knowledge Graph Beta. Notably, V6 represents the biggest advancement to the network since its inception. This includes performative improvements as well as new, Web3-focussed, functionality which will enable the DKG to act as the central building block for all future Web3 activities.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "🔔ICYMI🔔 Stage 1 of v6 Beta has now officially been live for one week & we couldn't be happier with how it's progressing. Enormous amounts of useful data is being generated & soon, we will launch our bounty program to accelerate testing & growth🌐 👉 https://t.co/kfRi5rehsF / Twitter"

🔔ICYMI🔔 Stage 1 of v6 Beta has now officially been live for one week & we couldn't be happier with how it's progressing. Enormous amounts of useful data is being generated & soon, we will launch our bounty program to accelerate testing & growth🌐 👉 https://t.co/kfRi5rehsF

To support the launch of V6 Beta launch, the OriginTrail V6 bounty program went live soon after. This bounty program focused on hardening and verifying the technological readiness of the latest version of the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG), including verifying a smooth transition from the V5 mainnet network. The program concluded at the end of December after the V6 officially launched.

In February, the OriginTrail website was comprehensively revamped to include up to date information about V6 as well as the ecosystem in general.

Shortly after that, the V6 Telemetry Hub was launched to support the launch of V6. This hub is a dashboard which shows telemetry measurements of the V6 nodes and is crucial in providing valuable feedback for new functionalities being launched with V6. Additionally, this Hub was integrated within the V6 Bounty Program.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "As of TODAY you can win $TRAC rewards by running v6 nodes & go a step further by contributing on Github!Currently, the v6 network is able to process up to 68.000 publishings in one day, totalled at 15.6M. And we only go🆙 from here.👉https://t.co/e0t35nZLMW#TraceON pic.twitter.com/hX2gOSvtQH / Twitter"

As of TODAY you can win $TRAC rewards by running v6 nodes & go a step further by contributing on Github!Currently, the v6 network is able to process up to 68.000 publishings in one day, totalled at 15.6M. And we only go🆙 from here.👉https://t.co/e0t35nZLMW#TraceON pic.twitter.com/hX2gOSvtQH

As part of the Beta testing, the OriginTrail DKG registered a new record of 156K publishings in just 24 hours. This represented a 500x improvement over the previous highest seen number on previous DKG versions.

In order to assist with ease of development and ecosystem use, the OriginTrail SDK was added to the DigitalOcean marketplace with a 1-click V6 node setup.

In mid June the OriginTrail roadmap was updated to reflect the move from Turing to Metcalfe phase. This update focussed on the integration of the OriginTrail Parachain to the DKG as well as the new primitives being introduced by V6 and the resultant network effects already taking charge throughout the ecosystem.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "🚨ROADMAP UPDATE🚨 Launch of @origin_trail DKG v6 and @OT_Parachain advancements are moving us from current Turing to the Metcalfe phase!Learn about all of the upcoming hot Summer updates as we make #web3 assets discoverable, verifiable & valuable👇https://t.co/Xbg1GetAIw pic.twitter.com/7d5TSNWo6r / Twitter"

🚨ROADMAP UPDATE🚨 Launch of @origin_trail DKG v6 and @OT_Parachain advancements are moving us from current Turing to the Metcalfe phase!Learn about all of the upcoming hot Summer updates as we make #web3 assets discoverable, verifiable & valuable👇https://t.co/Xbg1GetAIw pic.twitter.com/7d5TSNWo6r

Coinciding with the OriginTrail Parachain launch, the Magnify solution was unveiled. Powered by the OriginTrail DKG, Magnify is the first of its kind Web3 explorer which enhances the capability to discover, verify, and supercharge assets.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "Ever wondered how would @Google for #Web3 look like? We proudly present the new #Magnify app which now allows you to discover the world of #Web3 assets created on the @origin_trail Decentralized Knowledge Graph! Join #ProjectMagnify private beta👉https://t.co/FAght1X86K pic.twitter.com/NrOasoh6Ge / Twitter"

Ever wondered how would @Google for #Web3 look like? We proudly present the new #Magnify app which now allows you to discover the world of #Web3 assets created on the @origin_trail Decentralized Knowledge Graph! Join #ProjectMagnify private beta👉https://t.co/FAght1X86K pic.twitter.com/NrOasoh6Ge

All the activities throughout 2022 drove to the launch of OriginTrail V6, happened in mid December, which is a vastly more performant and versatile next generation Internet engine that makes all Knowledge Assets discoverable and verifiable across Web3, driving transparency and trust from supply chains to consumer goods or digital collectibles. To mark this important milestone the team organized the V6 launch event, where the OriginTrail core developers launched the newest version of OriginTrail network by creating the first asset on it, presented the newest version of Network Operating System (nOS) and introduced a revamped roadmap for years ahead.

To conclude the year on a high note, the team launched the Houston app, which will help OriginTrail V6 node runners to successfully manage their nodes.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "We are excited to announce the release of the brand new #Houston app for enhanced management of your OriginTrail #V6 node! This version allows you to:📊monitor network growth🪙manage $TRAC stake & node keys🏎️optimize tokenomics settings Launch here: https://t.co/75dfV9rNAI pic.twitter.com/zNe2tF8MAf / Twitter"

We are excited to announce the release of the brand new #Houston app for enhanced management of your OriginTrail #V6 node! This version allows you to:📊monitor network growth🪙manage $TRAC stake & node keys🏎️optimize tokenomics settings Launch here: https://t.co/75dfV9rNAI pic.twitter.com/zNe2tF8MAf

OriginTrail Parachain

In early April 2022, a new, comprehensive whitepaper was released. This whitepaper covers advancements to the OriginTrail ecosystem, specifically, those introduced by the OriginTrail Parachain and how the new synergistic two-token model will boost utility and network effects.

Shortly after the new whitepaper was released, contributions for the OriginTrail Parachain crowdloan opened. To aid with contributions, support was opened on platforms including Parallel, Bifrost, and Kraken.

To support the success of the OriginTrail Parachain and the growth of the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph, it was announced that OTP (OriginTrail Parachain tokens) would be distributed to community members. The distribution to both V5 node runners and TRAC token holders had been successfully completed.

On the 18th of May it was officially confirmed that the OriginTrail Parachain successfully won Polkadot’s 17th parachain auction. Also Polkadot tweeted their congratulations for our win.

OriginTrail Parachain ⛓️ Polkadot Hub for #DKG on Twitter: "We're thrilled to announce that @OT_Parachain won @Polkadot auction slot #17!🥳Thank you for supporting deployment of the blockchain tailored to bring scalability & network effects across @origin_trail ecosystem. The summer is getting hot, better get yourself a cold drink🍸 pic.twitter.com/lrwOevw6Yr / Twitter"

We're thrilled to announce that @OT_Parachain won @Polkadot auction slot #17!🥳Thank you for supporting deployment of the blockchain tailored to bring scalability & network effects across @origin_trail ecosystem. The summer is getting hot, better get yourself a cold drink🍸 pic.twitter.com/lrwOevw6Yr

The OriginTrail Parachain successfully launched and its genesis block was validated in early June. This launch marked the beginning of the specifically DKG tailored blockchain which is bringing AI-grade Knowledge Assets to Polkadot and their parachains, which will boost Network effects.

OriginTrail Parachain ⛓️ Polkadot Hub for #DKG on Twitter: "[ANNOUNCEMENT] @OT_Parachain has launched & the genesis block has just been validated🥳 "Google-like" capabilities for #web3 are being enabled & with this network effects are about to be boosted for the entire @Polkadot ecosystem⛓️ See what comes next👉https://t.co/qrILYmKsHR pic.twitter.com/3wa4CIKcpw / Twitter"

ANNOUNCEMENT] @OT_Parachain has launched & the genesis block has just been validated🥳 "Google-like" capabilities for #web3 are being enabled & with this network effects are about to be boosted for the entire @Polkadot ecosystem⛓️ See what comes next👉https://t.co/qrILYmKsHR pic.twitter.com/3wa4CIKcpw

Events

In February 2022, the core OriginTrail team attended the leading Ethereum event; ETHDenver. Here, OriginTrail CTO and Founder, Branimir Rakic, conducted a workshop focused on building asset knowledge graphs — creating new and extending existing Web3 assets with powerful, verifiable link data structures using the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG).

Whilst at ETHDenver, Founders Branimir Rakic and Ziga Drev connected with community members Famous Amos and Guinnessstache to conduct a special fireside chat related to V6 of the DKG as well as the coming Polkadot integrations.

In Mid March, Trace Labs’ partners, BSI were invited to the Pharma Supply Chain & Security World 2022 conference, where Courtney Soulsby — BSI Global Healthcare Director — presented AidTrust to a global audience from pharmaceutical industry and showcased how we ensure that the medicines reach the end patients with the help of the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "🏥OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph in the spotlight at the 2022 Pharma Supply Chain & Security World 2022 conference as Courtney Soulsby, Senior Development Director for Healthcare at @BSI_UK presented AidTrust to a global audience from the #pharma industry today.🧵 pic.twitter.com/553v4PaaOY / Twitter"

🏥OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph in the spotlight at the 2022 Pharma Supply Chain & Security World 2022 conference as Courtney Soulsby, Senior Development Director for Healthcare at @BSI_UK presented AidTrust to a global audience from the #pharma industry today.🧵 pic.twitter.com/553v4PaaOY

During the AmsterDOT conference, organized by several teams within the Polkadot Ecosystem, Founders Tomaz Levak and Branimir Rakic were invited to attend as well as participate. Branimir conducted a workshop and introduction to the DKG as well as the OriginTrail Parachain and Tomaz delivered a keynote address about the OriginTrail ecosystem.

OriginTrail proudly sponsored the leading global Knowledge Graph Conference held in early May. In addition to the core team attending and presenting on the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph and network effects, two key advisors were invited as attendees and presenters. This included Dan Purtell, Director of Innovation at BSI, as well as Ethernet inventor, Dr Bob Metcalfe. See below for all of the highlights from this prestigious event and the talk recording.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "On Tuesday, the @origin_trail team headlined the @KGConference along with our core advisors Bob Metcalfe & Dan Purtell- @BSI_UK! The discussion highlighted how the #DKG is creating network effects in #web3 through connecting & elevating valuable assets⛓️ Some key takeaways👇 pic.twitter.com/Vs17UxnEHR / Twitter"

On Tuesday, the @origin_trail team headlined the @KGConference along with our core advisors Bob Metcalfe & Dan Purtell- @BSI_UK! The discussion highlighted how the #DKG is creating network effects in #web3 through connecting & elevating valuable assets⛓️ Some key takeaways👇 pic.twitter.com/Vs17UxnEHR

Žiga Drev on Twitter: "We (the @origin_trail core team) are honored to be in company of @RobertMMetcalfe & @dlmcguinness - pioneers of the Internet and knowledge graph technologies. https://t.co/QcKgr9UUdy / Twitter"

We (the @origin_trail core team) are honored to be in company of @RobertMMetcalfe & @dlmcguinness - pioneers of the Internet and knowledge graph technologies. https://t.co/QcKgr9UUdy

Žiga Drev on Twitter: "Web1 (represented by the Bob Metcalfe aka the "father of Ethernet") and #Web3 builders (@origin_trail team) meeting to discuss the future of Internet... probably nothing. See you tomorrow in Brooklyn? 👉https://t.co/4lHyUNc6ni pic.twitter.com/tnPyEBOV5P / Twitter"

Web1 (represented by the Bob Metcalfe aka the "father of Ethernet") and #Web3 builders (@origin_trail team) meeting to discuss the future of Internet... probably nothing. See you tomorrow in Brooklyn? 👉https://t.co/4lHyUNc6ni pic.twitter.com/tnPyEBOV5P

Later in the day after OriginTrail keynote speeches at KGC, the team organized a private event in Brooklyn to discuss Web3 and the future of the Internet. Both Dan Purtell and Bob Metcalfe joined as special guests.

Coinciding with the WEF Davos event in May, Polkadot held an adjacent conference which showcased the real-world utility of blockchain technology. As a leader in this regard, OriginTrail team was invited to attend and host multiple presentations. Notably, the team was also joined by Courtney Soulsby, Global Director, Healthcare at BSI, who together with Founder Ziga Drev, outlined the enormous strides the AidTrust solution is achieving in helping to deliver safe and transparent medicine to the worlds’ most vulnerable. Additionally, Ziga Drev joined a roundtable discussion with other Polkadot projects, such as Robonomics and Bit.Country, where they discussed how any blockchain solution can be built with Polkadot. Also, OriginTrail CTO Branimir Rakic held a presentation on connecting assets on a global scale using the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "Tomorrow at 10am CEST founder @DrevZiga will be discussing how @OT_Parachain leverages the unique @Polkadot architecture to make physical & digital assets discoverable, verifiable & valuable⚡️If you're in @Davos make sure to drop by or tune in for a live stream from @Polkadot👇 https://t.co/vIERoLP5lS pic.twitter.com/GjJjttIMit / Twitter"

Tomorrow at 10am CEST founder @DrevZiga will be discussing how @OT_Parachain leverages the unique @Polkadot architecture to make physical & digital assets discoverable, verifiable & valuable⚡️If you're in @Davos make sure to drop by or tune in for a live stream from @Polkadot👇 https://t.co/vIERoLP5lS pic.twitter.com/GjJjttIMit

After the Polkadot at Davos conference, OriginTrail CTO Branimir Rakic joined the Ontochain Summit as part of the EU-funded Ontochain project where he discussed the “Google of Web3” being built on and powered by the Decentralized Knowledge Graph. Click here to read the key takeaways from his talk.

The next event that the OriginTrail team attended was Polkadot Decoded, the worlds’ largest Polkadot conference. Here, Branimir Rakic discussed the OriginTrail DKG from visionary and technical perspectives. You can check the Tweet thread from the event and the talk recording.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "The "Google" of Web3 on @Polkadot is ON! @BranaRakic leads us through the evolution of @origin_trail ecosystem & how the latest achievements like @OT_Parachain launch & #DKG V6 will drive discoverability, verifiability & value of humanity's most important assets.🧵/1 pic.twitter.com/4yEEzmB7YQ / Twitter"

The "Google" of Web3 on @Polkadot is ON! @BranaRakic leads us through the evolution of @origin_trail ecosystem & how the latest achievements like @OT_Parachain launch & #DKG V6 will drive discoverability, verifiability & value of humanity's most important assets.🧵/1 pic.twitter.com/4yEEzmB7YQ

In July 2022, Polkadot organized the Polkadot Blockchain Academy, which lasted for four weeks. One of our Web3 engineers attended the academy and had the opportunity to learn more about cryptography directly from Gavin Wood, the founder of Polkadot. Additionally, Branimir Rakic, founder and CTO of OriginTrail, delivered a lecture at the academy. The insights gained from both the lecture and the academy greatly accelerated the development of the OriginTrail Parachain.

OriginTrail Developers on Twitter: "Yesterday at the @Polkadot Blockchain Academy, @origin_trail CTO @BranaRakic led future Substrate engineers through an intro to the "Google of #Web3" on @Polkadot🎙️ With the upcoming launch of v6 on the @OT_Parachain we are supercharging the #DKG & unlocking even more utility🔓 pic.twitter.com/eIkgnCXHjh / Twitter"

Yesterday at the @Polkadot Blockchain Academy, @origin_trail CTO @BranaRakic led future Substrate engineers through an intro to the "Google of #Web3" on @Polkadot🎙️ With the upcoming launch of v6 on the @OT_Parachain we are supercharging the #DKG & unlocking even more utility🔓 pic.twitter.com/eIkgnCXHjh

OriginTrail, along with other Parachain teams, had the opportunity to gather in the UK at the Polkadot Parachain Technical Summit. This event was an excellent opportunity for the teams to discuss and share their future development plans for the OriginTrail Parachain and other parachains. The summit was a great success, and the OriginTrail team was excited about the new opportunities that have arisen from the discussions and collaborations at the event.

OriginTrail Parachain ⛓️ Polkadot Hub for #DKG on Twitter: "Recently, @origin_trail & the rest of Parachain teams gathered in the UK at the @Polkadot Parachain Technical Summit. The discussion included future development plans for @OT_Parachain & other projects, closer ways of cooperation & exchange of experiences. #StayTuned for more. pic.twitter.com/xIyG8k6rbc / Twitter"

Recently, @origin_trail & the rest of Parachain teams gathered in the UK at the @Polkadot Parachain Technical Summit. The discussion included future development plans for @OT_Parachain & other projects, closer ways of cooperation & exchange of experiences. #StayTuned for more. pic.twitter.com/xIyG8k6rbc

At the beginning of September Branimir Rakic joined KILT Protocol, Astar Network, Coinbase, IBM & other teams at Data Natives Conference for a keynote talk on how knowledge graphs and blockchains enable a data economy in Web3.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "[HAPPENING NOW] @BranaRakic is on stage at the @DataNativesCon discussing how @origin_trail #DKG & @OT_Parachain enable a new data economy in #Web3.This is all #magnified with the "Google-like" capabilities @origin_trail owns & will be advanced once the v6 launches on mainnet! pic.twitter.com/9XNbc2MKK8 / Twitter"

HAPPENING NOW] @BranaRakic is on stage at the @DataNativesCon discussing how @origin_trail #DKG & @OT_Parachain enable a new data economy in #Web3.This is all #magnified with the "Google-like" capabilities @origin_trail owns & will be advanced once the v6 launches on mainnet! pic.twitter.com/9XNbc2MKK8

At the end of the month, OriginTrail was one of the sponsors at the World Future Verse Conference, where Jurij Skornik, Trace Labs General Manager, presented various solutions for Web3 that are based on the OriginTrail technology and how can any data be turned into Knowledge Assets secured on the DKG.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "Discoverability & verifiability of physical & digital assets is possible with @origin_trail #DKG.Watch @JureSkornik's keynote talk recording at World Future Verse Conf to discover real-world use cases for #Web3 assets on @origin_trail infrastructure👉https://t.co/JcWIbN1Rj31/2 pic.twitter.com/jUYabiKvQ5 / Twitter"

Discoverability & verifiability of physical & digital assets is possible with @origin_trail #DKG.Watch @JureSkornik's keynote talk recording at World Future Verse Conf to discover real-world use cases for #Web3 assets on @origin_trail infrastructure👉https://t.co/JcWIbN1Rj31/2 pic.twitter.com/jUYabiKvQ5

Trace Labs’ General Manager Jurij Skornik and BSI’s Global Healthcare Director Courtney Soulsby attended the GS1 Healthcare Conference where they discussed how Web3 technology and OriginTrail DKG-based solutions can be leveraged to address humanity’s biggest challenges, with even more power after the V6 release.

Jurij Skornik on Twitter: "Just arrived at the @gs1 Healthcare Conference in Paris together with @BSI_UK's @cefostr. We have a lot of interesting discussions on using @origin_trail #DKG to improve the Healthcare industry planned in the next two days! 👀 pic.twitter.com/OGR5I3HKDq / Twitter"

Just arrived at the @gs1 Healthcare Conference in Paris together with @BSI_UK's @cefostr. We have a lot of interesting discussions on using @origin_trail #DKG to improve the Healthcare industry planned in the next two days! 👀 pic.twitter.com/OGR5I3HKDq

Jurij Skornik on Twitter: "Closing the day at the @gs1 Healthcare Conference with @cefostr and the @GS1Slovenija team, exploring new areas & opportunities in healthcare to benefit from @origin_trail #DKG. Great day, looking forward to tomorrow!😎#GS1HealthcareConference2022 pic.twitter.com/PHdSeffAnq / Twitter"

Closing the day at the @gs1 Healthcare Conference with @cefostr and the @GS1Slovenija team, exploring new areas & opportunities in healthcare to benefit from @origin_trail #DKG. Great day, looking forward to tomorrow!😎#GS1HealthcareConference2022 pic.twitter.com/PHdSeffAnq

The last event OriginTrail took part in was the 5th annual Talents Meetup “Back to Future” where OriginTrail CTO Branimir Rakic held a speech about the future of Internet and how OriginTrail tackles real-world siloed and poorly interoperable data and turns them into knowledge assets secured on the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph.

Interviews, AMAs & podcasts

To best prepare for the significant technological advancements that occurred in 2022, OriginTrail held a Developer and Community call in the early part of 2021. The call covered a range of topics, including node running, development, and new releases.

As we came closer to the launch of the OriginTrail Parachain the team held an AMA which discussed the upcoming auction process, the new synergist two-token ecosystem model, and the exciting utility being unlocked.

Towards the end of May the team was invited onto the Relay Chain Podcast hosted by Parity team members — the core builders of Polkadot and Kusama. Here, the host Jorrin Bruns discussed with OriginTrail founders Tomaz Levak and Ziga Drev everything related to the OriginTrail Parachain with a focus on the real-world adoption of the technology and how it is transforming global industries.

OriginTrail Parachain ⛓️ Polkadot Hub for #DKG on Twitter: "LISTEN UP: After winning the @Polkadot auction, @DrevZiga & @TomazOT were invited to the @RelayChain podcast, hosted by @JorrinB. It's all about how @origin_trail enables #Web3 builders to discover, verify & add value to assets ⚡️ Tune in here👇https://t.co/D5BZtlGVhn1/2 pic.twitter.com/C9ANmfLGtY / Twitter"

LISTEN UP: After winning the @Polkadot auction, @DrevZiga & @TomazOT were invited to the @RelayChain podcast, hosted by @JorrinB. It's all about how @origin_trail enables #Web3 builders to discover, verify & add value to assets ⚡️ Tune in here👇https://t.co/D5BZtlGVhn1/2 pic.twitter.com/C9ANmfLGtY

During mid-June, OriginTrail founders Ziga Drev and Tomaz Levak met with the Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets Research at BTIG to discuss the progress of the OriginTrail ecosystem. A few months later, both were invited to a BTIG-hosted event where they talked about the latest developments in the OriginTrail ecosystem, including the OriginTrail Parachain and the milestones achieved with the DKG V6.

Žiga Drev on Twitter: "It was a pleasure to share the most recent progress updates about @origin_trail & @OT_Parachain with @PalmerBTIG of #BTIG and the investor community. pic.twitter.com/hseBiN3nWn / Twitter"

It was a pleasure to share the most recent progress updates about @origin_trail & @OT_Parachain with @PalmerBTIG of #BTIG and the investor community. pic.twitter.com/hseBiN3nWn

At the end of June Branimir Rakic joined other Polkadot Parachains winners at Twitter Spaces where they discussed each project, presented future development plans and answered a few questions from the listeners. The event host was the Litentry team. Branimir presented OriginTrail’s real world adoption and solutions, talked about Web3 assets and how we can derive value from them, and discussed development plans for the OriginTrail Parachain.

In mid July, Branimir was interviewed by Enjin team, where he discussed the potential of Web3 technology, specifically OriginTrail’s capabilities to address inefficiencies and bad actors in delivering aid referring to the AidTrust solution and to revolutionize various other industries. You can check the interview here.

Shortly after the interview was published, the OriginTrail team organized an AMA on all things V6 and OriginTrail Parachain where they discussed happenings within the OriginTrail ecosystem, especially everything related to the DKG V6 and the OriginTrail Parachain. They outlined the ongoing adoption of the DKG, the upcoming bridge that will be used to bridge TRAC (OriginTrail token) to OTP (OriginTrail Parachain token), the expanded tokenomics, plans for migration of DKG version 5 to version 6, the new Magnify project, and much more. The AMA was organized as a joint effort with community members Famous Amous and Guinnessstache.

After publishing RFC-12, the team organized an AMA to discuss the TRAC teleport process from Ethereum to the OriginTrail Parachain on Polkadot, with the goal of helping the community understand the teleport process.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "Real-World adoption on @Polkadot is ON! Join @origin_trail founders @DrevZiga, @TomazOT & @BranaRakic next Tuesday at 5pm CEST while they discuss teleporting $TRAC to @OT_Parachain and what mainstream applications will transform the #Web3. 👉https://t.co/UbwSJ5bDbf pic.twitter.com/cqg5OYhJTg / Twitter"

Real-World adoption on @Polkadot is ON! Join @origin_trail founders @DrevZiga, @TomazOT & @BranaRakic next Tuesday at 5pm CEST while they discuss teleporting $TRAC to @OT_Parachain and what mainstream applications will transform the #Web3. 👉https://t.co/UbwSJ5bDbf pic.twitter.com/cqg5OYhJTg

The team held a few chat AMAs to address any questions the community had about V6, and the answers can still be found in Discord channels by scrolling through the chat history.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "[REMINDER] Our @OriginTrailDev will be replying to community's tech questions TODAY at "v6 Status Update" AMA in Discord! Join us IN AN HOUR to get the newest info on @origin_trail #DKG v6 developments or if you have other tech-related questions👇https://t.co/WnmYREcpFZ pic.twitter.com/53IxKbTLNM / Twitter"

REMINDER] Our @OriginTrailDev will be replying to community's tech questions TODAY at "v6 Status Update" AMA in Discord! Join us IN AN HOUR to get the newest info on @origin_trail #DKG v6 developments or if you have other tech-related questions👇https://t.co/WnmYREcpFZ pic.twitter.com/53IxKbTLNM

OriginTrail on Twitter: "This Friday at 4pm CET, @OriginTrailDev will host✍️a chat AMA & answer your questions on @origin_trail DKG #V6. Join us in #v6-tech-discussion Discord channel to get the latest #V6 status update👉 https://t.co/5rAtdbgIgH Share your questions by Friday👉https://t.co/ka2inzkqu1 pic.twitter.com/dmbeH5E0DF / Twitter"

This Friday at 4pm CET, @OriginTrailDev will host✍️a chat AMA & answer your questions on @origin_trail DKG #V6. Join us in #v6-tech-discussion Discord channel to get the latest #V6 status update👉 https://t.co/5rAtdbgIgH Share your questions by Friday👉https://t.co/ka2inzkqu1 pic.twitter.com/dmbeH5E0DF

The team regularly participates as a guest in AMAs with various communities, including the official Polkadot community’s monthly calls, as well as The Kusamarian, PolkaWorld and Polkadotters. During these sessions, the team presents updates on the ecosystem, important milestones, and projects such as Project Magnify, and responds to questions from these communities.

Polkadot on Twitter: "1/ Missed Polkadot Community Calls this month? Hear from @MoonbeamNetwork, @origin_trail, @EquilibriumDeFi, @DarwiniaNetwork, @bifrost_finance, @t3rn_io, Council member @nachortti, & Head ambassador @zoemcfox.📺YT: https://t.co/Wz8Cu4bb73 🧵For details https://t.co/GeNfvTuvWm / Twitter"

1/ Missed Polkadot Community Calls this month? Hear from @MoonbeamNetwork, @origin_trail, @EquilibriumDeFi, @DarwiniaNetwork, @bifrost_finance, @t3rn_io, Council member @nachortti, & Head ambassador @zoemcfox.📺YT: https://t.co/Wz8Cu4bb73 🧵For details https://t.co/GeNfvTuvWm

Towards the end of the year Branimir Rakic was interviewed by LearningSPARQL, where he shared insights on building with OriginTrail, different formats and payment mechanisms for publishing data on the DKG, and the connections between OriginTrail and W3C standards.

We wrapped up the year with Žiga Drev being invited to a short AMA with the DotSama community in which he spoke about the achievements in the OriginTrail ecosystem in 2022. Click here to hear a few important milestones we achieved.

OriginTrail in the news

During the first half of 2022 OriginTrail was featured in several news pieces. One of them was the new BTIG’s institutional Fintech Report, in which it was discussed how OriginTrail brings adoption to Web3 by making assets discoverable, verifiable and valuable. The authors touched upon the launch of the OriginTrail Parachain and why this milestone is important for the expansion of the OriginTrail ecosystem, as well as enhanced network effects with the launch of OriginTrail V6. The network effects are formulated in Metcalfe’s Law, whose formulator is Trace Labs’ advisor Dr. Bob Metcalfe.

The OriginTrail team invited Dr. Bob Metcalfe to join us for the keynote speech at the Knowledge Graph Conference 2022 (KGC), the result of which were 2 articles published. The first one was about Dr. Mercalfe discussing how Web3 will have all kinds of network effects and that “knowledge graphs can go a lot further if they are decentralized, for which the key is connectivity”.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: ""The basic idea is that while "Layer 1" technologies of blockchains authenticate items, the "Layer 2" technology of the @origin_trail's Distributed knowledge Graph lets you query & interact with things that have been authenticated." @TiernanRayTech @ZDNethttps://t.co/8SvCFJSsqZ / Twitter"

"The basic idea is that while "Layer 1" technologies of blockchains authenticate items, the "Layer 2" technology of the @origin_trail's Distributed knowledge Graph lets you query & interact with things that have been authenticated." @TiernanRayTech @ZDNethttps://t.co/8SvCFJSsqZ

The second article that was published as the result of OriginTrail’s speeches at the KGC 2022 was on the topic of social media and a decentralized problem they have. The databases should not be in possession of a particular subject or a company, but should be decentralized, which is what OriginTrail is working on.

Jurij Skornik on Twitter: ""What is more likely to happen is that people become less concerned with who validates their real names and more concerned with their assets, the assets identified by the DKG and Web3" - A great write up by @TiernanRayTech on the future that @origin_trail #DKG can enable! https://t.co/8oSzwAgOc1 / Twitter"

"What is more likely to happen is that people become less concerned with who validates their real names and more concerned with their assets, the assets identified by the DKG and Web3" - A great write up by @TiernanRayTech on the future that @origin_trail #DKG can enable! https://t.co/8oSzwAgOc1

OriginTrail ecosystem was not getting traction only in the news, but also on social media, where we received a new community on CoinMarketCap Community with the inaugural opening of a new account. Shortly after commencing the CMC Community we fulfilled the requirements to receive the verified badge and were rewarded by CoinMarketCap to be one of the top 10 projects by engagement growth. In addition to receiving the CMC community verified badge, we also obtained verified badges for the official OriginTrail and Trace Labs Twitter accounts, as well as verification for the OriginTrail official Telegram chat.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "Throughout 2022 the @origin_trail community has grown enormously. The proof of this is also the community we have established recently on @CoinMarketCap, which is growing day by day!Together we are stronger! #TraceON https://t.co/d86ZXmM3cD / Twitter"

Throughout 2022 the @origin_trail community has grown enormously. The proof of this is also the community we have established recently on @CoinMarketCap, which is growing day by day!Together we are stronger! #TraceON https://t.co/d86ZXmM3cD

Trace Labs gained recognition in the Interface Magazine for its partnership with BSI and the joint efforts to develop solutions leveraging OriginTrail DKG. Some of these solutions include SCAN for securing security audits of over 21.000 factories that are stored in SCAN’s database, Training certificates solution, AidTrust for donated medicines, and more.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "Thanks for sharing @theinterfacemag! Read more about the flagship @origin_trail Decentralized Knowledge Graph and how it's implemented together with @BSI_UK to advance world-class partners' businesses globally! https://t.co/YHx0brHGCb pic.twitter.com/WTQJlZ3Tf5 / Twitter"

Thanks for sharing @theinterfacemag! Read more about the flagship @origin_trail Decentralized Knowledge Graph and how it's implemented together with @BSI_UK to advance world-class partners' businesses globally! https://t.co/YHx0brHGCb pic.twitter.com/WTQJlZ3Tf5

Shortly after the article release, the team held the first meeting of the year with their advisors discussing the future plans for OriginTrail. Further on, the whole Trace Labs’ advisory board was revealed.

Žiga Drev on Twitter: "A sneak peek at the most recent core @origin_trail team advisory board meeting with a stellar crew in Internet and #Web3 space.Bob Metcalfe, @gregkidd, @jadutwit, @aaranged & Dan Purtell give this mission wings⭐️Can't sit still until @TraceLabsHQ's exciting release next week! pic.twitter.com/jiGEF2htE8 / Twitter"

A sneak peek at the most recent core @origin_trail team advisory board meeting with a stellar crew in Internet and #Web3 space.Bob Metcalfe, @gregkidd, @jadutwit, @aaranged & Dan Purtell give this mission wings⭐️Can't sit still until @TraceLabsHQ's exciting release next week! pic.twitter.com/jiGEF2htE8

After the advisory board revelation, the Trace Labs website was launched with revamped content connected to building a next generation internet with Web3 technology.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "We couldn't be more thrilled to launch our new & vastly improved website🌐 Explore how we are building the next generation of the Internet with #Web3 tech based on the @origin_trail Decentralized Knowledge Graph, together with world-class partners! 👉 https://t.co/MYUJl8bsb0 pic.twitter.com/6UoqvidugB / Twitter"

We couldn't be more thrilled to launch our new & vastly improved website🌐 Explore how we are building the next generation of the Internet with #Web3 tech based on the @origin_trail Decentralized Knowledge Graph, together with world-class partners! 👉 https://t.co/MYUJl8bsb0 pic.twitter.com/6UoqvidugB

One year after the Innovate UK project started, BSI published a blog post showcasing how OriginTrail DKG is used to facilitate international trade of goods crossing borders and digitize UK’s fresh produce supply chains.

Trace Labs - core OriginTrail team *Hiring now* on Twitter: "One year into the @innovateuk Trusted Bytes project @TraceLabsHQ & @BSI_UK demonstrated how @origin_trail #DKG can be used to facilitate international trade, streamline UK's fresh produce supply chains, & ultimately increase food security.Find out how 👇https://t.co/RQVhBEcAnJ pic.twitter.com/fkmhIkEO43 / Twitter"

One year into the @innovateuk Trusted Bytes project @TraceLabsHQ & @BSI_UK demonstrated how @origin_trail #DKG can be used to facilitate international trade, streamline UK's fresh produce supply chains, & ultimately increase food security.Find out how 👇https://t.co/RQVhBEcAnJ pic.twitter.com/fkmhIkEO43

Thankfully in 2022 less Covid-19 restrictions were put in place, which allowed the core OriginTrail developers to meet again in person on two company gatherings after a few years of the team being completely decentralized and waving to each other only on video calls. Both company gatherings were successful and led to achieving great milestones, such as the launch of the OriginTrail Parachain and continuous preparations of V6 mainnet launch.

Žiga Drev on Twitter: "The global @TraceLabsHQ team - core @origin_trail devs meeting live for the first since the COVID-19 outbreak 🤩 @OT_Parachain, #V6, and global adoption of #Web3 tech tackled here by all these marvellous minds 🦄 pic.twitter.com/JZGAOVX9O4 / Twitter"

The global @TraceLabsHQ team - core @origin_trail devs meeting live for the first since the COVID-19 outbreak 🤩 @OT_Parachain, #V6, and global adoption of #Web3 tech tackled here by all these marvellous minds 🦄 pic.twitter.com/JZGAOVX9O4

OriginTrail on Twitter: "After a few months of remote work, @TraceLabsHQ team- @origin_trail core developers- gathered again to continue working on @origin_trail #DKG v6 & @OT_Parachain🌟Exciting things are being cooked🧑‍🍳 pic.twitter.com/UIIN0vjmjO / Twitter"

After a few months of remote work, @TraceLabsHQ team- @origin_trail core developers- gathered again to continue working on @origin_trail #DKG v6 & @OT_Parachain🌟Exciting things are being cooked🧑‍🍳 pic.twitter.com/UIIN0vjmjO

Special credits to our loyal community

The OriginTrail team is proud to have such an engaging community, who always supports the team with their valuable feedback, comments, explanatory videos, innovative music, help with hosting AMAs and more. A lot of things happened through 2022, some of which you can see below.

OriginTrail Club

Through the initiative of the OriginTrail Club the community wants to educate other community members to better understand the OriginTrail project and ecosystem. As they say it’s “content made by the community, for the community”.

OriginTrail Community on Twitter: "🎩 Today we release the @origin_trail academy. It's a one-stop shop for learning all things OriginTrail and provides community curated content for newcomers as well as more technological savvy people. Content made by the community, for the community!https://t.co/4HdUsgo48B / Twitter"

🎩 Today we release the @origin_trail academy. It's a one-stop shop for learning all things OriginTrail and provides community curated content for newcomers as well as more technological savvy people. Content made by the community, for the community!https://t.co/4HdUsgo48B

Music and explanatory pieces

It’s wonderful to witness music being created through the inspiration drawn from OriginTrail. Additionally, the community has put together numerous explanatory videos, tutorials, and tweet threads to help everyone understand the current developments and the vision we’re working towards. Below we have gathered just a few examples.

The Kusamarian on Twitter: "Today we cover the #OriginTrail Parachain #WhitePaper, #crowdloan, and new $OTP token in 2 minutes. Do you gotta #DKG? And what is a DKG?Answers below 👇@OT_Parachain @origin_trail @DrevZiga https://t.co/IksXMadBVa pic.twitter.com/Yszuvmrx6i / Twitter"

Today we cover the #OriginTrail Parachain #WhitePaper, #crowdloan, and new $OTP token in 2 minutes. Do you gotta #DKG? And what is a DKG?Answers below 👇@OT_Parachain @origin_trail @DrevZiga https://t.co/IksXMadBVa pic.twitter.com/Yszuvmrx6i

dkg://TriniZone.Trac on Twitter: "[🆕New Video🆕] Here is why #AidTrust developed by @BSI_UK and @origin_trail is the perfect fit for @gavi, @UNICEF, @WHO, @BillGates, and all of Pharma. #LMICs are almost 50% of the🌎population. #EPCIS 2.0 is finally production ready!! $TRAC 🚀➡️- https://t.co/4nYdhGR8Y1 https://t.co/Sisj258lhG pic.twitter.com/b8TvOlCZqf / Twitter"

🆕New Video🆕] Here is why #AidTrust developed by @BSI_UK and @origin_trail is the perfect fit for @gavi, @UNICEF, @WHO, @BillGates, and all of Pharma. #LMICs are almost 50% of the🌎population. #EPCIS 2.0 is finally production ready!! $TRAC 🚀➡️- https://t.co/4nYdhGR8Y1 https://t.co/Sisj258lhG pic.twitter.com/b8TvOlCZqf

iotb on Twitter: "⚡️ how does the upcoming $OTP parachain token fit into the @Origin_Trail / $TRAC ecosystem ?👀 here a simplified graphic to assist clearly visualizing the relationship👇 THREAD 1 / 15 pic.twitter.com/Lgjy4qvojm / Twitter"

⚡️ how does the upcoming $OTP parachain token fit into the @Origin_Trail / $TRAC ecosystem ?👀 here a simplified graphic to assist clearly visualizing the relationship👇 THREAD 1 / 15 pic.twitter.com/Lgjy4qvojm

dkg://TriniZone.Trac on Twitter: "[🇹🇹Music Video Drop👀] The time of the @origin_trail #KnowledgeEconomy is upon us. With #ProjectMagnifiy going live I am ready to share my passion. @Polkadot #Music #IslandBoy inspired by the #OTbros and my buddy @danreecer_ & @AcalaNetwork $TRAC $OTP▶️- https://t.co/tj72sfZXEU https://t.co/tms6tEyOGR pic.twitter.com/SCBKqreqvW / Twitter"

🇹🇹Music Video Drop👀] The time of the @origin_trail #KnowledgeEconomy is upon us. With #ProjectMagnifiy going live I am ready to share my passion. @Polkadot #Music #IslandBoy inspired by the #OTbros and my buddy @danreecer_ & @AcalaNetwork $TRAC $OTP▶️- https://t.co/tj72sfZXEU https://t.co/tms6tEyOGR pic.twitter.com/SCBKqreqvW

The OriginTrail team also gave recognition to the community members who have contributed to the codebase of the OriginTrail protocol as the team considers them to be an integral part of the development of the protocol, since they have helped to improve and refine DKG V6 functionalities.

OriginTrail Developers on Twitter: "Hi @origin_trail family, we'd like to give huge thanks to code contributors & node runners for building & testing the @origin_trail #DKG v6 with us. A special shoutout goes to our top 5 GitHub contributors UniMa007, @calr0x, @otnoderunner, haroldboom, @CloudCosmi, Aescwine.1/2 pic.twitter.com/a0ZxwMHWIE / Twitter"

Hi @origin_trail family, we'd like to give huge thanks to code contributors & node runners for building & testing the @origin_trail #DKG v6 with us. A special shoutout goes to our top 5 GitHub contributors UniMa007, @calr0x, @otnoderunner, haroldboom, @CloudCosmi, Aescwine.1/2 pic.twitter.com/a0ZxwMHWIE

Shoutout to the team

At the end of the day, what truly satisfies the team for the work we’ve done is the support and kind words we receive from the community. This indicates that the team is making progress in the right direction and that the community recognizes the value of our efforts.

dkg://TriniZone.Trac on Twitter: "Never in a million years did i think my music would be used in this mission. Shout out to the @origin_trail team for supporting the visions of their community members. Its insane how far we've come in such a short space of time. I have a #DKG $TRAChttps://t.co/wdgQJNItNm https://t.co/r2czBcaE0P / Twitter"

Never in a million years did i think my music would be used in this mission. Shout out to the @origin_trail team for supporting the visions of their community members. Its insane how far we've come in such a short space of time. I have a #DKG $TRAChttps://t.co/wdgQJNItNm https://t.co/r2czBcaE0P

Milian on Twitter: "That conference last year was mind blowing for me how amazing the Knowledge Graph tech is. I wonder what additional use cases would the best and brightest from @Cornell come up with! https://t.co/P0kzM7sLwf / Twitter"

That conference last year was mind blowing for me how amazing the Knowledge Graph tech is. I wonder what additional use cases would the best and brightest from @Cornell come up with! https://t.co/P0kzM7sLwf

Financials

In 2022, the ecosystem remains in a good financial state, with the future development fund remaining in the same amount as at the end of 2021, a total of 132,500,000 TRAC.

The total size of the treasury therefore stands at 17,526.13 ETH on December 31st 2022.

Trace token

The Trace token (TRAC) asset ecosystem saw a very significant expansion in 2022. In January, the TRAC token was added to an important global exchange Huobi.

Huobi on Twitter: "🔥New Listing on #Huobi!👏 $TRAC@origin_trailDeposits nowTrading starts soon / Twitter"

🔥New Listing on #Huobi!👏 $TRAC@origin_trailDeposits nowTrading starts soon

Shortly after, in February, Coinbase Assets announced their support for deposits and withdrawals of $TRAC.

OriginTrail on Twitter: "NEW: The @CoinbaseAssets now supports $TRAC - the @origin_trail's utility token. https://t.co/OWcSYL5gPB / Twitter"

NEW: The @CoinbaseAssets now supports $TRAC - the @origin_trail's utility token. https://t.co/OWcSYL5gPB

As well as the new additions of Houbi and Coinbase Assets, TRAC remains available on Coinbase exchange, KuCoin, Bittrex Global, Uniswap, Bancor, BitMart, Changelly, HitBTC and Idex. At the beginning of 2023 TRAC was listed on Binance.US as well.

In 2022, we saw significant progress in the development of the OriginTrail DKG, marked by the successful launch of both OriginTrail Parachain and DKG V6. Looking towards the future, we are excited to continue expanding the OriginTrail ecosystem and achieving new milestones. Let’s aim to break even more barriers and set new records in the upcoming year as we continue to #TraceOn!

👇 More about OriginTrail 👇

OriginTrail is an ecosystem dedicated to making the global economy work sustainably by organizing trusted AI — grade knowledge assets. It leverages the open source Decentralized Knowledge Graph that connects the physical world (art, healthcare, fashion, education, supply chains, …) and the digital world (blockchain, smart contracts, Metaverse & NFTs, …) in a single connected reality driving transparency and trust.

Advanced knowledge graph technology currently powers trillion-dollar companies like Google and Facebook. By reshaping it for Web3, the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph provides a crucial fabric to link, verify, and value data on both physical and digital assets.

Web | Twitter | Facebook | Telegram | LinkedIn | GitHub | Discord

OriginTrail yearly report — 2022 | TOWARDS AI-GRADE KNOWLEDGE ASSETS was originally published in OriginTrail on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The two companies will integrate their respective technologies and services to develop new products on the Rebuschain platform and the decentralized exchange Verto Trade launching in April 2023.

 

Schio, Italy: Today Rebuschain and Commercio.network announce a blockchain partnership. The two Blockchains based on the same Cøsmos technology, IBC and Bridge Ethereum, operate in the decentralized financial technology (DeFi) sector, and will collaborate to integrate their respective technologies and services.

 

Rebuschain, uses a Native Token utility, $REBUS, to allow a channel of asset managers and other financial institutions to manage and sell DeFi instruments alongside their traditional instruments (TradFi), will make use of the technology and services of Commercio.network. In particular, Rebuschain will become a validator node of Commercio.network and will use the technology of Commercio.network to implement KYC, and notarization needed in the TradFi sector.

 

Commercio.network, an eIDAS Compliant Blockchain that uses a Native Token utility, $COM to allow members of its network to sign and exchange documents with legal value, will take advantage of the Rebuschain technology. In particular, Commercio.network will become a Rebuschain validator and will use DeFi products Vertotrade.com, NFTID, and Rebus Vault.

 

The partnership envisages that both parties make themselves available to exchange information relating to their technologies available in their portfolio, in order to better understand their technical-commercial interaction and achieve common objectives. The partnership will aim to develop new DeFi and TradFi products and solutions on the Rebuschain platform and on the decentralized exchange Vertotrade.com, using the Commercio.network blockchain as a support infrastructure for the exchange of legally binding documents.

 

The partnership represents an important step forward for both blockchains, which will be able to benefit from their respective technological skills and knowledge, opening up new business opportunities and consolidating their position on the market of Cøsmos, IBC and Bridge Ethereum technology and decentralized technologies.

L'articolo Rebuschain and Commercio.network announce partnership to build DeFi and TradeFi solutions sembra essere il primo su commercio.network.

eIDAS Architecture Reference Framework 1.0 Thoughts on ARF from DIDAS Technology Working

Earlier this year, the eIDAS Expert Group published the first version of the Architecture Reference Framework (ARF), which lays the foundation for the future European Digital Identity (EUDI) Wallet Infrastructure. For us at DIDAS, it represents a very exciting moment, as we are facing the final phase of the Swiss E-ID Law development and already work on pilots to explore and showcase what is possible.

We strive for the broadest interoperability between all European Digital Identity (and hopefully worldwide) initiatives. Beyond pure technical interoperability (e.g., at the protocol level), it’s crucially important to highlight potential differences in approaches to ensure that the ideas and principles that went into our input to the Swiss E-ID Law are also reflected in the eIDAS work.

After all, our raison d’être – and our responsibility – is to advocate for the advancement of digital processes in society while respecting the privacy and digital sovereignty of Swiss citizens.

First, we’d like to point the interested reader to the excellent series published by Andrew Tobin , where he goes in-depth into the ARF and highlights, in an easy-to-understand language, a few aspects that require special attention, e.g., the potential complexity of managing the ecosystem and ensuring trust at national levels, correlation of credentials’ usage, etc.

We also would like to thank the authors of the document for the demanding work that went into its creation. We believe that many good choices have been made. The proposed approach does pave the way to an exciting future where everyone can take full advantage of the continuously evolving digital services in a privacy-preserving manner and be in control of their data!

We realize that this is version 1.0 of a framework, and a lot of work went into making it acceptable for a variety of players.

In this Blog post, we’d like to share our view on some of the critical aspects of the ARF, considering both the technical and user-experience implications of the proposed Reference Framework.

The Trusts Lists – minimizing complexity.

Let us start by looking at a foundational topic: how will wallets and their users know if they are dealing with a trusted issuer or a verifier? This is where the so-called “Trust Lists” come into play. They are meant to be directories where wallets can look up a counterparty’s identifier and determine their status. The ARF proposes many lists, mainly to allow flexibility and accommodate the unique requirements of the member states.

This, however, will potentially lead to hundreds of them and will, arguably, make the overall system less secure and confusing. From our standpoint, a better approach would be to use credentials: each issuer and verifier must present a credential (e.g. EBSI proposal) , which will certify to the user’s wallet that they are authorized to issue or request a particular set of credentials with a known schema. This way, the system becomes much more manageable and resilient and is built of the same building blocks throughout. While, at the same time, allowing for regional variations.

An essential enabling factor for this is going to be a robust governance framework, which should regulate and enforce the rules for these credentials, including the attributes of the schemas.

The user wallet then will have a much easier job of “advising” its users of whether a specific data exchange is a good idea, promoting trust and improving overall usability and acceptance.

Lose your phone, lose your wallet?

Another foundational aspect currently not well highlighted in the document is the topic of what happens in case of a lost wallet or a need to upgrade to a new phone. Both are related to the issue of cryptographic key lifecycle management. From our standpoint, this is both a technical and a user acceptance topic.

Without clear guidance on what happens when a user wants to either upgrade their phone or deactivate the wallet on a lost phone, it’s hard to imagine that a wide adoption will occur. A well-thought-through user experience is necessary here.

The ability to move data between devices is not only a user-experience topic. It is also a question of Data Self-Sovereignty, which is one of the fundaments principles of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and a real need, or even a right of today’s and future citizens.

Technically speaking, this can be enabled via known techniques where keys can be migrated between secure elements (e.g., cloning/backup procedure for HSMs). Or more modern, scalable approaches, e.g., W3C DIDs or KERI (Key Event Receipt Infrastructure), where key rotation is built-in, and a stable identifier is independent of the underlying key material.

Are PIDs complete?

Personal Identification Data (PID) is clearly a big focus of the current version of the framework. When we consider which attributes fall under the definition of PID, we see that name and date of birth are mandatory. The current address is, however, optional, and a photo is missing. The latter should be added to make a PID-carrying wallet an equivalent of a conventional ID card (user experience again).

When we return to the optionality of an address, we notice that it creates uncertainty. If a given use case requires an address (such as onboarding at a bank), then the verifier’s system cannot rely on PID to provide that information since it is optional. This means that a separate proof request (and a corresponding credential) will have to be made, complicating the system’s overall design.

A better way from our viewpoint would be to plan for a more fine-grained approach from the very beginning and allow additional, “high-resolution” PID credentials such as “Proof of Residence” (“Wohnsitzbestätigung”) to be provided at the ecosystem level from the start.

The beauty of an SSI ecosystem, after all, is that multiple credentials and their attributes can be combined for a particular use case. A highly desirable outcome!

With that in mind, we recommend that a mechanism be put in place to allow the ecosystem players to onboard new types of “PID” credentials and thus continuously expand the EUDI’s capabilities. A good example of this is an “Official Organizational Role” (OOR) credential that has been pioneered by GLEIF (Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation).

Privacy by Design?

This is perhaps one of the most significant areas of concern for us. The non-negotiable, essential requirement for an electronic identity/verifiable credentials solution is to ensure that the users can’t be tracked as they conduct their daily life.

For that to be true, two key assumptions must be guaranteed:
• First, validity verification must occur without any data being leaked about the presenter or the circumstances of a credential’s usage.
• Second, there should be no data in the credential itself or in the verification protocol, which allows to correlate the user across touch points.

ARF mentions the first aspect in the section on qualified verifiable credentials (aka QEAA). Still, it is missing from the sections that define PID Providers and non-qualified credentials’ issuers (EAA). We interpret that omission as a signal that both latter categories are not subject to this requirement. This is, in our opinion, an unacceptable proposition.

The second aspect is also not well represented in the document. The SD-JWT and mDL, the first couple of technologies proposed to carry verifiable credentials, can’t guarantee that the users won’t be correlated across their activities.

One of the good things about the framework is that it settles on OpenID Connect for Verifiable Presentations as its primary enabling technology. A key feature of that specification is that it is agnostic to the format of a verifiable credential. So, more privacy-friendly credential technologies can be used.

As we think about alternative credential formats, we also need to consider the thorny question of revocations. It is unclear how revocations, beyond just a simple expiration mechanism, will be made functional under the framework. However, it is, without a doubt, a must-have feature for many use cases.

Scalable, privacy-preserving revocation mechanisms are notoriously difficult to implement. The momentum created by this much-needed EU-wide initiative gives us a chance, however, to accelerate and advance the research that has been taking place in the last few years. The rush to market and “pragmatic” conventional choices that can be made to enable it should be reconsidered. Our societies deserve a truly person-centric, privacy-preserving solution, which will finally help us to get rid of paper credentials and thus lay a solid foundation for truly seamless digitalization.

That is what SSI is all about, and that’s what we at DIDAS passionately strive to enable!

 

Policymakers, technologists, and privacy advocates are invited to offer their feedback on the new white paper, “Government-issued Digital Credentials and the Privacy Landscape.” This paper, published in part by the OpenID Foundation, Kantara Initiative, and the Secure Identity Alliance, and including contributions from several individuals, seeks to engage and inspire thought leaders from government, civil society, and standards and technology. You are encouraged to come together to discuss how to close the policy and protocol gaps between today’s disparate solutions and services and the vision of a privacy-preserving, globally viable privacy landscape.

The paper is a result of six months of due diligence that started with public listening sessions at Authenticate, the November 2022 OIDF workshop, and IIW IIWXXXV, and many interviews with active people in this space.

We start by examining a few of the influential regulations and standards in the privacy and digital credential space and a few areas in the works where government-issued digital credentials play a significant role in society. It continues by reviewing the core technologies that are in use by these credential systems.

The Gaps and Risks section highlights those uncomfortable limitations of the regulations and current technologies. Privacy-enhancing services require laws and technology to support each other, and understanding where each has limits may suggest areas requiring further work.

The remainder of the paper does just that by offering recommendations on where governments, civil society, and technologists may focus their efforts to bridge the gaps and grapple with the uncomfortable intersections of competing requirements. For example, considering new ways to enable consent, supporting systemic transparency for the individual, and encouraging greater support for advanced cryptographic algorithms.

Your feedback will help ensure this paper serves as a strong platform to inform further dialog with governments, civil society, and technologists.

The comment period will be open until 24 April 2023. You may submit your feedback to director@oidf.org. Please reference specific line numbers for your proposed changes where appropriate.

We will share more on the final outcomes and recommendations at the OpenID Foundation Workshop (17 April 2023), EIC (11 May 2023) and Identiverse (31 May 2023).
 

About the OpenID Foundation, Kantara Initiative, and the Secure Identity Alliance

About OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation is a non-profit open standards body with a vision to help people assert their identity wherever they choose and a mission to lead the global community in creating identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving. One of the OIDFs strengths is creating identity protocols that serve billions of consumers across millions of applications. In that context, OIDF welcomes the opportunity to help fund and facilitate this ambitious yet pragmatic effort in service to the global community.

Similarly,  Kantara Initiative believes in the importance of this work to serve the global community by closing the gaps between policy and protocols. Kantara is a non-profit, global leader in privacy certification with a shared goal of offering safe spaces for open conversations by the community. Kantara seeks to materially improve the privacy landscape across all markets and sectors. One of its key strengths is deep dive audits of client implementations to ensure standards like NIST 800-63-3 are met against clear conformance criteria. The joint approach of Kantara and OIDF  to both projects serves as a model for the kinds of partnership required to build technically viable policies and policy-supportive protocols.

About Kantara Initiative

Kantara Initiative is a global community focused on improving the trustworthy use of identity and personal data. It has multiple working groups that explore innovation, and standardization and develop good practices around the collection, storage, and use of personal identity information. Kantara nurtures thought leadership, and ground-breaking R&D and develops specifications that will create and maintain a trustworthy identity ecosystem. Our working groups concentrate on informing policy and standards on topics as wide-ranging as User Managed Access and Consent Receipts; Privacy-Enhancing Mobile Credentials, and Digital Healthcare Services.

Kantara also runs the world’s leading Identity Assurance programs. These assessment programs uniquely audit companies and their products for conformance against a number of Trust Frameworks, including the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) 800-63 standards for privacy and security around Identity and the UK government’s Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF).

Different classes of Identity Assurance Trust Marks are awarded to organizations that meet specific criteria around technical and business expertise. The most complete Trust Mark is awarded for full compliance with technology, business processes, maintenance, and governance for full credential service providers.

More than 50% of Kantara members reside outside the US.  Our leadership is committed to low – or no – barriers to participation, and we encourage membership from organizations across all public, private, and non-profit sectors and across all geographies.

See www.kantarainitiative.org for full details of our work.

About the Secure Identity Alliance

Secure Identity Alliance (SIA) is a global non-profit association representing actors and organizations and adjacent industries active across the digital identity ecosystem. SIA’s mission is to unify the ecosystem of identity and unlock the full power of identity so that people, economy, and society thrive. The association supports the development of the activities of its members across four broad pillars: Identity for Good, Outreach, Open Standards Development and Industry Services and Solutions.

See https://www.secureidentityalliance.org for more information.

Technology and digital innovation continue to play a key role in data acquisition, but how do we leverage this data and do something greater with it? Join us as we chat with Kezzler about the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and how connecting it with GS1 Digital Link fosters interoperable supply chains.

Established in 1935, Hioki Electric has grown to become a leading global provider of comprehensive test and measurement equipment through advanced design, manufacturing, sales, and service. With its broad product lineup, Hioki aims to contribute to the creation of a sustainable society by improving the efficiency and value of its customers’ research and development, production, and electrical maintenance.

https://www.hioki.com/global/ 

The post HIOKI appeared first on MOBI | The New Economy of Movement.

By: FIDO Staff

Passwords are everywhere with both enterprises and e-commerce organizations feeling the pain as much, if not more, than most.

At the Authenticate Virtual Summit: Authentication in Financial Services and Commerce on March 29, industry experts and practitioners outlined The FIDO Fit for Enterprise and Customer Sign-ins. Throughout the half-day event, the topic of passkeys was a primary theme, with speakers outlining how they work, where they fit in and why they are essential to helping the world move away from legacy passwords and less secure multi-factor authentication.

Andrew Shikiar, executive director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance opened the event with some insights on the many positive benefits that passkeys can bring to enterprise and commerce users. Those benefits include helping users to get online faster with higher levels of satisfaction. Passkeys may also be able to help improve the bottom line for e-commerce vendors as well.

“If you’re an e-commerce vendor, imagine reducing the shopping cart abandonment rate by even 10%,” Shikiar said. “Our data shows that 50% of consumers that had to abandon a purchase in the past six months did so because they forgot your password and that’s a huge opportunity cost.”

While FIDO authentication has been available for anyone to use for over a decade, Shikiar noted that there have been some adoption challenges. Passkeys are, in part, a solution to some of those adoption challenges. With passkeys, there is a more recognizable set of common terminology and the technology also provides a familiar flow for users that aims to reduce friction.

In the enterprise, Shikiar said that passkeys are a very natural fit for things like BYOD [Bring Your Own Device] authentication, allowing employees to sign in with apps on their phones.

“This is becoming more the norm than the exception, and passkeys are just a very natural fit for that environment,” Shikiar said.

The State of Authentication 2023 

Make no mistake about it, there are a lot of problems with passwords. To add some metrics to the argument against passwords, Jay Roxe, CMO at HYPR provided some insights from his firm’s State of Passwordless Security 2023 report.

Roxe noted that one of the things that really jumped out to him was that three out of five of the organizations that HYPR talked to for the report, had an authentication related breach over the past year. He added that each of those organizations had nearly $3 million dollars in costs associated with those breaches on a 12 month basis. Financial Services was the most highly attacked industry vertical with 81% of financial services organizations having recorded some type of attack or breach related to authentication.

The HYPR report also attempted to discover why organizations will move to deploy strong authentication passwordless approaches. Roxe emphasized that it’s critical to have a good user interface and flow, otherwise the technology won’t get adopted. In fact the report found the top reason why organizations are looking to adopt passwordless is to improve the user experience.

“Until we nail that user experience, we’re fundamentally not going to be any better off than we are today,” Roxe said.

Passkeys 101

Among the most interactive sessions of the event was one on the basics of how passkeys work, which kept moderator Megan Shamas, senior director of marketing at the FIDO Alliance very busy handling questions from the engaged audience at the end of the session.

The session actually got started with Tim Cappalli, identity standards architect at Microsoft outlining the historical path of FIDO standards. The big milestones along the path include the debut of the U2F specifications in 2014, FIDO2 in 2017, WebAuthn in 2019 and just last year the emergence of passkeys.

“It has been a journey,” Cappalli said. “We think that in the last two to three years, we really have been moving towards the last step to moving people beyond passwords.”

Cappalli outlined how passkeys works and what the primary advantages are for the approach. He explained that a passkey is fundamentally a FIDO credential with some new properties. Among the properties highlighted by Cappalli are:

Autofill. With Autofill, much like the experience users have today with a password manager, a passkey can be automatically injected into an authentication flow into existing websites. Cross Device Authentication. Instead of a credential being tethered strictly to a single device, passkeys enable a credential to be durable across environments, enabling a phone for example to be able to bootstrap another device or ecosystem.

Championing FIDO adoption at scale

Few professionals have had as much experience deploying FIDO at scale as Marcio Mello, who has led efforts at PayPal, Intuit and eBay.

Mello outlined in great detail the steps that organizations can and should take to support FIDO strong authentication. In his view, the benefits are obvious.

“As soon as we could, we started doing WebAuthn deployment at eBay and saw the benefits almost immediately,” Mello said.

For Mello, passkeys are the next massive step forward as it’s an approach that will reduce consumer friction and hopefully enable adoption at scale. It is fundamentally the ease of use that passkeys promise that is literally the key.

“Consumers expect to see and use a password,” he said. “Yes, everybody’s tired of them, but it’s like smoking, most smokers would like to stop but they can’t, sure they know it’s bad, but you need to have the motivation and a very low bar of ability to be able to drive a habit change.”

FIDO and Zero Trust

In the security world, zero trust is an increasingly common concept that advocates an approach where users and entities need to be constantly validated to limit risks.

For Kurt Johnson, chief strategy officer at Beyond Identity, there is a clear intersection between FIDO authentication and zero trust. After all, a core foundation of zero trust is the need to constantly authenticate users and if organization’s aren’t using strong authentication, that’s a weak link.

Johnson said that with zero trust there is a need to assess and establish a high level of trust in the user identity. That just can’t be done effectively through passwords and that’s where there is a need for FIDO Certified authentication, that’s unphishable.

Helping Amazon’s drive to be customer-obsessed

Amazon operates one of the world’s largest e-commerce sites and it’s also a strong advocate and supporter of the FIDO Alliance.

Yash Patodia, principal product manager, tech, world wide consumer at Amazon said that his team is always looking to improve usability. One of the efforts to improve has been a move to remove passwords wherever possible. Patodia said that Amazon uses FIDO security keys for its own internal security which has worked well.

While security keys have worked for Amazon’s own internal needs, he noted that they can be difficult for consumers to adopt. That’s one of the many reasons why he’s particularly excited about passkeys.

“I think it’s a great leap forward from the password, OTP (one time passwords) and the security keys world,” Patodia said. “Some of the benefits I can see for passkey is that it really makes it very easy for the customer to use.”

Making it easier for consumers is critical for Amazon overall as it’s core to the company’s mission.

“We have this term at Amazon we use a lot called customer obsession,” Patodia said. “And this fits perfectly for us in that this is actually a customer obsessed product where we are making it very easy for the customer to do what they want to do.”

PNC BANK looks to protect its users with FIDO

Susan Koski, CISO of PNC Bank, knows all too well the challenges of password, that’s why she’s such a strong advocate and supporter of FIDO.

She noted that criminals are going after user passwords in a bid to take over accounts. Among the risks that she is trying to help limit is that of phishable credentials, such as passwords.

“We really do want to reduce those phishable  credentials but we do it in a way that a customer wants to use the service,” Koski said. “Balancing security and the customer experience. I think that’s just been a mantra for us in information security in cyberspace for a while.”

Koski said that PNC Bank has embraced FIDO as a way to help move towards passwordless over time. The importance of taking a standardized approach that benefits from the support and participation of a broad array of participants is critical as well.

“Passwords have been around for 50 plus years and it’s time, it’s beyond time for us to move past passwords,” Koski said.

Enterprise guidance for passkeys is on the way

Looking forward, Megan Shamas of FIDO Alliance outlined a series of efforts that are underway to help provide more enterprise guidance for passkeys.

“We will be publishing a group of five papers that address what we hope to be the majority of the use cases that are out there on the enterprise,” Shamas said.

The five papers include:

Introduction to passkeys in the enterprise How to replace password-only authentication with passkeys How to displace password + SMS OTP authentication with passkeys FIDO authentication for moderate assurance use High Assurance Enterprise FIDO Authentication

“If you would like to be part of the conversation around enterprise requirements, please do get in touch with us,” Shamas said. “This is the time now really to give your input on how we’re looking at passkeys from an enterprise perspective.”

Registrants can now view the event recording online. If you missed the event and would like to view the recording, visit the event website to register for access.

The post Recap: Authenticate Virtual Summit: Authentication in Financial Services and Commerce appeared first on FIDO Alliance.

Opinion piece by the Digital Identity New Zealand (DINZ) Executive Council Policy & Regulation Sub-Committee

Summary

Current regulation requires some businesses to use and hold on to personal information when you use their services. These large datasets of sensitive personal information are highly attractive for cyber criminals and contribute to ongoing cybercrimes and identity theft that can have a devastating impact on those affected. Optus  and Latitude Financial are recent examples but they are not alone and not likely to be the last. Even businesses like these with good reputations can put the personal information you give them at risk.  

New technology exists that allows you to sign-up for a new service without needing to hand over physical documents or share more than what’s needed. Along with other countries, New Zealand is behind in adopting this new game changing technology but changes are afoot. Until then you need to be aware of who you are sharing data with, how it will be used and how that party will protect it.

Digital Identity NZ (DINZ) is Aotearoa’s only industry association specifically focussed on digital identity and is leading the way to a future where every New Zealander can easily use their digital identity to access services. 

Current regulation requires some businesses to use and hold on to personal information when you use their services  

When you think about the recent high-profile data breaches of personal information due to hackers finding ways to break into computer networks, you might wonder if the awful consequences for people affected could have been significantly reduced or prevented if firms had not stored electronic copies of documents.

The thing is, many businesses like big appliance retailers selling you credit so you can buy the TV of your dreams, or mobile network companies selling you a phone or SIM card, must interpret and follow rules overseen by a regulator in order to do business. This typically leads retailers to electronically copy and store personal information.

While it was the cybersecurity exposures that caused the breaches of personal information in the recent instances, and not the requirements to collect personal information set down by any particular Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime, it did magnify the impact of a breach.  

Optus, the Australian telco giant, obtained identity information not only to satisfy AML/CFT obligations but to satisfy law enforcement agencies’ needs regarding criminals’ use of mobile phones, while Latitude Financial obtained identity information to undertake credit checks as well as to fulfil AML/CFT obligations. 

These regulatory regimes should not be inadvertently putting the mass population’s sensitive personal identity documentation in jeopardy, just because legislation does not reflect current technical capability to make electronic copying of physical documents redundant, be that the traditional centralised approach or the emerging modern decentralised approach. 

Large datasets of sensitive personal information are highly attractive for cyber-attackers 

Stuff wrote an easily readable piece on the most recent high profile breach, Latitude, while focussing on the impact for New Zealanders caught up in it. 

When you buy something, even gift vouchers, at a store on credit, many shoppers will have experienced having had a sense of unease of having no choice or leverage to decline when the retailer asked for identification documents and proceeded to electronically scan or copy them. Sometimes even when credit wasn’t required, but the retailer urged you to open a credit account. And once the interaction has ended and the AML/CFT provisions fulfilled, the unease remains – did they delete my personal information? 

The reasons why they are doing this might range from needing to comply with regulation to instore incentives for retailers to gather personal information, for the marketing department for example, when typically the company’s cybersecurity teams don’t want the data held due to the potential risks it creates.  

Who wins that ‘tug of war’ usually comes down to an organisation’s culture, information security and risk posture and where in the organisation these decisions are made. 

New technology exists that allows you to sign-up for a new service without needing to hand over physical documents or share more than what is needed

In the review of New Zealand’s AML/CFT regulation currently underway, we call for urgent prioritisation of the Amended Identity Verification Code of Practice 2013 (AIVCOP), which has outdated requirements relating to face-to-face verification and the use of copies of documents certified by the trusted referees. 

As inferred in our report published in 2020, we support a complete overhaul of AIVCOP so that it better supports not only the Privacy Act 2020, but also the use of robust and reliable digital identification services to achieve AML/CFT compliance. 

It also must be complementary to and aligned with the upcoming opt-in Digital Identity Services Trust Framework (DISTF) Act that accredits rules-compliant digital identity service providers should they opt-in to do so. The Bill had its third and final reading this week and is set for implementation in July 2024.

Capability has existed for over a decade to electronically verify claims about personal information from its applicable centralised authoritative source compliant with the Privacy Act 2020 and its 1993 predecessor. The problem is to do with scale and interoperability. Scaling New Zealand retail point of sale counters to send identification-related claims to the government agency authoritative registers to have them confirmed, or not as the case may be, and the scale needed by the authoritative source to process so many claims. The high level of interoperability needed to have multiple systems performing like payment networks is a significant and ongoing investment.   

Decentralised digital identity,the subject of DINZ’s summer series of perspectives just completed today, is a topic that offers the strongest hope for a brighter future. Because implicit in this privacy centric approach, is the notion that the individual holds their data inside a secure container such as a digital wallet on a digital device like a smartphone. This way the plethora of computer networks storing people’s personal information as is current practice. 

Significant investment and the collective will to do so notwithstanding, a robust decentralised digital identification approach could allow individuals to access financial services at point of sale without the need for them to hand over physical documents for electronic copying. It could also accelerate financial inclusion if, as a nation, we can overcome obvious barriers such as ground level digital literacy and access to a smartphone/device of some kind which is a prerequisite.  

A recent report published by Digital Identity New Zealand highlighted that “Digital identity underpins the majority of our digital transactions and is the foundation for digital transformation”. The report’s recommendations called out the yearning need to increase awareness and education in many sectors of our society so that everyone in Aotearoa can enjoy the benefits of the digital economy if they choose to. 

Most countries, New Zealand included, are behind the game. To minimise the risks we see from data breaches, right now we need trusted and universally accepted identification methods envisaged by the DISTF Act, that are compliant with privacy and AML/CFT regulations. These also need to allow people to identify, verify and authenticate themselves and to decide if they will share data or proofs and with whom without the need to hand over physical documents containing personal information for electronic copying by retailers with all the associated risks of it being stolen and used for criminal gain.

The AML/CFT Act is under review and parts of the legislation selected for amendment first are currently out for comment. But those parts are not the AIVCOP. Prioritising the AIVCOP can help not only bring compliance with the Privacy Act 2020 closer, but also reduce the unintended consequences of the current AIVCOP provisions that create personal information honeypots for hackers.  

On the face of it, privacy legislation is trumped by AML/CFT legislation when they should be complementary.  Regulatory regimes must support the use of technological advancements in digital identification where there is a demonstrable benefit to New Zealanders. Firms are not going to make the leap to digital identity services if they consider it will put them in breach of their regulatory requirements. But in hesitating, many New Zealanders’ personal information is at risk.

For more information, see here: https://www.digital.govt.nz/digital-government/programmes-and-projects/digital-identity-programme/trust-framework/

The post Your personal data – what’s at risk and what’s being done to protect it? appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

By Andy Parsons, Senior Director, Content Authenticity Initiative 

This past month, the Content Authenticity Initiative achieved three major milestones representing the fast pace of progress toward our critical goal of making content more transparent and trustworthy, everywhere.  

First, we are thrilled to announce that the CAI has crossed the 1,000-member mark! After launching the CAI just over 3 years ago, we are incredibly proud to have grown a global coalition of leading tech and media companies, camera manufacturers, news publishers, creative professionals, researchers, NGOs and many more – all contributing their expertise, code, and energy to advance this mission.  

This comes at a critical time as content becomes easier to manipulate and determining what’s authentic is challenging, to say the least. Specifically, generative AI has broken through as a creative technology for content inspiration and creation that is transforming the world. While AI has unprecedented potential to amplify human creativity, it also shines a light on the urgent need to restore trust online. 3 years ago, the CAI team and partners anticipated a future of powerful AI tools and eroding trust. And through hard work and deep collaboration, we are proud to see the day-by-day heightened call for authenticity at this key turning point in human history. Above all, we’re resolute in finding ways to deploy the techniques, tools, and standards that we have built together, so that everyone can benefit from them. 

Leveraging Content Credentials in Firefly Beta 

At Adobe Summit last month, Adobe’s new generative AI model, Firefly, was announced, and along with it our commitment to leveraging CAI’s Content Credentials to bring transparency to generative AI outputs. Every asset produced with Firefly has embedded a Content Credential indicating the model used and its version. This is significant—it not only builds on our mission to ensure tools like Firefly are used responsibly, but also gives viewers of this content important context to understand what they’re seeing or hearing, enabling them to make trust decisions when necessary.  

In addition, to ensure creators have more control over their work, they can use CAI provenance technology and attach “Do Not Train” credentials that travel with their content wherever it goes. With industry adoption, this will prevent AI developers from training on content with “Do Not Train” credentials. With this universal standard now published in the latest C2PA technical specification, we believe this will be adopted quickly across industry. 

Creative storyteller Hallease Narvaez showcased our Content Credentials features in the Firefly Beta at Summit, exhibiting an incredible display of how the CAI technology works with generative AI content – be sure to check out her video here.  

C2PA Releases Key Updates to the Technical Specification  

As the CAI and the non-profit standards development organization, the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), continue to engage in deeply complimentary threads of work—the C2PA honing the blueprint for the future of digital provenance while the CAI builds a massive community to put the standard to work—we are also excited about the just-released version 1.3 of its technical specification that includes expanded support for an array of media types, as well as generative AI transparency capabilities. 

This is perhaps the largest update to the spec since its initial publication in 2021. Among the highlights are: 

Support for additional file types, including WAV for pro audio and WebP for image delivery. 

Extended metadata for media creation and modifications so AI-generated ingredients can be clearly captured and displayed. 

“Regions of interest” for explaining which parts of media were impacted by various actions, when appropriate.  

Universal support for generative AI transparency and creators’ “do not train” intent. 

I am so inspired and humbled by the recent accomplishments of the CAI ecosystem. I’m also reminded how much more work we all have ahead of us, to ensure digital provenance is available to journalists, creators, and consumers wherever and whenever they need tools for authentic storytelling.  

As always, if interested in our work, you can join our expansive and ever-growing community here.  

Join us and get started with these resources 

Start implementing provenance signals with the CAI’s free open-source tools.

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La Suisse en route vers une nouvelle identité électronique — Lancement d’une sandbox publique pour tester l’écosystème des preuves numériques

Cet article donne un aperçu sur les développements de l’E-ID en Suisse et renseigne sur l’environnement Sandbox récemment lancé. (Artikel auch auch Deutsch verfügbar.)

Contexte de l’E-ID suisse : ce qui s’est passé jusqu’à présent

Alors que le commerce électronique dans l’Union européenne est largement régi par le règlement eIDAS, il existe en Suisse différentes lois qui régissent des aspects comparables du commerce électronique. Actuellement, il n’existe toutefois pas de base juridique au niveau fédéral en Suisse pour une identité électronique émise par l’État.

Une première loi fédérale sur l’E-ID a déjà été adoptée en Suisse par le Parlement en septembre 2019, celle ci reposait sur des fournisseurs d’identité centraux et privés, mais elle a été abrogé lors d’une votation populaire le 7 mars 2021.

Source de l’image: https://www.ejpd.admin.ch/ejpd/fr/home/themes/abstimmungen/bgeid.html

En mai 2021, le Conseil fédéral a chargé le Département fédéral de justice et police, le Département fédéral des finances et la Chancellerie fédérale d’élaborer, avec la participation des milieux scientifiques et des cantons, un concept sommaire pour un nouvel E-ID.

Une audition et une consultation publiques ont ensuite permis de discuter des trois solutions possibles suivantes pour un E-ID suisse :

Self-Sovereign Identity Infrastructure à clé publique Fournisseur d’identité central de l’État

En décembre 2021, le Conseil fédéral a annoncé une décision orientée en faveur de la solution Self-Sovereign Identity pour l’E-ID suisse.

L’E-ID devra être émis par l’Office fédéral de la police (fedpol), qui est subordonné au Département fédéral de justice et police (DFJP).

L’infrastructure de confiance doit être développée et exploitée par la Confédération et permettre l’établissement de données et de justificatifs d’identité publics et privés.

Après la consultation sur la nouvelle loi E-ID, qui a duré jusqu’en octobre 2022, le Département fédéral de justice et police devrait présenter la nouvelle loi E-ID d’ici l’été 2023. Parallèlement, l’expérimentation de la technologie dans une sandbox se poursuit.

Lancement d’un environnement d’essai public “Sandbox”. Source de l’image : Github repository “e-id-admin”.

La Suisse est en train de développer une nouvelle solution E-ID. La nouvelle solution E-ID poursuit l’objectif de stocker de manière décentralisée les données d’identité numériques et les justificatifs des citoyens. L’État conserve le contrôle de l’infrastructure de confiance nécessaire. Pour la mise en œuvre de l’écosystème E-ID, on mise, comme à l’avenir dans l’Union européenne, sur le concept des Self-Sovereign Identities (SSI).

Cette semaine, l’Office fédéral de l’informatique et de la télécommunication (OFIT) et l’Office fédéral de la justice (OFJ) ont mis en place une Public Sandbox afin de recueillir les premières expériences pratiques avec des ID-Wallets et des preuves vérifiables. L’objectif de la Sandbox est de travailler avec environ 40 partenaires participants :

Permettre des applications pilotes SSI en Suisse De générer des expériences pratiques préliminaires pour l’ensemble de l’écosystème et de ses acteurs. D’acquérir une expérience technique et organisationnelle par l’expérimentation De faire progresser la construction d’une culture de collaboration au sein de l’écosystème. Source de l’image : Github repository “e-id-admin”.

L’équipe E-ID de la Confédération organise chaque mois une réunion publique de participation E-ID en ligne. Davantage d’informations sont disponibles via la newsletter. (Inscription via la newsletter). Le 2 mars 2023, la Sandbox a été présentée pour la première fois avec plus de détails. Dans le cadre de cette réunion, Adrian Doerk de notre équipe a présenté les développements au niveau européen.

Lissi est actuellement en discussion avec l’OFIT et l’OFJ en vue d’une participation à la Sandbox. Les entreprises et organisations intéressées ayant leur siège en Suisse pourront utiliser Lissi-Agent pour établir, gérer et vérifier les données d’identité numériques et les justificatifs dans la Public Sandbox suisse. Il est en outre prévu que Lissi-Wallet puisse être utilisé dans le cadre de la Public Sandbox Trust Infrastructure.

Séquence du point de vue d’un citoyen

Les personnes physiques reçoivent avec le Lissi Wallet un ID-Wallet très intuitif à utiliser dans différents cas d’application au sein de la Public Sandbox.

La plateforme Lissi Agent permet différents cas d’application dans l’E-ID Sandbox suisse.

Si vous représentez une organisation suisse et que vous souhaitez participer à la Sandbox avec un cas d’application, n’hésitez pas à remplir notre formulaire de contact. Nous vous assisterons volontiers dans la mise en œuvre.

À propos de Lissi

Lissi propose des applications simples pour les organisations afin d’établir, de gérer et de stocker des preuves numériques. Cela comprend le Lissi Wallet ainsi que nos applications pour les organisations.

Die Schweiz auf dem Weg zur neuen elektronischen Identität — Öffentliche Sandbox gestartet

Dieser Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die E-ID Entwicklungen in der Schweiz und informiert über die kürzlich gestartete Sandbox Umgebung. (article également disponible en allemand).

Hintergrund zur Schweizer E-ID: Was bisher geschah

Während der elektronische Geschäftsverkehr in der Europäischen Union weitgehend in der eIDAS-Verordnung geregelt wird, gibt es in der Schweiz unterschiedliche Gesetze, die vergleichbare Aspekte zum elektronischen Geschäftsverkehr regeln. Derzeit besteht auf Bundesebene in der Schweiz allerdings keine Rechtsgrundlage für eine vom Staat herausgegebene elektronische Identität.

Ein erstes Bundesgesetz zur E-ID in der Schweiz, welches auf zentralen, privaten Identitätsanbietern beruhte, wurde zwar bereits im September 2019 vom Parlament verabschiedet, jedoch in einer Volksabstimmung am 7. März 2021 gekippt.

Bildquelle: https://www.ejpd.admin.ch/bgeid

Bereits im Mai 2021 beauftragte der Bundesrat das Eidgenössische Justiz- und Polizeidepartement, das Eidgenössische Finanzdepartement und die Bundeskanzlei unter Beteiligung der Wissenschaft und Kantone ein Grobkonzept für eine neue E-ID zu erarbeiten.

In einer anschließenden öffentlichen Anhörung und Konsultation wurden die drei folgenden mögliche Lösungen für eine Schweizer E-ID diskutiert:

Self-Sovereign Identity Public Key Infrastruktur Zentraler staatlicher Identitätsprovider

Im Dezember 2021 gab der Bundesrat einen Richtungsentscheid zugunsten der Self-Sovereign Identity Lösung für die Schweizer E-ID bekannt.

Die E-ID selbst soll vom Bundesamt für Polizei (fedpol), welches dem Eidgenössischen Justiz- und Polizeidepartement (EJPD) unterstellt ist, herausgegeben werden.

Die Vertrauensinfrastruktur soll durch den Bund entwickelt und betrieben werden und sowohl die Ausstellung öffentlicher, wie privater Identitätsdaten und Nachweise ermöglichen.

Nach der Vernehmlassung zum neuen E-ID Gesetz, welche bis Oktober 2022 andauerte, wird mit einer Vorlage des neuen E-ID Gesetzes durch das Eidgenössische Justiz- und Polizeidepartement bis Sommer 2023 gerechnet. Parallel wird die Erprobung der Technologie in einer Sandbox vorangetrieben.

Start einer öffentlichen Versuchsumgebung “Sandbox” Bildquelle: Github repository “e-id-admin”

Die Schweiz ist auf dem Weg eine neue E-ID Lösung zu entwickeln. Die neue E-ID Lösung verfolgt das Ziel, die digitalen Identitätsdaten und Nachweise der Bürgerinnen und Bürger dezentral zu speichern. Die Kontrolle über die erforderliche Vertrauensinfrastruktur verbleibt beim Staat. Für die Umsetzung des E-ID-Ökosystems wird, wie auch zukünftig in der Europäischen Union, auf das Konzept der Self-Sovereign Identities (SSI) gesetzt.

Diese Woche haben das Bundesamt für Informatik und Telekommunikation BIT und das Bundesamt für Justiz BJ eine Public Sandbox eingerichtet, um erste praktische Erfahrungen mit ID-Wallets und verifizierbaren Nachweisen zu sammeln. Ziel der Sandbox ist es mit ca. 40 teilnehmenden Partnern:

SSI-Pilot Anwendungen in der Schweiz zu ermöglichen Frühzeitige praktische Erfahrungen für das gesamte Ökosystem und seine Akteure zu generieren Durch das Experimentieren technische und organisatorische Erfahrungen zu sammeln Den Aufbau einer Kultur der Zusammenarbeit im Ökosystem voranzutreiben Bildquelle: Github repository “e-id-admin”

Das E-ID-Team des Bundes veranstaltet jeden Monat ein öffentliches E-ID Partizipationsmeeting online. Mehr Info gibt es per Newsletter. (Anmeldung via Newsletter). Am 2. März 2023 wurde die Sandbox zum ersten Mal in mehr Details vorgestellt. Im Rahmen des Meetings stellte Adrian Doerk aus unserem Team die Entwicklungen auf europäischer Ebene vor.

Lissi ist mit dem BIT und dem BJ mit Blick auf eine Teilnahme an der Sandbox im Austausch. Interessierte Unternehmen und Organisationen mit Sitz in der Schweiz können den Lissi Agent nutzen, um digitale Identitätsdaten und Nachweise in der Schweizer Public Sandbox auszustellen, zu verwalten und zu verifizieren. Weiter ist es vorgesehen, dass die Lissi-Wallet im Rahmen der Public Sandbox Trust Infrastructure eingesetzt werden kann.

Abfolge aus Sicht eines Bürgers

Natürliche Personen erhalten mit dem Lissi Wallet eine sehr intuitive ID-Wallet zur Nutzung für unterschiedliche Anwendungsfälle innerhalb der Public Sandbox.

Die Lissi Agent Plattform ermöglicht verschiedene Anwendungsfälle in der Schweizer E-ID Sandbox.

Falls Sie ein Schweizer Organisation vertreten und sich mit einem Anwendungsfall an der Sandbox beteiligen möchten, können Sie gern unser Kontaktformular ausfüllen. Wir unterstützen Sie gerne bei der Umsetzung.

Über Lissi

Lissi bietet einfache Anwendungen für Organisationen, um digitale Nachweise auszustellen, zu verwalten und speichern. Dazu gehört das Lissi Wallet sowie unsere Anwendungen für Organisationen.

Tell us a bit about Konfir – what do you do and why? Konfir was established to revolutionize the employment verification process by securely removing companies’ administrative burdens when requesting or completing employment and gaps in employment verifications. We achieve this by leveraging our certification under the UK Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) and streamlining the process in a GDPR-compliant way. We aim to accelerate all corners of the modern UK economy, from those switching jobs to those renting a property or obtaining any type of credit.

Our unique focus is on protecting and enabling consumers by ensuring transparent and secure access to their own income and employment records. We’re dedicated to helping UK-based workers get approvals faster while controlling their data flow and helping relying parties verify employment faster. By offering instant results, improved candidate experience, and faster turnaround times, we make it a no-brainer for employment screening teams to choose Konfir.

What makes Konfir unique?
Konfir stands out from other providers in the employment and income verification space for several reasons. The antiquated and insecure solution of contacting previous employers takes days or weeks to process and only verifies what a candidate has said, not necessarily the reality. In contrast, Konfir provides instant employment data from authoritative sources using payroll integrations and open banking. This allows us to offer comprehensive results in a flash, which is especially helpful for employment verification and gap in employment validation checks that can often be time-consuming and cumbersome.

We also focus on improving the candidate experience, evidenced by our conversion rate of over 80%. Candidates appreciate the convenience, speed, and security of our service, which helps them complete what is sometimes a stressful and time-consuming experience so they can get to work quicker. As the only method of employment verification underpinned by certification, we’re continuously innovating to make the employment verification process even smoother and more efficient.

Team Konfir

What was the key driver for choosing certification under the UK DIATF?
The primary driver for choosing certification under the UK DIATF was to foster trust by providing evidence that Konfir operates to the highest security standards. The certification serves as a springboard to open conversations about employment verification with public bodies and the market given it is already understood by many following the Digital ID rollout. By establishing digital trust in the employment screening process, we can ensure that personal data is used responsibly and that individuals have control over how their data is used. This certification helps set the standard for employment and income verification in the UK; placing Konfir as a pioneer in the industry.

What made you choose Kantara Initiative (KI) as your certification body?
We selected Kantara Initiative as our chosen certification body due to their responsiveness, support from start to end, and their experience in this space in the UK and abroad. Furthermore, Kantara’s in-depth approach to ASP certification has complemented our ISO 27001 journey, ensuring a robust and comprehensive certification process that demonstrates our commitment to security and data protection.

What did you learn about your business as you went through the certification process?
Going through the certification process, one of the first major external full-company audit processes we’ve experienced, validated that we’re doing many things right. We also identified a few areas for improvement and learned a lot about how to standardise our rating of the identity and employment attributes we make available to our clients. The process emphasised the importance of digital trust and our commitment to protecting the privacy of individuals in the employment screening process.

What advice would you give to other start-up organisations considering certification?
Our advice to other start-ups considering certification is to start early and engage with organizations that have already gone through the process. Understand the requirements and benefits of certification, and ensure your business is well-prepared. Certification not only helps establish trust with your clients and partners but also strengthens your company’s internal processes and security standards.

How have you used certification to support your business development strategies?
Certification has been instrumental in enhancing our business development strategies. It has opened doors to partnership opportunities with key players in the trust framework, such as OSPs and IDSPs, as well as relying parties. As Konfir employs novel technologies like open banking and payroll integrations to complete verifications, the certification instills trust in the secure and responsible use of these technologies.

This certification not only establishes Konfir as a credible and viable business partner but also fosters trust in our processes among candidates. By operating in a secure, auditable, and compliant manner, candidates are more inclined to engage with our processes over non-certified competitors. Furthermore, our pioneering position in the industry, amplified by certification, boosts our visibility among employment screening companies and other stakeholders, contributing to the success of our business development efforts.

What feedback can you provide for the Kantara team? The auditors were highly skilled individuals possessing a wealth of knowledge. Their structured and approachable demeanor made the entire experience both smooth and enjoyable. Throughout each step, they clearly communicated the requirements, rationale, and methods, ensuring a seamless process. We truly appreciate the Kantara team’s dedication and support.

The post Why Konfir awarded the Kantara certification team 10 out of 10! appeared first on Kantara Initiative: Trust through ID Assurance.

Members of the Finance, Securitization, and Smart Contracts Working Group co-developed Citopia vinTRAK Zero-Knowledge proof of location verification for Dealer Floorplan Audit automation.

Los Angeles — 30 March 2023: MOBI and its members have successfully demonstrated the first-ever Web3 digital infrastructure for privacy-preserving verification of vehicle track-and-trace, enabling lenders and auditors to automate Dealer Floorplan Audits (DFA). Currently, DFA is done manually, a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. The technologies piloted, MOBI Trusted Trip (decentralized identity linked with location into a verifiable trip) and Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proof of location, are foundational for many more applications, such as tolling, road usage charging, CO2 emissions tracking/reporting, and usage-based insurance.

Modern IT systems allow for the track and trace of connected devices with a big catch — the location of device users (Personal Identifiable Information, or PII) is exposed! Vehicles on dealer lots are filled with sensors that can provide accurate data about the vehicle’s condition, location, and other important information. While it is theoretically possible to use existing vehicle telematics to check location and automate the audit process, doing so can potentially reveal customer PII, for example, if the vehicle is sold or loaned to a customer. In addition, each dealer lot may contain vehicles from multiple manufacturers (OEMs) that do not share data with each other during the audit. As a result, lenders have continued with manual auditing.

MOBI’s DFA pilot uses Citopia vinTRAK ZK proof of location verification capabilities to safeguard vehicle location and other PII. The only public information required to verify the ZK proof and verification is the geofenced location of the dealership. During the audit process, the vehicle is asked “Are you in this geofenced location?” and the vehicle responds with the proof “Yes/No.” The proof does not contain any clear text information about a vehicle’s location or identity (e.g. VIN number).

An additional layer of privacy for the technology being demoed is the use of World Wide Web Consortium standards to create Citopia Self-Sovereign Digital Twins (SSDT). An SSDT is a Digital Twin (DT) where only the owner/controller has access to the data stored inside the DT and can participate in autonomous transactions. In this pilot:

Vehicle geolocation resides in the vehicle SSDT and only the vehicle data owner/controller has access to this data. Lenders receive the ZK proof and MOBI and Lenders do not have access to vehicle C-SSDT.

ZK verification of vehicle location (does not contain a specific location or the VIN) resides in both the vehicle and the lender SSDTs (MOBI does not have access to this data).

The technologies used in this pilot enable the automation of Dealer Floorplan Audit for lenders and auditors without the complications and legal risks of handling PII associated with vehicles. This pilot is foundational for many track-and-trace applications powered by MOBI Trusted Trip and ZK cryptography. Building on this innovative groundwork, OEMs can monetize connected vehicle data in future applications such as vehicle maintenance traceability, battery cross-border compliance, and usage-based services.

The DFA Pilot using Citopia vinTRAK ZK proof of location verification is spearheaded by MOBI’s Finance, Securitization, and Smart Contracts (FSSC) Working Group. Many thanks to FSSC contributors: Accenture, Altaventure, Amazon Web Services, BMW Bank, CEVT, Connections Insights, CO-OP Financial Services, ConsenSys, D.E. Consulting, DENSO, DMI, Ford Credit, Global Debt Registry, GM Financial, IOTA, Itochu, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Nissan Motor Acceptance Company, On the Road Lending, Orrick, Quant Network, Quantstamp, Reply, RouteOne, Southeast Toyota Finance, Spring Free EV, Stellantis Financial Services, Tezos Foundation, Toyota Industries Corporation, Trade Log, and USAA.

Learn more about completed and ongoing pilot projects at MOBI here. Organizations of all sizes, industries, and locations are welcome to join MOBI and contribute to Citopia development and testing.

About MOBI

Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) is a global nonprofit smart mobility consortium. MOBI and our members are creating blockchain-based standards to identify vehicles, people, businesses, and MOBI Trusted Trips. We are building the Web3 digital infrastructure for connected ecosystems and IoT commerce. Our goal is to make transportation more efficient, equitable, decentralized, and sustainable, all while preserving the data privacy of users and providers alike.

For additional information about joining MOBI, please reach out to Griffin Haskins (griffin@dlt.mobi) or visit www.dlt.mobi.

Media Contact: Grace Pulliam, MOBI Communications Manager

Email: grace@dlt.mobi | Twitter: twitter.com/dltmobi

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The post MOBI Members Demonstrated Privacy-Preserving Vehicle Location Technology appeared first on MOBI | The New Economy of Movement.

Canada’s trusted digital ID leader, the DIACC, welcomes Budget 2023; applauds the government for investments in digital transformation and Canada’s shift to a digital economy

RONTO, MARCH 29, 2023 — Joni Brennan, President of the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) released a statement following the tabling of the federal budget yesterday:

The DIACC welcomes the federal government’s investments for digital transformation and Canadian innovation to enable a thriving digital economy announced in yesterday’s budget.

Canada has an opportunity to be a global leader in digital ID, and unlock opportunities for Canadians, decrease costs for governments, consumers, and business, improve service delivery, and drive GDP growth. 

A digital identity is a highly personal yet critical component to both serve and protect Canadians. From increasing data protection and privacy in the public sector to strengthening national security, public safety and child protection through effective authentication and authorization, digital ID is an important part of our transition to a digital world and a digital economy. Further, we know that an effective, safe and secure digital ID ecosystem will save manual operation costs and reduce fraud, saving an estimated $482 million for provincial and federal governments, and $4.5 billion for private sector organizations.

This budget announcement reinforces the government’s commitment to Canada’s digital transformation as it looks for ways to be a full participant in the global digital economy and shift to a digital-first mindset. The government has made some encouraging progress in adopting digital technology solutions to better deliver programs and services, and Canadians are benefiting from that progress. 

We were pleased to see the following commitments included in the budget:

A commitment to introduce legislative amendments to the Criminal Code and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) to strengthen the investigative, enforcement, and information sharing tools of Canada’s AML/ATF Regime. A commitment to improving Airport Operations and Passenger Screening, including $1.8 billion over five years to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) to maintain and increase its level of service, improve screening wait times, and strengthen security measures at airports. Commitments to improve service delivery for Canadians including $156.7 million over five years to reduce backlogs in Veterans Affairs Canada; $123.9 million over seven years for Old Age Security IT modernization; and a commitment to amend the Citizenship Act to enable the electronic administration of the citizenship program, automated and machine-assisted processing, and the collection and use of biometric information.

The budget provides an opportunity to further advance digital ID in Canada, and the DIACC remains committed to partnering with both government and industry to continue building a trusted digital ID ecosystem and educating Canadians to combat dis and misinformation regarding digital ID.

About Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC)

The Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) is a non-profit coalition of public and private sector organizations committed to developing research and tools to enable secure, robust, and scalable Canadian digital ID solutions and services. With privacy, security, and choice at the forefront of all DIACC initiatives, we aim to enable all Canadians to participate safely and confidently in the global digital economy.

For more information:

communications@diacc.ca