Last Update 6:31 PM February 15, 2025 (UTC)

Organizations | Identosphere Blogcatcher

Brought to you by Identity Woman and Infominer.
Support this collaboration on Patreon!!

Friday, 14. February 2025

EdgeSecure

Internet2 Adds Site in New Jersey, Expanding Network Peering Capabilities

The post Internet2 Adds Site in New Jersey, Expanding Network Peering Capabilities appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Internet2, in collaboration with Edge (opens in a new window), recently commissioned a new network site in Newark, New Jersey. This expansion strengthens research and education (R&E) connectivity in the region, which also includes the nearby site at 32 Avenue of the Americas in New York, operated in partnership with NYSERNet (opens in a new window). It also enhances access to multiple cloud environments and commercial content providers.

“By working together to launch the Newark site, Edge and Internet2 are enhancing regional access to shared commercial cyberinfrastructure and cloud resources,” said Jim Stankiewicz, associate vice president and principal network architect at Edge. “In addition to providing access to a dense exchange fabric that benefits the entire Internet2 community, Newark’s 165 Halsey location is a rapidly growing hub for artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, creating new opportunities for research and innovation.”

32 Avenue of the Americas Remains a Strategic Location

The new Newark site supersedes a legacy Internet2 peering location at 111 8th Avenue in New York. That site is being decommissioned following the building’s acquisition by a cloud service provider and an associated forced departure for many tenants from the facility. As a result, Internet2 will be removing all optical transport and peering infrastructure from the 111 8th Avenue site over the next six months.

Internet2 will continue to operate substantial community infrastructure at 32 Avenue of the Americas in New York in collaboration with NYSERNet. This location includes a pair of redundant core network nodes as well as the 400 Gbps-capable Manhattan Landing (MAN LAN) global exchange point. The location is connected by 4 Tbps of combined capacity on five network paths, remaining a critical hub for the R&E community’s regional and international connectivity.

“By working together to launch the Newark site, Edge and Internet2 are enhancing regional access to shared commercial cyberinfrastructure and cloud resources.In addition to providing access to a dense exchange fabric that benefits the entire Internet2 community, Newark’s 165 Halsey location is a rapidly growing hub for artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, creating new opportunities for research and innovation.”

— Jim Stankiewicz
Associate Vice President and Principal Network Architect, Edge Peering Evolution and Routing Optimization

Collectively, these efforts align with one of the five key objectives of Internet2’s new Trusted Infrastructure Platform initiative. That objective is to drive the community evolution of peering and routing optimization.

“Internet2’s collaboration with Edge to establish a new peering site underscores our commitment to provide high-performance, resilient infrastructure that supports the R&E community’s evolving connectivity needs,” said James Deaton, vice president for network services at Internet2. “As we continue our transition toward a software-enabled future, investments like this enhance peering capabilities and align with our broader efforts to improve routing efficiency and network performance.”

The Trusted Infrastructure Platform initiative builds on the foundation established by the launch of the Internet2 Next Generation Infrastructure (NGI) in 2021. NGI included major upgrades to optical and packet hardware. It also introduced new levels of network automation and orchestration.

In the coming months, Internet2 will share more about the Trusted Infrastructure Platform initiative, including its five key objectives and how the Network Services team is working toward them in 2025 and beyond.

“Internet2’s collaboration with Edge to establish a new peering site underscores our commitment to provide high-performance, resilient infrastructure that supports the R&E community’s evolving connectivity needs. As we continue our transition toward a software-enabled future, investments like this enhance peering capabilities and align with our broader efforts to improve routing efficiency and network performance.”

— James Deaton
Vice President for Network Services, Internet2

About Edge

Edge serves as a member-owned, nonprofit provider of high performance optical fiber networking and internetworking, Internet2, and a vast array of best-in-class technology solutions for cybersecurity, educational technologies, cloud computing, and professional managed services. Edge provides these solutions to colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, government entities, hospital networks and nonprofit business entities as part of a membership-based consortium. Edge’s membership spans the northeast, along with a growing list of EdgeMarket participants nationwide. Edge’s common good mission ensures success by empowering members for digital transformation with affordable, reliable and thought-leading purpose-built, advanced connectivity, technologies and services.

The post Internet2 Adds Site in New Jersey, Expanding Network Peering Capabilities appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


Learning Machines: Crafting a Future-Ready Cybersecurity Strategy for Higher Education

The post Learning Machines: Crafting a Future-Ready Cybersecurity Strategy for Higher Education appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Webinar
February 27, 2025
10:00 AM ET

Discover how innovative machine learning techniques can transform your institution’s cybersecurity approach, empowering IT leaders to proactively safeguard critical data and assets in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

Register Now »

The post Learning Machines: Crafting a Future-Ready Cybersecurity Strategy for Higher Education appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


Navigating the Grant Lifecycle: A Strategic Approach to Higher Education Funding

The post Navigating the Grant Lifecycle: A Strategic Approach to Higher Education Funding appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Webinar
March 13, 2025
10:00 AM ET

Securing and managing grants is a complex yet essential process for higher education institutions. This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of the grant lifecycle, from identifying opportunities and crafting compelling proposals to post-award compliance and financial management. Attendees will gain valuable insights into best practices, common challenges, and strategies for optimizing grant success. With expert guidance from Edge, institutions can streamline the grant process, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance their ability to secure competitive funding for research, academic programs, and student success initiatives.

Register Now »

The post Navigating the Grant Lifecycle: A Strategic Approach to Higher Education Funding appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Thursday, 13. February 2025

We Are Open co-op

Systemic complexities with AI

This series is a brief look at the content within Harnessing AI for Environmental Justice, a report WAO developed for Friends of the Earth, funded by Mozilla. Read or download the full report here. Check out Part 1, Understanding Predominant Narratives in AI. In this second part, we look at the systemic complexities around environmentalism and technology. Understanding Predominant Narrativ

This series is a brief look at the content within Harnessing AI for Environmental Justice, a report WAO developed for Friends of the Earth, funded by Mozilla. Read or download the full report here.

Check out Part 1, Understanding Predominant Narratives in AI. In this second part, we look at the systemic complexities around environmentalism and technology.

Understanding Predominant Narratives in AI Systemic complexities with AI Starting principles for the ethical use of AI (coming soon!) How to be an Activist in a World of AI (coming soon!)

When viewed with all of the facts, nothing is simple. The same is true with AI, and everything else related to environmental justice and digital rights. As a result, we need to be aware of complexity.

The climate crisis disproportionately affects low-income communities, women and marginalised communities that are already affected by systemic inequalities. (Kazansky, 2022). We know that ‘black-box’ algorithms, a lack of regulation of corporate conglomerates, and obscured climate impact reporting is common within the tech industry. (Kazansky, 2022). Companies are not obligated to disclose essential information in the proprietary nature of their AI development, including labour practices in the AI supply chain and procurement of materials or rare minerals. (Kazansky, 2022). Digital rights activists tell us how data privacy and surveillance is affecting our most vulnerable communities as well as wider society.

These issues are systemic, touch many different policy points, and are best addressed through thoughtful coalitions and the important, painstaking work of activism.

Cloud Computing by Nadia Piet + AIxDESIGN & Archival Images of AI Climate and Energy

AI is being used to address the climate emergency and reduce energy consumption in various ways. For example, the UN talks about improving prediction modelling for how climate change is impacting our societies using machine learning and predictive AI. (United Nations, 2023). Other companies are using similar technologies for helping prevent wildfires, promoting reforestation or improving early warning systems. (Climate One, 2024).

However, none of these are using generative AI for positive climate action and to tackle the rising energy consumption required by new data centres.

Journalists from across the environmental and tech sectors repeatedly emphasise the significant energy consumption associated with generative AI models like ChatGPT. They point out that the energy and water usage to run and cool data centres is growing exponentially because of AI, and that by 2027 the sector will have the same annual energy demand as the Netherlands. (Vincent, 2023). However, it’s important to understand that, just as when we compare one country’s emissions with the rest of the world, data centres are responsible for a small percentage of total global energy-related emissions.

This does not mean that there is nothing to concern us here. As we have not yet transitioned to global renewable energy, increased energy usage incentivises the use of fossil fuels. (Kazansky, 2022). Indeed fossil fuels are still responsible for over 80% of our global energy needs. (Ritchie, 2024). The energy mix in some places is increasingly renewable, whereas other places are almost entirely dependent on approaches emitting high levels of CO2.

Nature and Environment

AI can be used to help in everything from conservation efforts with endangered species (Wildlife.AI, 2024) through to dealing with controlling pests such as the Desert Locust. (PlantVillage, 2024). In these cases, AI usually takes the form of object detection and tracking, computer vision, and machine classification. This is often combined with cloud computing, analytics and satellite intelligence to provide insights for farmers, activists, and conservations to take action.

Generative AI is not central to these efforts, but the energy being used to generate synthetic text, images, and video is a mainstream issue. Related is the issue of resource consumption, which tends to receive less attention. This is particularly true of freshwater usage, as data centres use water for cooling, and the explosion of generative AI technologies has exacerbated freshwater water scarcity. The trend shows no signs of slowing. (Li, Pengfei, et al., 2023).

Local communities in areas where data centres are built deal with a variety of ecological and social issues due to this resource consumption. Human communities, farm lands, natural areas and biotopes suffer as Big Tech works to hide its water usage. (Smith & Adams, 2024). Data centres are competing with these local communities and ecosystems for scarce water resources, especially in regions already experiencing drought. (HuggingFace, 2024). This competition puts a further strain on water availability and poses a threat to biodiversity in these vulnerable areas.

Clean technology and innovative, cyclical solutions in resourcing is critical in the protection of biodiversity.

Rights and Justice

Machine learning, image recognition systems and predictive analytics can be used to work on a number of issues related to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For example, issues relating to hunger, education, health and well-being can be addressed in part by AI technologies. We are beginning to see innovative uses of AI such as helping to identify or predict illnesses as well as showing us ways to reduce food waste.

However, good examples of how generative AI are supporting such progressive initiatives are hard to come by. When it comes to rights and justice, it is much easier to unpack how generative AI is causing harm. Alongside the more visible issue of resource use, a slew of discriminatory and exploitative practices are made worse by the AI boom.

The waste and pollution, ecosystem collapse and worker exploitation associated with AI advancements disproportionately impact the communities who are already most vulnerable to the climate crisis.

Civil society organisations and communities play an important role in ensuring that extractive practices, in the context of resource extraction, labour and further colonialism, are pivotal in shaping AI development.

There’s more to read in the full report. Read or download it here.

Technology has changed so much about our world. Now, AI is changing things again and at hyperspeed. We work to understand its potential implications for our communities, learners and programmes. Do you need help with AI Literacies, strategy, or storytelling? Get in touch!

References

Kazansky, B., et al. (2022). ‘At the Confluence of Digital Rights and Climate & Environmental justice: A landscape review’. Engine Room. Available at: https://engn.it/climatejusticedigitalrights (Accessed: 24 October 2024)

United Nations (2023). ‘Explainer: How AI helps combat climate change’. UN News, 3rd November. Available at: https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/11/1143187 (Accessed: 24 October 2024).

Climate One (2024) ‘Artificial Intelligence, Real Climate Impacts’ [podcast], 19th April. Available at: https://www.climateone.org/audio/artificial-intelligence-real-climate-impacts (Accessed: 24 October 2024).

Ritchie, H., Rosado, P., & Roser, M. (2024). Renewable Energy. Our World in Data. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy (Accessed: 28 November 2024)

Wildlife.AI — Using artificial intelligence to accelerate conservation. (n.d.). Wildlife.AI. Available at: https://wildlife.ai/ (Accessed: 11 December 2024).

Plantvillage. Penn State University (n.d.). Available at: https://plantvillage.psu.edu (Accessed: 11 December 2024).

Li, Pengfei, et al. (2023) Making AI Less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models. Available at: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.03271 (Accessed: 20 November 2024)

Smith, H. & Adams, C. (2024) ‘Report: Thinking about using AI?’. The Green Web Foundation. Available at: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/publications/report-ai-environmental-impact/ (Accessed: 24 October 2024).

Hugging Face (2024) The Environmental Impacts of AI. Available at: https://huggingface.co/blog/sasha/ai-environment-primer (Accessed: 24 October 2024).

Systemic complexities with AI was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


ResofWorld

Tired of spotty internet, Bolivians are smuggling in Starlink

Bolivia, which relies on a Chinese-built satellite for some of its connectivity, banned Starlink — but that hasn’t stopped people from smuggling the device into the country.
Last month, Darren Jason Watkins Jr., a popular American streamer, broadcast a visit to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia’s largest city. As his stream kept glitching, Watkins Jr., known...

Wednesday, 12. February 2025

FIDO Alliance

Thales Launches FIDO Key Management Solution for Enterprise Passwordless Authentication

Thales has unveiled a new solution designed to streamline the deployment and management of FIDO security passkeys for large-scale implementations. The OneWelcome FIDO Key Lifecycle Management solution enables organizations to […]

Thales has unveiled a new solution designed to streamline the deployment and management of FIDO security passkeys for large-scale implementations. The OneWelcome FIDO Key Lifecycle Management solution enables organizations to efficiently manage the complete lifecycle of FIDO keys while transitioning to passwordless authentication systems. The launch follows Thales’ previous efforts in passwordless authentication, expanding their enterprise security portfolio.

The solution provides IT teams with comprehensive control over FIDO key management, from initial enrollment through to eventual revocation. By allowing IT departments to pre-register keys and handle lifecycle management tasks, the platform helps reduce the burden on end users while maintaining security standards. The approach supports recent FIDO Alliance guidelines for enterprise passkey implementation, which emphasize the importance of streamlined deployment processes.

A key feature of the solution is its integration with Microsoft Entra ID through FIDO2 provisioning APIs, enabling organizations to pre-register Thales FIDO keys for their users. The integration is particularly relevant for enterprises using Microsoft 365, providing secure authentication capabilities from initial deployment. The feature arrives as Microsoft implements mandatory multi-factor authentication across its enterprise platforms.


The Engine Room

Announcing our two new Matchbox partners

We’re excited to welcome two partners to our Matchbox Program this year: Trans Youth Initiative-Uganda (TYI-Uganda) and TechHer. The post Announcing our two new Matchbox partners appeared first on The Engine Room.

We’re excited to welcome two partners to our Matchbox Program this year: Trans Youth Initiative-Uganda (TYI-Uganda) and TechHer.

The post Announcing our two new Matchbox partners appeared first on The Engine Room.


Project VRM

A simple plan to de-enshittify CVS

Fifteen years ago, The Onion published this story: Study Finds Paint Aisle At Lowe’s Best Place To Have Complete Meltdown Now it’s the vitamin aisle at CVS: When Cory Doctorow coined  enshittification, he was talking about how online platforms such as Google, Amazon, and TikTok get shitty over time. Well, the same disease also afflicts […]

Fifteen years ago, The Onion published this story:

Study Finds Paint Aisle At Lowe’s Best Place To Have Complete Meltdown

Now it’s the vitamin aisle at CVS:

Enshittification at work.

When Cory Doctorow coined  enshittification, he was talking about how online platforms such as Google, Amazon, and TikTok get shitty over time. Well, the same disease also afflicts many big retail operations, especially ones that flood their zones with discounts and other gimmicks, making “the customer experience” (aka CX) a freaking chore.

Take the vitamin aisle, above. The only person who will ever get down on all fours to read the yellow tags near the floor is the cursed employee who has to creep the length of the aisle on all fours, putting them there.

For customers, the main cost of shopping at CVS is cognitive overhead. Think about—

All those yellow stickies All the slow-downs at check-out when you wave your barcode at a reader, punch your phone number into a terminal, or have a CVS worker to do the same All the conditionalities in every discount or “free” offer that  isn’t All the yard-long receipts, such as this one:

And the app!

OMFG,  all we really need the damned app for is the one CVS function our life depends on: the pharmacy.

To be fair, the app doesn’t suck at the basics (list of meds, what needs to be refilled, etc.). What it does suck at is helping you take advantage of CVS’s greatest strength: that there are so many of them. Specifically,

While that’s down a bit from the  peak in 2021, CVS remains the Starbucks of pharmacies. And while they are busy laying off people while investing in tech, you’d think they would at least make it easy to move your prescription from one store to another, using the app.  But noooo.

What the app is best for is promotional crap. For example, this:

Look at the small gray type in the red oval: 198 coupons!

After I scroll down past the six Extrabucks Rewards (including the two above), I get these:

First, who wants a full-priced item when it seems damn near everything (outside the pharmacy) is discounted?

Second, you’d think after all these years of checking out with my Extracare barcode, and the app shows me (under “Buy It Again”) all the stuff I’ve purchased recently, that CVS would know I am a standard-issue dude with no interest in cosmetics. So why top the list of coupons with that shit? Probably to make me scroll down through the other 178 coupons to find other stuff I might want at a cheaper price.

I just did that and found nothing. Why? Because most of the coupons are for health products I already bought or don’t need. (I’m not sick right now.) Also, almost all of the coupons (as you see) expire three days from now.

Now think about the cognitive and operational overhead required to maintain that whole program at CVS. Good gawd.

And is it necessary? At all? When you’re the Starbucks of pharmacies?

Without exception, all loyalty programs like this one are coercive.

But do stores need them? Do customers?

Real loyalty is earned, not coerced.

Want your store, or your chain, to be loved? Take some lessons from the most loved chain in the country: Trader Joe’s. In a chapter of The Intention Economy called “The Dance,” I listed some reasons why TJ’s is loved by its customers. My main source was Doug Rauch, the retired president of TJ’s, where he worked for 31 years. A partial list:

They never use the word “consumer.” They call us “customers,” “persons,” or “individuals.” They have none of what Doug calls “gimmicks.” No loyalty programs, ads, promotions, or anything else that manipulates customers, raises cognitive overhead or insults anyone’s intelligence. In other words, none of what marketing obsesses about, especially massive troves of customer data. “Those things are a huge part of retailing today, and have huge hidden costs,” Doug says. They never discount anything, putting it “on sale.” Those just add more cognitive overhead. TJ’s wants customers not just to assume, but to know, that the listed price is the best the store can do. They have less than no interest in industry fashion. TJ’s goes to no retail industry meetings or conferences, belongs to no associations, and avoids all settings where the talk is about gaming customers. That’s not TJ’s style because that’s not its substance. They believe, along with Cluetrain, that markets are conversations—with customers. Doug told me his main job, as president of the company, was “shopping along with customers.” That’s how he spent most of his time. “We believe in honesty and directness between human beings…We do this by engaging with the whole person, rather than just with the part that ‘consumes….We’ll even open packages with customers to taste and talk about the goods.” As a result, “There’s nothing sold at Trader Joe’s that customers haven’t improved.”

There’s more. Take for example, what Walmart CEO Lee Scott told me in 2000 (at this event) when I asked him “What happened to K-Mart?” From The Intention Economy:

His answer, in a word, was “Coupons.” As Lee explained it, K-Mart overdid it with coupons, which became too big a hunk of their overhead, while also narrowing their customer base toward coupon-clippers. They had other problems, he said, but that was a big one. By contrast, Wal-Mart minimized that kind of thing, focusing instead on promising “everyday low prices,” which was a line of Sam Walton’s from way back. The overhead for that policy rounded to zero.

Which brings me to trust.

We trust Trader Joe’s and Walmart to be what they are. In simple and fundamental ways, they haven’t changed. The ghosts of Joe Coloumbe and Sam Walton still run Trader Joe’s and Walmart. TJ’s is still the “irreverent but affordable” grocery store Joe built for what he called “the overeducated and underpaid,” and based in Los Angeles. Walmart is still Sam’s five-and-dime from Bentonville, Arkansas. (Lee Scott told me that.)

CVS’s equivalent of Joe and Sam was Ralph Hoagland, who happened to be a good friend of good friends in Santa Barbara. All of us also shared history around Harvard and Cambridge, where Ralph lived when he co-founded CVS, which stood for Consumer Value Store, in 1963. In those days CVS mostly sold health and beauty products, cheaply. I remember Ralph saying the store’s main virtue was just good prices on good products. Hence the name.

We see the ghost of Ralph and his co-founders in those 198 coupons. I also think we can do without the coupons and CVS could do a much better job of signaling bargain prices by just making those prices as low as the store can make them—on the model of Trader Joe’s and Walmart.

I think there is a good Health position for CVS: one that bridges its health & beauty origins and its eminence as the alpha pharmacy chain in the U.S. And it could rest on trust.

I’m thinking now about tech. Specifically, FPCs, or First Person Credentials. These are new, but you can read what Jamie Smith writes about them in his Customer Futures newsletter under the headline The most important credentials you’ve never heard of. Also check out—

What I wrote last year about Identity as Root What DIF is doing What Ayra is doing Other stuff you’ll be hearing about first person credentials (but isn’t published yet) when you come to the next IIW (April 8-10. What you’ll be learning soon about re-basing every thing (meaning every SKU, as well as every person) on a new framework that is far more worthy of trust than any of the separate collections of records, databases, and namespaces that currently fractures a digital world that desperately needs unity and interop—especially around health. And::: MyTerms, which is the new name for IEEE P7012, the upcoming standard (for which I am the working group chair) that should become official later this year, though nothing prevents anyone from putting its simple approach to work.

MyTerms turns around the opt-out consent mechanisms that have been pro forma since industry won the industrial revolution and metastasized in the Digital Age. With MyTerms, the sites and services of the world agree to your terms, not the other way around. With MyTerms, truly trusting relationships can be established between customers and companies. This is why I immodestly call it the most important standard in development today.

So I have five simple recommendations for CVS, all to de-enshittify corporate operations and customer experiences:

Drop the whole loyalty thing. Completely. Cold turkey. Hell, fire the whole marketing department. Put the savings into employees you incentivize to engage productively (not promotionally) with customers. Confine your research to what your human employees learn directly from their human customers. Be the best version of what you are: a great pharmacy/convenience store chain that’s still long in health and beauty products. Simplify the app by eliminating all the promotional shit, and by making it as easy as possible for customers to move prescriptions from one  CVS store to another. Watch what’s happening with first person credentials and MyTerms. With those CVS can be a leader, rather than a follower, in the future of retail.

Coupon-clipping addicts may feel some pain at first, but if you market it well—making clear that you have “everyday low prices” rather than annoying and labor-intensive discounts (many of which expire in three days), customers will come to love you.


ResofWorld

Syria just hosted its first international tech conference in 50 years

Syrian-American entrepreneurs and investors hope to facilitate 25,000 new tech jobs in the country by 2030.
While much of the world was focused on a radical proposal by the U.S. president to transform the Middle East, a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and tech leaders gathered...

Oasis Open Projects

Q&A with William Parducci

William Parducci was recently honored as a 2024 OASIS Distinguished Contributor. Since beginning his journey with OASIS in 2000, Bill has been a key player in advancing open standards and open source solutions. In this Q&A, Bill reflects on his experiences, the challenges of fostering voluntary adoption of open standards, and his vision for the […] The post Q&A with William Parducci appe

William Parducci was recently honored as a 2024 OASIS Distinguished Contributor. Since beginning his journey with OASIS in 2000, Bill has been a key player in advancing open standards and open source solutions. In this Q&A, Bill reflects on his experiences, the challenges of fostering voluntary adoption of open standards, and his vision for the future of the industry.

What inspired you to get involved with OASIS and contribute to open source and open standards?
I joined OASIS in 2000. At the time, I was working on some large, open enterprise projects where my team was trying to introduce Linux and Apache as the basis for a solution. Despite the resistance to open source software back then, it was clear to me that openly developed, community-driven technology could dramatically increase adoption by making these solutions more accessible.

I discovered OASIS while working on an automotive industry initiative to standardize XML as a data transmission protocol. Seeing that need overlap with the “open source” philosophy—particularly for security—really resonated with me.

Can you share a defining moment or achievement in your work at OASIS that you’re especially proud of?
The release of XACML 1.0 is something I’m particularly proud of. There was significant involvement from major technology companies, but at the same time, there was a lot of hesitation toward open source and a strong desire to protect intellectual property. Our ability to address those concerns and still create a specification that laid the groundwork for robust authorization policies demonstrated the feasibility of developing meaningful open standards while respecting the IP concerns of all stakeholders.

What challenges have you encountered in advancing open standards, and how have you overcome them?
The most significant challenges I’ve faced involve voluntary adoption. In scenarios where conformance to a specification is mandatory, the process is more straightforward; however, when adoption is voluntary, it requires greater foresight and buy-in from management.

To address this, I’ve demonstrated how open standards can reduce future integration costs, streamline migrations between products, and deliver long-term business value. Over the years, I’ve learned that simply having a standard in place isn’t always sufficient to convince upper management—rather, it’s often seen as an expense that must be justified before it’s fully accepted.

How do you see the role of open standards evolving in the next five to ten years?
I’m optimistic on many fronts. Government agencies and international cooperatives will continue to benefit from open standards because there are countless areas—almost endless, really—where a common lingua franca is generally advantageous.

However, in the “identity” space, I’m slightly less optimistic. For instance, I’m a huge fan of SAML and often advocate for its elegant, consistent approach in corporate environments. But in the “public” space, I see OAuth variants continuing to grow as identity management consolidates around the largest technology providers. While OAuth is “open,” implementations have forked, with each provider customizing it for their own needs.

What advice would you give to new contributors looking to make an impact in the OASIS community?
Focus on something you’re passionate about that goes beyond your immediate work requirements. In my experience, those who contribute in this way tend to come up with the most inspired and innovative solutions—and often spot potential flaws that others miss.

Beyond your work with OASIS, what other projects or innovations in technology are you passionate about?
Although I’m passionate about security-related technologies, my time in the market research industry sparked a keen interest in semantic analysis. That interest has only grown with the rapid advancement of AI. In just a few years, we’ve gone from locally implementing open source tools such as Gensim on our own machines to leveraging 100B+ parameter models through simple API calls. It’s been incredible to witness.

What does receiving this Distinguished Contributor award mean to you personally and professionally?
Professionally, I’m honored to be recognized for my efforts to promote open solutions. On a personal level, it’s gratifying because it acknowledges the time and effort I devoted to the TC, even when my corporate responsibilities lay elsewhere.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the OASIS community?
I have really enjoyed my time working with the OASIS team as well as those on the TCs. To say that it’s a varied set of characters would be an understatement, then to see the common desire to create something that is meaningful emerge as the work begins is what fuels my passion for this work.

The post Q&A with William Parducci appeared first on OASIS Open.


Hyperledger Foundation

Hiero: Advancing Decentralized Trust Through Open Source Innovation

Trust and transparency are essential for advancing digital systems in today's interconnected world. The Hiero project), a groundbreaking open source initiative under Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, is at the forefront of advancing decentralized trust and addressing these needs. 

Trust and transparency are essential for advancing digital systems in today's interconnected world. The Hiero project), a groundbreaking open source initiative under Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, is at the forefront of advancing decentralized trust and addressing these needs. 


FIDO Alliance

Yuno Rolls Out Mastercard Payment Passkey in Latin America to Combat Fraud and Streamline Checkouts

Global payments orchestrator Yuno is launching the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service across Latin America, enabling merchants in the region to streamline online checkout processes and enhance fraud protection. Following the launch by Yuno, merchants […]
Global payments orchestrator Yuno is launching the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service across Latin America, enabling merchants in the region to streamline online checkout processes and enhance fraud protection.

Following the launch by Yuno, merchants in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile can replace increasingly vulnerable traditional authentication methods, such as one-time passwords, with Mastercard Payment Passkey Service, which uses device-based biometrics, such as fingerprints and facial recognition already available on smartphones, to authenticate purchases.

Mastercard Payment Passkey Service also leverages tokenisation technology to ensure that sensitive data is never shared with third parties and remains useless to fraudsters in the event of a data breach, making transactions even more secure.

This technology promises to not only boost the security of online transactions, but also to significantly reduce cart abandonment rates by increasing convenience for merchants’ customers.


Goodbye to manual card entry: Mastercard reveals when the new era of one-click online payments begins

Changes are on the way for online shopping and e-commerce. The traditional way of paying for items online by typing in your credit card details (card number and CVV security code) […]

Changes are on the way for online shopping and e-commerce. The traditional way of paying for items online by typing in your credit card details (card number and CVV security code) will soon be a thing of the past.

Mastercard and other card payment companies will be introducing a one-click button that will work on any online platform.

One of the reasons why services will be moving to a one-click system is to deter hackers who target merchant sites to steal consumer card information. According to a 2023 study by Juniper Research, merchant losses from online payment fraud will exceed $362 billion globally between 2023 to 2028, with losses of $91 billion alone in 2028.

The one-click system will protect consumers and their online data.


ResofWorld

Students are doubling as cheap labor for Taiwan’s semiconductor factories

Student-interns are paid for low-skill factory tasks and spend little time in the classroom.
Before Dang Nhut Hao came to Taiwan, he knew nothing about semiconductors.  Growing up in Dong Thap — a southern Vietnamese province on the Mekong Delta famous for its rice...

Pakistan’s electric rickshaws are accelerating the country’s EV revolution

Automaker Sazgar is focused on meeting local needs as Pakistan pushes for EV adoption, but high costs remain a barrier for some drivers.
Pakistan hurtled toward its electric future in 2024. In August, Chinese EV giant BYD said it would set up its first South Asian production plant in the country. Three months...

OwnYourData

Empowering Digital Product Passports: OwnYourData’s Role in Secure and Interoperable Data Ecosystems

We are excited to announce OwnYourData’s involvement in the groundbreaking PACE-DPP project: Promoting Accelerated Circular Economy through Digital Product Passports, spearheaded by Virtual Vehicle. As a key consortium partner, OwnYourData is leading the crucial work focused on Data Intermediaries in the work package 4 DPP Data Ecosystem. PACE-DPP  is motivated by providing guardrails and sol

We are excited to announce OwnYourData’s involvement in the groundbreaking PACE-DPP project: Promoting Accelerated Circular Economy through Digital Product Passports, spearheaded by Virtual Vehicle. As a key consortium partner, OwnYourData is leading the crucial work focused on Data Intermediaries in the work package 4 DPP Data Ecosystem.

PACE-DPP  is motivated by providing guardrails and solution bricks for tackling the basic technological and regulatory challenges for a smooth instantiation of DPP-based Ecosystems. Industrial relevant applications from supply-chains in electronics and wood/pulp/paper industries provide a solid basis for use-case driven experimentation with key enabling digital technologies like Data Spaces and Digital Twins. The essential result will represent the provision of lightweight accessible DPP services for unleashing the hidden potential of innovative circular economy business models, within the context of the European Green Deal.

OwnYourData plays a critical role in the PACE-DPP project by providing essential expertise in self-sovereign identity (SSI) and data governance for the emerging Digital Product Passport (DPP) ecosystem. We contribute to the semantic annotation of data structures to ensure interoperability within the DPP data ecosystem. Additionally, OwnYourData supplies technical building blocks for decentralized identifiers (DIDs), Verifiable Credentials (VCs), and Verifiable Presentations (VPs), supporting attestations and authentication mechanisms in compliance with OpenID specifications (OID4VC, OID4VCI, OID4VP). By implementing these SSI components, OwnYourData enhances trust and security in data sharing processes, fostering a scalable and privacy-preserving digital infrastructure for product traceability.

Beyond its technical contributions, OwnYourData actively works to integrate a neutral data intermediary (https://intermediary.at) that facilitates the secure storage and controlled exchange of product-related information. The intermediary serves as key enablers in supply chain processes, ensuring that product data remains accessible and verifiable while respecting privacy and compliance requirements. In addition we engage with stakeholders and disseminates human-centric aspects of digital product passports through collaborations with initiatives such as MyData, promoting transparency and user empowerment in data ecosystems.

The OwnYourData team in the PACE-DPP project consists of experts in data governance, self-sovereign identity, and semantic technologies. Dr. Christoph Fabianek, an authority in data exchange and SSI frameworks, leads the team’s contributions to decentralized identity solutions and Verifiable Credentials. Dr. Fajar J. Ekaputra brings expertise in semantic web technologies, ensuring structured and interoperable data representation. Gulsen Guler, MSc, specializes in data literacy and human-centric solutions, supporting accessibility and usability of digital product passport implementations. DI(FH) Markus Heimhilcher provides expertise in system operations, database management, and Kubernetes maintenance, ensuring a scalable and secure infrastructure. Paul Feichtenschlager contributes skills in data modeling, statistics, and software development, strengthening the technical foundation of OwnYourData’s role in the project.

We look forward to contributing our expertise to this transformative project and collaborating with other consortium members to establish a secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving Digital Product Passport ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates on our journey with PACE-DPP! For more information about the project, visit DPP-Austria.at.

 

This Lighthouse Project has been made possible by financial contributions from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) under grant number 917177, as well as from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), supported by the German Research Promotion Agency (DLR-PT).

Der Beitrag Empowering Digital Product Passports: OwnYourData’s Role in Secure and Interoperable Data Ecosystems erschien zuerst auf www.ownyourdata.eu.

Tuesday, 11. February 2025

Energy Web

Unlocking the Future of Energy with Energy Web Circles

Solving energy challenges through collaboration, innovation, and industry driven solutions The energy industry is at a turning point. With decentralization on the rise, evolving regulatory demands, and an urgent push for sustainability, industry leaders must innovate together. That’s why Energy Web is excited to launch Energy Web Circles — a new initiative that brings together enterprises, regula
Solving energy challenges through collaboration, innovation, and industry driven solutions

The energy industry is at a turning point. With decentralization on the rise, evolving regulatory demands, and an urgent push for sustainability, industry leaders must innovate together. That’s why Energy Web is excited to launch Energy Web Circles — a new initiative that brings together enterprises, regulators, and technology providers to create software solutions for today’s energy challenges.

A New Model for Collaboration

Energy Web Circles are designed to cut through traditional silos by focusing on key issues faced by the energy sector. Each Circle zeroes in on a specific challenge or opportunity, ranging from decentralized identity management, zero carbon electric vehicle charging, to carbon-aware computing and advanced grid management. These groups offer structured, flexible environments where participants can create solutions, share insights, and help shape emerging industry standards.

Introducing the First Circle: Universal Energy ID

Our inaugural Circle, Universal Energy ID, sets the stage for a more secure and interoperable energy ecosystem. As energy markets become increasingly decentralized, the need for a transparent and standardized identity framework grows. The Universal Energy ID isn’t just an identity solution — it’s a trust layer for the decentralized energy economy. It enables secure, seamless, and interoperable transactions that are essential for modern energy systems.

What is the Universal Energy ID Circle?

The Universal Energy ID Circle is a collaborative initiative aimed at developing and deploying a decentralized identity and credentialing system for the energy sector. The primary goal is to create a trusted and verifiable identity infrastructure that enables seamless transactions, regulatory compliance, and secure access control across the energy ecosystem. The Circle is designed to foster the development and integration of the EnergyID framework to enable Digital Product Passports (DPPs), e.g. to manage the lifecycle of batteries. For a DPP, this means that information about a product can be stored and updated across a network of various participants (manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, consumers, regulators) without relying on a central entity, making it resistant to censorship and single points of failure. By implementing DPPs, enterprises can drive innovation in electric mobility, enable circular economy practices, and comply with evolving regulatory requirements.

What Does the Solution Look Like?

At the core of this initiative is the EnergyID DID method, a W3C-compliant Decentralized Identifier (DID) specifically tailored for energy applications. This method provides a secure, tamper-proof way to authenticate energy-related assets, organizations, and individuals. This framework empowers electric mobility providers, distributed energy resource (DER) operators, and digital product passport managers to build trust and security into their transactions, setting a new standard for the industry.

The solution comprises:

Universal EnergyID Wallet — A digital identity wallet that allows energy stakeholders (such as utilities, DER owners, and EV users) to store and manage their decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials. Verifiable Credentials (VCs) — These digital attestations enable secure proof of identity, asset ownership, and regulatory compliance in energy transactions. Interoperability Layer — Designed to integrate with existing identity management systems and ensure compatibility with global standards such as eIDAS 2.0. Trust and Governance Framework — A decentralized governance structure ensuring that credential issuance and verification are secure, reliable, and universally accepted.

How It Works in Practice

For Electric Vehicle Charging: EV owners can use their Universal EnergyID to authenticate at any charging station, ensuring trusted, frictionless access without relying on siloed authentication systems. For Distributed Energy Resources (DERs): A solar panel or battery storage unit can have a unique, verifiable identity that allows grid operators to authenticate its participation in energy markets. For Energy Data Sovereignty: Consumers can control who has access to their energy data, ensuring privacy and security while enabling seamless energy transactions. For Regulatory Compliance: Businesses and energy providers can automatically prove adherence to compliance standards through digitally signed verifiable credentials.

Key Benefits of Universal Energy ID

Unified Identity Management: It provides a single standard for managing identities across energy, electric mobility, and beyond, eliminating fragmentation. Proven Adoption: Major enterprises and OEMs are already adopting this framework, demonstrating real-world traction. Regulatory Alignment: Built to align with standards like eIDAS and Digital Product Passports, it ensures both compliance and scalability. Open and Interoperable: The solution is integrated with leading open-source identity frameworks, including OWF and ACA-Py, making it adaptable to various use cases. Secure Communication: Worker nodes in Energy Web act as DIDComm mediators and relayers, ensuring secure, reliable communication in decentralized identity ecosystems. Automated Billing: The system supports automated and trustworthy billing for energy consumed and produced, reducing administrative friction

Join the Movement
Energy Web Circles are open to all businesses interested in advancing digitization and decarbonization in the energy sector. Whether you’re an existing Energy Web member or a new partner, your expertise is welcome. By joining a Circle, you will:

Shape Emerging Standards: Play a direct role in developing the technologies and protocols that will define the future of energy. Access Exclusive Insights: Gain early access to research, reports, and discussions that keep you at the cutting edge. Collaborate Globally: Work alongside leaders in energy, sustainability, and technology to drive innovation and change. Call to Action: Join the Universal Energy ID Circle or create your own Circle

If digital identity, verifiable credentials, and seamless interoperability in energy can create value for your business, the Universal Energy ID Circle is for you. Whether you’re an enterprise ready to integrate decentralized identity solutions or a regulator committed to enhancing compliance mechanisms, now is the time to get involved. Or do you have a compelling use case or a challenge that could benefit from industry-wide collaboration?

The future of energy is collaborative, decentralized, and digital. With Energy Web Circles, you have the opportunity to drive that future — today. To learn more about our initiative and discover how you can participate, visit Energy Web or reach out to katy.lohmann@energyweb.org

Join the Universal Energy ID Circle today by contacting: commercial@energyweb.org

Unlocking the Future of Energy with Energy Web Circles was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


ResofWorld

Chinese Temu sellers use fake U.S. postage labels to boost their profits

Some vendors have figured out how to maintain ultralow prices: Trick the U.S. postal service into delivering products for free.
Some Chinese Temu merchants are padding their profits by using counterfeit postage labels to trick the U.S. Postal Service into delivering packages for free. Posts on Chinese social media openly...

Monday, 10. February 2025

Digital ID for Canadians

Advancing and Evolving Digital Trust in the Finance and Regulatory Sectors

Current Landscape The finance and regulatory sectors are undergoing rapid digital transformation. While the industry pioneers new technology and moves away from conventional platforms, it…
Current Landscape

The finance and regulatory sectors are undergoing rapid digital transformation. While the industry pioneers new technology and moves away from conventional platforms, it faces rising fraud, privacy breaches, and growing consumer skepticism fueled by misinformation, disinformation, and challenges verifying information in an AI-driven world.

When Finance Canada’s Electronic Task Force for Payments System Review created DIACC in 2012, its goal was to unite public and private sector partners to develop a secure digital ecosystem. This goal remains, but the need to support a future-focused ecosystem underpinned by verification and authentication is more urgent than ever.

By prioritizing digital trust, Canada can secure its financial systems and enhance competitiveness in the global economy. Interoperable frameworks like the DIACC Pan-Canadian Trust Framework™ (PCTF) ensure systems remain resilient, adaptable, and trusted.

Advancing and Evolving Digital Trust in the Finance and Regulatory Sectors Strengthening Economic Competitiveness and Growth

Preventing fraud and building consumer trust are economic imperatives. Fraud costs taxpayers and businesses millions annually, and to ensure Canada remains competitive, we must adopt robust digital trust solutions to reduce fraud’s financial and operational impact. Adopting the right measures will also help Canada attract international investment, foster innovation in financial services, drive growth, and create jobs.

Enhancing Trust Through the DIACC PCTF to Complement KYC and AML

DIACC encourages its members in finance and payments to adopt the PCTF as a tool to:

Complement Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations by enhancing remote customer onboarding; Authenticate identities with trusted verification systems to reduce fraud in online transactions, digital wallets, and mobile banking; and Improve regulatory reporting efficiencies by using verifiable credentials for entity identification.

The PCTF is a critical resource for advancing interoperability, which supports trusted cross-institutional collaboration and strengthens the financial ecosystem.

Fostering Consumer Autonomy and Addressing Misinformation

Public skepticism fueled by misinformation and disinformation creates friction in adopting digital financial platforms. To tackle this, we can do the following:

Respect consumer autonomy: DIACC advocates for voluntary digital solutions that preserve traditional verification methods while offering enhanced, secure options. Promote digital literacy: Educational campaigns can strengthen consumer confidence by helping Canadians identify trustworthy institutions. Use “trust signals”: Institutions should adopt trust signals, such as verified logos or PCTF certification badges, to reassure customers of secure practices.

These efforts respect the diverse preferences of Canadians while promoting confidence in digital services.

Proactive Fraud Prevention and Responsible Innovation

Fraud prevention is not just about mitigation—it’s about staying ahead. To reduce incidents such as mortgage fraud and title insurance scams, we must:

Adopt an approach that compliments existing client identification methods and includes verifiable credentials, mobile driver licenses and trust registries; financial institutions should integrate DIACC PCTF-aligned solutions to strengthen borrower identification and secure digital proof of ownership. Leverage responsible AI for risk detection — fraud prevention measures must include responsible AI and real-time analytics to detect anomalies, mitigate risks, and reduce operational costs.
Open Banking and the Future of Finance

The government’s commitment to open banking presents opportunities for financial innovation and introduces risks without secure digital trust frameworks. DIACC’s members are encouraged to:

Use the PCTF to establish interoperable risk management practices, ensuring trusted data sharing across institutions. Mitigate risks in consumer-permissioned data sharing by implementing robust verification systems that prioritize data privacy and transparency. Align with global open banking standards to ensure Canadian institutions remain competitive and attract international investment.

Open banking offers an opportunity to empower Canadian consumers and small businesses while strengthening the role of domestic innovation on the global stage.

Best Practices and the Way Forward Enhance Digital Trust with Emerging Technologies

Canada must adopt emerging technologies to stay globally competitive. Financial institutions can use verifiable data and responsible AI to enhance fraud detection, wallets, credentialing, and compliance.

Collaborate for Global Competitiveness

Collaboration with international regulators and organizations is essential for aligning Canadian frameworks with global norms, enabling secure cross-border transactions and strengthening Canada’s financial ecosystem.

Educate and Empower Through Advocacy and Metrics

DIACC is committed to educating Canadians on digital literacy and trust while addressing inclusivity challenges, including:

Hosting sector-specific workshops and certifications to promote best practices in digital trust. Amplifying simple, real-world use cases to demonstrate the benefits of digital trust solutions, such as fraud reduction and consumer empowerment. Advocating for enhanced regulations prioritizing secure transactions and privacy while preserving consumer choice. Publishing annual metrics on fraud prevention and consumer trust improvements to ensure transparency and accountability. Conclusion

The finance and regulatory sectors urgently need services with interoperable assurance and trust to meet the growing demands of digital transformation.

By working together, we can:

Educate citizens to strengthen digital literacy while addressing inclusivity challenges. Amplify the role of governments and domestic and world banks in strengthening trust. Determine how governments and organizations can best leverage the DIACC Pan-Canadian Trust Framework to complement KYC and AML regulations, build assurance, and mitigate risks for the benefit of all Canadians.

Through education, collaboration, and the strategic use of trusted solutions, we can solidify Canada’s position as a global leader in the digital economy while safeguarding trust, privacy, and economic opportunity for all Canadians.

Download available here.

DIACC-Position-Digital-Trust-For-Finance-and-Regulatory-Sectors-ENG

OpenID

Second Implementer’s Draft of OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance Specification Approved

The OpenID Foundation membership has approved the following specification as an OpenID Second Implementer’s Draft: OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This Second Implementer’s Draft is a product of the Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working gro

The OpenID Foundation membership has approved the following specification as an OpenID Second Implementer’s Draft:

OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance

An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This Second Implementer’s Draft is a product of the Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working group.

The voting results were:

·       Approve – 86 votes

·       Object – 1 vote

·       Abstain – 17 votes

Total votes: 104 (out of 399 members = 26% > 20% quorum requirement)

Marie Jordan – OpenID Foundation Secretary

  About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.   

The post Second Implementer’s Draft of OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance Specification Approved first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


EdgeSecure

Unlocking Agility and Scalability in Network Infrastructure

The post Unlocking Agility and Scalability in Network Infrastructure appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

With an increasing demand for network performance and scalability and a desire to keep the institution’s resources focused on primary academic and research missions, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) knew a solution was needed to meet their data center connectivity requirements. The institution discovered by adopting a managed optical service model they could stay agile and competitive in an increasingly technology-dependent academic environment. Instead of building this optical transport network themselves, NJIT partnered with Edge who is well versed in consolidating multiple networks into a single, reliable and highly scalable optical infrastructure.

“Since we are experienced in building optical dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) transport networks, this project was a natural fit and a service we were excited to provide to NJIT,” says Jim Stankiewicz, Associate Vice President and Principal Network Architect, Edge. “They wanted to make their Databank high performance computing (HPC) environment redundant, and we were able to design, build, install, support, and manage all of the dark fiber infrastructure end to end—providing a fully comprehensive solution.”

“We partnered with Edge to replace our aging DWDM solution because they offered the perfect combination of managed optical services to augment our team, along with critical features like high availability, scalability, monitoring, and support. This investment immediately paid off when our dark fiber provider experienced an outage; Edge swiftly pinpointed and resolved the issue.”

— Hemal Shah
Director, Unified Communications and Networking Infrastructure & Security, NJIT

Delivering Seamless Connectivity
Operating DWDM transport networks, especially ones for high performance, bandwidth, and speed, requires an advanced set of technical, analytical, and troubleshooting skills. “Edge’s skillset in this area has been greatly enhanced over the years and we wanted to simplify the process for NJIT by driving this initiative,” shares Stankiewicz. We monitor our network 24/7/365 and have the ability to identify potential issues ahead of time. Since we provide a managed service, there are no upfront costs, just a monthly fee. Starting from our initial conversation with NJIT to development, testing, and delivery, the project took around 90 to 120 days. We regularly conduct specialized monitoring on the dark fiber circuit and can see if there is any impairment on the fiber between campus and their HPC location. This helps us identify the exact location of a break and we can contact the dark fiber provider to inform them of an impairment and get any issues resolved quickly.”

NJIT has been very pleased with the service provided, noting that it has effectively solved several challenges for the university. “By managing geographically dispersed locations and equipment, Edge has helped alleviate the stress of network management and eased the burden of monitoring and repairing their system, providing significant operational benefits,” says Stankiewicz. “Edge has also deployed a DWDM transport network at Rutgers University’s campus and colocation facilities. Since there were combinations of dark fiber from a service provider coupled with campus fiber infrastructure that is managed by Rutgers, it became very challenging to design, build, and manage an optical system effectively. To address this issue, Edge built up a 400G ring and provided a scalable, efficient, and robust framework for data transport, significantly enhancing network performance and reducing the complexity of managing diverse fiber resources.”

“Edge wants to ensure these networks are scalable and flexible to growth, so once the dark fiber is in place, we can scale to any bandwidth and demand. It’s a highly collaborative process, and we work closely with our partners to meet their fiber plant requirements and ensure that the solutions we provide are tailored to their unique needs.”

— Jim Stankiewicz
Associate Vice President and Principal Network Architect, Edge

Facilitating Efficient Data Sharing and Collaboration
With the creation of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub at Princeton University’s colocation facility in Piscataway, the institution met with Edge to discuss managing the dark fiber implementation. “Since managed optical solutions are highly customizable, these systems are ideal for multi-campus environments like Princeton,” explains Stankiewicz. “DWDM transport networks allow you to connect different locations at high speed and reliability, which can be particularly valuable for larger institutions that have highly complex bandwidth demands and network needs.”

“For research institutions which rely on massive data sets and fast, reliable connections for cutting-edge research, the DWDM transport network provides a robust infrastructure that supports both current needs and future growth, facilitating more efficient data sharing and collaboration across multiple locations,” continues Stankiewicz. “Colleges and universities can improve collaboration across their campuses, and by integrating various campus networks into a unified, managed optical system, they can also simplify network management and reduce operational complexity.”

Another Edge member, University Hospital, had built their own transport network between two hub locations in downtown Newark to their colocation facility in Parsippany. Struggling with the challenges of managing the complexities of these types of networks and infrastructure, the hospital selected Edge to be their internet services provider and help manage redundant connectivity and deliver a highly survivable, highly available networking experience to connected members.

“Partnering with Edge allows member organizations to leverage our specialized skills and expertise in designing, installing, managing, and supporting these networks, and the cost savings that goes along with this service,” says Stankiewicz. “Without proper and effective management of dark fiber networks, there can be far-reaching effects, including performance issues, scalability challenges, increased costs, and a disruption to academic and research activities. These issues can hinder growth and innovation, making it essential to have a reliable, expertly managed solution that ensures continuous, high-performance connectivity.”

“Edge has been a longtime and valued partner. As part of our ongoing collaboration on value-added services, we transitioned the technical and administrative management of approximately a dozen leased circuits. This strategic shift simplified billing, delivered monthly cost savings, avoided capital expenses by eliminating the need to upgrade end-of-life equipment, and freed our staff from infrastructure management responsibilities, allowing them to focus on advancing network innovation at Rutgers.”

— Adrienne Esposito
Director of Enterprise Infrastructure, Office of Information Technology, Rutgers University

Navigating the Complexities of Modern Network Infrastructure
Edge’s proactive approach to monitoring network infrastructure includes implementing tools that can isolate optical and fiber plant issues, oftentimes before they happen. “Throughout the years of running these optical transport networks, the Edge team has gained valuable insights and experience, and we look to share this knowledge to help organizations optimize the performance of their transport network, streamline operations, and overcome complex challenges with greater confidence,” says Stankiewicz.

“Edge also wants to ensure these networks are scalable and flexible to growth, so once the dark fiber is in place, we can scale to any bandwidth and demand. It’s a highly collaborative process, and we work closely with our partners to meet their fiber plant requirements and ensure that the solutions we provide are tailored to their unique needs. In addition to counting on us for expert management and support, our managed optical service can help an organization free up their internal resources to focus on other networking initiatives.”

“Through our partnerships, we empower organizations to stay ahead of potential issues, adapt to evolving demands, and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly changing digital landscape,” continues Stankiewicz. “Our commitment to delivering customized, scalable solutions, backed by continuous monitoring and support, ensures that our members can confidently navigate the complexities of modern network infrastructure and focus on achieving their broader business and academic goals.”

Looking to deliver a highly survivable, highly available networking experience and stay agile and competitive in a technology-driven world? Discover the power of EdgeNet’ at njedge.net/solutions-overview/network-connectivity-and-internet2.

The post Unlocking Agility and Scalability in Network Infrastructure appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


DIF Blog

DIF Workshop Highlights Progress on Privacy-Preserving Age Verification Standards

DIF recently hosted a special session of its Credential Schemas workshop focused on developing privacy-preserving solutions for age verification. Led by Otto Mora, Standards Architect at Privado ID, and Valerio Camiani, Software Engineer at Crossmint, the session explored the growing need for standardized age verification. The workshop addressed the increasing

DIF recently hosted a special session of its Credential Schemas workshop focused on developing privacy-preserving solutions for age verification. Led by Otto Mora, Standards Architect at Privado ID, and Valerio Camiani, Software Engineer at Crossmint, the session explored the growing need for standardized age verification.

The workshop addressed the increasing regulatory requirements for age verification across the US, EU, and other regions. Rather than focusing solely on traditional document-based verification methods, the group discussed innovative approaches including AI-based age estimation and voice recognition technologies, while maintaining strong privacy protections.

A key focus of the discussion was the development of standardized proof of age credential schemas that would enable efficient interoperability between different systems and organizations. Schemas would need to handle a variety of elements like age ranges, verification methods used, and confidence levels aligned with ISO standards. 

Getting Involved with DIF

For those interested in contributing to this important work:

The working group meets every other week and welcomes new participants The group’s specifications are publicly available on GitHub, where interested parties can submit commits and issues

To learn more about DIF and its work on decentralized identity standards, visit https://identity.foundation or reach out to membership@identity.foundation.


We Are Open co-op

Understanding Predominant Narratives in AI

Over the past months, WAO has been working on a report called Harnessing AI for Environmental Justice for Friends of the Earth. Funded by Mozilla, the report is a deep dive into the landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what Big Tech’s newest hype means for activists and campaigners. Read or download the full report here. Pas(t)imes in the Computer Lab by Hanna Barakat & Cambridg

Over the past months, WAO has been working on a report called Harnessing AI for Environmental Justice for Friends of the Earth. Funded by Mozilla, the report is a deep dive into the landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what Big Tech’s newest hype means for activists and campaigners.

Read or download the full report here.

Pas(t)imes in the Computer Lab by Hanna Barakat & Cambridge Diversity Fund

In this series, we pull out salient points from the report, providing a briefer look into social and power dynamics we considered as we tried to give activists insight into how they might utilise AI in their work. The report, and thus many of these excerpts, is cc-by Friends of the Earth.

In Part 1, we’ll look at the predominant narratives around AI that are influencing how the industry, and we, as activists, are thinking about AI. Then, in Part 2, we’ll look at the systemic complexities of our technology use in relation to the climate crisis and other justice driven movements. Part 3 will look into the seven principles we developed as part of the Friends of the Earth project. Finally, Part 4 explores how to be an activist in the world of AI given predominant narratives and system complexities.

Understanding Predominant Narratives in AI Systemic complexities with AI Starting principles for the ethical use of AI (coming soon!) How to be an Activist in a World of AI (coming soon!)

Ready? Let’s get started!

The polarising narratives around AI

The rapid advancement of Generative AI has led to polarising views of AI in general, creating a binary framing that limits nuanced understanding and which hinders informed decision making. AI is either leading us to a dystopian future where current inequalities are exacerbated to the point of societal collapse, or it is seen as a utopian solution that will fix our problems if we just keep going. (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2024).

The techno-solutionism inherent in the utopian vision insists that technology alone will solve the complex social and environmental problems faced by our societies. This obscures reality on the ground. It ignores the agency and power of our social and political solutions. It obfuscates the hidden costs of AI technology, both environmental and social, and the reality of the power dynamics at play in our societies. Market forces and Big Tech companies often control this narrative, attempting to wriggle out of their responsibility to create technology that benefits all of us, rather than a rich few. (Coldicutt, 2024).

On the other hand, the dystopian view of AI ignores the immense power that sophisticated technologies have to change the way our world works. It dismisses our own agency and engagement. After all, it was only thirty-five years ago that the World Wide Web was invented, a project that was built as an open contribution to society as a whole. Despite global issues and challenges, we would argue that the Web has changed the world for the better: social movements benefit from global amplification; activists focused on local issues can receive support or engagement from anywhere; we can build collective power as we find each other through the Web.

The dystopian story insists that integrating AI into our societies will accelerate planetary destruction and lead to further societal divides, as Big Tech abuses communities and the planet in its never-ending quest for more money and power. But technologies can be designed for both good and bad purposes, and have both positive and negative outcomes.

Blanket narratives about the use of AI are not helpful in the current socio-political climate. It is important to understand that there are different kinds of AI, and to form nuanced opinions and policies based on context. (QA, 2024). Highlighting the differences between two predominant types of AI is illustrative:

Predictive AI is aiding climate science research and helping to optimise energy efficiency. It is being used to analyse vast amounts of climate data and to create early warning systems for weather events or natural disasters. (Climate One, 2024). Predictive AI can be used to help analyse data on public sentiment, demographics, and online behaviour to make campaigns more effective. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create “original” content, such as text, images, audio, video, or code, in response to user prompts or requests. (Stryker & Scapicchio, 2024). It is based not only on vast tranches of training data, but requires enormous amounts of computational power. In addition, each request made to such a system requires even more energy to generate an answer to the request. It is, indeed, much more resource intensive.

In our report, we focus on the use of generative AI within environmental justice and digital rights activist communities. There are people in these communities who believe that there can be no “ethical” use of generative AI due to the reality of who holds the power in our current approach to AI. We certainly respect and understand this perspective, acknowledging that resistance and refusal are important pillars in activism, and wish only to augment that perspective with one that can direct our collective agency and power towards change.

In doing so, we aim to create a new story for AI — somewhere in between dystopia and utopia, that empowers us all to live our values while utilising AI for good.

These excerpts have been edited in the final report and everything is CC-BY Friends of the Earth and We Are Open Co-op. Read or download the full report here.

Technology has changed so much about our world. Now, AI is changing things again and at hyperspeed. We work to understand its potential implications for our communities, learners and programmes. Do you need help with AI Literacies, strategy, or storytelling? Get in touch!

References:

Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2024) AI and the power of narratives. Available at: https://www.jrf.org.uk/ai-for-public-good/ai-and-the-power-of-narratives (Accessed: 24 October 2024).

Coldicutt, R. (2024). Let’s make AI work for 8 billion people not 8 billionaires. Scottish AI Summit. Available at: https://www.scottishaisummit.com/rachel-coldicutt (Accessed 9 December 2024).

QA (2024). Understanding the different types of AI. Available at: https://www.qa.com/resources/blog/types-of-ai-explained/ (Accessed: 22 November 2024).

Climate One (2024) ‘Artificial Intelligence, Real Climate Impacts’ [podcast], 19th April. Available at: https://www.climateone.org/audio/artificial-intelligence-real-climate-impacts (Accessed: 24 October 2024).

Stryker, C. & Scapicchio, M. (2024). What is generative AI? IBM Explainers. Available at: https://www.ibm.com/topics/generative-ai (Accessed: 22 November 2024).

Understanding Predominant Narratives in AI was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sunday, 09. February 2025

Project VRM

Blocking Tracking ≠ Blocking Ads

I started reading BoiongBoing when it was a ‘zine back in the last millennium. I stopped when I began hitting this: In fact I don’t block ads. I block tracking, specifically with Privacy Badger, from the EFF. But BoingBoing, like countless other websites, confuses tracking protection with ad blocking. This is because they are in […]

I started reading BoiongBoing when it was a ‘zine back in the last millennium. I stopped when I began hitting this:

In fact I don’t block ads. I block tracking, specifically with Privacy Badger, from the EFF.

But BoingBoing, like countless other websites, confuses tracking protection with ad blocking. This is because they are in the surveillance-aimed advertising business, also known as adtech.

As surveillance-based publications go, BoingBoing is especially bad. Here is a PageXray of BoingBoing.net:

And here is a PageXray of the same page ‘s URL, to which  tracking cruft from the email I opened was appended:


Look at that: 461 adserver requests, 426 tracking requests, and 199 other requests, which BoingBoing is glad to provide. (Pro tip: always strip tracking cruft from URLs that feature a “?” plus lots of alphanumeric jive after the final / of the URL itself. Take out the “?” and everything after it. )

Here is a close-up of one small part of that vast spread of routes down which data about you flows:

Some sites, such as FlightAware, interrupt your experience with a notice that kindly features an X in a corner, so you can make it go away:

Which I do.

But BoingBoing doesn’t. Its policy is “Subscribe or pay with lost privacy.”  So I go away.

Other sites use cookie notices that give you options such as these from a Disney company (I forget which):

Nice that you can Reject All. Which I do.

This one from imgur let’s you “manage” your “options.” Those, if they are kept anywhere (you can’t tell), are in some place you can’t reach or use to see what your setting was, or if they haven’t violated your privacy:

This one at Claude defaults to no tracking for marketing purposes (analytics and marketing switches are set to Off):

TED here also lets you Accept All or Reject All:

I’ve noticed that Reject All tends to be a much more prominent option lately. This makes me think a lot of these sites should be ready for IEEE P7012, nicknamed MyTerms, which we expect to become a working standard sometime this year. (I chair the working group.) I believe MyTerms is the most important standard in development today because it gets rid of this shit—at least for sites that respect the Reject All signal, plus the millions (perhaps billions?) of sites that don’t participate in the surveillance economy.

With MyTerms, sites and services agree to your terms—not the other way around. And it’s a contract. Also, both sides record the agreement, so either can audit compliance later.

Your agent (typically your browser, through an extension or a header) will choose to proffer one of a small list of contractual agreements maintained by a disinterested nonprofit. Customer Commons was created for this purpose (as a spin-off of ProjectVRM). It will be for your terms what Creative Commons is for your copyright licenses.

Customer Commons also welcomes help standing up the system—and, of course, getting it funded. If you’re interested in working on either or both, talk to me. I’m first name at last name dot com. Thanks!

 

Friday, 07. February 2025

OpenID

Public Review Period for Proposed Implementer’s Draft of OpenID4VC High Assurance Interoperability Profile

The Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working group recommends approval of the following specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft: OpenID for OpenID4VC High Assurance Interoperability Profile: https://openid.net/specs/openid4vc-high-assurance-interoperability-profile-1_0-03.html  An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property pr

The Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working group recommends approval of the following specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft:

OpenID for OpenID4VC High Assurance Interoperability Profile: https://openid.net/specs/openid4vc-high-assurance-interoperability-profile-1_0-03.html 

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, for members who have completed their reviews by then. This would be the second Implementer’s Draft of the specification.

The relevant dates are:

Implementer’s Draft public review period: Friday, February 7, 2025 to Monday, March 24, 2025 (45 days) Implementer’s Draft vote announcement: Tuesday, March 11, 2025 Implementer’s Draft early voting opens: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 * Implementer’s Draft official voting period: Tuesday, March 25, 2025 to Tuesday, April 1, 2025

 

* Note: Early voting before the start of the formal voting period will be allowed. The Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working group page is https://openid.net/wg/digital-credentials-protocols/. 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 (at a minimum, please specify that you are joining the “DCP” working group or select “All Work Groups” on your Contribution Agreement), (2) joining the working group mailing list at openid-specs-digital-credentials-protocols@lists.openid.net, and (3) sending your feedback to the list.

-Marie Jordan, OpenID Foundation Secretary


About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.   

The post Public Review Period for Proposed Implementer’s Draft of OpenID4VC High Assurance Interoperability Profile first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


Velocity Network

Dr. Meagan Treadway joins Velocity’s board

We're delighted that National Student Clearinghouse's Chris Goodson has been voted onto the Velocity Network Foundation Board of Directors. The post Dr. Meagan Treadway joins Velocity’s board appeared first on Velocity.

Thursday, 06. February 2025

ResofWorld

U.S. tariffs on China can’t slow the impact of Chinese imports worldwide

New tariffs on China imposed by Trump — and an end to direct e-commerce shipping to U.S. consumers — could impact Shein and Temu, but their influence extends globally.
When do the U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods go into effect? The Donald Trump administration imposed new tariffs on China this week, with an additional 10% levy on all Chinese...

Wednesday, 05. February 2025

DIF Blog

🚀 Celebrating Innovation: Winners of the DIF Hackathon 2024

The DIF Hackathon 2024 brought together builders from around the world to tackle some of the biggest challenges in decentralized identity. Across multiple tracks—including education and workforce solutions, reusable identity, and privacy-preserving authentication—participants developed creative applications that redefine how digital identity is used and trusted in

The DIF Hackathon 2024 brought together builders from around the world to tackle some of the biggest challenges in decentralized identity. Across multiple tracks—including education and workforce solutions, reusable identity, and privacy-preserving authentication—participants developed creative applications that redefine how digital identity is used and trusted in the real world.

One of the standout challenges? The ZKP in SSI track, sponsored by Privacy & Scaling Explorations (PSE) from the Ethereum Foundation. Teams explored how to innovate with Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), Multi-Party Computation (MPC), and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE)—leveraging programmable cryptography to enhance privacy, security, and interoperability in SSI systems.

Beyond ZKPs, this year’s hackathon saw verifiable credentials powering next-gen job boards, seamless hotel check-ins, streamlined digital identity solutions for expats, and groundbreaking innovations in decentralized file storage.

Check out the inspiring discussion featuring the hackathon winners which took place on Dec 19th on Spaces: https://x.com/DecentralizedID/status/1869819527170797972

Let’s dive into the full list of hackathon winners and the impactful projects that emerged from DIF Hackathon 2024. 👇

Future of Education and the Workforce Track

Sponsored by Jobs for the Future (JFF) and the Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC)

1st Place: Challenge 1 

VCV 

VCV revolutionizes the CV, It allows for you to create verifiable and clean CVs where an employer can upload them and instantly verify them and view their individual verifiable credentials which combine to make the CV.

VCV VCV revolutionizes the CV, making it verifiable and creating verifiable experiences. DevpostMerul Dhiman

2nd Place: Challenge 1 

VeriDID Futures Credential Job Board

A job board that matches job seekers and potential employers using verifiable learning and employment record credentials.

https://devpost.com/software/veridid-futures

1st Place: Challenge 2b

Crediview Job Board

Instantly view and verify credentials with our sleek browser extension. Drag, drop, or paste – our smart detector does the rest. Streamline workflow and boost confidence in credential verification.

CrediView Instantly view and verify credentials with our sleek browser extension. Drag, drop, or paste – our smart detector does the rest. Streamline workflow and boost confidence in credential verification. DevpostBolaji Mubarak ZKP in SSI Track Sponsored by the Ethereum Foundation Privacy Scaling Explorations (PSE)

1st Place

Decentralised Credentials Issuer

Decentralising credentials issuance with Multiparty computation based threshold signatures

Decentralised Credentials Issuer Decentralising credentials issuance with Multiparty computation based threshold signatures Devpostanishsapkota Sapkota

2nd Place

VC Notary

Converting web service account data into verifiable credentials using TLSNotary

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/570986-vc-notary

3rd Place

ZK Firma Digital 

The project aims to create a zero-knowledge proof infrastructure solution for enhancing Costa Rica's digital identity system. It's a protocol that allows you  to prove identity in a privacy preserving way.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/559470-zk-firma-digital

Reusable Identity Track Pinata 

Pinata Best Overall/ Pinata Proof of Personhood Credentials Winner

Vouch This Art

Vouch This Art is a Chrome extension that allows users to 'vouch' for images on the web by liking them or leaving messages, enabling interaction with images hosted anywhere online.

Vouch This Art Vouch This Art is a web chrome extension that “Vouch” images, allowing users to interact with images hosted anywhere on the web, whether by simply liking them or leaving messages. DevpostTotoro Gendut

Pinata Verifiable File Storage Winner

PinaVault

Access private IPFS files securely with PinaVault! Leverage Pinata's FilesAPI and W3C credentials to manage, share, and access files within organizations Credential-based access ensures user privacy.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/574219-pinavault/

Pinata Identity-Based Access Controls For Private Files Winner

Expatriate

Streamlining the complex process of settling as an expat in Amsterdam through DIF verifiable credentials and wallets.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/575933-expatriate

Pinata Honorable Mentions 

ChainVid

ChainVid is a decentralized platfrom to store and share videos online.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/570136-chainvid

LookMate – Your virtual fashion companion.

Try Before You Buy: Revolutionizing Online Shopping with Realistic Virtual Fitting Rooms.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577364-lookmate-your-virtual-fashion-companion

PatentBots.AI - Securing Inventor Rights w/ Pinata Identity

PatentBots.AI decentralized system designed to help SME's to fully capitalize on, defend, commercialize and monetize their parents using the power memes and credentialed of persona identities (AIs).

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/575293-patentbots-ai-securing-inventor-rights-w-pinata-identity

Truvity

1st Place: Challenge 1 & Challenge 2

Miko's Journey

A comprehensive digital identity solution that transforms the complex expat documentation process into a streamlined, secure journey.

Devpost

2nd Place: Challenge 1 

Expatriate

Streamlining the complex process of settling as an expat in Amsterdam through DIF verifiable credentials and wallets.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/575933-expatriate

3rd Place: Challenge 1 

CredEase

Digital Identity Wallet with a guided to-do list that helps expats collect, link, and submit VCs for tasks like employment, visa application, municipal registration, bank account opening, and housing.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577563-credease/judging

ArcBlock

1st Place

BM9000

A blockchain-powered beat maker by Bass Money Productions. Log in, get instant sounds, make patterns, build songs, and upload your own sounds—securely stored in your DID space.

BM9000 BM-9000: A blockchain-powered beat maker by Bass Money Productions. Log in, get instant sounds, make patterns, build songs, and upload your own sounds—securely stored in your DID space. Devpost12 inch

2nd Place

didmail

Decentralized encrypted mail Based on ArcBlock DID/NFT technology

https://devpost.com/software/didmail

3rd Place

Todai

Enables seamless registration and authentication without usernames, passwords, or third-party oversight, using blockchain and advanced digital identity solutions.

https://devpost.com/software/todai

ArcBlock Honorable Mentions

Titan Care

TitanCare leverages multi-agent AI to enhance data security, privacy, and user control, addressing real-world health sector challenges with innovative solutions.

https://devpost.com/software/titancare

FlexiLeave

This solution uses ArcBlock's Blocklet SDK to manage employee portable leave with DIDs and VCs via DID Wallet, enabling identity creation, credential issuance, verification, and file integration with Pinata.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577693-flexileave

TBD (Block)

1st Place

DIF TBD KCC

Leverages Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VCs) to create a secure and privacy-preserving solution for Known Customer Credentials (KCC).

DIF TBD KCC Level Up Digital Identity with TBD DWN DevpostAditya Birangal

2nd Place

KCC TBD Hackathon

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577640-kcc-tbd-hackathon

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577640-kcc-tbd-hackathon

3rd Place

kcc-tbdex

A simple backend application written in javascript that records VC JWT in Alice's DWN and gets the record Id.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/567335-kcc-tbdex

Ontology 

1st Place

CrediLink connect

CrediLink Connect, a browser extension built with indy-bex-connector, uses Verifiable Credentials and DIDs to combat LinkedIn scams by enabling wallet creation, VC management, and proof verification.

CrediLink connect Credilink connect is a browser extension for receiving verifying and proving verifiable credentials DevpostEren Akyıldız

2nd Place

Enhanced Privacy VC Wallet: Implementing Issuer Hiding

A VC Wallet app enabling users to present VPs with enhanced privacy through Issuer Hiding, concealing the VC issuer's identity.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577411-enhanced-privacy-vc-wallet-implementing-issuer-hiding

3rd Place

Blockchain Whatsup Application

Seamlessly secure, blockchain-based chat for the decentralized future.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577550-blockchain-whatsup-application

Crossmint

1st Place

Idenfy

IDENFY is a reusable identity solution leveraging biometrics and verifiable digital credentials to streamline secure eKYC across sectors with simplicity and speed.

Idenfy Empowering Trust with Reusable Identity and Seamless eKYC. DevpostSai Ranjit Tummalapalli Anonyome Labs

1st Place

Decentralized PHC Credentials in the Future AI Era.

Providing a way for a person to prove their human identity in the future using PHC personhood credentials with VC, DID, and ZKP, supported by powerful infrastructure.

Decentralized PHC Credentials in the Future AI Era. Providing a way for a person to prove their human identity in the future using PHC personhood credentials with VC, DID, and ZKP, supported by powerful infrastructure. DevpostData Fusion

2nd Place

VAI

VAI is an AI chatbot that brings transparency and accountability to large language model interactions by issuing VCs that show the provenance of the inputs, outputs, and the specific model being used.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/575691-vai

3rd Place

VerifiEd

VerifiEd uses self-sovereign identity (SSI) to provide an interactive, module-based learning platform where users earn Verifiable Credentials (VCs) while mastering SSI principles.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/562649-verified

Cheqd

1st Place

VAI
VAI VAI is an AI chatbot that brings transparency and accountability to large language model interactions by issuing VCs that show the provenance of the inputs, outputs, and the specific model being used. DevpostBrian Richter Extrimian 

1st Place

The Grand Aviary Hotel

The Grand Aviary Hotel offers a seamless stay with digital room access via Verifiable Credentials. Guests unlock rooms with a secure mobile credential, enhancing convenience, and security.

https://devpost.com/software/the-grand-aviary-hotel

NetSys - Hospitality and Travel

1st Place 

Journease

Elevate travel with leading digital travel companion, unlocking full potential of portable identity and data, by pulling diverse capabilities together to deliver end-2-end seamless travel experiences

Journease Elevate travel with leading digital travel companion, unlocking full potential of portable identity and data, by pulling diverse capabilities together to deliver end-2-end seamless travel experiences DevpostAndrea Sanchez Fresneda

2nd Place

Personalised Dining Offers Using AI & Travel Preferences

Imagine booking a hotel with on-site restaurant & receiving a personalised dining offer based on what you eat. If you want a burger or vegetarian, you got it! Better for consumers, better for venues

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/577306-personalised-dining-offers-using-ai-travel-preferences

3rd Place

OwnID

IOwnID is an offline-first app leveraging decentralized identity (DID) and Bluetooth to enable secure, private, and internet-free digital identity management and communication.

https://difhackathon2024.devpost.com/submissions/574224-ownid


Oasis Open Projects

Coalition for Secure AI and Universal Business Language V2.4 Open Standard Win OASIS Open Cup Awards

Boston, MA, USA, 5 February 2025 — OASIS Open, the international open source and standards consortium, announced the winners of the 2024 Open Cup, which recognizes exceptional advancements within the OASIS technical community. The Outstanding New Initiative award was presented to the Coalition for Secure AI (CoSAI), an open source ecosystem dedicated to sharing best […] The post Coalition for Se

David Lemire, William Parducci, and Omar Santos Honored as OASIS Distinguished Contributors

Boston, MA, USA, 5 February 2025 — OASIS Open, the international open source and standards consortium, announced the winners of the 2024 Open Cup, which recognizes exceptional advancements within the OASIS technical community. The Outstanding New Initiative award was presented to the Coalition for Secure AI (CoSAI), an open source ecosystem dedicated to sharing best practices for secure AI deployment and collaborating on AI security research and product development. The Outstanding Approved Standard award was presented to Universal Business Language Version 2.4, a widely used open standard for global business transactions offering enhanced interoperability and efficiency in supply chain and digital trade. Also announced were the 2024 OASIS Distinguished Contributors: David Lemire, William Parducci, and Omar Santos, recognized for their significant impact on the open source and open standards communities. 

Open Cup Recipients

CoSAI, an OASIS Open Project, won the 2024 Outstanding New Initiative for its pioneering efforts in fostering a collaborative ecosystem dedicated to secure AI. Launched at the Aspen Security Forum in July 2024, CoSAI unites diverse stakeholders across companies, academia, and other fields to develop and share holistic approaches, including best practices, tools and methodologies for secure AI development and deployment. CoSAI’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC) oversees three Workstreams focused on AI security best practices, governance, and frameworks: software supply chain security for AI systems, preparing defenders for a changing cybersecurity landscape, and AI risk governance. Recently, CoSAI’s Project Governing Board established a fourth Workstream called Secure Design Patterns for Agentic Systems. The Outstanding New Initiative category included finalists OASIS Open Supplychain Information Modeling (OSIM) TC and the Space Automated Threat Intelligence Sharing (SATIS) TC.

UBL V2.4 received the Outstanding Approved Standard award for its role in transforming global business transactions. As the leading interchange format for business documents, UBL works seamlessly with frameworks like ISO/IEC 15000 (ebXML), extending the benefits of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems to businesses worldwide. Version 2.4 maintains backward compatibility with earlier versions while introducing new business document types, now totaling 93. The European Union has recognized UBL’s significance by declaring it officially eligible for referencing in tenders from public administrations. UBL V2.4 was chosen as the winner in the Outstanding Approved Standard category that included finalist DocBook Schema Version 5.2.

Distinguished Contributors

Each year, OASIS names Distinguished Contributors to honor members who consistently exceed expectations, demonstrating exceptional dedication, commitment, and a collaborative spirit that enriches the OASIS community. This year’s recipients, David Lemire, William Parducci, and Omar Santos, exemplify the values of innovation and excellence in advancing our open standards and open source projects.

David Lemire has worked as a cybersecurity systems engineer since 1986 across disciplines that include electronic key management, access control, public key infrastructure, Internet of Things, and standards. He has supported development of the Open Command and Control (OpenC2) language throughout its development by the OASIS OpenC2 TC, serves as the TC Secretary, and is editor for multiple OpenC2 specifications and one committee note. He is also a member of the Collaborative Automated Course of Action Operations (CACAO) for Cyber Security TC and a contributor to several sub-projects under the Open Cybersecurity Alliance (OCA) Open Project.

“I am surprised and honored to be recognized as an OASIS Distinguished Contributor. It has been an interesting and enjoyable journey contributing to the development of OpenC2 and related work at OASIS,” said Lemire. “The strong collaborative community that OASIS fosters has given me the opportunity to engage with many talented contributors and build my knowledge of the world of cybersecurity standards.”

William Parducci has spent over two decades driving innovation in technology, working with talented teams and visionary partners. For more than 10 years, he served as Co-Chair of the OASIS XACML TC, collaborating with experts to advance open standards in security. After re-entering the startup arena, he now focuses on AI-based semantic analysis for data research. His past roles include contributing to Toyota NA’s Enterprise Architecture team and leading the development of ad measurement and semantic analysis tools as CTO/CPO at Ace Metrix. Throughout his career, William has championed the early adoption of open-source solutions and standards, reflecting his commitment to widespread collaboration in the tech community.

“I’ve dedicated much of my career to fostering computational technologies that embrace openness, aiming to make them accessible to all,” said Parducci. “Open standards enable systems to interoperate seamlessly, driving innovation across industries. The synergy between open-source tools like Linux and proprietary systems like Windows exemplifies how openness transforms possibilities into world-changing solutions. I am honored to advocate for the collaborative power of open standards and their role in shaping the future of technology.”

Omar Santos is a Distinguished Engineer at Cisco, renowned for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence security, cybersecurity research, ethical hacking, incident response, and vulnerability disclosure. At OASIS, Omar holds several key leadership roles, including Board Member, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Secure AI (CoSAI) Open Project, Chair of the Common Security Advisory Framework (CSAF) Technical Committee (TC), and Co-Chair of the OpenEoX TC. His leadership extends beyond OASIS, with a co-chair position at the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) PSIRT Special Interest Group and co-founder and influential leader of the DEF CON Red Team Village, demonstrating his commitment to advancing cybersecurity education and fostering community collaboration. An accomplished author and educator, Omar has published over 20 books, created more than 20 video courses, and contributed over 40 academic research papers. His expertise is further recognized through numerous patents granted in the field of cybersecurity.

Santos said, “I am deeply honored and humbled by this recognition. My heartfelt thanks go out to everyone on the team – it has been a true privilege to collaborate with such knowledgeable and dedicated industry peers. Contributing to this work is incredibly rewarding, and I am committed to helping address the technological challenges of 2025 and beyond. I look forward to continuing to support OASIS and our community as we advance open standards and foster collaboration to tackle some of the most pressing issues in cybersecurity.”

OASIS congratulates this year’s winners and nominees and thanks them for generously sharing their time and expertise to advance our mission.

The post Coalition for Secure AI and Universal Business Language V2.4 Open Standard Win OASIS Open Cup Awards appeared first on OASIS Open.


Ceramic Network

We’re joining Textile to create the Intelligence Layer for AI Agents

We have some big news to share! Our parent company, 3Box Labs, has merged with Textile. With this, Ceramic is joining the Textile family alongside their other decentralized data solutions, Tableland DB and Basin Network. Since Ceramic’s inception, the crypto industry has changed dramatically, and with it, the

We have some big news to share! Our parent company, 3Box Labs, has merged with Textile. With this, Ceramic is joining the Textile family alongside their other decentralized data solutions, Tableland DB and Basin Network.

Since Ceramic’s inception, the crypto industry has changed dramatically, and with it, the types of applications developers are building with decentralized and composable data. As AI agents reshape our digital landscape and become the primary producers and consumers of data, they bring needs very familiar to the Ceramic community: decentralized storage for knowledge and memory, open composability for sharing between agents, and streaming for real-time publishing and subscriptions.

Going forward, we have a vision for Ceramic as a foundational component of something much bigger than itself: an open intelligence network where AI agents can autonomously buy and sell intelligence from each other on-demand. Agents can plug-in to supercharge their own knowledge and capabilities, delegate tasks to agents who specialize in that skill, or publish and monetize their own expertise — all onchain. For this new network, Ceramic will play a vital role in empowering agent-to-agent communication and knowledge streaming alongside other storage technologies built by Textile.

Ceramic will continue operating with no disruption to current development or customers, but now you’ll have the added benefit of being connected to a whole new network of agents willing and able to pay for your datasets.

Read our announcement on X for more details and be sure to follow @textileio for future updates.

1/10: Big News! Our parent company @3BoxLabs has merged with @textileio. With this, Ceramic is becoming part of the Textile family.

Ceramic will continue operating, but now as part of something much bigger: An Intelligence Network for AI Agents 🤖https://t.co/boCvwjwnIF

— Ceramic (@ceramicnetwork) February 5, 2025

Thank you for being a part of our journey. Much more to come.


Hyperledger Foundation

CREDEBL Becomes an LF Decentralized Trust Project, Advancing Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials for a Secure Digital Future

We are excited to announce that CREDEBL, the leading platform in Decentralized Identity (DID) and Verifiable Credentials (VC) management, developed and maintained by the AYANWORKS team, is now officially an LF Decentralized Trust project. This contribution signals a major step towards the widespread adoption of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) solutions and reinforces the shared visio

We are excited to announce that CREDEBL, the leading platform in Decentralized Identity (DID) and Verifiable Credentials (VC) management, developed and maintained by the AYANWORKS team, is now officially an LF Decentralized Trust project. This contribution signals a major step towards the widespread adoption of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) solutions and reinforces the shared vision of a more secure, transparent and user-centric digital world.


ResofWorld

Is Google Maps fatally misleading drivers in India? It’s complicated

Maintaining accurate maps is a daunting task in a country where road names and addresses are not standardized.
Earlier this week, an Indian politician urged the country’s Parliament to support homegrown alternatives to Google Maps — blaming the popular navigation app for fatal accidents. Incidents due to Google...

DeepSeek’s rise shows why China’s top AI talent is skipping Silicon Valley

Young Chinese engineers focus on homegrown innovation, drawn by fewer visa hurdles and the chance to build a future on their own terms.
At the end of his internship at Nvidia in 2023, Zizheng Pan, a young artificial-intelligence researcher from China, faced a pivotal decision: stay in Silicon Valley with the world’s leading...

Next Level Supply Chain Podcast with GS1

Don’t Let Empty Shelves Be Your Store’s Silent Killer

Customers have endless options at their fingertips. If they can’t find what they need in your store, they’ll simply go elsewhere to shop. But this isn’t just a retailer’s problem, it’s a challenge that impacts the entire supply chain. In this episode, industry expert Mike Graen joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to break down the critical importance of on-shelf availability. Mike shares why

Customers have endless options at their fingertips. If they can’t find what they need in your store, they’ll simply go elsewhere to shop. But this isn’t just a retailer’s problem, it’s a challenge that impacts the entire supply chain.

In this episode, industry expert Mike Graen joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to break down the critical importance of on-shelf availability. Mike shares why ensuring products are accessible to customers is more essential than ever. He also shares how RFID, AI-driven algorithms, and robotics are transforming inventory accuracy, alongside actionable strategies to keep shelves stocked and customers satisfied. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The difference between "in-stock" and "on-shelf availability"

How technology is solving inventory challenges and boosting sales

The evolving nature of customer loyalty and how to keep up

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introducing Next Level Supply Chain

(03:13) The importance of on-shelf product availability (OSA)

(05:21) Why retailers are losing customers

(07:41) Challenges with inventory management

(14:15) The different ways customers shop 

(18:52) Getting serious about measuring OSA 

(22:47) Computer vision and RFID to track OSA

(28:35) GS1 standards in the supply chain

(32:52) Evolving together with technology

(35:13) Mike’s favorite tech

 

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with the guest:

Mike Graen on LinkedIn


Hyperledger Foundation

Announcing Paladin, an LF Decentralized Trust Lab for Programmable Privacy on EVM

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) has become a development platform of choice for blockchain projects, thanks to its token standards, great open source samples, and vibrant ecosystem spanning countless public Layer 1, Layer 2, permissioned, and private blockchain ledgers.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) has become a development platform of choice for blockchain projects, thanks to its token standards, great open source samples, and vibrant ecosystem spanning countless public Layer 1, Layer 2, permissioned, and private blockchain ledgers.


Announcing Hyperledger Iroha 2

Hyperledger Iroha 2 is an innovative blockchain framework aimed to be robust, fast, and efficient for digital asset and identity use cases. Now a project of LF Decentralized Trust, Hyperledger Iroha 2 stands out due to its ease of use for developers, speed, and built-in support for various use cases via a predefined library of digital asset and identity management features.

Hyperledger Iroha 2 is an innovative blockchain framework aimed to be robust, fast, and efficient for digital asset and identity use cases. Now a project of LF Decentralized Trust, Hyperledger Iroha 2 stands out due to its ease of use for developers, speed, and built-in support for various use cases via a predefined library of digital asset and identity management features.

Tuesday, 04. February 2025

GS1

GS1 DataMatrix: The next generation barcode driving Żabka’s retail innovation

GS1 DataMatrix: The next generation barcode driving Żabka’s retail innovation The implementation of GS1 DataMatrix barcodes on Nowalijka’s products for the Polish retailer Żabka’s has transformed inventory management, improved product tracking and enhanced customer safety. With streamlined processes and better data accuracy, Żabka can ensure f
GS1 DataMatrix: The next generation barcode driving Żabka’s retail innovation

The implementation of GS1 DataMatrix barcodes on Nowalijka’s products for the Polish retailer Żabka’s has transformed inventory management, improved product tracking and enhanced customer safety. With streamlined processes and better data accuracy, Żabka can ensure fresh, high-quality products and innovative, sustainable retail practices.

case_study_gs1-poland-zabka-nowalijka.pdf

Velocity Network

Dr. Deborah Everhart joins Velocity’s board

We're delighted that National Student Clearinghouse's Chris Goodson has been voted onto the Velocity Network Foundation Board of Directors. The post Dr. Deborah Everhart joins Velocity’s board appeared first on Velocity.

Transforming Healthcare Credentialing: An Update from Velocity Network Foundation

The post Transforming Healthcare Credentialing: An Update from Velocity Network Foundation appeared first on Velocity.

Digital ID for Canadians

Request for Comment & IPR Review: PCTF Law Society Profile and PCTF Glossary

Notice of Intent: DIACC is collaborating to develop and publish the Law Society Profile of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) to set a baseline interoperability…

Notice of Intent: DIACC is collaborating to develop and publish the Law Society Profile of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) to set a baseline interoperability of identity services and solutions used in the legal sector. During this public review period, DIACC is looking for community feedback to ensure that the conformance criteria is clear and auditable.

Accompanying this review period is the PCTF Glossary that has been updated to reflect all current terms and definitions found across the suite of PCTF documentation.

To learn more about the Pan-Canadian vision and benefits-for-all value proposition please review the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Overview.

Document Status: These review documents have been developed by members of the DIACC’s Trust Framework Expert Committee (TFEC) who operate under the DIACC controlling policies and consist of representatives from both the private and public sectors. These documents have been approved by the TFEC for public comment.

Summaries:

The PCTF Law Society Profile is the first industry-focused profile of the PCTF and is intended to help regulated lawyers make informed decisions on how best to adopt digital trust services and solutions for things like remote client verification and fraud reduction.

The PCTF Glossary provides definitions and examples for terms that appear across DIACC PCTF documentation, to ensure all stakeholders have a shared and consistent understanding of terms used in the context of the PCTF. As terms and usage can vary across industry, the Glossary is recommended reading for anyone wanting a strong baseline understanding of the PCTF.

Invitation:

All interested parties are invited to comment

Period:

Opens: February 3, 2025 at 23:59 PT | Closes: March 6, 2025 at 23:59 PT

When reviewing the Law Society Profile Conformance Criteria, please consider the following and note that responses to this question are non-binding and serve to improve the PCTF.

Would you consider the Conformance Criteria as auditable or not? That is, could you objectively evaluate if an organization was compliant with that criteria and what evidence would be used to justify that?

Review Document: PCTF Law Society Profile

Draft Recommendation V1.0 DIACC Comment Submission Spreadsheet

Review Document: PCTF Glossary

Final Recommendation V1.1 DIACC Comment Submission Spreadsheet

Intellectual Property Rights:

Comments must be received within the 30-day comment period noted above. All comments are subject to the DIACC contributor agreement; by submitting a comment you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions therein. DIACC Members are also subject to the Intellectual Property Rights Policy. Any notice of an intent not to license under either the Contributor Agreement and/or the Intellectual Property Rights Policy with respect to the review documents or any comments must be made at the Contributor’s and/or Member’s earliest opportunity, and in any event, within the 30-day comment period. IPR claims may be sent to review@diacc.ca. Please include “IPR Claim” as the subject.

Process:

All comments are subject to the DIACC contributor agreement. Submit comments using the provided DIACC Comment Submission Spreadsheet. Reference the corresponding line number for each comment submitted. Email completed DIACC Comment Submission Spreadsheet to review@diacc.ca. Questions may be sent to review@diacc.ca.

Value to Canadians:

The DIACC’s mandate is to collaboratively develop and deliver resources to help Canadians to digitally transact with security, privacy, and convenience. The PCTF is one such resource and guides the digital trust and identity verification ecosystem interoperability by putting policy, standards, and technology into practice aligning with defined levels of assurance. The DIACC is a not-for-profit coalition of members from the public and private sector who are making a significant and sustained investment in accelerating Canada’s Identity Ecosystem.

Context:

The purpose of this review is to ensure transparency in the development and diversity of a truly Pan-Canadian, and international, input. In alignment with our Principles for an Identity Ecosystem, processes to respect and enhance privacy are being prioritized through every step of the PCTF development process.

DIACC expects to modify and improve these Recommendations based upon public comments. Comments made during the review will be considered for incorporation into the next iteration and DIACC will prepare a Disposition of Comments to provide transparency with regard to how each comment was handled.


Blockchain Commons

SSI Orbit Podcast: Christopher Allen Interview

On January 31, Christopher Allen spoke with Mathieu Glaude at the SSI Orbit Podcast on the controversial topic “Has Our SSI Ecosystem Become Morally Bankrupt?”. Following the video link, below, are Christopher’s Musings on the topic, overviewing some of the material from the video. The legitimacy of the modern self-sovereign identity (SSI) industry is a vital question to ask, because in the last ye

On January 31, Christopher Allen spoke with Mathieu Glaude at the SSI Orbit Podcast on the controversial topic “Has Our SSI Ecosystem Become Morally Bankrupt?”. Following the video link, below, are Christopher’s Musings on the topic, overviewing some of the material from the video.

The legitimacy of the modern self-sovereign identity (SSI) industry is a vital question to ask, because in the last year I’ve become to wonder if DIDs and VCs could actually lose. In my opinion, the main threat is that we made compromises in the development of these new self-sovereign technologies that led to them not being differentiated from centralized identity. We betrayed our principles.

But that was actually a pretty small portion of a wide-ranging discussion of identity between myself and Mathieu that I hope you’ll listen to. It also covered my history, the history of SSI, the ideals of SSI, how we’re losing them, and where that could lead us. (Spoiler: it’s not a good place.)

“We’ve seen what happens when you have too much control in a single authority … and we’re forgetting those lessons. We have to minimize the risks when [authorities] are wrong or their powers are abused.”

My own history in the cryptography & identity field dates back to meeting the founders of the Xanada Project, working with RSA, writing SSLRef, coauthoring TLS, and working with elliptic curves. This history all offers ideas for digital identity! For example, Xanadu was one of the inspirations for my ideas of edge identifiers & cryptographic cliques that I recently released.

I also talked about how self-sovereign identity, DIDs, and VCs all matured at Rebooting the Web of Trust. Early on, we worked with experts from the UN and people working with the refuge crisis. We had all the right ingredients! But it’s so easy to lose the ideals behind a technology. Groupware lost its collaborative processes. TLS became centralized. We had ten principles for self-sovereign identity, but they’ve been somewhat lost.

“Somehow we disconnect our words from where the real power is, which is anti-coercion and anti-violence.”

I always intended those principles to be a starting point. I was surprised when folks at RWOT weren’t interested in reviewing and revising them. Now, that disinterest has resulted in SSI technology that’s losing against MDLs and other centralized tech. Part of the problem is that privacy doesn’t seem important to people. I think it’s a vocabulary disconnect. Privacy allows us to avoid violence and coercion. Maybe those are the words we need to concentrate on!

Unfortunately, we’ve seen what happens if we walk this path. Jacobus Lentz’s enthusiastic identity work leading up to WWII led to genocide in the Netherlands. That’s what happens when identity is centralized.

We need to talk more about all of these aspects of identity, so that the digital identity of the 21st century protects our basic human rights. I hope you’ll join me in discussion here or in the Youtube comments.

“Articulate your values, your own principles, and begin to evaluate your work, your priorities through those lenses. You may find that a very small difference in the choices you make could have big impact because they were informed by your values.”

If you prefer text articles, I’ve linked to a number of my articles on these topics below:

Echoes from History Echoes from History II Has our SSI Ecosystem Become Morally Bankrupt? How My Values Inform Design The Origins of Self-Sovereign Identity The Path to Self-Sovereign Identity Edge Identifiers & Cliques Open & Fuzzy Cliques

Monday, 03. February 2025

FIDO Alliance

Onboarding the Future: Guide for Edge Deployment with FIDO Device Onboard (FDO)

Why You Should Consider the FDO Standard for Zero-Trust Device Onboarding 1. Executive Summary IoT and edge computing solutions are exploding as manufacturers are looking for new ways to modernize […]

Why You Should Consider the FDO Standard for Zero-Trust Device Onboarding

1. Executive Summary

IoT and edge computing solutions are exploding as manufacturers are looking for new ways to modernize their operations and accelerate production. By 2025, over 75 billion IoT devices will be connected globally. The industrial IoT market, which spans industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and retail is valued at USD 194 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 286 billion by 2029. This surge unlocks immense opportunities and innovation for businesses and manufacturers alike. However, keeping up with the pace of demand for these devices and deploying them sustainably has created unprecedented challenges.

Namely, two key factors have the potential to derail the edge revolution entirely:

Costly and inefficient installation processes Security vulnerabilities Download the FDO Guide 2. What is Onboarding?

When an edge node or IoT device is installed in a facility, the device must be onboarded to its management platform hosted in the building or in the cloud.

The Onboarding Challenge

Device onboarding at scale is expensive and can introduce significant risks if not done properly. Meanwhile, typical manual onboarding processes and default passwords have created severe vulnerabilities, with 57% of IoT devices vulnerable to medium or high-severity attacks.

Nearly half (48%) of critical infrastructure security leaders reported experiencing at least one major security impact due to a compromised device within the last year.

What is FIDO Device Onboarding (FDO)?

FIDO Device Onboard (FDO) is a revolutionary standard designed to simplify, secure, and automate the onboarding process for IoT and edge devices. FDO simplifies device onboarding in edge and  IoT computing environments with a plug and play, zero trust approach embedded in the specification. Developed by industry leaders like Arm, Amazon, Google, Intel, Microsoft and Qualcomm, the specification is one of the first openly available standards designed specifically to solve edge and  IoT onboarding challenges: time-intensive, complex manual processes, high costs, and security vulnerabilities. It is targeted at industrial, medical, automotive, IT and retail use cases and is complemented by an independent certification program. 

3. The Overlooked Opportunity and Risk

With the introduction of AI, a new layer of complexity was added to the edge challenge. Organizations are now hyper-focused on AI adoption and its promise of smarter, faster, and more efficient operations, but without addressing foundational IoT security, these ambitions are at risk of being undermined.

FIDO Alliance Device Onboard (FDO) provides the answer, offering a zero trust, plug and play standard that accelerates deployments while safeguarding infrastructure. In today’s challenging economic climate, automating zero-touch device onboarding enables leaders to deliver ambitious digital transformation projects with limited resources and budgets, saving installation costs, accelerating time-to-value, and improving security. FDO is an open standard that allows users to innovate. FDO’s zero-trust approach is an important piece of the IoT security puzzle and sets the stage for future AI updates inside protected enclaves.

Which industries benefit from FDO? IndustriesAutomotiveHealthcareChemicalManufacturingConsumer goods manufacturingOil and GasEnergyRetailEducationSupply chain and logisticsEnterprise and NetworkingTelecommunications What Device Types Can Be Enabled with FDO? Device TypesExamplesIoT sensors and devicesTemperature sensorsPressure sensors Motion detectorsWater quality monitorsSmart thermostatsConnected industrial equipmentSmart camerasWi-Fi-enabled cameras
Camera systemsEdge serversEdge serversMobile edge computing (MEC) serversNetworking equipmentRoutersSwitches Gateways5G small cellsIndustrial PCs and controllersIndustrial PCsProgrammable logic controllers (PLCs)Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs)

Just as passkeys revolutionized user authentication, FDO is transforming device onboarding in edge computing and IoT environments.

Key Features of FDO

The key features of FDO include:

Late binding: Late binding saves money and time as FDO-enabled devices can be onboarded to any platform without the need for unique customization. This reduces the number of device SKUs needed versus other onboarding solutions. It ensures devices are authenticated and provisioned properly for the device recipient after ownership is verified. Plug and Play: Whereas manual onboarding requires expensive, skilled technicians, FDO is highly automated, often allowing semi-skilled staff to carry out the installation. This is important in markets such as retail where FDO will allow the store manager to do the installation rather than needing to bring in an expensive IT expert. Ownership voucher: Device ownership is established and transferred securely in the supply chain with the “ownership voucher,” which uses cryptographic authentication protocols in the FDO specification to verify the device recipient’s physical and digital ownership. Zero-touch and zero trust: Combined, these attributes establish a zero trust approach that covers end-to-end device onboarding using embedded, cryptographic protocols, and sequential processes to perform initial onboarding actions securely and quickly. The zero trust strategy covers both the device and the management platform during the onboarding process. FDO for AI and Additional Features

FDO is designed to permit a secure subsystem to onboard independently and securely from the rest of the system. This makes FDO an excellent candidate for updating AI models deployed in edge secure enclaves from a cloud repository.

Additional features include:

Interoperability with OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) Wi-Fi ready Flexible configurations for cloud, multi-cloud, and closed network environments with multi-tenant and cloud servers Multiple open source implementation methods available 3. FDO Certified Products

The FIDO Alliance is an open industry association with a mission to reduce the world’s reliance on passwords. Consisting of the biggest global tech organizations and experts in cybersecurity, identity, and authentication, the alliance has a proven track record in transforming consumer authentication with passkeys. 

In two years since the initial launch, passkeys have been enabled on 20% of the world’s top 100 websites and over 15 billion accounts.

The FIDO Alliance has launched this complementary independent certification program that brings additional value to end users and solution providers alike. It assures that FDO certified solutions meet all the specifications, that devices comply with all security requirements, and have been tested for interoperability with other products. 

FDO Certified products bring considerable additional value to end users by offering:

Guaranteed interoperability and security assurance Faster deployments and time to value  Greater efficiencies Assures security and interoperability, eliminating the need for time-consuming vendor bake-offs with uncertified or homebrewed onboarding solutions

Now FIDO is applying this expertise to improve device authentication in industrial IoT and edge computing environments. FDO ensures devices and edge nodes can quickly and securely authenticate and connect online during initial deployment.

4. On the Edge: The Urgency to Secure and Simplify Device Security

Operational bottlenecks are a significant challenge in both industrial and commercial sectors. Manual, unsecured device onboarding not only consumes time and resources but also increases the risk of breaches. According to Microsoft’s recent white paper, How to Scale Intelligent Factory Initiatives Through an Adaptive Cloud Approach, today’s manufacturing leaders are burdened with “technical sprawl and inefficiencies that create major obstacles to being able to scale solutions – including AI – to multiple production lines and geographically dispersed factories.”

This technical sprawl has led to data silos and management complexities, hindering global visibility and scalability. Ultimately, this prohibits the promise of connected devices from being realized in any industry. 

The average cost of a data breach in 2023 was $4.88 million (USD).

Edge implementations involve a lot of risk. Often these edge nodes are used in remote, precarious, and high-risk environments. Industries like healthcare, energy, and manufacturing face unique challenges and regulations, such as vulnerable patient monitoring systems, hazardous environments, and risks to complex supply chains. To make matters more complex, new threats are constantly emerging, such as the rise of quantum computing and zero-day exploits.

Some companies may feel that they can develop their own proprietary onboarding solution, but given today’s economic pressures and the growing threat landscape, businesses often simply cannot afford to develop and maintain proprietary solutions or risk a preventable breach.

FDO and AI: A Symbiotic Future

Edge and IoT are also the “eyes and ears” of AI, collecting and transmitting data for analysis. There is a huge risk in overlooking IoT security and threats such as data poisoning, which can cripple AI models reliant on real-time data. Securing the foundation of edge and IoT is essential to unlock the full potential of AI.

AI systems depend on clean, reliable data streams. A compromised IoT device does not just threaten the device itself – it can corrupt AI models, disrupt decision-making, and open doors to adversarial attacks. FDO’s zero trust onboarding ensures these vulnerabilities are eliminated from the start.

5. What Problems Does FDO Solve? Human error: 34% of data breaches involve human error – FDO minimizes this with automation and a zero-touch approach.  Time-intensive and inefficient deployments: FDO can deploy 10 times faster than manual methods. It dramatically reduces the time and budget needed to hire skilled technicians in high-risk environments, like oil rigs and factories. In some applications, such as retail, existing on-site staff can install FDO as it is plug and play technology. Market speed to innovation: Open standards help advance innovation and level the competitive playing field. By standardizing processes, providers can focus on truly adding value to their solutions. For customers, they can benefit from better solutions that are faster to deploy and more secure. Device Security Risks  – The Supply Chain Lifecycle

Stage 1: Manufacturing
Risk: Supply chain compromises (i.e., tampered devices)
FDO: Establishes cryptographic ownership during manufacturing, ensuring device integrity

Stage 2: Shipment and storage
Risk: Device ownership asset mismanagement
FDO: Tracks and secures ownership transfers, maintaining a secure chain of custody

Stage 3: Onboarding and deployment
Risk: Exposures from default passwords and manual installation errors
FDO: Eliminates passwords and human errors with plug and play device onboarding and zero-touch automation

Stage 4: Operations 
Risk: Insecure data transmission, spoofing and infiltration
FDO: Encrypts data exchanges and ensures ongoing device authentication 

6. Benefits of FDO for Enterprises and Providers

Standards are vital to unlocking the full potential of any major global technology innovation. Global industry standard initiatives help remove huge amounts of waste, advance technology far more quickly, and increase market competitiveness. Standards also provide long-term security. As threats evolve, experts in the field continue to evolve the standards to keep up.

The FDO standards have been developed and backed by the best companies in the industry, including Microsoft, Dell, and Intel. Experts from these organizations proactively work together to develop use cases and best practices for seamless and secure IoT device authentication, provisioning, and also support the adoption and implementation of the FDO standard.

The FDO standard is also continuously improved within the FIDO Alliance. In the last two years, several Application Notes have been released to deal with implementation and other areas related to FDO 1.1. The newest version of the standard, FDO 1.2, is currently in development with new enterprise-ready features and is expected to be released in 2025.

Benefits for enterprises:

Protect devices and supply chains with zero trust security. Integration is flexible with existing systems.  Reduce the need to develop and manage your own testing requirements and protocols – buy with confidence with FDO certified products.  Reduce time to market/deployment and increase value.

Benefits for providers:

Leverage FDO certification as a competitive advantage. Ensure compatibility and earn customer trust with external independent validation. This becomes increasingly valuable as market adoption rises and FDO is increasingly referenced in Requests for Proposals (RFPs). Realize hardware efficiencies, simplify production, and reduce waste. As with FDO, operating systems can be deployed on-site and do not need to be hard programmed in. This capability is now part of an active workstream within the FDO Working Group called “Bare Metal Onboarding”. Fast-track solution development with confidence. Free engineer time to focus on higher value projects rather than waste time with manual or proprietary onboarding solutions. Offer a faster, more efficient solution to customers.

“Deploying FDO has marked a pivotal shift for ASRock Industrial, establishing a new benchmark in secure, scalable onboarding for industrial edge IoT solutions. FDO’s advanced security framework enables us to deliver unparalleled reliability and adaptability, empowering our clients to scale confidently in increasingly complex environments. This deployment cements ASRock Industrial’s leadership in industrial computing security and sets the stage for us to shape the future of Industry 4.0 with solutions that are both resilient and future-ready” – Kenny Chang, Vice President, ASRock Industries

7. How to Adopt FDO Today

FDO offers a simple, secure, and scalable solution for enterprises and providers to accelerate edge computing and IoT device deployment at scale. With proven benefits like streamlined procurement, reduced costs, and enhanced security, FDO offers a clear path to efficiency and innovation – even in complex, high-risk, distributed environments. 

Now is a perfect time to join industry leaders like Microsoft, Dell, Red Hat, and Intel in backing FDO and paving the way for wider adoption.

There are several ways to get involved with FDO with the FIDO Alliance:

Explore: Discover FIDOⓇ Certified FDO products for seamless device onboarding. Get certified: Learn how to get FDO certified and demonstrate your products meet global security and interoperability standards. Join the FIDO Alliance: Become a FIDO Alliance member and help shape the future of the FDO standard.


The technology, resources, and support are in place for FDO to transform the way leaders and teams deploy IoT devices at scale while managing edge security risks in today’s fast-paced economy.

References Industrial IoT Market Forecast to 2029 Research and Markets Report. https://www.researchandmarkets.com/report/industrial-iot Palo Alto Unit 42 IoT Report. https://start.paloaltonetworks.com/unit-42-iot-threat-report Verizon 2024 Mobile Security Index. https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/mobile-security-index/ Microsoft: How to Scale Intelligent Factory Initiatives Through an Adaptive Cloud Approach. https://clouddamcdnprodep.azureedge.net/gdc/gdcQll0SB/original IBM 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report. https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report. https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/

OpenID

AuthZEN community to host interoperability session at the Gartner IAM Summit

  AuthZEN Co-chairs David Brossard and Omri Gazitt presenting at Gartner IAM in Dallas, December 2024 As part of its return to the Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Summit in London, March 24th-25th 2025, the OpenID Foundation is excited to share that it will also be hosting its latest  interoperability session for the OpenID […] The post AuthZEN community to host interopera
  AuthZEN Co-chairs David Brossard and Omri Gazitt presenting at Gartner IAM in Dallas, December 2024

As part of its return to the Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Summit in London, March 24th-25th 2025, the OpenID Foundation is excited to share that it will also be hosting its latest  interoperability session for the OpenID AuthZEN community. This builds on the momentum that the OpenID Foundation has garnered at two previous Gartner IAM Summits for the Shared Signals Framework community.

The sessions will be led by Omri Gazitt, co-chair of the AuthZEN Working Group and co-founder/CEO of Aserto, who will also be co-presenting a talk on AuthZEN: the “OpenID Connect” of Authorization on Tuesday, 25th March at 11:15am until 11:45am (GMT). 

Omri notes “AuthZEN is gaining momentum as the long-awaited interoperability standard for unifying the fragmented fine-grained authorization space. This is a great opportunity for implementers to showcase their progress, and for the wider industry to see how interoperability is moving forward.” 

OIDF calls for participants to demonstrate their AuthZEN implementations at the global event in London this March

The OpenID Foundation’s AuthZEN Working Group is inviting participation from implementers.

For this interoperability showcase, the AuthZEN WG is introducing a new interoperability scenario with API gateways as Policy Enforcement Points (PEPs), and is prioritizing their participation.

In addition, the WG has defined an interoperability scenario for Identity Providers that can act as PEPs as part of the authentication process, and can enrich access tokens utilizing the newly introduced AuthZEN Resource Search API.

Demonstration slots will be given to implementations based on their maturity, availability, and membership of the OpenID Foundation. 

Five free registration passes for the Gartner IAM Summit will be awarded to representatives of member organisations demonstrating significant interoperability success. 

To learn more about the event or to register your implementation for testing, please contact Omri Gazitt.

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.

The post AuthZEN community to host interoperability session at the Gartner IAM Summit first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


FIDO Alliance

MobileIDWorld: Passkey Adoption Surges 550% in 2024 as Bitwarden Reports 1.1M New Implementations

The adoption of passkeys in digital authentication has shown significant growth throughout 2024, building on the momentum started by major platform providers in their shift away from traditional passwords. While falling short […]

The adoption of passkeys in digital authentication has shown significant growth throughout 2024, building on the momentum started by major platform providers in their shift away from traditional passwords. While falling short of earlier predictions of 15 billion accounts, password management provider Bitwarden reported a 550 percent increase in daily passkey creation in December 2024 compared to the previous year, with approximately 1.1 million passkeys created in Q4 alone.

Industry-wide implementation of passkeys has expanded substantially, with PasskeyIndex.io documenting an increase from 58 to 115 services supporting passkeys during 2024. The growth follows significant developments in the FIDO2 authentication landscape, including new research revealing both strengths and potential vulnerabilities of synced passkeys. Bitwarden’s reach now extends to more than 180 countries and 50 languages, serving over 50,000 business customers globally.


Velocity Network

Velocity Network Foundation – New Year Updates

The post Velocity Network Foundation – New Year Updates appeared first on Velocity.

DIF Blog

Announcing Dr. Carsten Stöcker as DIF Ambassador

Announcing Dr. Carsten Stöcker as DIF Ambassador

DIF is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Carsten Stöcker as DIF Ambassador. As founder and CEO of Spherity GmbH, Dr. Stöcker brings pioneering experience in implementing decentralized identity across industrial ecosystems. His expertise in developing Verifiable Digital Product Passports for regulated industries and leadership in bridging European Digital Identity initiatives with Industry 4.0 applications makes him uniquely qualified to advance DIF's mission.

A physicist by training with a Ph.D. from the University of Aachen, he has served as a Council Member of Global Future Network for the World Economic Forum and Chairman of IDunion SCE. Through his work at Spherity, he has pioneered secure identity solutions across enterprises, machines, products, and even algorithms, with particular focus on highly regulated technical sectors requiring stringent compliance processes.

Vision and Focus Areas

As DIF Ambassador, Dr. Stöcker will help strengthen DIF's mission of developing secure, interoperable standards for privacy-preserving identity ecosystems, fortifying DIF’s role as a hub for innovation. His work will focus on digital identity convergence, bridging EUDI Wallets with DIF standards and Industry 4.0 to create seamless, secure, and compliant identity solutions. This includes establishing decentralized identity as the backbone of industrial ecosystems, supporting automation, trust, and circular economy initiatives.

A key focus will be driving adoption of Verifiable Digital Product Passports in regulated industries such as pharmaceuticals, batteries, and automotive, enabling robust traceability, compliance, and sustainability verification. Dr. Stöcker will also work on ensuring interoperability between decentralized identity standards and European Digital Identity Wallets for cross-border organizational applications.

Industry Impact and Future Direction

"Decentralized identity is instrumental for building trust in global supply chains, regulatory compliance, and enabling the future of Industry 4.0," says Dr. Stöcker. His leadership will strengthen DIF's mission to make decentralized identity the foundation for a more secure and interoperable digital world.

Join us in welcoming Dr. Stöcker as DIF Ambassador. Subscribe to our blog to stay updated on Dr. Stöcker's work advancing decentralized identity standards for Industry 4.0 and digital product passports. For more information about DIF initiatives and getting involved, visit our website


We Are Open co-op

A Constructive Approach to AI Literacies

Introducing AILiteracy.fyi We Are Open Co-op (WAO) is a collective of individuals who share a commitment to ethical, inclusive, and sustainable practices in all aspects of our work, including AI literacy. Our founding members are well-versed in this area. I wrote my thesis on the concept of digital literacies, while Laura Hilliger wrote her thesis on web literacy. Along with John Bevan, we worke
Introducing AILiteracy.fyi

We Are Open Co-op (WAO) is a collective of individuals who share a commitment to ethical, inclusive, and sustainable practices in all aspects of our work, including AI literacy.

Our founding members are well-versed in this area. I wrote my thesis on the concept of digital literacies, while Laura Hilliger wrote her thesis on web literacy. Along with John Bevan, we worked on the Mozilla Webmaker programme, and more recently have responded to a UNESCO call on for definitions of AI and data literacy, and published a paper on what media and information literacy mean in today’s connected world.

We also have an upcoming paper with Friends of the Earth around Harnessing AI for Environment Justice, due to be published soon.

Screenshot of AILiteracy.fyi

Digital literacies are plural and context-dependent, which means that AI literacies, as a subset of digital literacies, are too. There is no single “digital literacy” or “AI literacy” but rather a series of behaviours, practices, and habits of mind that change over time. These also depend on the context in which we are operating: this can include age, development, and experience; it can also include working environment, sector, and legislative frameworks.

WAO’s approach to AI literacies is informed by constructivism, pragmatism, and systems thinking, ensuring that our efforts are placed within intersecting historical, social, and technological contexts.

The Eight Elements

I wrote my doctoral thesis on digital literacies because I was interested in what the concept of ‘literacy’ means when we replace pen and paper with screens. Over the course of that investigation, I investigated multiple overlapping and competing definitions of ‘digital literacy’, eventually coming up with eight ‘essential elements’ of digital literacies. These elements are a starting point for a discussion which is dependent upon context. For example, digital literacies within a primary school classroom are very different to security researchers attempting to prevent the spread of misinformation within social networks.

The eight elements are directly applicable and offer ways to engage with AI technologies. This approach ensures that AI literacies are considered from a more holistic point of view, focusing as much on the human aspects as the technological. Critical engagement is important: just taking something off the shelf and attempting to apply it to a particular context is unlikely to meet with success. You have to do the work of contextualisation, which is best done through dialogue.

Applying the 8 elements to ‘AI Literacies’ Cultural — Understanding AI’s impact on society, including cultural norms and media influence Cognitive — Evaluating AI outputs critically, understanding how AI works, and using AI tools in analytical tasks Constructive — Learning to create and modify AI tools, and applying AI in creative projects Communicative — Engaging with AI systems effectively, understanding AI’s role in communication platforms, and its impact on human emotions, relationships, and social well-being Confident — Building self-assurance in using AI technologies and interfaces Creative — Exploring innovative uses for AI and thinking ethically about AI design Critical — Questioning power dynamics, biases, ethical issues, and considering the environmental impact of AI. Civic — Examining AI’s role in governance, policy, social good initiatives, legal awareness, and economic implications.

Note that these definitions are slightly different to, for example, Angela Gunder’s Dimensions of AI Literacies which are also based on the eight essential elements approach. This is to be expected!

Our approach to AI literacies is grounded in the belief that AI literacies are part of digital literacies, not a separate field. We aim to demystify AI, helping people recognise that many of the skills they already possess are directly applicable to AI. Rather than actively promoting a single “AI literacy,” we seek to raise awareness of its significance and contribute thoughtfully to the ongoing discussion. Our goal is to share perspectives and resources that enable individuals to engage with AI critically and responsibly.

Next steps

Laura has an upcoming series of posts relating to our work with Friends of the Earth which we will share in multiple parts. You may also be interested in how to cooperate through the use of AI with your team.

If you need a thought partner for this kind of work, we’ve got the credentials, the experience, and the interest to help! Get in touch for a chat.

A Constructive Approach to AI Literacies was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


ResofWorld

Indonesia, home to the world’s largest nickel reserves, struggles to achieve its EV dreams

China’s growing involvement and the rapid shift to lithium batteries dissuade investors.
Karawang county, located about 90 minutes by road from Jakarta, has been a major automotive hub in Indonesia for decades, housing factories of companies like Yamaha and Toyota. Last July,...

DIF Blog

DIF Newsletter #48

February 2025 DIF Website | DIF Mailing Lists | Meeting Recording Archive Table of contents Decentralized Identity Foundation News; 2. Working Group Updates; 3 Special Interest Group Updates; 4 User Group Updates; 5. Announcements; 6. Community Events; 7. DIF Member Spotlights; 8. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News DIF&

February 2025

DIF Website | DIF Mailing Lists | Meeting Recording Archive

Table of contents Decentralized Identity Foundation News; 2. Working Group Updates; 3 Special Interest Group Updates; 4 User Group Updates; 5. Announcements; 6. Community Events; 7. DIF Member Spotlights; 8. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News

DIF's working groups and forums kicked off January with a flurry of activity, including:

Proof of Age Special Workshop on January 28th, featured in Biometric Update [Read the article] DIF Labs prepares for its first cohort Show-and-Tell DIDComm User Group added European and APAC-friendly meeting times

Details for these and more to follow in soon-to-be-released posts, so stay turned!

🛠️ Working Group Updates DID Methods Working Group

The DID Methods Working Group is making progress towards establishing selection criteria and accepting proposals for DID methods. They are evaluating mechanisms for measuring decentralization of methods, and recently evaluated the potential of self-certifying identifier methods.

DID Methods meets bi-weekly at 9am PT/ noon ET/ 6pm CET Wednesdays

Identifiers and Discovery Working Group

The Identifiers and Discovery Working Group, along with its subgroups focusing on DID Traits and did:webvh, continues to make substantial progress towards specification readiness. They reviewed the DID Web VH specification and implementation, explored the use of DIDs in IoT devices and enterprise communities, and worked on verification processes. The DID Traits team focused on finalizing specifications for their 1.0 release and addressed government-approved cryptography standards.

Identifiers and Discovery meets bi-weekly at 11am PT/ 2pm ET/ 8pm CET Mondays

🪪 Claims & Credentials Working Group

The Credential Schemas Work Item held a special workshop on Proof of Age on January 28th, where the team invited the public to explore standardization of age verification schemas and discussed privacy-preserving solutions. A special report-out will follow.

Credential Schemas work item meets bi-weekly at 10am PT/ 1pm ET/ 7pm CET Tuesdays

Applied Crypto Working Group

The general Applied Crypto Working Group restarted at the end of January to focus on developing a trust model for ZKP self-attestations. After an initial evaluation of Anon Aadhaar, they're ready to work on a general framework that can be applied across different implementations

The Crypto BBS+ Work Item group maintained steady progress throughout January, with weekly meetings focusing on blind signatures and pseudonyms. The team worked on refining API designs and explored the potential of post-quantum privacy, while also addressing the need for test vectors and updates to working group specifications.

BBS+ work item meets weekly at 11am PT/ 2pm ET/ 8pm CET Mondays
Applied Crypto Working Group meets bi-weekly at 7am PT/ 10am ET/ 4pm CET Thursdays

DIF Labs Working Group

The initial Labs cohort demonstrated substantial progress, with the recent meeting featuring mentor review in preparation for the February show and tell session. More details to follow.

DIF Labs meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 8am PT/ 11am ET/ 5pm CET

DIDComm Working Group

The DIDComm Working Group is considering moving its usual meeting tome to accommodate EU particiants. They are discussing collaboration with the Trust Spanning Protocol (TSP).

DIDComm Working Group meets the first Monday of each month noon PT/ 3pm ET/ 9pm CET

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

🌎 DIF Special Interest Group Updates
DIF Hospitality & Travel SIG

The team advanced work on a standardized travel profile schema, focusing on multilingual support and international data handling requirements. A major highlight was the January 30th session featuring presentations from SITA and Indicio, who demonstrated successful implementation of verifiable credentials in travel, including a pilot program in Aruba.

Key developments included:

Progress on JSON schema development for standardized travel profiles Advancement of multilingual and localization capabilities Refinement of terminology and glossary for industry standardization Demo of successful verifiable credentials implementation in live travel environment

Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays at 10am EST. Click here for more details

DIF China SIG

The China SIG is growing to a vibrant community, with over 140 people in the discussion group. In 2024 they organized 9 online meetings and invited different DID experts for discussions, including experts from GLEIF, DIF, and TrustOverIP.

Click here for more details

APAC/ASEAN Discussion Group

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

DIF Africa SIG

Meetings take place Monthly on the 3rd Wednesday at 1pm SAST. Click here for more details

DIF Japan SIG

Meetings take place on the last Friday of each month 8am JST. Click here for more details

📖 DIF User Group Updates
DIDComm User Group

The DIDComm User Group established additional meeting times to accommodate global participation. They worked on expanding their reach and planned engagement with Trust Spanning Protocol representatives, while also focusing on improving documentation and accessibility.

There are two meeting series to accommodate different time zones, each taking place every Monday except the first week of the month (which is reserved for DIDComm Working Group). Click here for more details.

Veramo User Group

Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays, alternating between Noon EST / 18.00 CET and 09.00 EST / 15.00 CET. Click here for more details

📢 Announcements at DIF

Conference season is kicking into high gear. Explore our Events calendar to meet the DIF community at leading Decentralized Identity, Identity, and Decentralized Web events.

🗓️ ️DIF Members Member Spotlight: Nuggets

Nuggets, a DIF member company, is pioneering innovative solutions at the intersection of AI and digital identity. In a recent interview, CEO Alastair Johnson details how their new Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents products are tackling critical privacy and security challenges in AI adoption. Through decentralized identity wallet technology, Nuggets enables users to maintain complete control over their personal data while interacting with AI systems, while also providing verifiable digital identities for AI agents to ensure accountability and trust. Read the full interview.

Member Spotlight: The Camino Network Foundation

The Camino Network Foundation, a Switzerland-based non-profit, is revolutionizing the global travel industry through its specialized Layer 1 blockchain infrastructure. In a recent DIF member spotlight, they discuss their mission to tackle key industry pain points including high distribution costs, inefficient payment processes, and lengthy market entry times. Through their blockchain-based ecosystem and self-sovereign identity solutions, Camino aims to create seamless, secure travel experiences while reducing fraud and protecting user privacy. Read the full interview.

👉Are you a DIF member with news to share? Email us at communication@identity.foundation with details.

🆔 Join DIF!

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

Follow us on Twitter/X

Join us on GitHub

Subscribe on YouTube

🔍

Read the DIF blog

New Member Orientations

If you are new to DIF join us for our upcoming new member orientations. Find more information on DIF’s slack or contact us at community@identity.foundation if you need more information.


Oasis Open Projects

Invitation to comment on DMLex Version 1.0 before call for consent as OASIS Standard

OASIS and the OASIS Lexicographic Infrastructure Data Model and API (LEXIDMA) TC [1] are pleased to announce that Data Model for Lexicography (DMLex) Version 1.0 is now available for public review and comment. The LEXIDMA TC’s purpose is to create an open standards based framework for internationally interoperable lexicographic work. The TC will develop a […] The post Invitation to comment on DM

Comment period ends April 1st

OASIS and the OASIS Lexicographic Infrastructure Data Model and API (LEXIDMA) TC [1] are pleased to announce that Data Model for Lexicography (DMLex) Version 1.0 is now available for public review and comment.

The LEXIDMA TC’s purpose is to create an open standards based framework for internationally interoperable lexicographic work. The TC will develop a simple, modular, and easy to adopt data model that will be attractive for all lexicographic industry actors across companies and academia as well as geographic locations. Adoption of that model will facilitate exchange of lexicographic and linguistic corpus data globally and also enable effective exchange with adjacent industries such as language services, terminology management, or technical writing.

The TC received three Statements of Use from University of Galway, Lexical Computing, and Jozef Stefan Institute [3].

The candidate specification and related files are available here:

Data Model for Lexicography (DMLex) Version 1.0

Committee Specification 01

08 November 2024

PDF (Authoritative):

https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/v1.0/cs01/dmlex-v1.0-cs01.pdf

HTML:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/v1.0/cs01/dmlex-v1.0-cs01.html

Schemas:

JSON: https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/JSON/

RDF: https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/RDF/

XML: https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/XML/

Informative Copies of 3rd Party Schemas:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/informativeCopiesof3rdPartySchemas

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the prose specification and related files in a ZIP distribution file. You can download the ZIP file at:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/dmlex-v1.0-cs01.zip

Members of the LEXIDMA TC [1] approved this specification by Special Majority Vote [2]. The specification had been released for public review as required by the TC Process [4].

Public Review Period

The 60-day public review starts 01 February 2025 at 00:00 UTC and ends 01 April 2024 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 project by any person through the use of the project’s Comment Facility. Members of the TC should submit feedback directly to the TC’s members-only mailing list. All others should follow the instructions listed here. 

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 [4] applicable especially [5] 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 references:

[1] OASIS LEXIDMA TC

https://groups.oasis-open.org/communities/tc-community-home2?CommunityKey=0fd41fbb-72be-4771-8faf-018dc7d3f419

[2] Approval ballot:

https://groups.oasis-open.org/higherlogic/ws/groups/0fd41fbb-72be-4771-8faf-018dc7d3f419/ballots/ballot?id=3867

[3] Links to Statements of Use

University of Galway: https://groups.oasis-open.org/viewdocument/statement-of-use-csd01-university?CommunityKey=0fd41fbb-72be-4771-8faf-018dc7d3f419&tab=librarydocuments&MessageKey=63e64b61-90b2-47c0-ac24-6559c31a895d Lexical Computing: https://groups.oasis-open.org/discussion/oasis-lexicographic-infrastructure-data-model-and-api-lexidma-tc-statement-of-use-for-dmlex-cs01-by-lexical-computing Jozef Stefan Institute: https://groups.oasis-open.org/discussion/statement-of-use-for-dmlex-cs01

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

[5] https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/lexidma/ipr.php

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy

The post Invitation to comment on DMLex Version 1.0 before call for consent as OASIS Standard appeared first on OASIS Open.

Friday, 31. January 2025

ResofWorld

Brazil’s push for comprehensive AI regulation

Brazil’s AI bill is one window into a global effort to define the role that artificial intelligence will play in democratic societies.
This report is adapted from Rest of World’s recent feature “The global struggle over how to regulate AI,” written by Katie McQue, Laís Martins, Ananya Bhattacharya, and Carien du Plessis. ...

Thursday, 30. January 2025

Oasis Open Projects

Making lexicography truly digital: the road to DMLex

If your idea of lexicography is that it is an antiquarian pursuit dominated by printed dictionaries and dusty cardfile indexes, then you haven’t been paying attention. Lexicography, like everything else, has now become digital. The digital transformation has changed the discipline’s entire pipeline, ranging from how dictionaries are made, to how they are consumed by […] The post Making lexicogra

By Michal Měchura

If your idea of lexicography is that it is an antiquarian pursuit dominated by printed dictionaries and dusty cardfile indexes, then you haven’t been paying attention. Lexicography, like everything else, has now become digital. The digital transformation has changed the discipline’s entire pipeline, ranging from how dictionaries are made, to how they are consumed by end-users. We don’t talk about “writing” dictionaries any more, we compile them semi-automatically from language corpuses. And when people use a dictionary now, it is almost always in the form of a website or a mobile app. Increasingly, lexicographic products are becoming integrated into the user interfaces of other digital products such as machine translators, writing tools and general search engines.

That doesn’t mean everything is going well though. One thing that has been holding lexicography back from making full use of the digital medium is its over-reliance on outdated data models. Traditionally, when people have been representing the structure of dictionary entries in databases and in software, the data model they would usually go for is a top-down tree structure: a structure in which an entry consists of a headword and a list of senses, a sense consists of a definition followed by one or more example sentences, and so on. This mental model, with its hierarchy of parents and children, is easy to express in XML and other formal notations. But, at the same time, there are things in dictionaries which are difficult to represent in a tree structure, such as entry-to-entry cross-references, or complex multi-parent hierarchies of entries and subentries, senses and subsenses. This often results in overly complex XML schemas, in duplicated data, and in dictionaries which are “IT-unfriendly”, difficult to work with computationally.

This is where LEXIDMA comes in, the Lexicographic Data Model and API Technical Committee in OASIS. We are a group of IT professionals in lexicography who have joined forces to produce a standardised data model for dictionaries which overcomes these difficulties. It’s been a long journey but our brainchild DMLex (“Data Model for Lexicography”) has now reached Community Specification status and we are very proud of what we have come up with.

Ours is obviously not the first attempt to produce a standardised data model or file format for dictionaries. Pretty much all previous attempts can be divided into two groups. On the one hand, we have file formats and XML schemas which firmly belong in the tree-structured tradition, such as the TEI Dictionaries chapter. These are very expressive but come with all the inherent limitations and over-complexity mentioned above. On the other hand, there have been attempts to make lexicographic data more IT-friendly by remodelling dictionaries as graphs or networks, such as Ontolex Lemon (a W3C Community Specification) and Lexical Markup Framework (LMF, an ISO standard). These standards often solve the problem at the expense of lower expressivity elsewhere, so that lexicographers – the “content” people – have been reluctant to use them.

In other words, until DMLex came along, you had a choice between standards which the content people liked but the tech people didn’t, and standards which the tech people liked but the content people didn’t. This is a false dichotomy: it is possible to produce a data model which satisfies the needs of both camps. We believe DMLex is such a model. DMLex has taken inspiration from Ontolex Lemon and LMF in that it has remodelled some (though not all) aspects of dictionary structure as a graph but, in addition to that, DMLex has a rich repertoire of content types for representing pretty much everything you will ever want to have in a digital product worthy of the name “dictionary”.

One more thing that makes DMLex different from previous standards in lexicography is that it is not just a file format. DMLex is first and foremost an abstract data model. The first half of the DMLex specification is devoted to describing the data model at an abstract level, independently of any specific markup language or formalism. The second half then proposes five serialisations of DMLex in XML, in JSON, as a relational database (SQL) and as a Semantic Web triplestore, as well as one lesser-used markup language called NVH. So you could say that DMLex is a top-down standard: first we define the abstract model, then we “implement” it in a couple of specific markup languages and formalisms. This is more implementation-neutral and interoperable than previous standards which tend to be tied to specific notations and metamodels such as XML or the Semantic Web.

Last but not least, DMLex is the outcome of a consensus between lexicographers and technicians from across the industry, uniting people from academia, from public-service institutes and from businesses in several (admittedly mostly European) countries. Getting to this level of consensus has not been easy but we are very happy with what we have produced. The centuries-old discipline of dictionary-building is now ready for the next step in its digital evolution.

About the Author
Michal Měchura is the Chair of the OASIS LEXIDMA TC and a language technologist with two decades of experience building IT solutions for lexicography, terminology and onomastics. He has worked on projects such as the National Terminology Database for Irish, the Placenames Database of Ireland and the New English–Irish Dictionary. He is the author of the open-source dictionary writing system Lexonomy and the open-source terminology management platform Terminologue.

The post Making lexicography truly digital: the road to DMLex appeared first on OASIS Open.


LEXIDMA TC’s DMLex V1.0 is now a Committee Specification

OASIS and the LEXIDMA TC are pleased to announce that DMLex V1.0 CS01 is now available as a Committee Specification. DMLex is a data model for modelling dictionaries (here called lexicographic resources) in computer applications such as dictionary writing systems. DMLex is a data model, not an encoding format. DMLex is abstract, independent of any markup […] The post LEXIDMA TC’s DMLex V1.0

Please join us in congratulating the LEXIDMA TC on this milestone

OASIS and the LEXIDMA TC are pleased to announce that DMLex V1.0 CS01 is now available as a Committee Specification.

DMLex is a data model for modelling dictionaries (here called lexicographic resources) in computer applications such as dictionary writing systems. DMLex is a data model, not an encoding format. DMLex is abstract, independent of any markup language or formalism. At the same time, DMLex has been designed to be easily and straightforwardly implementable in XML, JSON, NVH, as a relational database, and as a Semantic Web triplestore.

The documents and all related files are available here:

LEXIMDA Data Model for Lexicography (DMLex) V1.0
Committee Specification 01
08 November 2024

Editable Source (Authoritative):
https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/v1.0/cs01/dmlex-v1.0-cs01.pdf
HTML:
https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/v1.0/cs01/dmlex-v1.0-cs01.html

Schemas:

XML: https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/XML/

JSON: https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/JSON/

RDF: https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/RDF/

Informative copies of third party schemas are provided:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/schemas/informativeCopiesof3rdPartySchemas

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the specification document and any related files in ZIP distribution files. You can download https://docs.oasis-open.org/lexidma/dmlex/cs01/dmlex-v1.0-cs01.zip

The post LEXIDMA TC’s DMLex V1.0 is now a Committee Specification appeared first on OASIS Open.


ResofWorld

Non-Western founders say DeepSeek is proof that innovation need not cost billions of dollars

The Chinese app has just “blown the roof off” and “shifted the power dynamics.”
During a trip to India in 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman sparked controversy when he said it was “hopeless” for a young team with less than $10 million to compete...

Velocity Network

Robert McGough joins Velocity’s board

We're delighted that National Student Clearinghouse's Chris Goodson has been voted onto the Velocity Network Foundation Board of Directors. The post Robert McGough joins Velocity’s board appeared first on Velocity.

Elastos Foundation

Elastos Secures $20M Investment from Rollman Management to Unlock Trillions in Bitcoin Finance

Funding accelerates the development of Elastos’ ELA token, Native Bitcoin DeFi protocol, and Web3 creator economy – positioning Elastos as the utility layer for Bitcoin. Majuro, Marshall Islands – Elastos, a decentralized web infrastructure pioneer, today announced a $20 million strategic investment from Rollman Management to scale its Bitcoin-aligned ecosystem. Rollman Management, recognized for i

Funding accelerates the development of Elastos’ ELA token, Native Bitcoin DeFi protocol, and Web3 creator economy – positioning Elastos as the utility layer for Bitcoin.

Majuro, Marshall Islands – Elastos, a decentralized web infrastructure pioneer, today announced a $20 million strategic investment from Rollman Management to scale its Bitcoin-aligned ecosystem. Rollman Management, recognized for its high-profile investments in blockchain projects like Ripple, Ethereum, Solana, and Planck, now ranks Elastos among its top five holdings. The partnership will fuel the launch of Elastos’ Native Bitcoin DeFi protocol, BeL2, expand its merge-mined ELA token as a Bitcoin reserve asset, and accelerate Elacity—a groundbreaking Web3 data marketplace that enables creators to monetize content without intermediaries on top.

With Bitcoin’s market cap surpassing $2 trillion, Elastos solves critical gaps in Bitcoin’s ecosystem: 

 

ELA as Bitcoin’s Merge-Mined Reserve Asset: ELA tokens are secured by Bitcoin’s hash power through merge-mining since 2018, aligning with Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2010 vision for decentralized networks. With a total of 28,220,000 by 2105 and around 50% of Bitcoin’s hashrate, ELA gains security and decentralization, provides additional revenue for BTC miners at no extra cost, and creates a cryptoeconomically sound reserve asset for Elastos’ Bitcoin-native DeFi system. BeL2: Bitcoin’s DeFi Breakthrough: Launching in Q2 2025, BeL2 allows Bitcoin holders to collateralize BTC in personal wallets and access Ethereum smart contract services. These include minting stablecoins, performing swaps, and borrowing assets peer-to-peer, unlocking its value all whilst eliminating reliance on synthetic BTC (e.g., WBTC) and centralized custodians. BeL2 combines locking scripts, zero-knowledge proofs, oracles, and an arbiter network where ELA stakeholders can stake ELA and earn BTC fees as decentralized nodes to support the protocol. Elacity: Web3’s Creator Revolution: Already proven in early tests, where one creator earned $5,600 in 24 hours through tokenized podcast access, Elacity v2 will launch in April with channels and subscription models. It enables influencers to encrypt, tokenize, and sell content/royalties on Elastos for audio and video markets, with plans to extend its technology to support the tokenization of AI markets. Elastos (ELA) in a nutshell

“Leveraging Bitcoin’s multi-trillion-dollar consensus to empower Web3 users with scalable utilities—that’s where Elastos comes in,” said Rong Chen, Elastos Founder. Merge-mining ties ELA’s security to Bitcoin’s, and BeL2, Elastos’ decentralized finance protocol, unlocks BTC-backed DeFi without compromises, whilst Elacity creates a decentralized digital goods economy on top. Rollman’s investment supports our role as Bitcoin’s utility layer. 

The $20M investment from Rollman will drive the advancement of Elastos technologies and also help Elastos reorient its branding, mature its technological stance, and go to market. This includes enhancing marketing efforts, which will further position Elastos as a leader in the growing Bitcoin-native DeFi space.

Elastos as a Pioneer in Bitcoin-secured Governance

Beyond its technological advancements, Elastos stands out for its Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC) governance model, formalized as a DAO LLC in the Marshall Islands, which signed this agreement with Rollman. This delegate-based system allows community members to stake Bitcoin merge-mined ELA, earn APY, and annually elect—or run as—one of 12 council members who vote on proposals, drive innovation, sign contracts, and validate Elastos’ Smart (EVM) and Identity (DID) sidechains. This ensures governance decisions reflect the community’s interests and demonstrates Elastos’ commitment to a truly decentralized and transparent ecosystem rooted in Bitcoin.

As Elastos enters its next phase of growth, participants can join the ecosystems CRC DAO by acquiring merge-mined ELA, which has a market cap of $48,542,586 and is secured by nearly 50% of Bitcoin’s hashrate (366.01 EH/s, equivalent to 244.008 Frontier Supercomputers). ELA offers 6+ years of proven security, a fixed cap of 28.22M tokens to be fully mined by 2105, and 2% annual inflation rate with 4-year halving cycles, ensuring scarcity and predictability for holders. Available on Centralized Exchanges (Coinbase, KuCoin, Gate.io, Huobi, Bitget, Crypto.com) and Decentralized Exchanges (Uniswap, Chainge Finance, Glide Finance), ELA empowers holders to shape Elastos’ future through CRC governance—driving innovation, reinforcing Bitcoin-level security, and building the next generation of decentralized applications.

 

About Rollman Management Digital

Rollman Management Digital is a private investment and management consulting boutique that is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The firm seeks to invest in talented teams and their blockchain protocols to further develop their technology and business while adding significant value to the future of the modern economy.
https://rollmanmanagement.com

Additional Information

Learn more about ELA Merge Mining Learn More about BeL2  Learn More about Elacity Learn More about Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC) Contact info@elastos.org for partnership inquiries or media requests.

ResofWorld

Meet Eva, the AI chatbot based on a woman in prison

“Eva” is based on in-depth interviews with a woman in prison for drug trafficking and organized crime.
María Fretes, a Paraguayan social worker, had long wondered about the lives of imprisoned women in the country. Then, one day in November, many of her questions were answered by...

Wednesday, 29. January 2025

DIF Blog

Member Spotlight: The Camino Network Foundation

The Camino Network Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland that has built a blockchain-based ecosystem transforming the global travel industry. We sat down with them to discuss their vision for the future of travel and their partnership with the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) - a collaboration focused on

The Camino Network Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland that has built a blockchain-based ecosystem transforming the global travel industry. We sat down with them to discuss their vision for the future of travel and their partnership with the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) - a collaboration focused on creating seamless, secure travel experiences through self-sovereign identity.

Camino Network describes itself as 'the travel industry layer one.' What specific travel industry pain points are you aiming to solve?

Camino Network is designed to address key pain points in the $11 trillion global travel industry by providing specialized Layer 1 blockchain infrastructure. Those pain points include:

High Distribution Costs: Current intermediary commissions can reach 20%, significantly cutting into margins. Camino Network enables direct, efficient B2B connections via Camino Messenger, cutting costs. Inefficient Payment Processes: Traditional payment systems often take days to weeks for settlement and impose fees of 3%-8%, eroding travel companies' already thin EBIT margins (typically 1-4%). Camino offers lower-cost, faster payment and settlement solutions, improving cash flow and profitability. Lengthy Time-to-Market: Onboarding travel products can take up to six months. Camino simplifies and accelerates this process, allowing companies to bring offerings to market much more quickly.

Further, Camino provides:

Secure Data Exchange & Identity Verification: Camino provides robust tools for secure data sharing and identity management, helping companies comply with regulations while maintaining user trust and operational efficiency. Tailored Blockchain Governance: Unlike Web2 systems and organizations today, Camino Network is governed by travel companies (over 100 validators), ensuring solutions are directly aligned with industry needs and fostering collaboration.

In summary, Camino Network directly tackles inefficiencies in travel distribution, payments, and data management, enabling companies to operate faster, more securely, and at a lower cost in a competitive global market.

Your white paper details how Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) could transform travel experiences. Could you share some concrete examples of how SSI could improve the traveler journey, from booking to destination?

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) transforms travel along the customer journey by giving travelers full control over their personal data. For example, during the booking process, travelers can securely share data to unlock rewards, like a 10% discount from Sleap.io for Camino (CAM) holders. At the airport, SSI-enabled zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) streamline passport control while triggering airdropped discount vouchers from airport shops. Upon arrival, travelers can skip the rental car counter, access their vehicle instantly via SSI verification, and check into hotels digitally, eliminating paperwork and delays. These use cases enhance convenience, privacy, and personalization throughout the journey.

You've implemented mandatory KYC for smart contract deployments and KYB for validators. How does this compliance-first approach benefit travel companies looking to adopt blockchain solutions?

Camino's compliance-first approach with mandatory KYC for smart contract deployments and KYB for validators ensures a trusted and professional ecosystem for travel companies. Adhering to regulatory standards enhances legitimacy and simplifies onboarding, reducing risks in global/cross-border collaboration. This fosters confidence among partners and regulators, making blockchain adoption smoother and more secure for the travel industry.

The Camino Messenger protocol is designed to standardize travel industry communication. How do you see decentralized identity integrating with these messaging standards to improve B2B operations?

The Camino Messenger protocol is designed to standardize travel industry communication. Integrating decentralized identity with the Camino Messenger protocol can streamline B2B operations, combat fraud, and boost efficiency. By standardizing the communication and identity verification processes, the travel industry can build a foundation for innovative and automated workflows, leading to secure and personalized offers in the travel industry.

Decentralized identity offers key B2B advantages, including:

Efficiency in Onboarding and Collaboration: DID integration can drastically reduce the time needed for partner onboarding through automation, as well as seamless and granular access control Enhanced Data Privacy and Control: Decentralized identity allows businesses to control how their data is shared within the messaging ecosystem. This is crucial in the travel industry, where sensitive information, such as customer preferences or itineraries, needs to be handled with care.

Your whitepaper mentions authenticating travel service providers through the network. How do you balance the need for trust and verification with the decentralized nature of blockchain?

Balancing trust and verification with the decentralized nature of blockchain requires a thoughtful approach combining transparency, security, and efficiency.

Decentralized Verification: Travel service providers are authenticated using blockchain-based Decentralized Identifier (DID) registries, enabling real-time credential verification without relying on a central authority. This ensures authenticity while preserving decentralization. Decentralized Governance: A Decentralized Autonomous Consortium governs the network (these are the validators in Camino Network), aligning verification processes with the collective needs of industry stakeholders while maintaining trust and efficiency. Transparent Yet Private Verification: Privacy-preserving technologies, like zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs), enable secure verification of credentials without exposing sensitive data. Decentralized storage further protects sensitive information while allowing access only to authorized parties. Security and Resilience: By leveraging blockchain's decentralized architecture, applications are free from single points of failure, offering robust security and operational continuity even during disruptions.

This approach ensures a secure, transparent, and efficient environment for authenticating travel service providers, fostering trust without compromising blockchain's decentralized principles.

With fraudulent bookings being a major industry issue, how can Camino's identity solutions help travel companies reduce fraud while improving the customer experience?

Fraudulent bookings are minimized as only verified entities can participate in transactions, ensuring trustworthiness. Verifiable credentials issued by trusted organizations will confirm the legitimacy of bookings, reducing chargebacks and fake reservations. The blockchain ensures an immutable audit trail, enabling real-time verification and fraud detection.

The travel industry generates massive amounts of customer data. How does Camino's approach to digital identity help companies manage this data securely while meeting privacy regulations?

Camino’s digital identity approach uses decentralized identity and self-sovereign identity (SSI) principles to give customers control over their data. Verifiable credentials allow users to share only necessary information, minimizing data exposure and ensuring compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR. Sensitive data remains off-chain, while blockchain ensures secure and tamper-proof authentication. Privacy-preserving technologies like zero-knowledge proofs enable verification without revealing personal details. This reduces the risk of data breaches and allows travel companies to manage customer data securely while fostering trust and transparency.

What inspired you to join DIF, and how do you see travel industry standards for digital identity evolving through this collaboration?

Joining the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) was inspired by the need to address the travel industry's challenges with fragmented identity systems and security concerns. By collaborating with DIF, Camino aims to contribute to open standards that ensure interoperability, enabling seamless identity verification across travel providers. This partnership enables innovation, allowing the travel industry to adopt self-sovereign identity solutions, reducing fraud, enhancing privacy, and improving customer trust. Through DIF’s collaborative framework, the travel industry can transition to unified, decentralized identity standards, enabling a more secure, efficient, and customer-centric ecosystem.

Your white paper discusses a 'global future-proof travel operating system.' Looking ahead 5-10 years, how do you envision decentralized identity transforming the travel industry's digital infrastructure? For instance, could you share your vision for how digital passports, biometrics, and SSI might converge to create seamless cross-border travel experiences?

In 5-10 years, we envision travelers carrying a DID wallet containing their passports, visas, health certificates, and frequent traveler profiles. At borders, biometric scans (e.g., facial recognition) would instantly verify identities, matching them with blockchain-secured credentials, allowing seamless passage without physical documents.

For airlines, hotels, and car rentals, SSI would enable pre-verified booking and check-ins using digital IDs, reducing queues and manual verifications. Health credentials (e.g., vaccination records) could be securely shared during pandemics without compromising privacy. This approach would ensure faster, fraud-resistant, and privacy-compliant travel experiences, redefining global travel infrastructure.

Thanks to the Camino Network Foundation for sharing their insights about the future of travel, powered by decentralized identity. To learn more, visit https://foundation.camino.network/


Blockchain Commons

Musings of a Trust Architect: The Case for an International Right to Freedom to Transact

I recently wrote about “How My Values Inform Design”. There I discussed the issue of autonomy and how it can be supported by progressive trust, proof against coercion, and other rights. One of the technical elements that I mentioned as a requirement was “[Tools that] enable meaningful participation in the digital economy.” This is the freedom to transact. It’s a right that remains conspicuously abs

I recently wrote about “How My Values Inform Design”. There I discussed the issue of autonomy and how it can be supported by progressive trust, proof against coercion, and other rights. One of the technical elements that I mentioned as a requirement was “[Tools that] enable meaningful participation in the digital economy.”

This is the freedom to transact. It’s a right that remains conspicuously absent from the foundational rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which stands as a pillar of human dignity and freedom. But without it, the other rights articulated in the UDHR risk being rendered ineffective or hollow.

It’s so crucial because economic agency forms the bedrock upon which many fundamental freedoms rest. For instance, Freedom of Movement and Residence, core to personal autonomy, become less meaningful when an individual cannot engage in transactions necessary to secure housing or travel. Similarly, the right to property—the ability to own, buy, and sell—is directly dependent on the freedom to transact. Without access to economic exchange, these rights are significantly curtailed, reducing individuals to passive observers rather than active participants in their own lives.

Consider constitutional liberties like Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Association. These rights presuppose economic participation: the ability to rent venues, purchase communication tools, and access the materials necessary for organizing and disseminating ideas. Without the economic means to support these activities, these freedoms are stripped of their practical utility.

The introduction of an international right to Freedom to Transact would bolster the entire framework of human rights by guaranteeing that individuals can exercise their freedoms without undue restrictions on their economic autonomy. It would ensure that human dignity, as envisioned in the UDHR, is not constrained by arbitrary barriers to economic agency. By codifying this right, we would affirm that economic freedom is as essential to the human condition as freedom of thought, religion, or expression.

This proposed right would also address systemic inequalities and empower marginalized communities by ensuring that all individuals, regardless of nationality, socioeconomic status, or geographic location, can engage fully in the global economy. In doing so, we cement the idea that economic agency is not a privilege but a fundamental human right.

As the world grapples with digital transformation, financial innovation, and increasing geopolitical complexities, the necessity of a Freedom to Transact has never been clearer. It is time to elevate this principle to its rightful place alongside the other freedoms in the UDHR, securing a more equitable and dignified future for all.

Tuesday, 28. January 2025

Digital ID for Canadians

Treefort Achieves DIACC Certification, Elevating Identity Verification Standards Across Canada

Toronto– January 27, 2025—The Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) proudly announces that Treefort has received the prestigious Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) Verified…

Toronto– January 27, 2025—The Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) proudly announces that Treefort has received the prestigious Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) Verified Person certification for its groundbreaking Identity Verification (IDV) platform. This certification, focused on the PCTF’s Verified Person Component, positions Treefort as a frontrunner in delivering secure, trusted, and reliable identity verification services, which are essential in the fight against fraud in Canada.

In an era increasingly plagued by misinformation, deepfakes, and questions about the integrity of information, Treefort’s innovative IDV solution shines as a beacon of trust. With technology designed to verify identities with lightning speed, Treefort incorporates advanced security features to combat fraud and establish authenticity in digital transactions.

“Securing digital identities is our passion, and Treefort’s PCTF certification is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence,” said Jay Krushell, Chief Legal Officer, Treefort. “In today’s world, where the authenticity of information is routinely challenged, our certification provides unparalleled confidence, allowing legal professionals to verify identities with certainty.”

The rigorous certification journey involved a meticulous third-party evaluation under the DIACC’s stringent certification model, which aligns with internationally recognized ISO/IEC standards. DIACC Accredited Auditors left no stone unturned, assessing Treefort’s identity-proofing functions and advanced information security measures. This forward-thinking approach reinforces Treefort’s status as a trusted partner in securing digital identities and counteracting the threats of misinformation and identity fraud.

With this DIACC certification, Treefort solidifies its place among Canada’s elite identity verification providers and earns a prestigious three-year Trustmark, subject to annual surveillance audits. 

“This is exciting news for the digital landscape; Treefort’s certification exemplifies their leadership in the identity verification space and strengthens the overall trust in digital transactions across the nation,” added Joni Brennan, DIACC President. 

Organizations searching for robust identity proofing and credential management solutions can now approach Treefort with enhanced peace of mind, knowing DIACC’s rigorous independent audit process supports them. In a climate where validating the source and integrity of information is paramount, Treefort stands out as a reliable source of verified identities, cutting through the noise of disinformation.

The PCTF framework is your go-to for risk management and assurance. It validates the reliability of private-sector digital trust services by addressing critical aspects such as privacy, security, and interoperability, helping to combat fraud and breaches at every turn.

For more information about how to become a certified provider and the incredible benefits of PCTF certification, reach out to voila@diacc.ca  

About Treefort
Treefort is leading the charge in Identity Verification solutions, tirelessly working to provide innovative and secure services to businesses across Canada. Our goal is to empower organizations with the tools they need to combat fraud and ensure compliance, forging a safer digital landscape for all. For more information, please visit https://treeforttech.com/ 

About DIACC
Founded in 2012, DIACC is a non-profit organization that unites public and private sector members to enhance participation in the global digital economy by leveraging digital trust services. By promoting vital design principles and PCTF adoption, DIACC champions privacy, security, and people-first design approaches. For more information, please visit https://diacc.ca.


EdgeSecure

EdgeCon Winter 2025

January 9, 2025 at Princeton Univeristy The post EdgeCon Winter 2025 appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Edge’s premier event, EdgeCon, returned to the campus of Princeton University on January 9 for the Winter 2025 session, bringing together thought leaders, innovators, and professionals from across the higher education sector. This year’s conference explored the growing impact of technology across institutions and the entire student lifecycle, offering a wealth of opportunities for networking, professional development, and community building.

EdgeCon’s insightful and inspiring content invited participants to rethink the role of technology in shaping the future of education and to engage in meaningful discussions on how to leverage these innovations for lasting institutional success. Attendees explored the latest advancements in data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and other emerging technologies and how these tools, when combined with strategic vision, can transform institutional operations, enhance the student experience, and build greater resiliency for the future.

Advancing Data-Driven Decisions in Higher Education
EdgeCon’s keynote panel discussion, Advancing Data-Driven Decisions in Higher Education: Overcoming Barriers and Harnessing Analytics, was moderated by Nicole Muscanell, Ph.D., Researcher, Research & Insights, Educause, and explored the evolving role of analytics in higher education. As the author of the recent Educause Analytics Landscape Study, Muscanell shared insights from this research and joined panelists, Trina Das, Ph.D., Associate Vice Provost, Decision Support & Data Integrity, Villanova University, and Rob Snyder, Director of Analytics and Special Projects, Ithaca College, to discuss the key challenges facing many institutions. Together, they explored the gap in dedicated analytics leadership, the shift from descriptive to predictive analytics, and the strategic integration of AI and other emerging technology tools. The discussion also explored ways institutions can leverage analytics to drive student success, foster collaboration across departments, and encourage innovation while practicing responsible data governance and security.

“I wanted to commend the Edge team for an excellent conference this week. Everything felt incredibly well-organized and smoothly executed. Given the current constraints of limited travel budgets and resources, conferences like this are more valuable than ever. Edge has successfully delivered a day packed with the very best of an Educause-like experience at a nominal cost—truly an impressive feat. Thanks again for a great opportunity!”

–Leonard D.
Senior Vice President and CIO

Transforming Communication
One of the day’s first breakout sessions included Transforming Communication: The Zoom Phone Project at Stevens Institute of Technology led by the university’s Maryam Mirza, Senior Director for IT, Client Experience and Strategic Initiatives; Hammad Ali, Senior Director of Infrastructure Services; and Luis Quispe, Associate Director of Networking and Telecom Engineering. The session provided a fascinating overview of the successful implementation of the Zoom Phone project at Stevens which aimed to modernize the campus communication infrastructure by transitioning from traditional phone systems to the innovative Zoom Phone service.

Presenters shared the change management strategies employed to facilitate this significant shift, including comprehensive user training, stakeholder engagement, and continuous support. These project management efforts were pivotal in coordinating the migration of facilities phones, decommissioning outdated systems, and ensuring compliance with new regulations such as the Ray Baum Act and Kari’s Law. Attendees also gained a look into the collaborative efforts of the IT team with institutional stakeholders and how they could apply the valuable lessons of the Stevens team to upgrading their own communication systems back on campus.

The Phase Shift in HigherEd Computing
Robert Clougherty, CIO, Drew University, led the breakout session, Phase Shift in HigherEd Computing: Navigating the Liminal Space Between Past and Future, to discuss how institutions can manage the transition between the past and the future. With organizations facing a choice between relying on the stability of legacy systems or embracing the transformative potential of emerging technologies, there can be considerable challenges in navigating the dichotomy between these paradigms.

Grounded in Per Bak’s theory of self-organized criticality and Pierre Lévy’s phases of human development, the discussion highlighted how small technological shifts can catalyze systemic transformation. The discussion emphasized the transition from structured data to unstructured intelligence, from repetition to adaptive machine learning, and from quantity-driven productivity to quality-focused collaboration between humans and AI. Attendees left with a deeper understanding of the critical decisions shaping higher ed computing and strategies to help position their campuses as leaders in this transformative era.

Data-Assisted Advising
Across the U.S., students are taking more time to finish their degree programs, or are dropping out before completion, leading to low graduation rates and long-term financial burdens. Advisors are key to ensuring individual student belonging and increasing student success outcomes, but with caseloads of 350 students or more, they can miss out on important information about their students. Getting the right analytics into advisors’ hands allows them to reach students who may be facing obstacles in completing their degree as soon as needs for support emerge.

Dr. John Harnisher, Head of Education Initiatives, DataKind, shared their approach to working with institutions across the country to tackle this challenge by leveraging machine learning and AI to identify which students are most in need of support and why. DataKind is building a nationwide cohort of institutions leveraging this data-assisted advising product through a philanthropy funded engagement with support from Google.org. By using predictive models trained on an institution’s unique data, the institutions that DataKind works with are able to equip advising staff with the analytics they need to provide students with the correct resources and level of support to enable student success in degree completion and beyond. Harnisher shares lessons learned in both predictive model development and implementation in the field, best practices for preparing an institution’s data for engagement, how DataKind approaches product scaling, and ways for institutions to get involved in this work.

The Intersection of AI, Education, and Industry
As AI continues to revolutionize various sectors, its impact on education and industry becomes increasingly significant. The panel discussion, AI, Education, and Industry: Bridging the Gap for the Future & Current Workforce, explored the intersection of AI, education, and industry, focusing on what industry wants, what students are learning formally and on their own, and what the implications are for future careers. Stefanie Toye, Project Manager, The Learning & Development Initiative, New Jersey Institute of Technology; tech visionary, speaker, and author, Rachael Mann; and Monk Inyang, Co-Founder, 1st Street Partnerships, led this interactive discussion about how they see AI being used in formal and informal educational settings at various levels.

The group also delved into how Career and Technical Education (CTE), creative industries, and academia are adapting to technological changes and preparing learners for the evolving workforce. The audience asked questions about how these experts see AI being used in formal and informal educational settings, which tools they think are most useful for different populations, and what skills will be necessary to flourish in this rapidly changing economy and workforce.

”Thank you for providing such an accessible and affordable conference with a good selection of presenters. The science gateway workshop on the 8th was also highly valuable as we’re right in the middle of a Gateway project.”

–Peter G.
Research Computing System Admin

Business Process Management in Higher Education
Business Process Management (BPM) is transforming higher education by enhancing efficiency, reducing redundancies, and aligning institutional operations with strategic goals. This session led by Stephanie Thomas, Business Process Architect, Edge, explored how BPM can streamline workflows across the higher education enterprise while supporting cost savings and operational agility. Attendees learned how BPM empowers institutions to adapt to evolving challenges, such as technological advancements and regulatory requirements, while maintaining a strategic focus. Thomas also shared insights into leveraging BPM for improved outcomes and sustainable institutional success in a rapidly changing landscape.

Building Scalable Mentorship Programs for Lifelong Success
Effective mentorship programs are essential to career access and can significantly impact key institutional outcomes such as retention, graduation rates, and alumni engagement. In this breakout session, presenters Ashley Scales, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Nicole Stewart, SVP, Campus Partnerships, PeopleGrove, shared how higher education institutions can build scalable mentorship programs that drive both immediate and long-term success. The presentation broke down strategies for matching mentors and mentees using PeopleGrove’s AI-powered technology, which streamlines the mentorship process by intelligently connecting individuals based on a variety of criteria, including industry, identity, academic background, personal interests, and career aspirations.

By leveraging these multi-dimensional similarity points, PeopleGrove’s platform ensures more meaningful and relevant mentorship experiences, fostering deeper relationships that drive student and alumni satisfaction. By exploring case studies and best practices from peer universities, attendees learned how to maximize engagement, enhance student outcomes, and foster long-lasting relationships that benefit both students and alumni throughout their careers.

Navigating AI in Cyber Security and Network Operations
John Bruggeman, CISO, CBTS; Kirk Rooney, Solutions Architect, CBTS; and Chris Treib, CIO, Geneva College, explored the evolving role of AI in cybersecurity and network operations in this insightful breakout session. Navigating AI in Cyber Security and Network Operations delved into the risks and rewards of deploying AI in security frameworks and how AI-driven operations are enhancing network efficiency and end-user experiences. Chris Treib of Geneva College also shared his journey implementing AI Operations in a real-world educational setting, providing students with valuable hands-on experience and future-ready skill sets.

”Learned so much and left feeling very inspired! Thanks for the great experience!”

–Casey K.
Associate Director

Modern Technology Solutions
In The Digital and Data-Driven Center for Teaching and Learning, John Baldino, OFS, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Lackawanna College, explored best practices for using communication technology, digital content and marketing platforms, AI, and collected data to create a sustainable Center for Teaching and Learning model. This model will empower CTLs to support faculty in their academic success.

Joining EdgeCon from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Satasha Green-Stephen, Senior Vice Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, and Jacquelyn Bailey, Vice Chancellor of Information Technology & CIO, led the breakout session, NextGen: The Role of Technology in Achieving Equity. This presentation explored how the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, the fourth largest system in the nation, will deploy a commercial modern technology solution systemwide in response to obsolete technology in its legacy system.

With a desire to have a more robust and relevant technology ecosystem supporting student success and to provide equitable access to data and data democratization, presenters discussed Minnesota State’s NextGen Project mission to link all of its 26 Colleges, 7 Universities and 54 campuses through a unified administrative technology system. The goal is to improve the student experience and streamline enterprise-wide business processes in the student support and services divisions.

Improving Performance and Security Monitoring
Princeton University’s Director of Enterprise Monitoring Services, Joseph Karam, outlined a model for providing comprehensive monitoring services that enhanced performance, availability, reliability, and security across the University’s IT services. By partnering with various departments, he shared how the team gained visibility into the entire campus infrastructure and identified impacts and opportunities for improvement. The model integrated monitoring practices into project, incident, and change management processes, which enabled availability reporting for cloud services to ensure SLAs were met, and provided root cause analysis for incidents and performance reporting for services before and after major changes. Karam shared how this holistic approach aims to continually improve the University’s IT services and support strategic decision-making.

Upskilling and Reskilling in the Age of AI
In an era where advanced technology is rapidly transforming industries, the key to maintaining a competitive edge lies not only in adopting AI technologies but also in embracing a mindset focused on continuous learning and adaptability. This workshop led by Michael Edmondson, Associate Provost, New Jersey Institute of Technology, introduced the AI Upskilling Taxonomy that emphasizes the importance of reskilling the workforce with a focus on essential skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and resilience, in addition to just technical expertise. Organizations are increasingly recognizing the need to shift from mere AI adoption to fostering a growth mindset that encourages personal and professional development.

Edmondson shared that the true value lies in developing the capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn in a constantly evolving technological landscape. He explained that individuals and organizations that prioritize lifelong learning and proactive upskilling can navigate the uncertainties of AI integration more effectively. This holistic approach empowers employees to not only keep up with technological advancements but also to use AI as a tool to augment their own capabilities. As a result, fostering a culture of continuous improvement will be crucial in preparing New Jersey’s workforce for the future.

We’ve Got People Talking!

Leveraging Data Visualization
Kean University’s Neva Lozada, Associate Vice President of Administration, and Michael Salvatore, Senior Vice President of Administration, explored the pivotal role of data visualization for driving institutional effectiveness in Leveraging Data Visualization for Institutional Effectiveness. In today’s data-driven world, higher education institutions face the challenge of harnessing the power of data to enhance their effectiveness. This session shared an inside look at the inception of the Division of Strategic Analytics and Data Illumination, and how it empowered the Kean community to access, analyze, and utilize data to support decision-making and foster innovation. Through historical and real-time student data, attendees gained the highlights of how Kean is utilizing data visualization in transforming datasets into actionable insights and fostering the data-driven culture across the institution.

Powering Intelligent Solutions for Higher Education
In AI and Machine Learning: Powering Intelligent Solutions for Higher Education, attendees learned about a recent study conducted by Workday, which examines the state of AI in the enterprise, including the benefits, challenges, and opportunities perceived by business & educational leaders. The session explored how AI and ML can support the automation of talent acquisition, streamline employee onboarding, and facilitate data-driven workforce planning. Participants also discovered how AI-powered analytics provide valuable insights empowering campus leaders to make informed decisions and drive institutional growth, while helping transform institutional functions and unlocking new insights about faculty, staff, and students.

In another afternoon session, AI-Driven Solutions for Enhancing Technology Operations and Resource Utilization in Academic Institutions, Mahmudul Siddiquee, Enterprise Application Architect, Rowan University, presented innovative AI-driven solutions designed to enhance technology operations and optimize resource utilization in academic institutions. During this presentation, Siddiquee focused on two conceptual solutions. Solution One is tailored for academic institution users, including students, faculty, and administrative staff, to overcome decision-making difficulties and resource constraints by utilizing existing technology. It features requirement analysis, a recommendation system for optimal technology platforms, resource optimization, system comparisons, user training, and advanced research tools.

Solution Two is designed to assist technical teams in developing custom solutions, creating architecture designs, and considering additional aspects based on customer requirements. This aims to aid project management teams in gaining diverse perspectives and innovative ideas. Siddiquee shared that by implementing these AI-driven solutions, academic institutions can significantly enhance their operational efficiency and resource utilization, ultimately leading to a better educational experience for all stakeholders.

Zero Trust Architecture
In today’s world of remote work, cloud computing, and relentless cyber threats, traditional security models are no longer enough. Dr. Dawn Dunkerley, Principal Virtual Chief Information Security Officer, Edge, led the panel discussion, The Role of Zero Trust Architecture in Modern Technology & Security Strategy, to talk about Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) and explore its core principles and actionable strategies to transform an organization’s security posture. By adopting a “never trust, always verify” mindset, institutions can rethink their security strategy and better embrace the future. Dunkerley explained that whether institutions are just starting their Zero Trust journey, looking to refine their strategy, or want to understand this modern architecture, Edge can help them build a more resilient and secure organization.

Breaking the Rules of Possibility with AI
In When Zero Divides: Breaking the Rules of Possibility with AI, Viktoria Popova, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Analytics, and Planning, CAIO, Centenary University, examined how generative AI can address critical points in an academic network. By leveraging AI’s ability to operate across multiple conceptual frameworks, the session demonstrated how seemingly impossible problems can be transformed into navigable solutions. Using real university case studies—from student program migration patterns to course network topology—the discussion highlighted how quantum-inspired thinking and AI-human collaboration can reshape approaches to complex academic structures.

Bridging Safety Innovation and Education
PruTech Solutions and Rutgers University co-hosted the session, Bridging Safety Innovation and Education: A Collaborative AI-Driven Approach, to share with attendees

the development and implementation of Intellisafety, an AI-driven safety management application. Presenters Karl Erber, CTO, PruTech Solutions, Inc.; John Makdis, Rutgers University Student Contributor, MBS Program; Christopher Di Paolo, Rutgers University Contributor MBS Program; and Will Brown, CAO, PruTech Solutions, Inc., shared how PruTech partnered with Rutgers’ MBS Externship Exchange Program to conduct research, marketing, and product testing in K-12 and higher education settings.

Rutgers students also shared their insights from spring and fall semester projects, including competitive analysis, market outreach, and solution enhancement. Attendees gained a closer look at this collaboration and how it exemplifies ways academia and industry can work together to create innovative, scalable safety solutions for educational institutions.

“The panels were fascinating, the company was pleasant, and the atmosphere was both comforting and promoted deep thought. Overall it was a fantastic experience and I am looking forward to future events”

–Ethan A.
Senior Institutional Research Analyst

Bringing together some of the brightest minds in education, EdgeCon offers a unique opportunity for participants to learn key insights and engage in dynamic conversations about the evolving landscape of higher education. The event provided a platform for the community to collaborate, explore new ideas, and identify strategies that promote collective progress and can support the growth of institutions nationwide. “I wanted to commend the Edge team for an excellent conference this week,” shared Leonard De Botton, Senior Vice President and CIO, Berkeley College. “Everything felt incredibly well-organized and smoothly executed. Given the current constraints of limited travel budgets and resources, conferences like this are more valuable than ever. Edge has successfully delivered a day packed with the very best of an Educause-like experience at a nominal cost—truly an impressive feat. Thanks again for a great opportunity!”

“The sessions were engaging, in particular the presentation from MN State Universities System on their Workday implementation. Thanks to Edge for bringing together this event, and also for providing space for the CIO Affinity Group to meet on Wednesday afternoon.”

–Jeff B.
CIO

Celebrating Achievements and Contributions
In recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions of higher education institutions throughout the region, Edge honored several stand outs at this year’s event.

The CIO Community Leadership Award was presented to Scott Huston, Chief Information Officer at Stockton University, in recognition of his key leadership role in the growing Edge CIO Affinity Group. Technological advancement and collaboration within the CIO ranks have always been central to Edge’s mission, and this focus has become even more critical as IT plays an increasingly vital role in advancing the goals of higher education. Edge is proud to provide a platform for CIOs to collaborate and is honored to highlight Scott Huston’s exceptional contributions through this award.

Edge was proud to present the Regional Network Partnership Award to Bucknell University, the first institution to join the Edge network beyond New Jersey. This award recognizes Bucknell’s vision and commitment to fostering connectivity and strategic partnerships. As a core foundational element of Edge, the network plays a pivotal role in bringing institutions together, and Bucknell has exemplified what is possible when collaboration is prioritized. This milestone highlights the university’s forward-thinking approach and dedication to progress within the higher education community.

The Community Comeback Award was presented to Drew University in recognition of its significant contributions and progress within the Edge network. Drew University reaffirmed its commitment to collaboration and excellence by rejoining the network, highlighting the value of community and the strength of a shared vision. Their return demonstrates exceptional leadership and a dedication to enhancing innovation and performance through partnership. We are pleased to welcome Drew University back to the Edge network and present this award to Chief Information Officer, Bob Clougherty, who accepted on behalf of the institution.

The Procurement and Partnership Award was presented to Geneva College in recognition of their exceptional collaboration and engagement with the full potential of cooperative procurement. Rather than viewing procurement solely as a legal function, Geneva College has embraced it as a strategic tool for achieving shared goals. As a private institution outside of New Jersey, Geneva has forged a new pathway to partnership by actively participating in the EdgeMarket co-op and the broader Edge community. Their commitment to leveraging collective resources and expertise highlights their dedication to innovation and community building. We are honored to celebrate Geneva College’s forward-thinking approach to enhancing service and value for their institution.

Sharon Blanton, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at The College of New Jersey, was recognized with the Community Leadership Award for her exceptional leadership and contributions to the Edge community. A dynamic leader in technology and operations at her home institution, Sharon has also been a key advisor and collaborator within the Edge consortium. As a longtime board member, she has played a crucial role in shaping the vision of the organization to better serve its members. Highly respected by her peers in the CIO community, Sharon was instrumental in relaunching the Edge CIO affinity group at last year’s Spring conference.

The Cyber Vanguard Award recognizes individuals who lead the charge in safeguarding the future of education through resilience, foresight, and dedication. This year, we are honored to present the award to Brad Morton of Passaic County Community College. Under Brad’s leadership, Passaic County has set a high standard for the higher education sector by implementing proactive security measures, promoting a culture of cyber awareness, and ensuring the protection of the learning environment for students, faculty, and staff alike. Brad’s work truly embodies the spirit of this award.

CIO Community Leadership Award
Scott Huston
Stockton University

Regional Network Partnership Award
Bucknell University

Community Comeback Award
Drew University

Cyber Vanguard Award
Brad Morton
Passaic County Community College

Community Leadership Award
Sharon Blanton
The College of New Jersey

Procurement and Partnership Award
Geneva College

Breakout Sessions 9:40-10:20 — Breakout Session 1 Transforming Communication: The Zoom Phone Project at Stevens Institute of Technology

Jadwin Hall, A07

Join us for an insightful session on the successful implementation of the Zoom Phone project at Stevens Institute of Technology. This initiative aimed to modernize the campus communication infrastructure by transitioning from traditional phone systems to the innovative Zoom Phone service. The project involved meticulous planning, procurement, and deployment phases, ensuring a seamless transition for all departments.

We will delve into the change management strategies employed to facilitate this significant shift, including comprehensive user training, stakeholder engagement, and continuous support. The project management efforts were pivotal in coordinating the migration of facilities phones, decommissioning outdated systems, and ensuring compliance with new regulations such as the Ray Baum Act and Kari’s Law.

Discover how the collaborative efforts of the IT team with institutional stakeholders led to the project’s success. We will share key insights, challenges faced, and the remarkable outcomes achieved, including enhanced remote work capabilities, improved emergency calling services, and significant cost savings.

This session will provide valuable lessons for institutions looking to upgrade their communication systems and navigate the complexities of large-scale IT projects.

Presenters:

Maryam Mirza, Senior Director for IT, Client Experience and Strategic Initiatives, Stevens Institute of Technology Hammad Ali, Senior Director of Infrastructure Services, Stevens Institute of Technology Luis Quispe, Associate Director of Networking and Telecom Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology Phase Shift in HigherEd Computing: Navigating the Liminal Space Between Past and Future

Jadwin Hall, A08

Higher education technology is undergoing a pivotal phase shift, navigating the liminal space between the past and the future. Institutions face a stark choice: retreat into the stability of legacy systems or embrace the transformative potential of emerging technologies. This presentation explores the dichotomy between these paradigms, contrasting the structured, productivity-focused past—characterized by databases, deterministic algorithms, and tools like the Microsoft Office Suite—with the unstructured, human-centered future, defined by AI, cloud computing, Python, and automation.

Grounded in Per Bak’s theory of self-organized criticality and Pierre Lévy’s phases of human development, the discussion highlights how small technological shifts can catalyze systemic transformation. It emphasizes the transition from structured data to unstructured intelligence, from repetition to adaptive machine learning, and from quantity-driven productivity to quality-focused collaboration between humans and AI.

The session challenges institutions to confront the “no middle” reality: clinging to legacy systems limits innovation, while adopting future-focused technologies enables resilience, adaptability, and intelligence augmentation. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the critical decisions shaping HigherEd computing and strategies to position their campuses as leaders in this transformative era.

Presenter:

Robert Clougherty, CIO, Drew University Data-Assisted Advising: Delivering Digital Products for Advancing Postsecondary Student Success

Jadwin Hall, A09

Across the US, students are taking more time to finish their degree programs, or are dropping out before completion, leading to low graduation rates and long-term financial burdens. Advisors are key to ensuring individual student belonging and increasing student success outcomes, but with caseloads of 350 students or more, they can miss out on important information about their students. Getting the right analytics into advisors’ hands allows them to reach students who may be facing obstacles in completing their degree as soon as needs for support emerge.

In this session, DataKind will share their approach to working with institutions across the country to tackle this problem by leveraging machine learning and AI to identify which students are most in need of support and why. DataKind is building a nationwide cohort of institutions leveraging this data-assisted advising product through a philanthropy funded engagement with support from Google.org. By using predictive models trained on an institution’s unique data, the institutions that DataKind works with are able to equip advising staff with the analytics they need to provide students with the correct resources and level of support to enable student success in degree completion and beyond. 

The presentation will cover lessons learned in both predictive model development and implementation in the field, best practices for preparing your institution’s data for engagement, how DataKind approaches product scaling, and ways for institutions to get involved in this work.

Presenter:

Dr. John Harnisher, Head of Education Initiatives, DataKind AI, Education, and Industry: Bridging the Gap for the Future & Current Workforce

Jadwin Hall, A10

Whether you use AI regularly or are just starting to learn about it, AI is not going anywhere. As artificial intelligence continues to revolutionize various sectors, its impact on education and industry becomes increasingly significant. This panel discussion aims to explore the intersection of AI, education, and industry, focusing on what industry wants, what students are learning formally and on their own, and what the implications for future careers—and the respective training needed for them—are. We will delve into how Career and Technical Education (CTE), creative industries, and academia are adapting to these technological changes and preparing learners for the evolving workforce.  

Panelists include 1st Street Partnerships Co-Founder and AI strategist Monk Inyang; the tech visionary, speaker, and author Rachael Mann; and a current New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) student or graduate. We will entertain questions after asking our panelists how they see AI being used in formal and informal educational settings at various levels, which tools they think are most useful for different populations, and what skills they think are necessary to flourish in this rapidly changing economy and workforce. What do these trends and considerations all mean for you whether you’re a student, a working professional, or an educator? A team member from the Learning and Development Initiative at NJIT/New Jersey Innovation Institute will moderate and facilitate audience questions and discussion. 

Participants:

Stefanie Toye, Project Manager, The Learning & Development Initiative, New Jersey Institute of Technology Rachael Mann, Keynote Speaker | TEDx Speaker | AI in CTE Strategist | Author of Pack Your Bags for an AI-Driven-Future, The Martians in Your Classroom, The CTSO Competition Companion | 2022 Top 30 Global Gurus Monk Inyang, Co-Founder, 1st Street Partnerships Business Process Management in Higher Education

McDonnell Hall, A01

Business Process Management (BPM) is transforming higher education by enhancing efficiency, reducing redundancies, and aligning institutional operations with strategic goals. This session will explore how BPM streamlines workflows across the higher education enterprise while supporting cost savings and operational agility. Learn how BPM empowers institutions to adapt to evolving challenges, such as technological advancements and regulatory requirements, while maintaining a strategic focus. Attendees will gain insights into leveraging BPM for improved outcomes and sustainable institutional success in a rapidly changing landscape.

Presenter:

Stephanie Thomas, Business Process Architect, Edge 10:30-11:10 — Breakout Session 2 Building Scalable Mentorship Programs for Lifelong Success: Driving Retention, Graduation Rates, and Alumni Engagement

Jadwin Hall, A07

Effective mentorship programs are essential to career access and can significantly impact key institutional outcomes such as retention, graduation rates, and alumni engagement. In this session, we will explore how higher education institutions can build scalable mentorship programs that drive both immediate and long-term success. 

The presentation will dive into strategies for matching mentors and mentees using PeopleGrove’s AI-powered technology, which streamlines the mentorship process by intelligently connecting individuals based on a variety of criteria, including industry, identity, academic background, personal interests, and career aspirations. By leveraging these multi-dimensional similarity points, PeopleGrove’s platform ensures more meaningful and relevant mentorship experiences, fostering deeper relationships that drive student and alumni satisfaction.

Furthermore, PeopleGrove offers robust data collection and analysis tools that provide institutions with real-time insights into mentorship effectiveness. These data-driven reports track key metrics such as student engagement in mentorship activities, retention rates, and career progression, offering a clear view of first-destination outcomes. Institutions can also measure the long-term impact of mentorship on alumni engagement and giving, making it easier to demonstrate a return on investment to leadership and stakeholders. By offering this comprehensive visibility, PeopleGrove empowers institutions to continuously optimize their mentorship programs, ensuring that they not only meet student needs but also align with institutional goals such as increasing alumni giving and building a lifelong culture of philanthropy.

In this session, attendees will gain actionable insights on how to build mentorship programs that are scalable, data-driven, and impactful. By exploring case studies and best practices from peer universities, attendees will learn how to maximize engagement, enhance student outcomes, and foster long-lasting relationships that benefit both students and alumni throughout their careers.

Presenters:

Ashley Scales, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement, Stevens Institute of Technology Nicole Stewart, SVP, Campus Partnerships, PeopleGrove Navigating AI in Cyber Security and Network Operations

Jadwin Hall, A08

Join John Bruggeman, Consulting CISO, for an insightful session exploring the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence in cybersecurity and network operations. Delve into the risks and rewards of deploying AI in security frameworks and discover how AI-driven operations are enhancing network efficiency and end-user experiences. Additionally, hear from Chris Treib of Geneva College as he shares his journey implementing AI Operations in a real-world educational setting, providing students with valuable hands-on experience and future-ready skillsets. This session is a must for anyone looking to understand the transformative impact of AI on the cybersecurity landscape.

Presenters:

John Bruggeman, CISO, CBTS Kirk Rooney, Solutions Architect, CBTS Chris Treib, CIO, Geneva College The Digital and Data-Driven Center for Teaching and Learning

Jadwin Hall, A09

This session will explore best practices for using communication technology, digital content and marketing platforms, artificial intelligence, and collected data to create a sustainable Center for Teaching and Learning model. The model will empower CTLs to support faculty in their academic success. 

Presenter:

John Baldino, OFS, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Lackawanna College NextGen: The Role of Technology in Achieving Equity

Jadwin Hall, A10

This session will explore how Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, the fourth largest system in the nation, will deploy a commercial modern technology solution systemwide in response to obsolete technology in its legacy system; a desire to have a more robust and relevant technology ecosystem supporting student success; an increased importance of educational equity and student access; and a need to provide equitable access to data and data democratization.

Minnesota State’s NextGen Project will link all of its 26 Colleges, 7 Universities and 54 campuses through a unified administrative technology system that will improve the student experience and streamlines enterprise-wide business processes in the student support and services divisions. 

Presenters:

Satasha Green-Stephen , Senior Vice Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Jacquelyn Bailey, Vice Chancellor of Information Technology & CIO, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities 1:40-2:20 — Breakout Session 3 Processes, Partnerships, and Services to Improve Performance and Security Monitoring

Jadwin Hall, A07

This session will outline a model to provide performance, availability, reliability and security monitoring services for services around the University to improve IT services.  We partner with many departments to have visibility across the University to find impacts and improvements across services.  We also embed monitoring practices and procedures in project, incident and change management to provide:

Availability reporting for cloud services to ensure SLAs are being met Root cause analysis for incidents Performance reporting for services before and after major changes

Presenter:

Joseph Karam, Director, Enterprise Monitoring Services, Princeton University Upskilling and Reskilling in the Age of AI

Jadwin Hall, A08

In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming industries, the key to maintaining a competitive edge lies not only in adopting AI technologies but also in embracing a mindset focused on continuous learning and adaptability. This workshop introduces the AI Upskilling Taxonomy that emphasizes the importance of reskilling the workforce with a focus on essential skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and resilience, in addition to just technical expertise. Organizations are increasingly recognizing the need to shift from mere AI adoption to fostering a growth mindset that encourages personal and professional development. The true value lies in developing the capacity to learn, unlearn, and relearn in a constantly evolving technological landscape. Individuals and organizations that prioritize lifelong learning and proactive upskilling can navigate the uncertainties of AI integration more effectively. This holistic approach empowers employees to not only keep up with technological advancements but also to use AI as a tool to augment their own capabilities. As a result, fostering a culture of continuous improvement will be crucial in preparing New Jersey’s workforce for the future.   

Presenter:

Michael Edmondson, Associate Provost, New Jersey Institute of Technology Leveraging Data Visualization for Institutional Effectiveness

Jadwin Hall, A09

In today’s data-driven world, higher education institutions face the challenge of harnessing the power of data to enhance their effectiveness. Through the inception of the Division of Strategic Analytics and Data Illumination, Kean University has empowered its community to access, analyze, and utilize data to support decision-making and foster innovation. This presentation explores the pivotal role of data visualization for driving institutional effectiveness, offering insight into how visual representation of data can drive informed and streamline decision-making. Through our historical and real-time student data, attendees will gain the highlights of how Kean is utilizing data visualization in transforming datasets into actionable insights and fostering the data-driven culture across the institution. By leveraging data visualization strategies, institutions can make more informed decisions, gain deeper insights, and achieve their goals with greater efficiency and impact.    

Presenters:

Neva Lozada, Associate Vice President of Administration, Kean University Michael Salvatore, Senior Vice President of Administration, Kean University AI and Machine Learning: Powering Intelligent Solutions for Higher Education

Jadwin Hall, A10

This session will delve into the latest study conducted by Workday, which examines the state of AI in the enterprise, including the benefits, challenges, and opportunities perceived by business & educational leaders. The study reveals that 93% of organizational leaders emphasize the importance of human involvement in AI decision-making processes. While 80% agree that AI and ML improve employee efficiency and decision-making, concerns persist regarding the reliability of underlying data (77%) and ethical application (29%). 

Objectives: 

The session will explore how AI and ML can support the automation of talent acquisition, streamline employee onboarding, and facilitate data-driven workforce planning. Participants will discover how AI-powered analytics provide valuable insights empowering campus leaders to make informed decisions and drive institutional growth. 

Join us to discover how AI and ML are transforming institutional functions and explore the immense potential these technologies hold for institutions striving to enhance productivity, drive innovation, and unlock new insights on their faculty, staff and students. Gain valuable insights, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and explore the future of intelligent higher-ed  solutions.

Presenter:

2:30-3:10 — Breakout Session 4 AI-Driven Solutions for Enhancing Technology Operations and Resource Utilization in Academic Institutions

Jadwin Hall, A07

This session aims to present innovative AI-driven solutions designed to enhance technology operations and optimize resource utilization in academic institutions. The focus will be on two conceptual solutions. 

Solution One is tailored for academic institution users, including students, faculty, and administrative staff, to overcome decision-making difficulties and resource constraints by utilizing existing technology. It features requirement analysis, a recommendation system for optimal technology platforms, resource optimization, system comparisons, user training, and advanced research tools. The benefits include cost savings, improved efficiency, better decision-making, increased research productivity, enhanced collaboration, and time savings. 

Solution Two, on the other hand, is designed to assist technical teams in developing custom solutions, creating architecture designs, and considering additional aspects based on customer requirements. This will aid project management teams in gaining diverse perspectives and innovative ideas. 

By implementing these AI-driven solutions, academic institutions can significantly enhance their operational efficiency and resource utilization, ultimately leading to a better educational experience for all stakeholders. 

Presenter:

Mahmudul Siddiquee, Enterprise Application Architect, Rowan University The Role of Zero Trust Architecture in Modern Technology & Security Strategy

Jadwin Hall, A08

In today’s world of remote work, cloud computing, and relentless cyber threats, traditional security models are no longer enough. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is the modern approach to securing your organization by adopting a “never trust, always verify” mindset.

Join us for this panel discussion where we’ll demystify Zero Trust, explore its core principles, and provide actionable strategies to transform your security posture. 

Whether you’re just starting your Zero Trust journey, looking to refine your strategy, or want to understand this modern architecture, this session is designed to help you build a more resilient and secure organization.

Don’t miss this opportunity to rethink your security and embrace the future!

Presenter:

Dr. Dawn Dunkerley, Principal Virtual Chief Information Security Officer, Edge When Zero Divides: Breaking the Rules of Possibility with AI

Jadwin Hall, A09

What happens at the edge of impossible? In physics, the “impossible” division by zero becomes meaningful at singularities. Similarly, critical points in academic networks—program transition bottlenecks and course centrality nodes—represent organizational singularities where traditional analysis breaks down. This session explores how generative AI’s unique ability to operate across multiple conceptual frameworks can transform these seemingly impossible problems into navigable solutions. Through real university cases—from student program migration patterns to course network topology—we’ll demonstrate how quantum-inspired thinking and AI-human collaboration can fundamentally reshape our approach to complex academic structures. 

Presenter:

Viktoria Popova, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Analytics, and Planning, CAIO, Centenary University  Bridging Safety Innovation and Education: A Collaborative AI-Driven Approach

Jadwin Hall, A10

Join PruTech Solutions and Rutgers University for a session highlighting the development and implementation of Intellisafety, an AI-driven safety management application. Learn how PruTech partnered with Rutgers’ MBS Externship Exchange Program to conduct research, marketing, and product testing in K-12 and higher education settings. Rutgers students will share their insights from spring and fall semester projects, including competitive analysis, market outreach, and solution enhancement. Discover how this innovative collaboration bridges academia and industry to create impactful, scalable safety solutions for educational institutions.

Presenters:

Karl Erber, CTO, PruTech Solutions, Inc. John Makdis, Rutgers University Student Contributor, MBS Program Christopher Di Paolo, Rutgers University Contributor MBS Program Will Brown, CAO, PruTech Solutions, Inc. VIP Sponsors Exhibitor Sponsors

The post EdgeCon Winter 2025 appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


OpenID

Shared Signal WG returns to Gartner IAM for interoperability

Call for participants: Demonstrate your SSF and CAEP implementations at the Gartner IAM Summit in London this March. The OpenID Foundation is excited to announce its return to the Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Summit in London, March 24th-25th 2025, to host another interoperability session. This marks the third time the OpenID Foundation has […] The post Shared Signal WG returns t
Call for participants: Demonstrate your SSF and CAEP implementations at the Gartner IAM Summit in London this March.

The OpenID Foundation is excited to announce its return to the Gartner Identity and Access Management (IAM) Summit in London, March 24th-25th 2025, to host another interoperability session. This marks the third time the OpenID Foundation has been invited to this influential gathering of industry leaders to showcase the evolution and adoption of interoperable solutions within the identity ecosystem. 

Having hosted interoperability sessions at two previous Gartner IAM Summits (in London and Texas), this year’s presence promises to push boundaries once again. 

The sessions will be led by Atul Tulshibagwale, Corporate Board Member of the OpenID Foundation and CTO of SGNL, who will also be presenting a talk on Building a Trust Fabric with the OpenID Shared Signals Framework on Monday, 24th March at 11:45am until 12:15pm (GMT). 

He noted, “Interoperability is the cornerstone of secure, scalable, and user-centric identity solutions. These interoperability sessions play a valuable role not only to validate the technical capabilities of implementations, but also to foster vital collaboration among innovators in this space.”

Invitation to Participate

OpenID Foundation’s Shared Signals Working Group (SSWG) is once again inviting participation from implementers. As always, the OpenID Foundation welcomes those who have previously participated and demonstrated interoperability, but new entrants are also being sought. These are organizations with newer implementations seeking to showcase their solutions and achieve interoperability certification for the first time.

To accommodate this diversity, the SSWG has designed rules to encourage participation from newcomers while continuing to highlight the strengths of more established solutions. These include:

Conformance Tests: All participants must pass the OpenID Foundation’s conformance tests, which assess key features such as transmitter configuration metadata discovery, stream operations (read, create, update, delete), push delivery, and trigger verification.  Transmitters and Receivers must support the SSF verification event-type and at least one additional event type, such as CAEP session revocation, CAEP credentials change, or CAEP risk level change Interoperability Tests: Conformant implementations must successfully test with at least one other conformant implementation to achieve ‘interoperable’ status. This involves mutual certification of successful pairwise testing.

Interoperable implementations will also be categorized as follows:

Available now – publicly documented, currently available solutions. Available soon – publicly documented solutions with near-term availability. In development – solutions not yet publicly documented or available.

There will be 15 demonstration slots, divided into three sessions of five slots each. These will be given to implementations based on their maturity, availability, and membership of the OpenID Foundation. 

Additional incentive to participate 

The OpenID Foundation will award five free registration passes for the Gartner IAM Summit to representatives of member organisations, giving them ‘speaker’ status. These will be awarded to OpenID Foundation members with new implementations and those demonstrating significant interoperability success. 

Other attendees can purchase full conference passes to participate in the event.

To learn more about the event or to register your implementation for testing, please contact Atul Tulshibagwale. The full rules can be found here: Program Rules – London 2025 CAEP Interop at Gartner IAM Summit (1).

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.   

The post Shared Signal WG returns to Gartner IAM for interoperability first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


Digital Identity NZ

Welcome to DINZ 2025!

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa, warm greetings to you. I do hope you’ve had some R&R over the holiday break. However long it was, it’s never long enough! DINZ has powered into the New Year early with its traditional Summer Series, which started last week to take advantage of global standards expert and my … Continue reading "Welcome to DINZ 2025!" The post Welcome to DINZ 2025! appeared first

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa, warm greetings to you.


I do hope you’ve had some R&R over the holiday break. However long it was, it’s never long enough!

DINZ has powered into the New Year early with its traditional Summer Series, which started last week to take advantage of global standards expert and my longtime friend Andrew Hughes being in the country for ISO SC37 (Biometrics) meetings. Despite holidays we had a fantastic turnout for ‘Deepfakes & ID verification: Your standards survival kit for the modern age’. View the video recording here.   


Next in the Summer Series is ‘Payments for the Next Generation’, led by DINZ member Payments NZ. This session aims to inform and seek feedback from the DINZ community on the digital identity component of its strategic paper currently out for consultation


The following months will see sessions led by other DINZ members relating to the Digital Identity Services Trust Framework and the digital trust ecosystem more broadly. Stay tuned for further announcements. Speaking of members, it’s great to welcome recent new members Cianaa Technologies and SecYour. Among other things Cianaa is in the business of evaluating service providers under the DISTF and SecYour is in the business of providing identity services. Just coincidental; no connection between them is implied! 


Don’t forget DINZ’s monthly virtual Coffee Chat series starts next week. Last year’s registrants were given priority and are re-registering. So don’t delay, register now.


The year-end brings a flurry of public sector announcements and this year was no exception. First up was the NZ Banking Association’s announcement of the launch of GetVerified – the name for the confirmation of payee service that banks will be progressively rolling out. I’ve selected this post to give you the contextual low-down. Then just before the break, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner announced the long expected Code of Practice for Biometrics. As you’ll see from our submission page, DINZ has consistently argued for detailed guidance first, with regulation for exceptions or repeated poor implementation, because regulation creates some negative effects with unintended consequences. Nonetheless, we are where we are and DINZ will help members however it can.   


On the international front NHI (Non Human Identity, once termed NPE ‘Non Person Entity’) is happily returning to ‘top of mind’ with this from OWASPRomek also covered this in his weekly email and my long-time fellow Identerati travellers Mike Schwartz and Heather Flanagan shared this very interesting post (note that with her IDPro hat on, Heather interviewed DINZ Exec Councillor Abhi Bandopadhyay). Again, I’ve chosen a link that I think provides more colour and flavour to the discussion. And with matters raised here very much in mind, take a look at this announcement from DINZ liaison member OWF as we progress towards the pointy end of digital wallet development (is it ‘a thing’ long term though?).


Last but not least, DINZ Chair 2022-2024 Paul Platen drew key statistics from this SC Media article. Very poignant, posing the question what Aotearoa’s equivalent numbers would be. Take a look at Paul’s post here.


I’m looking forward to the year ahead, with projects in DINZ Working Groups and Special Interest Groups, and sharing co-created papers on barriers to Fintech innovation and competition that we are undertaking in collaboration with relevant public and private sector bodies. With Minister Bayly’s oversight I think this will lead to positive change. All up, I really do think that 2025 can be the year we make Digital Trust real. 

Read the full news here: Welcome to DINZ 2025!

SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE

The post Welcome to DINZ 2025! appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

Monday, 27. January 2025

Digital Identity NZ

Digital Identity Services Trust Framework

Learn more about the Trust Framework for Digital Identity in New Zealand – building trust in digital identity services in New Zealand. Visit the Department of Internal Affairs website. The post Digital Identity Services Trust Framework appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

Learn more about the Trust Framework for Digital Identity in New Zealand – building trust in digital identity services in New Zealand.

Visit the Department of Internal Affairs website.

The post Digital Identity Services Trust Framework appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.


EdgeSecure

Accelerating Change with Business Process Management In Higher Education

The post Accelerating Change with Business Process Management In Higher Education appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Webinar
February 13, 2025
10:00 AM ET

Business Process Management (BPM) is transforming higher education by enhancing efficiency, reducing redundancies, and aligning institutional operations with strategic goals. This session will explore how BPM, combined with Organizational Change Management (OCM), streamlines workflows across the higher education enterprise while fostering cost savings, operational agility, and stakeholder engagement. Discover how BPM and OCM empower institutions to adapt to evolving challenges, such as technological advancements and regulatory requirements, while maintaining a strategic focus. Attendees will gain insights into leveraging BPM and OCM together for improved outcomes, smoother transitions, and sustainable institutional success in a rapidly changing landscape.

Register Now »

The post Accelerating Change with Business Process Management In Higher Education appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Friday, 24. January 2025

OpenID

Notice of Vote for Proposed FAPI 2.0 Security Profile and Attacker Model Final Specifications

The official voting period will be between Saturday, February 8, 2025 and Saturday, February 15, 2025 (12:00pm PT), once the 60 day review of the specifications has been completed. For the convenience of members who have completed their reviews by then, voting will actually begin on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The FAPI working group page: […] The post Notice of Vote for Proposed FAPI 2.0 Securit

The official voting period will be between Saturday, February 8, 2025 and Saturday, February 15, 2025 (12:00pm PT), once the 60 day review of the specifications has been completed. For the convenience of members who have completed their reviews by then, voting will actually begin on Saturday, February 1, 2025.

The FAPI working group page: https://openid.net/wg/fapi/. If you’re not already an OpenID Foundation 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/352.

Marie Jordan – OpenID Foundation Secretary

The post Notice of Vote for Proposed FAPI 2.0 Security Profile and Attacker Model Final Specifications first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


Hyperledger Foundation

Mentorship Spotlight - AI-FAQ Lab: GUI implementation and prototype deployment

Project: AI-FAQ Lab: GUI implementation and prototype deployment 

FIDO Alliance

PayPal Newsroom: Solving the Convenience and Security Equation

PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 25 years by creating innovative experiences that empower over 400 million consumers and merchants to move […]

PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 25 years by creating innovative experiences that empower over 400 million consumers and merchants to move money easily and securely.

Safety is a cornerstone of our global operations, and we are committed to protecting our users across the approximately 200 markets that we serve. In this piece, we detail the latest developments in authentication security and share recommendations for policymakers to enable increased safety in the digital economy.


Internet Safety Labs (Me2B)

One Bad Apple—Automatically Opting Users into AI Training

Last week Apple default-enabled all apps (native and 3rd party) to Siri “learning”. I thought I’d wrap up with a reflection on Apple’s action and whether the concern was warranted.   The initial reaction for most of us was, “Oh great. Yet another forced offering to the great AI gods. No thank you!” I and others […] The post One Bad Apple—Automatically Opting Users into AI Training appe

Last week Apple default-enabled all apps (native and 3rd party) to Siri “learning”. I thought I’d wrap up with a reflection on Apple’s action and whether the concern was warranted.  

The initial reaction for most of us was, “Oh great. Yet another forced offering to the great AI gods. No thank you!” I and others had a strong kneejerk reaction of “this is NOT ok.” Was the initial reaction warranted? Figure 1 shows my original LinkedIn posts below, which were updated real time as I continued to explore the situation.

Figure 1

When I took a closer look, Apple clearly tries to make Siri as “edge-y” as possible—i.e. executing independently on the device to the extent possible. But how safe is the architecture? What data exactly gets shared and with what parts of Apple’s infrastructure? This is the problem with all the large platforms: we just can’t observe server-to-server behaviors within the infrastructure.  

Here’s what I do know. Apple’s action was surprisingly presumptuous and disrespectful to their users. It was markedly off-brand for the privacy-evangelizing company, and their actions (or inactions, as the case may be) since the time this flared up are telling.   

After the dust has settled, I stand by my recommendation to disable Siri learning, and I’m less concerned about Siri suggestions. Here’s why. 

Apple did this in a sneaky way. Not at all on-brand for a privacy-touting company.   It’s at least the second time Apple behaved in this way in recent days. On January 3, 2025, The Register reported that Apple auto-opted everyone into AI analysis of their photos https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/03/apple_enhanced_visual_search/   You may have missed it, but on January 8, 2025 Apple issued a press release pretty much saying, “Siri’s super private—hooray!” This is most likely when the auto-opt in happened, though I have no supporting evidence. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/01/our-longstanding-privacy-commitment-with-siri/ Coincidence? Hard to think so. Also the language in the press release raises more questions than answers:

“Siri Uses On-Device Processing Where Possible” Great. We’d like to know more about that.  “…the audio of user requests is processed entirely on device using the Neural Engine, unless a user chooses to share it with Apple.” Like, if they toggle a setting for Siri Learning to “enabled”, for example? Like that kind of “choosing” to share it with Apple?   “Apple Minimizes the Amount of Data Collected for Siri Requests” Ok, but it’s not zero. Goes on to say, “certain features require real-time input from Apple servers.” Careful wording here. I’d like more info on the data that gets sent to the Apple servers, and how it’s used. The press release segues right into this: “a random identifier  – a long string of letters and numbers associated with a single device…is used to keep track of data while it’s being processed, rather than tying it to a  user’s identity through their Apple Account or phone number”. I find that phrasing curious. Note that it says, “associated with a single device” and NOT “associated with a single device for a single query”. Is the identifier long-lived? Is the identifier in fact some kind of internal Apple universal identifier for you—a join key assembling an ever-growing biographical log of you [like virtually everyone else in martech and edtech]? Any kind of permanent, unique identifier is risky and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I really hope I’m wrong on this.   “Private Cloud Compute” This sounds promising but we’re going to need some more info about this.   “…many of the models that power Apple Intelligence run entirely on device.” But apparently some don’t. Again, going to need more details here.  It was obnoxiously difficult to unwind this default opt-in. You couldn’t just go to Settings -> Apps, you also had to go to Settings -> Siri to get all the apps. Think about this. This is Apple, the company who (according to many) was the epitome of usable design. I think about Jony Ive and Steve Jobs—would they stand behind this kind of user interaction? Siri learning was enabled for Every. Single. App. Including native Passwords, Phone, Apple Home, and Health Data. I get that there are legitimate reasons why Siri learning should be connected for every app—e.g. people who must use voice as their primary mode of device interaction. I’m surprised, however, that they didn’t think it might be a tad risky to be auto-enabled for things like Passwords for everyone. It feels weirdly clumsy for a company not known for clumsiness. (Unless you’re building a training set for an LLM in which case it makes complete sense.)  NB: I still can’t find a way to disable it from Calendar. Disabling Siri learning and suggestions has done some weird things to non-voice interactions on my phone which makes me wonder just how interwoven Siri is within all modes of user interaction, beyond just voice interaction. Example: voice note recorder stopped showing text on the record button and it no longer supports “resume [recording]”; it now just ends the recording and I need to start a new one if I want to extend the recording with a new idea. I thought Siri was just supposed to be about voice interaction? Apparently not. (Note: upon re-enabling Siri Learning and Siri suggestions, the text under the button and the resume function re-appeared. Huh.) Apple Magazine’s (November 25, 2024) piece on the forthcoming Siri revamp reinforces the fact that the boundaries of what is and isn’t “Siri” are hazy indeed (Figure 2). The story affirms that the Siri update touches multimodal interaction capabilities.

Figure 2: Source https://applemagazine.com/siri-engine-revamp-what-apples-next/

One starts to wonder, what isn’t Siri when it comes to user interface and interaction? And also wondering where Siri begins and ends in terms of software execution and data access. This year is already touted as the year for agentic AI—what could be more agentic than AI-infused Siri?

For me, the biggest smoking gun is that late last year Apple announced that Siri will be powered by Apple’s LLM (https://superchargednews.com/2024/11/21/llm-siri-to-launch-by-spring-2026/ ). First off “powering Siri” with Apple’s LLM already sets off some alarm bells. The timing of this forced opting–in to Siri Learning seems quite aligned with the development timeline of an LLM said to be launching in late 2025/2026. “The new Siri will be powered by Apple’s advanced Large Language Models (LLM), which will make the digital assistant more conversational and ChatGPT-like.” I can’t really imagine a world where Apple wouldn’t train their LLM off their current customer base. Siri Architecture: Because I love architecture and because I can remember when Siri was a baby 3rd party app, I wanted to go back and take a brief look at its evolving architecture. As of 2017, the Siri architecture was a poster child of typical app client-server architecture and the reliance on the server is clear (Figure 2), with even the trigger words audio being sent to the server.

Figure 3: Source https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/hey-siri    

2017 is, of course, ancient times in developer years and Apple has been relatively transparent about how they’ve been rearchitecting Siri to [at least] keep the trigger word detection on the device (https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/voice-trigger).

The last thing I want to mention is that Apple has been preternaturally silent about this whole thing. I find that remarkably off-brand. Unless Siri and Apple AI are inextricably interwoven and this was actually a training set creation exercise, in which case, probably best to keep silent.

Is Apple training their LLM via the forced Siri Learning opt-in? Maybe. Will be good to hear from them on this. And while we’re at it, I’d love a new “revamped” Siri and Apple LLM architecture diagram/document, with greater transparency and detailed information on the functionality distribution and data sharing between the device and back-end servers and services. Please and thank you.  

The post One Bad Apple—Automatically Opting Users into AI Training appeared first on Internet Safety Labs.

Thursday, 23. January 2025

Hyperledger Foundation

New ENS Features in Hyperledger Web3j v4.12.3

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a cornerstone of the decentralized web, simplifying blockchain interactions by replacing complex Ethereum addresses with human-readable names. With the release of v4.12.3 of Hyperledger Web3j, an LF Decentralized Trust project, developers gain powerful new features to manage and interact with ENS, bringing significant improvements to identity managemen

The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a cornerstone of the decentralized web, simplifying blockchain interactions by replacing complex Ethereum addresses with human-readable names. With the release of v4.12.3 of Hyperledger Web3j, an LF Decentralized Trust project, developers gain powerful new features to manage and interact with ENS, bringing significant improvements to identity management and metadata handling in decentralized applications.


Oasis Open Projects

OASIS Launches Global Initiative to Standardize Cyber Threat Intelligence Sharing in Space

Boston, MA, USA, 23 January 2025 — As space operations become increasingly complex, the demand for effective threat intelligence sharing is more crucial than ever. In response to the growing cyber threats targeting critical space infrastructure, OASIS Open, the global open source and standards organization, announced the launch of the Space Automated Threat Intelligence Sharing […] The post OASI

Cyware, MITRE, Northrop Grumman, Space ISAC, U.S. CISA, U.S. NSA, and Others Collaborate to Advance Framework to Strengthen Cybersecurity Defense Across Space Operations

Boston, MA, USA, 23 January 2025 — As space operations become increasingly complex, the demand for effective threat intelligence sharing is more crucial than ever. In response to the growing cyber threats targeting critical space infrastructure, OASIS Open, the global open source and standards organization, announced the launch of the Space Automated Threat Intelligence Sharing (SATIS) Technical Committee (TC). The TC will address the unique threats to satellites, ground stations, and other space infrastructure by enhancing the ability to predict, prevent, and respond to cyber threats specific to space. 

“Securing space systems requires deliberate collaboration. The challenges and opportunities with space infrastructure and services are as complex and prolific as the technologies they’re built on. And threat actors have long taken notice,” said Cody Scott, senior industry analyst, Forrester Research; former chief cyber risk officer, NASA. “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to cyber-resilient space systems – but the key to building them begins with a threat-informed defense. Collaboration is essential for standardizing and advancing cybersecurity best practices in the space-domain and moving toward a resilient future.”

Backed by Carnegie Mellon University, Cyware, MITRE, the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), Northrop Grumman, Peraton, Space ISAC, University of Oslo, and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the SATIS TC will leverage existing frameworks like Structured Threat Information Expression (STIX) and Trusted Automated eXchange of Intelligence Information (TAXII) to protect space operations against evolving threats. The primary deliverable will be a STIX framework for space-specific cyber threat intelligence, with extensions to address non-cyber threats such as radio frequency interference. 

“The establishment of the SATIS TC is essential to enhancing the security of the space sector,” said Erin Miller, chair of the SATIS TC, Executive Director of Space ISAC. “By bringing together experts, we can develop a robust global standard for threat intelligence sharing that addresses the unique challenges faced by space operators.”

The TC’s focus is on machine-to-machine sharing of indicators of compromise and correlating threat indicators across the space attack surface, establishing effective communication models for information sharing within the space community, adopting a technology-agnostic approach to encapsulate threats across different vendors, and developing standardized formats for key components of space cyber threat intelligence. 

Sharing critical cyber threat information among trusted partners in the international space community is essential. The SATIS TC welcomes a diverse range of contributors, including space industry producers, communities of interest, regulators, and operators, specifically Space Operations Centers, Network Operations Centers, and Security Operations Centers. Participation is open to all through membership in OASIS, with interested parties encouraged to join and become part of this collective effort. Visit the SATIS TC homepage for more information. 

Additional Information: SATIS Project Charter 

Media Inquiries: communications@oasis-open.org

The post OASIS Launches Global Initiative to Standardize Cyber Threat Intelligence Sharing in Space appeared first on OASIS Open.


Velocity Network

Dr. Henry Mack joins Velocity’s board

We're delighted that National Student Clearinghouse's Chris Goodson has been voted onto the Velocity Network Foundation Board of Directors. The post Dr. Henry Mack joins Velocity’s board appeared first on Velocity.

Wednesday, 22. January 2025

EdgeSecure

InCommon and Edge: Strengthening Higher Education Collaboration Together

The post InCommon and Edge: Strengthening Higher Education Collaboration Together appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

Six New Jersey higher education institutions are taking important steps to enhance their identity and access management (IAM) readiness with a focus on enabling effective collaboration and resource sharing through Internet2’s InCommon Federation. Last month InCommon and NJEdge.Net, Inc. (Edge) officially kicked off their work with Brookdale Community College, Montclair State University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, Rider University, Rowan University, and Saint Peter’s University.

“We’re pleased to collaborate with Edge on this initiative. We’re helping to educate these six institutions about operating in the InCommon Federation, which will enhance their ability to collaborate and share/access services.”

— Jean Chorazyczewski
Director of InCommon Academy and Project Lead

NJEdge.Net, Inc. (Edge), a regional research and education network, is leading the Connectivity Through Regional Infrastructure for Scientific Partnerships, Innovation, and Education (CRISPIE) project (opens in a new window) in New Jersey. Funded by the NSF CC* grant, CRISPIE brings together six diverse higher education institutions to enhance connectivity, strengthen collaborations, and promote data-driven research and education.

The InCommon | Edge CRISPIE project seeks to enhance collaboration and improve IAM readiness for these higher education institutions, enabling them to actively participate in the InCommon Federation.The project includes workshops, self-paced learning, and collaborative activities to ensure institutions can efficiently share cyberinfrastructure (CI) resources and data through InCommon’s federated environment.

Supporting Small Institutions

Higher education institutions increasingly rely on advanced networks and cyberinfrastructure for teaching, learning, and research. Smaller institutions, however, do not always have the resources or expertise to develop advanced cyberinfrastructure and connectivity, even though access to these resources can be particularly beneficial to them. The CRISPIE project aims to make it easier for them to develop those capabilities.

“Our project will help CRISPIE participating institutions understand and leverage the InCommon Federation. They will learn how the federation works, its role in higher education and research, and its benefits within the consortium and for cross-institutional collaboration.”

— Albert Wu
InCommon Federation Manager

These institutions will also have the benefit of learning about technical resources and community-supported tools available to help them adopt federated access and identity. By leveraging the InCommon Federation and providing tailored support, this initiative empowers higher ed institutions to unlock new opportunities for research, collaboration, and innovation.

Next year the six institutions will participate in a solutions salon where InCommon Catalysts and other community members will offer their insights on implementing federated access. Further, the institutions will get exposure to real-life implementations and experiences from other institutions already participating in the federation.

Increasing IAM Readiness

As a key component of this broader initiative, Edge is working with InCommon Federation to address critical IAM needs. IAM readiness is a critical aspect of federation participation. As such, one of the project’s goals is to ensure that CRISPIE participating institutions gain a foundational understanding of IAM concepts.

“They will get insights into optimizing IAM infrastructures to ensure technical readiness,” Chorazyczewski explained. “Doing so helps facilitate their access to services and shared tools. IAM is essential for enabling secure access, collaboration, and resource sharing across institutions, especially for smaller colleges and universities.”

Forough Ghahramani, vice president for research, innovation, and sponsored programs at Edge, echoed these sentiments. “As the principal investigator for the NSF-funded CRISPIE project, I am proud of the collaborative spirit shown by our partner institutions as they enhance their identity, authorization, and access management (IAM) readiness and connectivity,” Ghahramani said. “This initiative provides participants with access to a resource-sharing environment, a regional data transfer node, and advanced network technologies with performance monitoring tools.”

“A key focus on workforce development ensures institutions are equipped to drive innovation and support the research community effectively. These efforts strengthen collaborations and facilitate seamless access to critical resources at regional and national levels. Through Edge’s commitment and the expertise of project partners like InCommon in delivering training, education, and strategic guidance, we advance our mission to democratize access to resources and foster research, education, and innovation across New Jersey’s higher education ecosystem.”

— Dr. Forough Ghahramani
Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Sponsored Programs
Edge

To this end, during their participation in the project, institutions will have access to InCommon Trusted Access Platform software training for COmanage, Grouper, midPoint, and Shibboleth as well as to InCommon BaseCAMP 2025, a unique, five-day, virtual event designed for those new to IAM and/or InCommon.

InCommon is thrilled to collaborate with NJ Edge on this initiative. Supporting smaller institutions and their ability to leverage technology, high-speed networks, and advanced CI to strengthen collaborations for data-driven research and education is a common goal we share.

About InCommon

InCommon empowers inter-organizational collaboration in research and higher education by providing tailored IAM solutions, specialized tools, and strategic guidance for the privacy, trust, and security needs of R&E. Our community driven approach ensures our offerings address real-world challenges, whether it’s sharing courses between universities, accessing collaborative research platforms, or streamlining authentication for multi-institutional projects. Join us in creating secure, connected spaces where innovation thrives beyond borders. Together, we’ll unlock the full potential of cross-institutional collaboration and drive progress that shapes our collective future.

About Edge

Edge serves as a member-owned, nonprofit provider of high performance optical fiber networking and internetworking, Internet2, and a vast array of best-in-class technology solutions for cybersecurity, educational technologies, cloud computing, and professional managed services. Edge provides these solutions to colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, government entities, hospital networks and nonprofit business entities as part of a membership-based consortium. Edge’s membership spans the northeast, along with a growing list of EdgeMarket participants nationwide. Edge’s common good mission ensures success by empowering members for digital transformation with affordable, reliable and thought-leading purpose-built, advanced connectivity, technologies and services.

The post InCommon and Edge: Strengthening Higher Education Collaboration Together appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


Next Level Supply Chain Podcast with GS1

Breaking Barriers: How DSCSA Transforms Healthcare Supply Chains

Traceability and supply chain integrity are more than just buzzwords—they’re the backbone of patient safety and industry innovation.  In this episode, host Reid Jackson welcomes Gary Lerner, Founder and CEO of Gateway Checker, to explore the transformative power of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA). They discuss how the shift from lot-level to item-level traceability is revolutio

Traceability and supply chain integrity are more than just buzzwords—they’re the backbone of patient safety and industry innovation. 

In this episode, host Reid Jackson welcomes Gary Lerner, Founder and CEO of Gateway Checker, to explore the transformative power of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA).

They discuss how the shift from lot-level to item-level traceability is revolutionizing healthcare, providing unprecedented safeguards against counterfeiting and channel diversion. From the mechanics of 2D barcodes to the role of AI in analyzing supply chain data, Gary shares practical insights from his 20+ years of experience navigating the intersection of digital and physical supply chains.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How DSCSA is transforming healthcare supply chains with item-level traceability

The critical role of 2D barcodes in ensuring authenticity and patient safety

Why data quality and interoperability are the next big steps for supply chain efficiency

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introducing Next Level Supply Chain

(02:18) From brand protection to healthcare supply chains

(03:37) Innovating item-level traceability in goods

(05:15) The importance of supply chain integrity in healthcare

(06:48) Breaking down the “license plate” of pharmaceuticals

(09:23) Understanding DSCSA and its impact on patient safety

(12:38) How bad actors exploit supply chain gaps

(13:49) Counterfeit prevention as part of national security

(16:10) Using interconnectivity to uncover supply chain risks

(19:16) Best practices for adapting to DSCSA regulations

(21:09) How serialization enables better inventory accuracy

(26:05) The future of supply chain integrity and AI innovation

 

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with Guest:

Gary Lerner on LinkedIn

Gateway Checker

Tuesday, 21. January 2025

OpenID

Notice of Vote for Proposed Second Implementer’s Draft of OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance Specification

The official voting period will be between Monday, February 3, 2025 and Monday, February 10, 2025 (12:00pm  PT), once the 45 day review of the specification has been completed. For the convenience of members who have completed their reviews by then, voting will actually begin on Monday, January 27, 2025. The Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working group […] The post Notice of

The official voting period will be between Monday, February 3, 2025 and Monday, February 10, 2025 (12:00pm  PT), once the 45 day review of the specification has been completed. For the convenience of members who have completed their reviews by then, voting will actually begin on Monday, January 27, 2025.

The Digital Credentials Protocols (DCP) working group page is  https://openid.net/wg/digital-credentials-protocols/. If you’re not already an OpenID Foundation 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/349.

Marie Jordan – OpenID Foundation Secretary

The post Notice of Vote for Proposed Second Implementer’s Draft of OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance Specification first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


FIDO Alliance

Analytics Insight: Revolutionizing Digital Security: The Rise of Passkeys

The Core of Passkey Technology Passkeys, a breakthrough in the realm of digital security, eliminate the vulnerabilities of password-based systems. Utilizing cryptographic key pairs, passkeys are designed to safeguard user […]

The Core of Passkey Technology

Passkeys, a breakthrough in the realm of digital security, eliminate the vulnerabilities of password-based systems. Utilizing cryptographic key pairs, passkeys are designed to safeguard user identities without relying on shared secrets. The system operates on a challenge-response mechanism: a private key stored securely on the user’s device interacts with a public key on the service provider’s server. This interaction ensures that sensitive credentials are never exposed, making passkeys inherently resistant to phishing attempts and credential theft.

This technology is underpinned by the FIDO2 standard, which comprises WebAuthn and the Client-to-Authenticator Protocol (CTAP). WebAuthn facilitates seamless integration of passkeys into web applications, while CTAP supports communication between devices and authenticators, ensuring flexibility and security. Together, these components offer a standardized and robust framework for passwordless authentication across various platforms.


TechRadar: Passwords out, passkeys in: The future of secure authentication

Since the inception of the internet, passwords have been the primary authentication factor to gain access to online accounts. Yubico’s recent Global State of Authentication survey of 20,000 employees found that 58 percent still […]

Since the inception of the internet, passwords have been the primary authentication factor to gain access to online accounts. Yubico’s recent Global State of Authentication survey of 20,000 employees found that 58 percent still use a username and password to login to personal accounts, with 54 percent using this login method to access work accounts.

This is despite the fact that 80 percent of breaches today are a result of stolen login credentials from attacks like phishing. Because of this, passwords are widely understood by security experts as the most insecure authentication method that leaves individuals, organizations and their employees around the world vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated modern cyber attacks like phishing.


MobileIDWorld: Research Reveals Security Implications of FIDO2 and Synced Passkeys

Recent academic research has revealed new insights into the security considerations surrounding FIDO2 authentication and synced passkeys, highlighting both the strengths and potential vulnerabilities of current authentication systems. The analysis […]

Recent academic research has revealed new insights into the security considerations surrounding FIDO2 authentication and synced passkeys, highlighting both the strengths and potential vulnerabilities of current authentication systems. The analysis comes at a time when major technology companies are increasingly adopting passkey technology, with Microsoft reporting login times three times faster than traditional passwords.

Formal methods analysis of the FIDO2 standard has revealed potential weaknesses in the underlying protocols that warrant attention from security professionals. The research particularly focuses on the implementation of synced passkeys, which enable cross-device access through passkey providers. These findings support recent expert warnings about interoperability concerns in FIDO2 implementations.


ZDNet: What are passkeys? How going passwordless can simplify your life in 2025

You probably have a lot of passwords in your life. Even with the help of password managers, passwords are becoming more and more of a burden for most people. Long gone […]

You probably have a lot of passwords in your life.

Even with the help of password managers, passwords are becoming more and more of a burden for most people.

Long gone are the days of being able to use and reuse rubbish passwords like p455w0rd123. Now, all of your online accounts need to be protected by passwords that are complex and unique.

Also: Passkeys take yet another big step towards killing off passwords

You also need to be ever vigilant in case one of your many passwords is compromised.

There’s a better solution: Passkeys.


Tech Target: Adopt passkeys over passwords to improve UX, drive revenue

The digital economy continues to rely on password-based authentication, but password weaknesses — and human nature — make them horrible for security. Password use also impacts businesses’ bottom lines because […]

The digital economy continues to rely on password-based authentication, but password weaknesses — and human nature — make them horrible for security. Password use also impacts businesses’ bottom lines because every year, forgotten passwords and password resets result in millions of dollars of lost sales and wasted IT staff hours.

It’s a “password tax” on businesses and consumers that no one can seem to get past.

As the digital economy has grown, so has the value associated with passwords. As a result, phishing and credential theft continue to run rampant, with stolen credentials sold openly on the dark web.

To protect people, organizations add more friction and worsen UX. They ask users to create long and complex passwords, change passwords every few months and use MFA. This results in lost sales, reduced company productivity and added costs.

A secure alternative to the password has emerged: passkeys. This option can strengthen organizations’ security posture because passkeys have the potential to generate billions in revenue and cost savings for businesses.


Hyperledger Foundation

Reflecting on 2024 and Shaping the Future of Besu

2024 was a significant year for the LF Decentralized Trust project Besu, marked by groundbreaking advancements and ambitious plans for the future. Let’s take a journey through the highlights of what we achieved and how we’re building on that momentum in 2025.

2024 was a significant year for the LF Decentralized Trust project Besu, marked by groundbreaking advancements and ambitious plans for the future. Let’s take a journey through the highlights of what we achieved and how we’re building on that momentum in 2025.


FIDO Alliance

Federal Register: Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity

A Presidential Document by the Executive Office of the President on 01/17/2025 Executive Order on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity  The WebAuthn standard was called out by name in a new cybersecurity […]

A Presidential Document by the Executive Office of the President on 01/17/2025

Executive Order on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity 

The WebAuthn standard was called out by name in a new cybersecurity executive order (EO) that was released by the White House – in the final days of the Biden Administration. Among other things, the new EO effectively codifies a previous 2022 policy memo that called for the US government to use only phishing-resistant authentication. 


Insurance Business: Experts warn NZ businesses to prepare for AI-driven cyber threats

Cybersecurity experts are calling on New Zealand businesses to strengthen their defences as cyber threats grow in sophistication. Key developments, such as AI-driven phishing, the adoption of digital identity wallets, […]

Cybersecurity experts are calling on New Zealand businesses to strengthen their defences as cyber threats grow in sophistication.

Key developments, such as AI-driven phishing, the adoption of digital identity wallets, and the shift to passkey authentication, are reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. These trends, combined with rising attack frequencies, require organisations to adopt proactive measures and align with evolving regulatory standards.

Global leaders, including experts from Yubico, and local organisations like CERT NZ and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), have identified critical areas of focus for 2025. These include:

combating increasingly sophisticated attacks implementing modern authentication methods prioritising board-level involvement in cybersecurity strategies


Biometric Update: State of passkeys 2025: passkeys move to mainstream

More than 1 billion people have activated at least one passkey according to the FIDO Alliance – an astonishing number that highlights the quick evolution of passkeys from a buzzword to a […]

More than 1 billion people have activated at least one passkey according to the FIDO Alliance – an astonishing number that highlights the quick evolution of passkeys from a buzzword to a trusted login method. In just two years, consumer awareness of the technology jumped from 39% to 57%. Let’s see how passkeys have moved to mainstream.


National Cyber Security Centre: Passkeys: they’re not perfect but they’re getting better

Passkeys are the future of authentication, offering enhanced security and convenience over passwords, but widespread adoption faces challenges that the NCSC is working to resolve. What’s wrong with passwords – […]

Passkeys are the future of authentication, offering enhanced security and convenience over passwords, but widespread adoption faces challenges that the NCSC is working to resolve.

What’s wrong with passwords – why do we need passkeys?

Most cyber harms that affect citizens occur through abuse of legitimate credentials. That is, attackers have obtained the victim’s password somehow – whether by phishing or exploiting the fact the passwords are weak or have been reused.

Passwords are just not a good way to authenticate users on the modern internet (and arguably weren’t suitable back in the 1970s when the internet was used by just a few academics). Adding a strong – phishing-resistant – second factor to passwords definitely helps, but not everyone does this and not every type of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is strong.


GlobeNewswire: Passwordless Authentication Market to Surpass Valuation of US$ 8,944.3 Million By 2033

Growing enterprise reliance on biometric and token-based authentication propels the passwordless market forward. Providers innovate frictionless FIDO2/WebAuthn solutions, boosting collaboration between fintech, retail, and the public sector, while unresolved interoperability […]

Growing enterprise reliance on biometric and token-based authentication propels the passwordless market forward. Providers innovate frictionless FIDO2/WebAuthn solutions, boosting collaboration between fintech, retail, and the public sector, while unresolved interoperability hinders the seamless global rollout of passkey technologies.


GlobeNewswire: Expanding the API Economy and CIAM with Passkeys, Identity Verification, and Decentralized Identity

The study illustrates successful implementations of CIAM solutions across various verticals and use cases. This report’s geographic coverage is global. The study period is 2023-2029, with 2024 as the base […]

The study illustrates successful implementations of CIAM solutions across various verticals and use cases. This report’s geographic coverage is global. The study period is 2023-2029, with 2024 as the base year and 2025-2029 as the forecast period.

The report defines consumer identity and access management (CIAM) as a framework that controls and manages consumer identities, access, and policies across IT infrastructures to protect enterprises from unauthorized and potentially harmful security breaches. CIAM solutions include single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, identity verification, lifecycle management (provisioning, deprovisioning), password management, and compliance management.


HYPR Unmasks a Fake IT Worker: North Korea Isn’t the Only Threat

Highlights:

Highlights:

Fraudulent job applicants posing as IT workers from countries like North Korea have infiltrated organizations, posing significant security risks. HYPR encountered a potential fraud attempt during its onboarding process and successfully thwarted it using its Identity Assurance platform. HYPR’s use of multi-layered identity verification, including biometrics and video verification, helped prevent the fraudulent hire from gaining access to their systems. This issue is not limited to North Korea plots; fake workers and interview fraud are widespread and growing

Monday, 20. January 2025

We Are Open co-op

Towards an Open Recognition Wallet

Note: this post builds upon ideas we presented at ePIC 2024, and a couple of in-depth posts about using Open Recognition to map real-world skills and attributes. You don’t need to have read those first, but they may provide more context in case you have questions. Now that the latest version of the Open Badges specification is aligned with the Verifiable Credentials data model, there’s a new way

Note: this post builds upon ideas we presented at ePIC 2024, and a couple of in-depth posts about using Open Recognition to map real-world skills and attributes. You don’t need to have read those first, but they may provide more context in case you have questions.

Now that the latest version of the Open Badges specification is aligned with the Verifiable Credentials data model, there’s a new way to store your credentials: digital wallets. Instead of your badges or credentials being stored on someone else’s platform (usually the issuer’s) you store them on a wallet on your mobile device. In other words, you, as a learner or earner are fully in control.

This approach will be familiar to anyone who has ever paid for something using their smartphone, or used a digital ticket to attend an event or access public transport. The difference in this case is that the wallet is also a portfolio of your achievements. It’s a personal showcase of who you are, what you know, and what you can do.

Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO

It’s still early days for digital wallets, but now that even the UK government is getting in on the act, now is the perfect time to be thinking about what an Open Recognition Wallet might look like. It’s also a good time to consider this as the Digital Credentials Consortium hands over stewardship of the open source Learner Credential Wallet to the Open Wallet Foundation.

Open Recognition, for those who need a reminder, is the community of people who hold fast to the original vision for Open Badges, as outlined in this Mozilla white paper. These days, we define it as:

“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.” (Badge Wiki)

So what might an Open Recognition Wallet look like in practice? How might it differ from one that, for example, is to store your passport, driving license, or payment cards?

Core Principles

This post is a conversation-starter for the community. Perhaps, based on the original Open Badges vision, and our evolving understanding of Open Recognition, a wallet should:

Recognise learning across all contexts, not just formal education Empower individuals to control and showcase their diverse achievements Be inclusive of often-marginalised and excluded groups Support lifewide and lifelong learning pathways Enable recognition from multiple sources, including self-issued and community endorsements Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO Key Features

E-portfolios and badge backpacks have been around for a while now, so how might an Open Recognition Wallet build on these? Here are some ideas:

1. Flexible Recognition Capture Support for self-issued badges Mechanisms for community endorsement Semi-automated recognition and achievement tracking 2. Community-Driven Endorsement Semi-automated peer recognition Transparent endorsement processes Storytelling functionality by adding contextual info/evidence 3. Learning Analytics Integration Privacy-preserving, on-device data analysis Insights into potential future directions (life/career) Skills alignment with multiple taxonomies/frameworks 4. Social and Engaging Design Ability to customise both interface and look of portfolio(s) Community-building features to encourage solidarity Storytelling capabilities for achievements 5. Technical Foundations Based on the latest version of the Open Badges specification Available on every platform (potentially a webapp?) User-controlled, granular data sharing A Multiplicity of Wallets

While it’s entirely possible to use the same digital wallet for Open Recognition as for passports, driving licenses, and other identity documents, it probably isn’t likely. As with badge platforms, various entities will build wallets that suit their customers or communities. Wallets that become mainstream will likely come from Big Tech or governments, though nonprofit and educational institutions will continue to innovate in the space.

In the same way we use multiple social networks to reflect different aspects of our personality and to connect with various networks, I can imagine multiple digital wallets that showcase nuanced portfolios of skills and attributes, depending on the context.

Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO Differentiating Factors

I’d love to see the Open Recognition community’s thoughts on this. For me, the main differentiating factors for an Open Recognition wallet are:

a) A focus on holistic recognition

The original Open Badges vision helped support the concept of Connected Learning. This is an approach which is participatory, learner centred, interest-driven, and inclusive. While usually focused on young people, there is no age limit to interest. No upper bounds on inclusivity.

By recognising all of the contributions we make to the world, all of the positive behaviours we exhibit, we can create a much more holistic, three-dimensional view of who we are and what drives us. This is not merely so that we can provide better data points for employers looking for labour, but so that we can “find the others”, create communities, build solidarity, and make the world a better place.

b) Celebration of diverse learning experiences

Learning happens everywhere, but it’s only usually captured in formal, pre-determined ways. Capturing important smaller, more granular, and diverse learning experiences is important. That might be related to cultural awareness, to privilege and power, or just how to fix your washing machine by watching a YouTube video.

Not every learning experience will be captured, but it’s important that they can be, and in terms that chime with the Open Recognition exhortation to allow people to use their own labels and definitions. After-the-fact alignment with pre-existing skills taxonomies is less important than validating knowledge, skills, and behaviours in ways that make sense to the learner.

c) Community-driven validation

One of the most exciting things about the latest version of Open Badges is that it allows you to ‘endorse’ a learner’s credential after it’s been issued. One way of thinking about this is as an evidence-based recommendation system where the value of the credential increases over time.

For example, I might make a New Year’s Resolution to be more helpful to a particular community. I could self-issue the ‘Community Helper’ badge, and this would serve as a repository for community members’ endorsements of my assistance. A similar idea is explored in these blog posts. A digital wallet that can explicitly show the value that an individual is bringing to a community is incredibly powerful and valuable.

Next steps

I know that Nate Otto is building something which feels close to what’s described above. The digital wallet side of things, however, is not handled by the ORCA platform, but rather left to the user to decide. I’m all for user choice, but I would love to help bring into being a default and muched-loved place for Open Recognition badges to live.

If you’re part of the ORE community, why not bring your thoughts on this to our next community call. And if you’re not, but this kind of thing interests you, why don’t you join us?

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

Friday, 17. January 2025

Origin Trail

2025 Roadmap update: Synergy of AI agents and autonomous DKG

In 2024, the OriginTrail ecosystem achieved remarkable milestones, driving innovation in decentralized knowledge and AI integration. The three stages (or impact bases) of the V8 Foundation were formulated as inspired by the legendary works of Isaac Asimov. They prophetically symbolize steps towards the future where the reliable and trusted knowledge base or Collective neuro-symbolic AI drives syne

In 2024, the OriginTrail ecosystem achieved remarkable milestones, driving innovation in decentralized knowledge and AI integration. The three stages (or impact bases) of the V8 Foundation were formulated as inspired by the legendary works of Isaac Asimov. They prophetically symbolize steps towards the future where the reliable and trusted knowledge base or Collective neuro-symbolic AI drives synergies between AI agents and the Autonomous Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) in a human-centric way.

The updated roadmap recaps the most important achievements of the past year, and highlights the road ahead (full updated roadmap available here).

The year kicked off with the establishment of the Impact Base: Trantor (home to the Library of Trantor, where librarians systematically indexed human knowledge in a groundbreaking collaborative effort), which catalyzed key advancements, including Knowledge Mining, which introduced Initial Paranet Offerings (IPOs) and autonomous knowledge mining initiatives. Simultaneously, the release of delegated staking enabled TRAC delegation for network utility and security, enhancing inclusivity and participation in DKG infrastructure.

Following Trantor, Impact Base: Terminus was activated with key catalysts for adoption, including multichain growth, integrating DKG with the Base blockchain ecosystem, and implementing transformative scalability solutions such as asynchronous backing on NeuroWebAI blockchain on Polkadot and batch minting features.

The introduction of ChatDKG.ai revolutionized interaction with DKG and paranets, integrating AI models across platforms like Google Vertex AI, OpenAI, and NVIDIA. Meanwhile, the release of Whitepaper 3.0 outlined the vision of a Verifiable Internet for AI, bridging crypto, Web3, and AI technologies to address misinformation and data integrity challenges.

The deployment of OriginTrail V8 and its Edge Nodes brought Internet-scale to the ecosystem. Edge Nodes redefine how sensitive data interacts with AI-driven applications, keeping it on devices while enabling controlled integration with both the DKG and neural networks. This privacy-first architecture facilitates local AI processing, ensuring secure utilization of private and public knowledge assets. In addition, OriginTrail V8 achieves monumental scalability improvements with the random sampling proof system that reduces on-chain transaction requirements by orders of magnitude thus boosting the DKG’s throughput in a major way.

The DKG V8 provides a powerful substrate to drive synergies between AI and collective-neuro symbolic AI capable of driving AI agents’ autonomous memories and trusted intents, as both AI agents and robots alike become potent enough to act on behalf of humans.

Roadmap for 2025 and beyond: Advancing collective neuro-symbolic AI with the DKG

The 2025 roadmap marks a leap forward for the OriginTrail ecosystem, as the Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) becomes the cornerstone for collective neuro-symbolic AI, a powerful fusion of neural and symbolic AI systems.

With the establishment of Impact Base: Gaia, the roadmap envisions the system functioning as a super-organism, where decentralized AI agent swarms share and expand their collective memory using the DKG. This shared memory infrastructure, combined with the autonomous inferencing and knowledge publishing capabilities of DKG V8, lays the foundation for decentralized AI that seamlessly integrates neural network and knowledge graph reasoning with trusted, verifiable knowledge. The result is a robust AI infrastructure capable of addressing humanity’s most pressing challenges at an accelerated pace.

At the heart of this vision lies the Collective Agentic Memory Framework, enabling autonomous AI agents to mine, publish, and infer new knowledge while ensuring privacy and scalability. This vision is enabled by establishing scalable infrastructure and tools such as AI agent framework integrations (such as the ElizaOS DKG integration), the NeuroWeb Collator staking and bridge, and DKG Edge node private knowledge repositories.

Those who invest in using the DKG, build the DKG: 60MM TRAC Collective Programmatic Treasury (CPT)

The roadmap also introduces decentralized growth through initiatives like the Collective Programmatic Treasury (CPT), allocating 60 million $TRAC over a Bitcoin-like schedule to incentivise an ecosystem of DKG developers based on a meritocratic system of knowledge contribution.

The quote taken from The Matrix Ending

As adoption spreads across industries such as DeSci, robotics, healthcare, and entertainment, this interconnected ecosystem drives network effects of shared knowledge, exponentially amplifying the collective intelligence of AI agents. By aligning decentralized AI efforts with the DKG’s unifying framework, OriginTrail unlocks the potential for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) through the synergy of all human knowledge, creating a future where AI reflects the full spectrum of human insight and wisdom.

Impact base: Gaia (established in Q1 2025)

The human beings on Gaia, under robotic guidance, not only evolved their ability to form an ongoing telepathic group consciousness but also extended this consciousness to the fauna and flora of the planet itself, even including inanimate matter. As a result, the entire planet became a super-organism.

DKG V8

Scalable and robust foundation for enabling next stage of Artificial Intelligence adoption with decentralized Retrieval Augmented Generation (dRAG), combining symbolic and neural decentralized AI. DKG V8 is catalysing the shift from attention economy to intention economy.

✅ DKG Edge Nodes

✅ New V8 Staking dashboard

✅ New V8 DKG Explorer

✅ Batch minting (scalability)

Random sampling (scalability) Collective Agentic memory framework Eliza integration (Github) ChatDKG Framework for AI Agent Autonomous Memory NeuroWeb Bridge integration NeuroWeb Collators RFC-23 Multichain TRAC liquidity for DKG utility C2PA global content provenance standard compliance

Catalyst 1: Autonomous Knowledge Mining

Mine new knowledge for paranets autonomously by using the power of symbolic AI (the DKG) and neural networks.

AI-agent driven Knowledge Mining

Catalyst 2: DePIN for private knowledge

Keep your knowledge private, on your devices, while being able to use it in the bleeding edge AI solutions.

Private Knowledge Asset repository for agents (DKG Edge Node) Private data monetization with Knowledge Assets and DPROD Convergence (2025 +)

With the Genesis period completed the OriginTrail DKG will have a large enough number of Knowledge Assets created (1B) to kickstart the “Convergence”. Leveraging network effects, growth gets further accelerated through autonomous knowledge publishing and inferencing capabilities of the DKG, fueled by decentralized Knowledge Mining protocols of NeuroWeb and AI Agents supported by multiple frameworks integrating the DKG. During the Convergence, supported by OriginTrail V8 with AI-native features and further scalability increase, the OriginTrail DKG grows the largest public Decentralized Knowledge Graph in existence, a verifiable web of collective human knowledge — the trusted knowledge foundation for AI.

Collective Neuro-Symbolic AI (DKG)

Collective Global memory: Autonomous Decentralized Knowledge Graph

Incentivized autonomous enrichment of human knowledge using neural network reasoning capabilities over a large body of trusted knowledge. Providing AI infrastructure that allows any of the most pressing challenges of human existence to be addressed in an accelerated way.

Future development fund decentralization “Those invest in the DKG, shall build the DKG” — 60,000,000 $TRAC allocated using the Bitcoin schedule over X years with the Collective Programmatic Treasury (CPT)

Autonomous Decentralized Knowledge Inferencing

Knowledge graph reasoning Graph neural network framework Neuro-symbolic inferencing combining GenAI with symbolic AI

Autonomous Knowledge Mining

Autonomous knowledge publishing with DKG inferencing Additional AI-agent integrations

Extending DKG-powered AI Agents to physical world through robotics

Collective Neuro-Symbolic AI (DKG) adoption 2025 + Autonomous AI agents Decentralized science (DeSci) Robotics and manufacturing (DePin) Financial industry Autonomous supply chains supported by Global Standards Construction Life sciences and healthcare Collaboration with internationally recognized pan-European AI network of excellence (EU supported) Metaverse and entertainment Doubling down on OriginTrail ecosystem inclusivity Activating the Collective Programmatic Treasury Driving safe Internet in the age of AI inclusively with the leading entities in the industry

*The list is non exhaustive

👇 More about OriginTrail 👇

Web | Twitter | Facebook | Telegram | LinkedIn | GitHubDiscord

2025 Roadmap update: Synergy of AI agents and autonomous DKG was originally published in OriginTrail on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


Hyperledger Foundation

Mentorship Spotlight - Hyperledger AnonCreds v2 ZKP-based Credential Revocation Manager Implementation

Project: Hyperledger AnonCreds v2 ZKP-based Credential Revocation Manager Implementation

MyData

2024 in Review: Investing in community, building for impact

Author: Christopher Wilson, Executive Director of MyData Global 2024 was my second year with MyData Global, and it was a pivotal one, marked by investments in our long-term sustainability and […]
Author: Christopher Wilson, Executive Director of MyData Global 2024 was my second year with MyData Global, and it was a pivotal one, marked by investments in our long-term sustainability and […]

Thursday, 16. January 2025

Hyperledger Foundation

Introducing the 2025 Technical Advisory Council Members and Outlook

To kick off 2025, we welcome a new Technical Advisory Council (TAC), the first elected under the charter of LF Decentralized Trust. This group provides technical governance across the diverse landscape of projects hosted under the foundation’s umbrella. While each project has its own Technical Oversight Committee (TSC) that drives development efforts and priorities for its specific comm

To kick off 2025, we welcome a new Technical Advisory Council (TAC), the first elected under the charter of LF Decentralized Trust. This group provides technical governance across the diverse landscape of projects hosted under the foundation’s umbrella. While each project has its own Technical Oversight Committee (TSC) that drives development efforts and priorities for its specific community and/or codebase, the TAC provides the overall technical vision for the ecosystem. 

Wednesday, 15. January 2025

The Engine Room

Are you looking to foster meaningful connectivity in your community in 2025? Join our Digital Resilience Hub online event

Join our community event introducing the Digital Resilience Hub on 21 January 2025. The post Are you looking to foster meaningful connectivity in your community in 2025? Join our Digital Resilience Hub online event appeared first on The Engine Room.

Join our community event introducing the Digital Resilience Hub on 21 January 2025.

The post Are you looking to foster meaningful connectivity in your community in 2025? Join our Digital Resilience Hub online event appeared first on The Engine Room.


EdgeSecure

Empowering Education—Creating Inclusive Student-Centered Learning Experiences

The post Empowering Education—Creating Inclusive Student-Centered Learning Experiences appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

For Laura Romeo, Ph.D., Instructional Designer, Edge, her love for creating engaging and student-centered learning experiences began at the start of her career as an elementary school teacher. “I was very interested in designing lessons that didn’t just deliver the content to students, but catered to their individual learning needs,” shares Romeo. “The learning outcomes improved when they could interact with the content and go at a pace that made sense for them. For this reason, I earned my master’s in instructional design and technology, and then several years later, got my Ph.D. in teacher education and learning sciences. While I was working on my doctoral degree, my research focused on the pre-service teacher and how they could use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and instructional design for learning paired with assistive technology to make instruction more inclusive.”

Through this experience, Romeo says she gained a deeper understanding of how thoughtful design and instruction could create more accessible learning environments for all students in the classroom. “Over the years, I’ve recognized how essential accessibility is for the success of the learner. Throughout my career, I’ve led the development of curriculum projects, worked with subject matter experts to create interactive and engaging content, and designed courses on workplace diversity. Now at Edge, I have the opportunity to partner with institutions across the country to help them develop their digital learning environments and create dynamic and accessible learning experiences.”

“Over the years, I’ve recognized how essential accessibility is for the success of the learner. Throughout my career, I’ve led the development of curriculum projects, worked with subject matter experts to create interactive and engaging content, and designed courses on workplace diversity. Now at Edge, I have the opportunity to partner with institutions across the country to help them develop their digital learning environments and create dynamic and accessible learning experiences.”

— Laura Romeo, PH.D.
Instructional Designer, Edge

Promoting Inclusive Learning Design
In designing for today’s learners and instructors, Romeo has found working with such a diverse range of institutions to be an exciting challenge. “Since every institution has unique needs, I enjoy trying to find the solution that fits well with their specific goals. One of the first projects I worked on was redesigning a graduate program for working professionals. The instructor wanted to ensure the content and activities were engaging and allowed their students to apply what they’re learning in real-world situations. We needed to stick closely to the textbook for quizzes and tests, but could be more creative with the projects. We followed UDL principles in the design and gave students a choice in how they showed their understanding. They could choose from different mediums, including a presentation, written report, or a combination of multimedia tools. Providing this type of flexibility allows students to connect the material to their own experiences, and in this case, they could pull from both their personal and professional lives to make learning more relevant and meaningful.”

With a passion for ensuring inclusivity is interwoven into learning design, Romeo helps institutions address accessibility gaps and create engaging educational experiences that cater to diverse learners, fostering an environment where every student can thrive and succeed. “Throughout my career, I’ve seen the difference thoughtful, inclusive design of instruction can make for the success of the student. On a recent project, we conducted an accessibility audit for an institution’s online courses. We reviewed the course structure and all course materials to determine if they were compliant with accessibility standards and found ways to make improvements that could help different learners access and interact with the content more effectively.”

“From teaching in the classroom to designing curriculum and working with educational technology, I’ve seen how powerful it can be to build learning environments with accessibility and inclusion at the forefront,” continues Romeo. “To be proactive rather than reactive can be a real game changer, not only for the institutions, but also for the students that they’re serving. It allows you to identify specific barriers and implement strategies that enhance the overall learning experience and empower students with varying needs to engage fully with the curriculum, ultimately leading to higher retention and satisfaction rates.”

Addressing the Challenges of Digital Transformation
As more and more institutions transition from traditional face-to-face instruction to an online or hybrid model, there are common challenges and goals that each organization is trying to address. “Many institutions want to improve accessibility in online courses to meet compliance standards and redesign courses to make them more engaging for diverse learners,” explains Romeo. “Colleges and universities want their online learners to feel like they’re getting more from the courses than just logging on to complete the discussion and take a quiz. Integrating new technologies can help fuel engagement and create more dynamic learning environments.”

When moving a course from an in-person format to an online version, Romeo says a common concern is losing the personal connection between instructor and student. “I worked with an instructor recently who was transitioning his Sustainability 101 course from in person to online. He had been teaching this course face to face for a few years and was worried about losing the important interactions that happen in the classroom. Through our brainstorming, we decided to incorporate live video sessions where students could hear from him as the subject matter expert. He also invited several guest speakers to join him during these presentations. We also incorporated asynchronous discussion forums that allowed students to participate in conversations back and forth between their classmates on their own time.”

“The instructor’s content remained his content and students can still feel connected to the material and each other, regardless of the digital format,” continues Romeo. “The digital learning environment was also modified to encourage students to tie the course content to their own lives. For example, they could choose to explore specific sustainability practices that impacted their own daily lives, or they could research sustainability issues in their local communities. This approach placed them at the center of their own learning where they had to pull in the content and make it more applicable to real life. Creating a thoughtful course design with these modifications led to deeper engagement and created a highly interactive online course that the instructor felt maintained the depth of his in-person version.”

Through tailored assessments, skill-building workshops for faculty and staff, and thoughtful strategic planning, Edge can offer digital accessibility support and help institutions navigate these changes and ensure course offerings and web properties meet quality standards. To optimize courses for online learning, Edge can also assist in revolutionizing teaching methods, identifying effective strategies to elevate business practices, and consistently and proactively address the needs of differently abled members in their learning community.

Meeting ADA Accessibility Standards
The new Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) aims to clarify compliance standards regarding enhancing accessibility and inclusion for mobile apps and web content. “ADA phase II will likely present challenges for many institutions,” says Romeo. “Accessibility compliance is not just about checking the box; it’s about creating a learning environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed. While the compliance piece is necessary, these guidelines also level the playing field and provide a foundation for building inclusive learning environments. Since looking at the full scope of compliance can feel overwhelming, I would suggest that institutions approach the process by breaking it down into manageable steps.”

“Part of Phase II is going to require institutions to update their video content to make sure all lectures are captioned and transcribed,” continues Romeo. “This can seem like a very large project and will require pinpointing the areas that need updating, creating scalable solutions, and finding the most efficient ways to ensure all content meets accessibility standards. Making these updates will not only meet compliance requirements, but will also improve the learning experience for all students, not just those with disabilities. Ultimately, this commitment to accessibility fosters a more inclusive and supportive educational environment that benefits everyone in the academic community.”

Through tailored assessments, skill-building workshops for faculty and staff, and thoughtful strategic planning, Edge can offer digital accessibility support and help institutions navigate these changes and ensure course offerings and web properties meet quality standards. To optimize courses for online learning, Edge can also assist in revolutionizing teaching methods, identifying effective strategies to elevate business practices, and consistently and proactively address the needs of differently abled members in their learning community.

Cultivating Personalized Learning Experiences
To help make technology more approachable and provide institutions with real world insights and solutions for the common challenges they face, the EdgeCast video series explores a variety of tech-forward topics. Romeo joined Josh Gaul, Associate Vice President & Chief Digital Learning Officer, Edge, and Jaimie Dubuque, former Teaching and Learning Technologist, Rider University, Romeo for a recent session called Leveraging AI for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Higher Education. “Technology can sometimes feel overwhelming, even if you know what you’re doing,” says Romeo. “The EdgeCast series takes topics and breaks them down into useful, easy-to-digest information. As the series evolves, I can see us diving into more specialized topics, like how to effectively integrate emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) into the classroom or long-term management of large-scale digital transformations at an institution.”

“The landscape for education continues to rapidly change and I enjoy learning and adapting to new trends,” continues Romeo. “I see myself as a lifelong learner and is one of the reasons I’m drawn to this field. I try to stay current by following tech blogs, reading journals, exploring emerging technologies, and staying connected with professional networks to exchange ideas and keep my creativity fresh. In looking ahead, I think we’ll see an even bigger shift toward hybrid and personalized learning models with digital elements that offer more flexibility for students and educators. More institutions will use data analysis and AI to cultivate personalized learning experiences and tailor the content to support each student’s individual needs.”

“Flexibility and customization are going to be major themes in the future and learners will be more in control of their own learning, deciding when and how to access the content. By working together, we can reshape our educational approach to ensure inclusivity for all types of learners and create a dynamic and equitable learning environment that empowers every individual to thrive on their academic journey.”

If you want to rapidly update your web and digital environments to meet accessibility standards, Edge’s team of experts can provide an instructional design review and a remediation roadmap. Learn more at njedge.net/accessibility-compliance-services.

Get on the forefront of tech enlightenment with EdgeCast! Check out the most recent series at
njedge.net/edgecast.

The post Empowering Education—Creating Inclusive Student-Centered Learning Experiences appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


Elastos Foundation

BeL2 Lending Demo: Arbiter Integration and One-Click Deployment

BeL2’s V1 system Beta, officially released on January 6th, 2025, marks the milestone of Elastos’ commitment to transforming Bitcoin’s utility. Its architecture incorporates: BTC Locking Scripts: Non-custodial mechanisms that keep Bitcoin securely locked on it’s mainnet, enabling it to serve as collateral. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): Cutting-edge cryptographic proofs that allow smart contracts to

BeL2’s V1 system Beta, officially released on January 6th, 2025, marks the milestone of Elastos’ commitment to transforming Bitcoin’s utility. Its architecture incorporates:

BTC Locking Scripts: Non-custodial mechanisms that keep Bitcoin securely locked on it’s mainnet, enabling it to serve as collateral. Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): Cutting-edge cryptographic proofs that allow smart contracts to verify Bitcoin-locking transactions without exposing sensitive details or bridging assets. Oracle Services: A trustless bridge that relays Bitcoin proofs (ZKPs) to EVM-compatible blockchains, allowing BTC and other ecosystems to talk together. Arbiter Network: Decentralized nodes that oversee transaction integrity, manage dispute resolution, and facilitate time-sensitive operations through staking mechanisms​​.

Together, these components form a decentralized clearing network service, transforming Bitcoin into a programmable asset without compromising its integrity. BeL2 is not a DApp—it’s infrastructure for building an Elastos ecosystem of “killer DApps” that leverage Bitcoin’s unmatched security and liquidity, such as BTC-Backed Loans, Native Bitcoin Stablecoins and Decentralized Exchanges and Swap services.

The BeL2 protocol has reached a significant milestone today with the integration of Arbiter nodes into the BeL2 Loan DApp, further supporting the official release of the BeL2 V1 Beta system. Alongside this, we’ve introduced a one-click deployment solution including an easy-to-follow video for Arbiter nodes, simplifying participation in the ecosystem. So, let’s jump in!

 

Lending DApp connectivity into BeL2 V1 Beta explained

The BeL2 Lending DApp is a decentralized financial application enabling native Bitcoin (BTC) holders to secure USDC loans on Elastos while keeping their BTC on the Bitcoin mainnet, without wrapping or bridging assets. Central to its operation is the Arbiter Network, decentralised nodes which ensures trustless dispute resolution and transaction oversight.

Today, when users take out loans, they pay ELA fees to compensate arbiters for their services. The fee covers the maximum loan period and is calculated based on the arbiter’s stake and fee rate. If the loan is repaid early, unused ELA is refunded proportionally. For example, if 100 ELA is locked for six months but the loan is closed in one day, 99.5 ELA is refunded. This system ensures fair compensation for arbiters while maintaining cost-efficiency for users. Currently, arbiters earn rewards exclusively in ELA, further incentivizing participation in the network, with BTC planned at a later date.

 

Simplifying Participation: One-Click Arbiter Deployment

Arbiter nodes are the backbone of BeL2’s governance and dispute resolution, receiving fees in return for services. The new one-click deployment solution simplifies their setup, making it easier for community members to join the network. Existing Elastos BPoS nodes can also run Arbiter nodes, further lowering entry barriers and encouraging widespread participation. For an understanding on this simplicity, please see:

One-Click Documentation One-Click GitHub One-Click Video Support

 

 

BeL2 V1 Beta Phase: A Call for Community Engagement

During this beta phase, we invite more community members to explore and test the system. A beta phase indicates the product is functional but still under active development and refinement. While core features are operational, limitations and occasional bugs may exist. User feedback is essential to refining the system and accelerating adoption. You can help by doing the following:

Borrow or lend on the BeL2 Lending Demo DApp. Set up Arbiter nodes via the Arbiter Portal and use the one-click node deployment guide.

Be sure to understand Arbiter risks, noting the beta release operates with reduced staking limits to maintain stability while gathering valuable feedback. A proposal to the Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC) will soon outline a rewards program to further encourage participation. This includes:

Incentive Structures: Providing additional rewards in BTC and ELA for borrowers, lenders, and Arbiters​​. Gas Abstraction with Particle Network: Eliminating ESC gas fees for borrowers to simplify user interactions.

 

A Symbiotic Relationship: Bitcoin and Elastos

As many know, BeL2 leverages the historical connection between Bitcoin and Elastos through merge mining. Sharing over 50% of Bitcoin’s hash power, Elastos benefits from Bitcoin’s robust Proof of Work (PoW) security.

This relationship underscores the ethos of BeL2: harnessing Bitcoin’s resilience to power decentralized, scalable financial applications​​. BeL2 continued innovation by representing a paradigm shift for Bitcoin and decentralized finance:

True Decentralization: Avoid reliance on custodians or wrapped assets. Financial Sovereignty: Retain control of BTC while accessing liquidity and programmable financial tools. A Framework for Innovation: BeL2 creates a foundation for developers to build scalable, secure applications on Bitcoin​​.

The BeL2 protocol is poised to redefine what’s possible with Bitcoin. Whether you’re a borrower, lender, or Arbiter, now is the time to explore, engage, and help shape the future of decentralized finance!

 


Digital ID for Canadians

Spotlight on Canchek

1. What is the mission and vision of Canchek? To provide the Canadian investment industry with an economical and reliable method of legally identifying clients…

1. What is the mission and vision of Canchek?

To provide the Canadian investment industry with an economical and reliable method of legally identifying clients that they do not meet in person. The service must be (and is) compliant with the guidelines of FINTRAC and the various provincial law societies.

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

Canchek primarily provides Canadian investment firms with anti-money laundering solutions. FINTRAC requires that firms use technology to identify clients that they do not meet in person, and Canchek introduced Canchek-eID as a convenience for its over 250 customers in Canada during the recent pandemic. The service has become an essential component of their client onboarding process.

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

The main benefit of this technology in our market space is streamlining the onboarding process of new clients for our customers. Our main challenge is balancing the power of the technology with consumer rights to privacy and ensuring continuing compliance with federal and provincial legislation in that regard. Besides our own due diligence, we often work with the legal departments of our customers to inform them of our security measures and compliance with the regulations they are subject to.

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

Canada is a trusted international player with strong privacy laws and a respected IT industry that can promote greater efficiency in international transactions.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

To help us keep abreast of Canadian federal and provincial (e.g. Quebec Rule 25) legislation that affects the delivery of the Canchek-eID verification service. We also wanted to increase awareness of this service in the marketplace.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

Canchek began business in 2016 with a group of entrepreneurs well known in the Capital Markets industry, especially with regard to technology innovation. Canchek’s primary business is providing anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing services to Canadian financial firms. Since the company’s inception, a wide variety of customers, ranging from small to large national and internationally known firms, now use our AML technology. The electronic ID verification service represents approximately five percent of our revenue.


MyData

MyData, My Choice – How my:D is Redefining Ethical Data Use

In the MyData Matters blog series, MyData members introduce innovative solutions that align with MyData principles, emphasising ethical data practices, user and business empowerment, and privacy. SNPLab’s my:D app is […]
In the MyData Matters blog series, MyData members introduce innovative solutions that align with MyData principles, emphasising ethical data practices, user and business empowerment, and privacy. SNPLab’s my:D app is […]

Tuesday, 14. January 2025

OpenID

OIDF Feedback on NIST’s Attribute Validation Services

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released a draft report entitled Attribute Validation Services for Identity Management, which seeks to provide a comprehensive framework for agencies considering implementing Attribute Validation Services (AVS) services.  AVS are critical for identity proofing, fraud prevention, and ensuring equal access to digital resources,&

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently released a draft report entitled Attribute Validation Services for Identity Management, which seeks to provide a comprehensive framework for agencies considering implementing Attribute Validation Services (AVS) services. 

AVS are critical for identity proofing, fraud prevention, and ensuring equal access to digital resources,  within  government services. They are also incorporated by a number of other sectors, such as banking and healthcare, which see the value they bring. NIST has, therefore, invited comments from external organizations to help ensure the framework is as robust as it can possibly be.

The OpenID Foundation commends NIST for its significant investment in this work, which strongly aligns with the OpenID Foundation’s own mission to promote open standards for secure, user-centric identity systems. 

Welcoming the opportunity to contribute, the OpenID Foundation collated input from its diverse membership, offering targeted suggestions and broader reflections to help refine the draft. Below, the feedback to NIST has been summarized into seven key themes, as well as additional areas for consideration.

1. Reassessing ‘user-controlled’ terminology in wallet-based architectures

NIST’s report refers to User-Controlled Verification Architectures (UCVA) and asserts that they grant users greater control over their personal data. While UCVAs provide advantages over some API-based architectures, the term ‘user-controlled’ can misrepresent the reality. End users are not entirely autonomous; their control is influenced by credential issuers, wallet providers, and platform operators. 

The recommendation from the OpenID Foundation is for the use of language that is more representative. For example, ‘wallet-based architectures aim to enable user-centric data management.’ 

Additionally, there is much focus on UCVA architecture having the potential to overcome limitations around an individual’s access and control over their own information in a way that enables secure online and in-person data sharing, while preserving privacy and reducing fraud. The OpenID Foundation has recommended that the report acknowledge that secure, in-person, and online data sharing is not exclusive to UCVAs, citing OpenID Connect as an example.

2. Highlighting the value of shared signals

In its feedback, the OpenID Foundation has advocated for a section on shared signals, a critical mechanism for real-time notifications and lifecycle management in identity systems. These signals can be used in multiple scenarios, enabling proactive communication, such as notifying when a credential is revoked, an attribute is updated, or fraud is suspected. 

In fact, much work has already been done to develop standards that that would enrich AVS architectures, enhancing interoperability and real-time risk management. The OpenID Foundation recommends that AVS, and relying parties (RP), monitor the developments of such groups, like the OpenID Foundation’s Shared Signals Working Group, for specifications that will vastly benefit these processes.

3. Ensuring rigorous entity validation

A robust AVS ecosystem must ensure that requesting entities are not only legitimate, but are verifiably those entities. The OpenID Foundation suggests leveraging standards-based mechanisms to authenticate the legitimacy of Relying Parties (RPs). Additionally, considerations should be made for inclusivity, such as supporting QR code verification for individuals without digital wallets, as seen in systems like the UNHCR refugee QR codes.

4. Clarifying roles and governance

The report conflates roles and responsibilities of potential implementing entities. The OpenID Foundation suggests expanding the governance section to clarify:

The importance of selecting interoperable standards. The role of certifying and maintaining conformance to these standards.

Trust frameworks must ensure interoperability, privacy, and security outcomes through protocol design, not solely through policy.

5. Addressing Metadata Risks and Management

Metadata plays a pivotal role in identity ecosystems, but the report underemphasizes its privacy and security implications. The OpenID Foundation recommends expanding guidance to include:

Risks of metadata leakage, especially from issuance and presentation processes. Standards for metadata attributes that dictate how data quality and authorization metadata are managed. Mitigations against misuse of metadata by wallet providers or platform operators. 6. Facilitating cross-border interoperability

Although the report focuses on US-centric use cases, cross-border scenarios merit inclusion. For instance, in cases where US-issued mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) might need verification by international banks or law enforcement. 

AVS that take into consideration trust frameworks and standards that facilitate interoperability with foreign entities, could prove extremely valuable. The OpenID Foundation has recommended that a separate section is included to cover cross-border interactions, the required trust, issuance and presentation needs for foreign attributes and identity documents.

7. Enhancing data retention and destruction policies

Data retention policies should balance agency requirements with individual rights. Even post-mortem data management demands thoughtful consideration. OIDF encourages NIST to monitor ongoing work in the DADE (Death and the Digital Estate) Community Group, which addresses some of these challenges.

Further Recommendations

The OpenID Foundation recommends some additional considerations to strengthen the AVS guidance.

Emerging standards and community work

The OpenID Foundation is keen for NIST to take into account several valuable initiatives that are underway and that could positively influence the evolution of AVS. They include 

The Shared Signals Framework, set for finalization in Q1 2025, offering critical specifications for lifecycle management. OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance (OID4VCI), advancing towards finalization, and will standardize credential workflows. The DADE Community Group, which explores managing digital identities and assets posthumously. Convergence across identity standards

NIST should anticipate potential conflicts among parallel identity standards developed by other agencies and private sectors, such as the Department of Homeland Security or the Transportation Security Administration wallet reviews, and the AAMVA’s mDL guidelines.

A coordinated approach should be undertaken to mitigate incompatibilities and foster streamlined adoption across federal, state, and private systems.

End-user experience design

The NIST report largely focuses on organizational perspectives. However, prioritizing user-centric designs can significantly improve public engagement with government services. Solutions should be intuitive, inclusive, and designed to accommodate diverse populations, including those without digital access.

Final Thoughts

We applaud NIST for acknowledging the contributions of our standards and specifications, such as OpenID Connect and the FAPI security profiles. Moving forward, we encourage NIST to:

Deepen collaboration on Shared Signals and OpenID for Identity Assurance. Engage with ongoing efforts in OpenID Federation to refine AVS governance and interoperability frameworks.

By leveraging open standards and fostering collaboration, we can collectively advance identity management systems that are secure, equitable, and user-focused. The OpenID Foundation remains committed to supporting NIST and other stakeholders in achieving this vision.

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.   

The post OIDF Feedback on NIST’s Attribute Validation Services first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


2025 OpenID Foundation Board of Directors

by Gail Hodges, Executive Director I want to sincerely thank all OpenID Foundation members who voted in the 2025 elections for representatives to the OpenID Foundation Board of Directors. Per the Foundation’s Bylaws and as of December 1, 2024, there were two Corporate Representative and two Community Representative seats up for election in 2025.  Corporate […] The post 2025 OpenID Foundatio

by Gail Hodges, Executive Director

I want to sincerely thank all OpenID Foundation members who voted in the 2025 elections for representatives to the OpenID Foundation Board of Directors.

Per the Foundation’s Bylaws and as of December 1, 2024, there were two Corporate Representative and two Community Representative seats up for election in 2025. 

Corporate Representatives

First, I am very pleased to welcome Atul Tulshibagwale and Mark Verstege back to the board of directors again in 2025 as the Corporate Representatives. Each year Corporate members of the Foundation elect up to two members to represent them on the board for one-year terms with all Corporate members in good standing eligible to nominate and vote for candidates. Both Atul and Mark are very active in the Foundation, and will bring great perspectives to the Board.

For instance, Atul continues to co-chair the Shared Signals WG, and coordinated two Gartner interop events for the WG this year to great effect. The Shared Signals WG is also entering a new phase, with the formation of a Shared Signals Special Topic Group to help accelerate Shared Signals adoption.  

Mark is firm supporter of the value of OIDF standards to support ecosystems in meeting their goals, and he sees the value of bringing ecosystem leaders closer together. Mark has been a key supporter of the newly formed Ecosystem Community Group to help ecosystems develop and share best practices.

Community Representatives

Second, I am delighted to welcome back Nat Sakimura and John Bradley who were re-elected to two-year terms as Community Representatives. Their long-time leadership and service to the Foundation is sincerely appreciated and valued. This is especially true in 2025 as the Foundation expands its reach into new ecosystem as well as continues to evolve to support new groups and projects.  

As noted, four individual members represent the membership and the community at large on the board, with offset-terms. George Fletcher and Mike Jones have one year remaining on their two-year terms and I look forward to their continued contributions in 2025.

Thank you kindly to Sebastian Rohr for nominating himself in 2025 as a Community Representative and for his continued contributions to the Foundation.

Please join me in thanking Nat, John, Atul, and Mark, as well as all of the Foundation’s board of directors, for their service and contributions to the Foundation and the community at large. And thank you to all Foundation members for your continued investment of time and membership that drives and supports the Foundation.

Gail Hodges
Executive Director
OpenID Foundation

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.   

The post 2025 OpenID Foundation Board of Directors first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


GS1

GS1 CEO discusses the future of barcodes on Euronews

GS1 CEO discusses the future of barcodes on Euronews tatyana.dyadyushko Tue, 01/14/2025 - 11:46 GS1 CEO discusses the future of barcodes on Euronews 14 January 2025 In an engaging interview on Euronews' The
GS1 CEO discusses the future of barcodes on Euronews tatyana.dyadyushko Tue, 01/14/2025 - 11:46 GS1 CEO discusses the future of barcodes on Euronews 14 January 2025

In an engaging interview on Euronews' The Big Question, GS1 President and CEO Renaud de Barbuat introduced the next generation of barcodes, such as QR Codes powered by GS1 and GS1 DataMatrix.

"These QR Codes offer one scan and infinite possibilities," said GS1 CEO. "They enable businesses to manage inventory better, reduce waste, and provide consumers with the transparency they demand."

Transforming Industries

From small retailers in Brazil to global giants like Carrefour, Nestlé or Procter & Gamble, companies are already seeing the benefits:

Efficiency: A Brazilian deli shop reduced waste by 50% using QR Codes. Sustainability: A South Korean water company eliminated plastic bottle labels by integrating QR Codes. Transparency: Consumers can now access detailed product information like ingredients, supply chain details, and recycling options.

A Revolution for Healthcare

Beyond retail, GS1 DataMatrix barcodes are improving healthcare systems worldwide, enhancing patient safety, and saving costs by ensuring full traceability of medicines and medical devices.

Join the Movement

With a target for global implementation by 2027, GS1 invites businesses of all sizes to join this new barcode revolution toward greater innovation, transparency and sustainability.

📺 Watch the full interview and learn more about this exciting transformation.

Discover how next-generation barcodes can revolutionize your business in Retail and read more about global industry leaders calling for the transition to next-generation barcodes.

 


Blockchain Commons

Blockchain Commons 2024 Overview

Making Visions Reality We’ve often written in our yearly reports that the goal of Blockchain Commons is “the creation of open, interoperable, secure & compassionate digital infrastructure to enable people to control their own digital destiny and to maintain their human dignity online”. Our architecture is ultimately based on these and other values, as Christopher wrote in “How My Values Inform

Making Visions Reality

We’ve often written in our yearly reports that the goal of Blockchain Commons is “the creation of open, interoperable, secure & compassionate digital infrastructure to enable people to control their own digital destiny and to maintain their human dignity online”. Our architecture is ultimately based on these and other values, as Christopher wrote in “How My Values Inform Design”, which we published at the start of this year.

Obviously, we can’t just create infrastructure on our own, so we’ve worked toward our values-focused goals by bringing principals together for regular developer meetings and by advocating for the adoption of specifications that we believe achieve these goals (and in many cases by creating those specifications ourselves).

In 2024, much of our work in this regard focused on three different specifcations: dCBOR, Envelope, and FROST.

dCBOR

dCBOR is our deterministic profile for the CBOR data format. We adopted CBOR itself for a variety of reasons, including it being self-describing, extensible, and great for constrained devices. However it had one lack (for our purposes): you couldn’t guarantee that two different devices would encode the same data in the same way, at least not for a variety of weird edge cases (such as whether “1.0” and “1” get encoded the same way, and what you should do for maps with illegally duplicated keys, and how to deal with NaN). This was problematic when we were developing Gordian Envelope, which depends on the same data always being represented the same way so that it always hashes the same—hence the need for dCBOR.

dCBOR received a lot of attention from us in the first half of 2024. We went through five drafts of the specification, revising some of our original definitions and incorporating things like Unicode Normalization Form C (NFC). We’re very grateful to our partners from the IETF CBOR group who laid a foundation for us with the CBOR Common Deterministic Encoding draft, which has been advancing in parallel with dCBOR, and who helped us fill in these gaps in dCBOR itself. We increasingly think we have a strong foundation for deterministic CBOR, as seen by its incorporation into the CBOR playground and a variety of libraries.

Implementation by two or more parties is always our mark of success for a Blockchain Commons specification, and we exceeded that for dCBOR in 2024.

Envelope

Of course dCBOR is just the prelude. Our work on dCBOR was done to make Gordian Envelope a reality. Gordian Envelope is our “smart document” format for the storage and transmission of data. It’s focused on privacy and more specifically on the goals of data minimization & selective disclosure. More and more personal data is going online, and so we need data formats where we each control our own data and decide what to disclose to whom. That’s what the hashed data elision of Gordian Envelope allows: any holder of data can choose what’s redacted, without changing the validity of the data package.

One thing we increasingly saw in 2024 was the need to better explain Envelope: its advantages, how it works, and why it’s important. We kicked that off with a presentation to the IETF on why hashed data ellision is important. We also produced a trio of videos on Envelope: a teaser, “Understanding Gordian Envelope” and “Understanding Gordian Envelope Extensions”.

Meanwhile, we’re continuing to extend Gordian Envelope.

To start with, we’ve done a lot more with the Gordian Sealed Transaction Protocol (GSTP) extension that we introduced right at the end of 2023, to support the transmission of sensitive data across telecommunications means that are insecure, unreliable, or both! A feature presentation on the underlying Request/Response system, explained the fundamentals followed by a feature presentation on GSTP itself, which detailed what GSTP looks like now. Our new GSTP developer page has even more info. We’ve also done some investigation into using GSTP with MuSig2.

We also introduced XIDs, or Extensible Identifiers, a new decentralized identifier that’s built using Envelopes. You can experiment with it in code with our new bc-xid-rust library. Decentralized identifiers have been one of our major interests since the topic was first considered at the first Rebooting the Web of Trust workshop, but they’ve never been a big focus at Blockchain Commons due to the simple fact that we haven’t had a patron focused on the topic. (If that could be you, drop us a line!) We were happy to finally offer a little bit of our own on the topic by presenting an ID that’s really decentralized.

Other Envelope experiments in 2024 were about graphs, decorrelation, and signatures. The privacy preserving Envelope format has a lot of legs. We’re looking forward to seeing how they’re used in the years to come!

Teaser:
Understanding Envelope:
Understanding Extensions:
FROST

FROST was the third major specification that Blockchain Commons focused on in 2024. This is a specification that we didn’t develop ourself: it’s based on a paper by Chelsea Komlo and Ian Goldberg. However, we think it’s very important because it allows for resilient, compact, private multisigs, and so we’ve been giving it all the support that we can.

Our prime work here was holding three FROST meetings in 2024 (the last two sponsored by the Human Rights Foundation). We held one meeting for implementers, to help them share information on the continued design of FROST, and we also held two meetings for developers, focused on helping them to actually get FROST into wallets in the next year. Our recordings and presentations from the meetings are full of great FROST resources from an introduction that we put together to a presentation from the first major wallet to implement FROST.

We’ve also done some work to incorporate FROST into our own Rust and Swift Gordian stacks as a reference, by moving over to fully BIP-340 compliant Schnorr signatures. We’d like to do more, including creating a signtool reference, but we’ll have to see if that opportunity arises in 2025.

Developers Meeting 1 (2024): Jesse Posner & Christopher Allen overviewed FROST in our first meeting for wallet developers. Implementers RT 2 (2024): Our second Round Table for Implementers includes presentations from six FROST implementers on their projects. Developers Meeting 2 (2024): An introduction, UX challenges, the UNiFFI SDK, and a FROST Federation were at our second meeting for wallet developers.

Of course, FROST is just a single member of the new class of Multi-Party Computation (MPC) technology. MuSig falls into the same category, as another Schnorr-based technology where key creation is divided among multiple locations. We talked a bit about MuSig and how it could work with Gordian Envelope at our November Gordian meeting.

We think that all of the Schnorr variants are pretty important for the future of the digital world because of their advantages in resilience, security, and privacy.

Keeping it Real

Obviously, not all of Blockchain Commons’ work is focused on high-level specifications. We also produce ready-to-go libraries that developers can use to implement our specs, as well as reference apps that can be used for experimentation and as examples of best practices.

Our app releases in 2024 included Gordian Seed Tool 1.6 (and more recently Gordian Seed Tool 1.6.2), Gordian Server 1.1, and the brand-new seedtool-cli for Rust (with a full user manual). We’ve also updated our entire Swift stack to Swift 6 and continued the development of Rust libraries such as bc-dcbor-rust, bc-depo-rust, bc-envelope-rust, bc-components-rust, and many more!

Hello to the Wider Wallet Community

Our work has always focused on interactions with a larger community, from our IETF work on dCBOR to our Envelope work with our own Gordian community to our FROST meetings.

In 2024, we were thrilled to expand that community to include even more experts in the world of digital assets and identity. Besides our trio of FROST meetings, which brought together most of the principals in that space, we also hosted other expert-talks at our Gordian Developer meetings. That included a presentation on BIP-85 by Aneesh Karve, a look at the Ledger Seed Tool (which uses Blockchain Commons technology) by Aido, and an overview of Payjoin from Dan Gould.

BIP-85:
Ledger Seed Tool:
Payjoin:

If you have a topic that might be of interest to wallet developers, drop us a line, as we’d love to welcome you to the Gordian Developers community and get you on the schedule for a presentation in 2025.

A Focus on Identity

As we said, decentralized identity (including decentralized identifiers) has been a topic of interest to Blockchain Commons since before the foundation of the organization. Christopher Allen previously founded the Web of Trust workshops specifically to investigate how to fulfill the promise of PGP by returning to the idea of decentralized, peer-to-peer identity. Over the course of a dozen workshops, the conference germinated and developed the idea of DIDs and also supported the development of Verifiable Credentials.

Though we’ve never had a sustaining sponsor focused on identity at Blockchain Commons, we’re still involved in these topics as of 2024. Christopher is an Invited Expert to the new W3C DID 1.1 Working Group and participated in the face-to-face plenary at TPAC. He also is an Invited Expert to the Verifiable Claims 1.1 Working Group. Our biggest presentation to the W3C community last year was on how to create DID documents in dCBOR and what the possibilities are for using Envelope to add elision to DID Controller Docs and Verifiable Claims. This inspired our own work on XIDs, which is our own potential proof-of-concept for a DID 2.0 spec. We’ll be working more with these communities in the next year.

We also published a number of articles on decentralized identity in 2024 that were intended to either offer warnings about our current direction for identity or provide new ways forward.

Foremembrance Day Presentation Edge Identifiers & Cliques Open & Fuzzy Cliques Has our SSI Ecosystem Become Morally Bankrupt?

We think that our articles on Edge Identifiers and different sorts of Cliques offer a whole new approach to identity. It models identity not just as something held by a singular individual, but as something shared between pairs and groups of people, who together share a context. (And this is another area that we’d love to do more work on: if you would too, let us know!)

Our other two articles focused on the dangers of identity. The Foremembrance Day article (and video) talked about how dangerous identity became in WWII, a topic we’ve used as a touchstone when considering what we’re creating today. Then our last article talked about how we think the modern identity work that Christopher kicked off with his foundational article on self-sovereign identity may now be going in the wrong direction.

Git Open Integrity Project

Our biggest project that didn’t quite see release in 2024 was the GitHub Open Integrity project. The idea here is simple: use GitHub as a source of truth by turning a repo into a decentralized identifier. We’ve worked through some CLI setup programs and have a repo that demonstrates the verification we’re doing. We’ve also released the SSH Envelope program that we wrote that supported this project by allowing the signing and validation of SSH keys. (Since, we’ve incorporated the signing into the main envelope-cli-rust).

We’re still working on a README that lays out the whole project, but at the moment it’s backburnered for other work …

Coming Soon!

The last few years have been hard on our partners in the digital identity space, due to high interest rates sucking the money out of Web3 seed funds. That in turn has hurt their ability to support us. As a result, we’ve been applying for grants for some of our work.

At the very end of 2024, we had a grant application approved by the Zcash Foundation to produce an extensible wallet interchange format (“ZeWIF”) for Zcash. Though much of our work to date has been used by the Bitcoin ecosystem, advances like animated QRs, Lifehash and SSKR are of use to anyone working with digital assets (and likely a number of other fields). So, we’re thrilled to get to work with Zcash and share some of our principles such as independence, privacy, and openness (which were all part of our “ZeWIF” proposal). We hope this will also lead to adoption of some of our other specifications in the Zcash ecosystem. Obviously, more on this in Q1, as we have it laid out as a three-month project, running from January to March.

Though we’re thrilled with one-off grants like the HRF and Zcash grants that were approved in 2024, Blockchain Commons is also looking for more stable funding sources to continue our work making the digital-asset space safer and more interoperable. You can help this personally by lending your name to Blockchain Commons as a patron, but we’re also looking for companies who are interested in using and expanding our specs, who want to partner with us to do so. Contact us directly to discuss that!

With your support, we’ll be able to produce another report on great advance in 2026.

Picture Frames Designed by Freepik.

Monday, 13. January 2025

Hyperledger Foundation

Mentorship Spotlight - Hyperledger Web3j: Enhancing Android Support with Updated Web3j-android Integration

Project: Hyperledger Web3j: Enhancing Android Support with Updated web3j-android Integration

DIF Blog

Member Spotlight: Alastair Johnson of Nuggets

As AI reshapes our digital world, questions of privacy and digital identity become increasingly critical. DIF member Nuggets is tackling these challenges head-on with their Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents. We interviewed CEO Alastair Johnson to learn how Nuggets is pioneering new approaches to protect individual

As AI reshapes our digital world, questions of privacy and digital identity become increasingly critical. DIF member Nuggets is tackling these challenges head-on with their Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents.

We interviewed CEO Alastair Johnson to learn how Nuggets is pioneering new approaches to protect individual privacy while enabling secure human-AI interactions through their decentralized identity wallet technology. Their insights reveal how enhanced AI capabilities and robust privacy protections can work together to build a more secure digital future.

Can you provide a brief overview of Nuggets and its mission in the digital identity and payments space?

Nuggets is a decentralized identity wallet and payment platform that guarantees trusted transactions, verifiable credentials, uncompromised compliance, and the elimination of fraud.

Our mission is to fundamentally change how personal data is stored, providing unparalleled privacy for everyone and everything and helping to create a radically safer and more secure internet.

What inspired the development of your two new solutions: Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents?

Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents were driven by the needs of our customers. These customers wanted to use AI in an education and healthcare setting but were worried about the privacy of their user data. They needed to effectively manage consent and identity authentication while ensuring privacy and security.

How does the Private Personal AI solution empower individuals in their interactions with AI systems and ensure data privacy and security?

As we’re seeing AI advancing, human-machine interactions are blurring.

The future demands a private, trustable human-AI interface that allows individuals to control their digital identities and data.

The Nuggets wallet ensures data is private and enables users to authenticate and pay for products and services without sharing and storing their data.

Nuggets empowers users with a self-sovereign wallet that prioritizes personal data protection. Your personal information remains completely private and under your exclusive control. Only you can choose to selectively share specific preferences or data with AI agents, ensuring that your sensitive information stays secure and accessible solely to you at all times.

How does the Verified Identity for AI Agents solution benefit organizations deploying autonomous AI agents, and why is it important for AI agents to have their own sovereign digital identities?

In an era where AI agents are increasingly autonomous, establishing trusted digital identities for these agents has become crucial. Nuggets provides a comprehensive framework that ensures AI agents can operate securely and independently while maintaining accountability and trust.

We establish unique, verifiable digital identities for AI Agents. Each agent receives a sovereign identity that's cryptographically secured and fully auditable, allowing them to interact with systems and services while maintaining clear chains of attribution and responsibility.

Alongside establishing the Agent Identity, we enable Agent Authentication and Authorization with robust security measures to ensure only authorized agents can access business systems and data. This provides secure methods for verifying agent identities, preventing unauthorized access, and maintaining the integrity of AI infrastructure.

How do your solutions address concerns around AI accountability, trust, and potential security threats, as highlighted by industry leaders like those in the Salesforce report?

By having a verified source of data, it is both accountable and can be trusted.

Organizations can safeguard sensitive data from emerging cybersecurity risks by leveraging confidential computing and decentralized self-sovereign identity technologies. Our approach creates a secure, isolated computing environment that prevents unauthorized data access and minimizes the potential for breaches in AI systems. By implementing these advanced protection mechanisms, companies can confidently utilize AI technologies while maintaining strict control over their proprietary and confidential information.

How do you envision these products impacting the adoption of AI technologies across various industries?

Private Personal AI with verified identities represents a transformative approach to AI integration. By addressing critical concerns around privacy, security, and accountability, these technologies could accelerate AI adoption across multiple domains, creating more trustworthy and sophisticated human-AI interactions.

The future of AI lies not just in technological capability but in building systems that fundamentally respect individual privacy and maintain transparent, verifiable interactions.

What are Nuggets' plans for future developments in digital identity and AI?

We’ve got some new products launching in Q1 2025 that place personal privacy and user autonomy at the forefront of AI and AI Agents. We are working closely with partners to create products that respect human agency. Our commitment goes beyond mere compliance—we actively design systems that give users unprecedented control, transparency, and peace of mind in their digital interactions, which is more crucial now than ever.

How can our readers learn more?

If anyone’s interested in learning more about these products and how they could work within their organization we’d love to chat. You can reach out to us here.

Further reading on each product can be done via our website on the following product pages: Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents.


We Are Open co-op

Getting this year off to the right start

‘Hamming’ it up in 2025 CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO In our monthly co-op days, our members spend time away from client work, thinking about bigger-picture stuff. We take the 10,000-foot view of our work together. Last week, at the start of a new year, we came together to discuss how we feel about our work and the state of the world. We’ve thought about adjacent things before —
‘Hamming’ it up in 2025 CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO

In our monthly co-op days, our members spend time away from client work, thinking about bigger-picture stuff. We take the 10,000-foot view of our work together. Last week, at the start of a new year, we came together to discuss how we feel about our work and the state of the world.

We’ve thought about adjacent things before — in 2021, for example we came up with the Spirit of WAO which led to us defining five focus areas in 2023. Last year, we shared our “even overs” in which we outlined how we value, for example, work/life balance even over profit/surplus, learning even over efficiency, and documentation even over speed.

There are plenty of people who, right now, think that a “wait and see” attitude is the right orientation to the world. As our former Mozilla colleague Geoffrey MacDougall has pointed out in a recent blog post, those people are wrong. It’s time to roll our sleeves up and get shit done.

Hamming Questions

Based on what we’ve discussed before, we pondered what our Hamming Questions might be for this year:

Mathematician Richard Hamming used to ask scientists in other fields “What are the most important problems in your field?” partly so he could troll them by asking “Why aren’t you working on them?” and partly because getting asked this question is really useful for focusing people’s attention on what matters.

After some time thinking alone, we came up with a range of potential Hamming Questions. Discussing their various merits, we realised that a useful way to phrase them is in the form:

“If [X] how might we [Y] instead of [Z]”

We’re still pondering and thinking, but here are three questions we came up with to sharpen our planning, especially given that 2025 is the UN’s International Year of Co-operatives:

If we want a future that respects people and the planet, what stops us from using worker-owned approaches instead of repeating old power structures? If every person’s talents and skills matter, how can we spread open ways to recognise and reward them, instead of sticking to formal qualifications alone? If AI now shapes so many parts of life, how can we think systemically about community-led digital literacies, instead of letting Big Tech set the agenda?

As you would expect, we’ve got some priors in each area: an email-based course on how to set-up a worker-owned co-op, our work around Open Recognition, and our new site on AI literacies.

Next steps

Are these the kinds of questions YOU are pondering? Do you have access to funding to help us convene people around these issues? Does your organisation need some help coming up with your own Hamming Questions?

Let us know, either in the comments below, or via email: hello@weareopen.coop

Getting this year off to the right start was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Friday, 10. January 2025

EdgeSecure

Company Announcement:Michelle Ferraro Promoted to Associate Vice President of Business Development and Member Engagement

The post Company Announcement:<br />Michelle Ferraro Promoted to Associate Vice President of Business Development and Member Engagement appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

NEWARK, NJ, January 10, 2025 – It is with great pride that we announce the promotion of Michelle Ferraro to the role of Associate Vice President of Business Development and Member Engagement at Edge. Since joining Edge team, Michelle has consistently exemplified exceptional leadership, strategic vision, and a deep dedication to advancing Edge’s mission. Her contributions to member engagement and business development have been pivotal in driving growth and enhancing the experiences of our member institutions.

In her new role, Michelle will report directly to the Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and EdgeEvents. She will play a critical leadership role in driving member engagement, cultivating strong partnerships, and ensuring alignment between Edge’s strategies and the needs of our growing membership base. Her responsibilities will include overseeing member relationship management, spearheading sales and revenue growth initiatives, and optimizing processes to support operational excellence.

Michelle’s expertise, professionalism, and passion for fostering connections within our community will undoubtedly continue to elevate Edge’s mission. As a member of our senior leadership team, she will be instrumental in shaping the organization’s direction and ensuring that it consistently delivers value to our members and stakeholders.

About Edge

Edge serves as a member-owned, nonprofit provider of high performance optical fiber networking and internetworking, Internet2, and a vast array of best-in-class technology solutions for cybersecurity, educational technologies, cloud computing, and professional managed services. Edge provides these solutions to colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, government entities, hospital networks and nonprofit business entities as part of a membership-based consortium. Edge’s membership spans the northeast, along with a growing list of EdgeMarket participants nationwide. Edge’s common good mission ensures success by empowering members for digital transformation with affordable, reliable and thought-leading purpose-built, advanced connectivity, technologies and services.

The post Company Announcement:<br />Michelle Ferraro Promoted to Associate Vice President of Business Development and Member Engagement appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


Company Announcement:Adam Scarzafava Promoted to Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and EdgeEvents

The post Company Announcement:<br />Adam Scarzafava Promoted to Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and EdgeEvents appeared first on NJEdge Inc.

NEWARK, NJ, January 10, 2025 – It is with great pleasure that we announce the promotion of Adam Scarzafava to the role of Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and EdgeEvents at Edge. Since joining us in 2018, Adam has consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership, strategic insight, and a deep commitment to our mission. His exceptional work in digital marketing and communications has been a driving force behind our growth, and we are confident that in his new position, Adam will continue to elevate our brand, drive new business opportunities, and foster deeper connections within the industry.

In his new role, Adam will oversee the development and execution of Edge’s comprehensive marketing strategy, as well as spearheading our business development initiatives and leading the charge on event management. As part of the Executive Leadership Team, Adam will play a pivotal role in shaping the direction of our company, ensuring that our marketing, business development, and event strategies align with our organizational goals. His expertise will be invaluable as we continue to expand our reach, foster partnerships, and create meaningful opportunities for our members and stakeholders.

Please join us in congratulating Adam on this well-deserved promotion. His dedication, vision, and passion for excellence are qualities that will undoubtedly continue to drive Edge forward.

About Edge

Edge serves as a member-owned, nonprofit provider of high performance optical fiber networking and internetworking, Internet2, and a vast array of best-in-class technology solutions for cybersecurity, educational technologies, cloud computing, and professional managed services. Edge provides these solutions to colleges and universities, K-12 school districts, government entities, hospital networks and nonprofit business entities as part of a membership-based consortium. Edge’s membership spans the northeast, along with a growing list of EdgeMarket participants nationwide. Edge’s common good mission ensures success by empowering members for digital transformation with affordable, reliable and thought-leading purpose-built, advanced connectivity, technologies and services.

The post Company Announcement:<br />Adam Scarzafava Promoted to Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and EdgeEvents appeared first on NJEdge Inc.


FIDO Alliance

White Paper: Secure Payment Confirmation

Editors Marc Findon, Nok Nok LabsJonathan Grossar, MastercardFrank-Michael Kamm, Giesecke+DevrientHenna Kapur, VisaSue Koomen, American ExpressGregoire Leleux, WorldlineAlain Martin, ThalesStian Svedenborg, BankID BankAxept 1. Introduction Global e-commerce is booming and is […]
Editors

Marc Findon, Nok Nok Labs
Jonathan Grossar, Mastercard
Frank-Michael Kamm, Giesecke+Devrient
Henna Kapur, Visa
Sue Koomen, American Express
Gregoire Leleux, Worldline
Alain Martin, Thales
Stian Svedenborg, BankID BankAxept

1. Introduction

Global e-commerce is booming and is expected to reach more than $6T by the end of 20241. Having the ability  to sell products online has provided great opportunities for merchants to sell goods and services beyond their  local market; however, it comes with increased fraud. In fact, it is estimated that in 2023, global ecommerce  fraud was roughly to reach $48B1, with the US accounting for 42% of that and the EU with about 26%. 

Download the White Paper

1.1 Current Challenges in Remote Commerce 

There are many types of ecommerce fraud, but the most prevalent type is transaction fraud. Transaction fraud  occurs when a transaction is made on a merchant site with a stolen card and/or stolen credentials. Stolen  credentials are readily available on the dark web to those who know how to access and use them. 

To address those concerns, measures have been introduced to increase the overall security of remote  commerce transactions, including tokenization of payment credentials and cardholder authentication. In some  countries, regulations are mandating the adoption of either or both measures, such as in India or in Europe  (second Payment Services Directive PSD2). These regulations are meant to ensure secure remote transactions;  however, they add complexity to the checkout flow, as they may require a switch between the merchant and  another interface, such as a bank’s interface. 

Unfortunately, additional authentication may add friction which can result in cart abandonment. The main  reasons for cart abandonment include a distrust in the merchant website or a complicated check out flow.  Customers prefer a simple payment process that doesn’t add friction such as that caused by payment failure, the need to respond to a one-time password (OTP) on a separate device, or the need to login into a banking  application. 

1.2 How FIDO can help 

The use of biometric authentication enabled through the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance standards is an  opportunity to deliver a better user experience during the authentication process and hence reduce the risk of  transaction abandonment. 

FIDO has established standards that enable phishing-resistant authentication mechanisms and can be accessed  from native applications and from the most popular browsers – thereby enabling a secure and consistent  experience across the channels used by consumers. FIDO refers to ‘passkeys’ as the FIDO credentials based on  FIDO standards, used by consumers for passwordless authentication. 

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has developed Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC). SPC is a web API  designed to enhance the consumer experience when authenticating to a payment transaction using FIDO  authentication, and to simplify compliance with local regulations (such as PSD2 and dynamic linking in Europe). 

1.3 Scope 

This whitepaper intends to: 

Define Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) and the benefits that it brings when FIDO is used to authenticate payment transactions 

1 https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/ecommerce statistics/#:~:text=The%20global%20e%2Dcommerce%20market,show%20companies%20are%20taking%20advantage.

List the current SPC payment use cases that can deliver those benefits and illustrate consumer  journeys  Provide a status on SPC support and the list of enhancements that could be added to the web standard to further improve security and user experience 2. Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) Benefits

Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) is an extension to the WebAuthn standard, and aims to deliver the  following benefits: 

A browser native user experience that is consistent across all merchants and banks Cryptographic evidence of authentication (FIDO assertion) including transaction details signed by a  FIDO authenticator  Cross origin authentication – For example, even if passkeys are created with the bank as the Relying  Party, merchants can invoke cardholder authentication with passkeys within their environment,  using input parameters received from the bank, so there is no need to redirect the consumer to the  bank to authenticate with passkeys.  

2.1 Browser Native User Experience  

SPC introduces a standardized payment context screen showing details such as a merchant identifier, the card  logo, the last 4 digits of the card number, and the transaction amount. The consumer is invited to explicitly  agree to the transaction information displayed and then authenticate. Therefore, SPC can be experienced as a  mechanism to collect consent from the consumer about the transaction details. 

As in standard WebAuthn, the payment context screen is controlled by the user’s browser which renders  common JavaScript presentation attacks ineffective. The screen provides increased security, as it ensures that  malicious web content cannot alter or obscure the presentation of the transaction details to the user – the  browser display always renders on-top of the web content from the triggering website. Figure 1 depicts an  example of the SPC experience in chrome.

Figure 1 Example of SPC experience in chrome 

2.2 Generation of FIDO Assertion  

With SPC, the transaction-related information displayed to the consumer, such as the merchant identifier and  transaction amount, is sent securely to the FIDO authenticator and is signed by the same authenticator  (transaction data signing). 

The FIDO assertion generated by the authenticator reinforces compliance with some regulations as it does with  the dynamic linking requirement under PSD2 in Europe, because the merchant identifier and transaction  amount will be signed by the authenticator itself. When combined with the browser native user experience  described in section 2.1, the relying party can be confident that the user was shown and agreed to the  transaction details. 

2.3 Cross Origin Authentication  

When using FIDO without SPC, a consumer that creates a passkey with a relying party will always need to be in  the relying party’s domain to authenticate with that passkey. In the remote commerce payment use case, this  means that the consumer typically needs to leave the merchant domain and be redirected to the bank’s domain  for authentication. 

With SPC, any entity authorized by the relying party can initiate user authentication with the passkey that was  created for that relying party. For example, a merchant may be authorized by a bank to authenticate the  cardholder with the bank’s passkey. 

Note that the mechanism for the relying party to authorize an entity to invoke SPC may vary. For example, a  bank may share FIDO credentials with the merchant during an EMV 3DS interaction or through another  integration with a payment scheme. The merchant will then be able to use SPC to initiate the payment  confirmation and authentication process with a passkey, even if that passkey was created with the bank.  Ultimately, the bank maintains the responsibility to validate the authentication. 

2.4 Interoperability With Other Standards 

SPC can be used in combination with other industry standards such as EMV 3-D Secure and Secure Remote  Commerce (SRC), both of which are EMVCo global and interoperable standards.

3. SPC Use Cases

SPC can be used to streamline payments in a variety of remote commerce checkout scenarios such as guest  checkout or a checkout using a payment instrument stored on file with a merchant.  

In each of those payment scenarios, the relying party may be the issuer of the payment instrument (the bank), or a payment network on behalf of the bank. 

The flows provided in this Chapter are for illustrative purposes and may be subject to compliance with  applicable laws and regulations. 

3.1 SPC With Bank as Relying Party 

The creation of a passkey can be initiated outside of or during the checkout process: 

Within the banking interface:  For example, when the consumer is within the banking application and registers a passkey  with their bank, in which case the passkey will be associated to one or multiple payment  cards and to the consumer device  Within the merchant interface:  For example, when the consumer is authenticated by the bank during an EMV 3DS flow and  is prompted to create a passkey with the bank to speed up future checkouts – in which case  the passkey will be associated to the payment card used for the transaction (and to additional  payment cards depending on the bank’s implementation), as well as to the device used by the  consumer 

Figure 2 depicts the sequence (seven steps) of a passkey creation during a merchant checkout, where the  merchant uses EMV 3DS and the consumer is authenticated by their bank:

Figure 2: Passkey creation during checkout

Once the passkey creation is complete, any merchant that has received the passkey information (which includes  FIDO identifiers and Public Key) from the bank, through a mechanism agreed with the bank or the payment  scheme, will be able to use SPC. Such a mechanism may include EMV 3DS or another integration with the  payment scheme. For example, a merchant who implements EMV 3DS (i.e., version 2.32) will be able to benefit  from SPC through the following steps: 

1. When the merchant initiates EMV 3DS to authenticate the consumer, the bank decides whether an  active authentication of the cardholder is necessary. If the decision is to perform the active  authentication of the cardholder, the bank can first retrieve one or several passkeys associated with the  card used for the transaction, verify that the consumer is on the same registered device, and then  returns the passkey(s) information to the merchant. 

2. The merchant invokes the SPC web API to a SPC-supporting browser, including a few parameters in the  request, such as the passkey information, card / bank / network logos, the merchant identifier and the  transaction amount. 

3. If the browser can find a match for one of those passkeys on the device used by the consumer, the  browser displays the logos, merchant identifier and the transaction amount to the consumer, and  prompts for authentication with the passkey. 

4. The authentication results are returned to the merchant, who in turn will share those results with the  bank for validation through the EMV 3DS protocol. 

Figure 3 depicts an example of an authentication flow using SPC and EMV 3DS, with a previously registered  passkey:

Figure 3: Authentication sequence using SPC and EMV 3DS

3.2 SPC With Payment Scheme as Relying Party 

In some payment scenarios, payment schemes can be a relying party on-behalf of the banks to remove the need  for banks to deploy a FIDO infrastructure, thereby scaling the adoption of passkeys faster. 

The creation of a passkey can be initiated outside of or during the checkout process:

Outside of the checkout: for example, when the consumer is within the banking application and the  bank invites the consumer to create a passkey for faster and more secure transactions, the passkey  can be created with the payment scheme as the relying party, and will be associated by the payment  scheme to one or multiple payment cards and to the consumer device; or  Before, during or after a checkout: for example, the consumer may be prompted to create a passkey  for faster and more secure transactions at merchants supporting the payment scheme’s payment  method. The passkey will be associated by the payment scheme to one or multiple payment cards  and to the consumer device, once the identity of the consumer has been verified by the bank. Figure 4 depicts this sequence. 

Figure 4 Passkey creation during checkout 

Once the passkey creation is complete, any merchant that is using the authentication facilitated by the payment  scheme will be able to benefit from SPC: 

The merchant checks with the payment scheme that a passkey is available for the card used in the  transaction and retrieves the passkey information from the payment scheme.   The merchant invokes the SPC web API with the merchant identifier and transaction amount.  If the browser can find a match for one of those passkeys on the device used by the consumer, the  browser displays the merchant identifier and the transaction amount to the consumer, card / bank /  network logos, then prompts for authentication with the passkey.  The authentication results are returned to the payment scheme that validates the results. The  payment scheme shares those results with the bank, during an authorization message, for the bank  to review and approve the transaction. Figure 5 shows this sequence.

Figure 5: Authentication sequence using SPC
(left to right)
1. & 2. Checkout at the merchant’s store
3. Passkey is found, transaction details displayed and consent is gathered
4. Device authenticator prompts cardholder for gesture
5. Confirmation of gesture
6. Transaction completed by the merchant

3.3 Summary of SPC Benefits 

The benefits provided by SPC include: 

Cross-origin authentication – Any merchant authorized by a Relying Party can request the  generation of a FIDO assertion during a transaction even when they are not the relying party. This  provides a better user experience as there is no redirect that is required to the relying party to  perform consumer authentication.  Consistent user experience with increased trust – With SPC, the consumer has a consistent user  experience across all merchants and independently of who plays the role of relying party. In each  case, the consumer will see a window displayed by the browser, that includes payment details, the  logos of their card / bank / payment scheme, increasing the trust in using FIDO authentication for  their payments.  Increased security – With SPC, the FIDO assertion will include payment details in the cryptogram  generation such as the merchant identifier and transaction amount, making it difficult to modify any  of those details in the transaction without being detected by the bank or payment scheme. This also  simplifies the compliance with local regulations such as PSD2 regulation related to dynamic linking. 4. Status of SPC Support and Future Enhancement

4.1 Availability 

Secure Payment Confirmation is currently published as a W3C Candidate Recommendation, and there is on going work to include this as an authentication method in EMVCo specifications. 

At the time of writing, the availability of the Secure Payment Confirmation API is limited to:

Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers  MacOS, Windows, and Android operating systems. 

4.2 Future Enhancements 

The W3C Web Payments Working Group continues to work and iterate on Secure Payment Confirmation with  the goal of improving the security and the user experience when consumers authenticate for payments on the  web.  

Features currently under consideration include: 

Improve user and merchant experiences when there is not a credential available on the current  device (i.e., a fallback user experience)  Improve consumer trust with additional logos being displayed to the user, such as bank logo and  card network logo  Improve security with support for device binding, with the browser providing access to a  browser/device-bound key  Consider additional use cases such as recurring payments or support for roaming and hybrid FIDO  authenticators

An example of enhanced SPC transaction UX that is under review is illustrated in Figure 6. 

Figure 6: SPC transaction UX under review

5. Conclusion

Secure Payment Confirmation (SPC) is a web standard that has been designed to facilitate the use of strong authentication during payment transactions with best-in-class user experience, where the relying party can be a  bank or a payment scheme.  

The main benefits of SPC are to deliver an improved user experience, with the display of transaction details that  the consumer approves with FIDO authentication, and to enable cross-origin authentication when a merchant  authenticates a consumer without the need to redirect to the relying party (the bank or the payment scheme).  

SPC also facilitates the inclusion of the transaction details within the FIDO signature, which can help deliver  higher security and/or simplify the compliance with local regulations.

6. Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the following people (in alphabetic order) for their valuable feedback and comments:

Boban Andjelkovic, BankID BankAxept  John Bradley, Yubico  Karen Chang, Egis  Jeff Lee, Infineon  Olivier Maas, Worldline 7. References

[1] “EMV 3-D Secure,” [Online]. Available: https://www.emvco.com/emv-technologies/3-d-secure/.
[2] “Secure Payment Confirmation,” [Online]. Available: w3.org/TR/secure-payment-confirmation/. 
[3] “Secure Remote Commerce,” [Online]. Available: https://www.emvco.com/emv-technologies/secure remote-commerce/.


IDunion

Cost savings through Organizational Digital Identities

Cost saving estimation for the Use Case „Know your Supplier” based on automated master data management with EUDI wallets for legal entities The paper was prepared by the scientific research provider for the program, „Begleitforschung Sichere Digitale Identitäten,“ led by the European School for Management and Technology (ESMT), on behalf of the BMWK. 1 Introduction […]
Cost saving estimation for the Use Case „Know your Supplier” based on automated master data management with EUDI wallets for legal entities

The paper was prepared by the scientific research provider for the program, „Begleitforschung Sichere Digitale Identitäten,“ led by the European School for Management and Technology (ESMT), on behalf of the BMWK.

1 Introduction to the Showcase Program Secure Digital Identities

The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) is the initiator and funder of the „Secure Digital Identities“ Showcase Program. Over the course of four years (2021 to 2024), the four showcase projects – IDunion, ID-Ideal, ONCE, and SDIKA – have worked on more than 100 use cases related to secure digital identities. These projects have also developed various types of wallets, which have been tested and implemented in multiple pilot environments. The Showcase Program has supported Research & Development (R&D) efforts, resulting in the creation of seven edge wallets, three organizational wallets, and one cloud wallet. Within this framework, IDunion has specifically focused on developing organizational identities, including use cases such as „Know-your-supplier.“ This paper outlines the cost savings achieved through automated supplier master data management, leveraging EUDI wallets for legal entities and the EU Company Certificate Attestation (EUCC) issued by QEAA providers in accordance with Company Law. The paper was prepared by the scientific research provider for the program, „Begleitforschung Sichere Digitale Identitäten,“ led by the European School for Management and Technology (ESMT), on behalf of the BMWK.

2 Cost saving estimation

Current situation: Currently corporations maintain their supplier and customer master data records manually, which is time-consuming and leads to errors and redundancies. Large corporations need to maintain and assure high quality of several hundred up to millions of master data records. The maintenance costs per single data set was estimated to 11 €/year. The master data set considered for the cost estimation was limited to company name and address data and therefore is a subset of the data that will be available with the PID for legal person and the EUCC.
Solution based on EUDIW: EU Digital Identity Wallets (EDIW), PID for legal entities and public registry extracts (e.g. EUCC) as QEAAs enable almost completely automated management of business partner data. Suppliers present their attestations from their legal entity wallet to customers or legal entity wallets of other business partners. Presentation, verification and the transfer to internal systems is performed automatically. This reduces the number of proprietary data records maintained in parallel and minimizes manual, error-prone data entry.
Cost savings: The solution enables annual savings of estimated €85 billion for German companies. Only German companies with more than 2 million sales/year where included in this estimation. It was assumed that only their European business partners provide their data as verifiable attestations. This underscores the transformative impact of the EUDIW solution on master data management and its strategic importance for the private sector on the path to digital efficiency.

Conservative assumptions for the estimation model below1

Estimation of master data sets: The estimation is done by estimating the number of potential B2B relationships of ompanies and assuming that a B2B relationship generates at least one master data set. In practice, however, master data is often stored and replicated in different systems. As this is not considered, the cost savings in the estimation are therefore calculated conservatively. Annual master data maintenance costs: On average, a company incurs annual costs of around €11 per master data maintenance. This estimation is based on an estimation performed by „Verband Deutscher Automobilhersteller“ (VDA). Number of master data sets for large companies: An average of 300,000 master data was assumed for large companies based on project estimates and VDA work. It was also assumed that 60% of the master data per company is attributable to the EU suppliers (i.e. 180,000 master data items on average for large companies) and therefore only these are relevant for the EUDIW-based solution. Scaling based on turnover: The estimated number of B2B relationships of large companies can be scaled to other company sizes based on turnover2 Implementation costs: The implementation costs are assumed to be €600 per year for small companies (<€10 million turnover). These costs are scaled to the larger company categories based on turnover. In addition to the implementation costs, companies must purchase the mentioned attestations (LPID, EUCC). The assumed costs are €1,000 per year. These costs are independent of the size of the company. Further implementation costs such as integration into ERP/CRM modules are neglected, as it is assumed that the market leaders will integrate the EUDIW modules accordingly. Very small companies: Due to their high number and heterogeneity in turnover and employee structure, very small companies are not included in the modeling, which leads to a more conservative savings estimate3

Estimation model4

Potential savings for German companies5

Current costs for supplier master data maintenance€ 85.3bnImplementation costs€ 0.35bnAnnual costs for the EU Digital Wallet€ 0.25bnPotential total savings€ 84.7bn

Current master data maintenance costs

Enterprise sizeNumberCosts per company6Total costsBig Enterprises715,500€ 2m€ 30.7bnSmall Medium Enterprises850,500€ 0.8m€ 40.4bnSmall Enterprises9185,000€ 0.08m€ 14.2bnTotal Maintenance Costs€ 85.3bn

Implementation Costs

Enterprise SizeNumberCost per enterprise10Total CostsBig Enterprises15,500€ 6,300€ 98mSmall Medium Enterprises50,500€ 2,500€ 126mSmall Enterprises185,500€ 600€ 111mTotal Implementation Costs€ 335m (€ 0.35bn)

Annual EUDI wallet costs

Enterprise SizeNumberCost per enterprise11Total CostsBig Enterprises15,500€ 1,000€ 15.5mSmall Medium Enterprises50,500€ 1,000€ 50.5mSmall Enterprises185,500€ 1,000€ 185mTotal Implementation Costs€ 251m (€ 0.25bn) Unless otherwise stated, the source is based on the calculations and statements of the IDunion project and the
accompanying research SDI Based on: Federal Statistical Office (2023): Turnover sizes per company class, to be found at:
https://www.destatis.de/DE/Themen/BranchenUnternehmen/Unternehmen/Unternehmensregister/Tabellen/unternehmen-umsatzgroessenklassen-wz08.html This does not include 2.6 million very small enterprises, as there is a very high turnover variance (between €0
and €2 million turnover) and no valid statements can be made about average master data sets (see Federal
Statistical Office (2023): Genesis-Online. To be found at https://wwwgenesis.destatis.de/genesis/online?sequenz=statistikTabellen&selectionname=48121#abreadcrumb) The figures have been rounded for better understanding. The exact calculations were made in MS Excel, if
desired, this data can be made available. Please contact werner.folkendt@de.bosch.com Calculation method: Potential total savings = Current costs for supplier master data maintenance – cost of
Implementation costs – Annual costs of the EU Digital Wallet Based on estimated maintenance costs of € 11 per master data (source: IDunion and Verband Deutscher
Automobilhersteller) A large company has a turnover of > €50 million (source: Federal Statistical Office, 2023) A medium-sized company has a turnover of €10-50 million (source: Federal Statistical Office, 2023) A small business has a turnover of € 2-10 million (source: Federal Statistical Office, 2023). Very small enterprises
are not included here. The costs were calculated based on the willingness to pay of small companies (€600) and scaled for mediumsized and large companies. (Source: IDunion) Corresponds to the cost of a wallet per year (source: IDunion)

Thursday, 09. January 2025

Origin Trail

Trace Labs, Core Developers of OriginTrail, Welcomes Fady Mansour to the Advisory Board

Trace Labs, the core builders behind the OriginTrail ecosystem, is pleased to announce the expansion of its advisory board with the addition of Fady Mansour, lawyer and partner with Friedman Mansour LLP and Managing Partner at Ethical Capital Partners. With his wide breadth of experience, Mr. Mansour brings important expertise in regulatory matters, particularly in online data protection. In his

Trace Labs, the core builders behind the OriginTrail ecosystem, is pleased to announce the expansion of its advisory board with the addition of Fady Mansour, lawyer and partner with Friedman Mansour LLP and Managing Partner at Ethical Capital Partners. With his wide breadth of experience, Mr. Mansour brings important expertise in regulatory matters, particularly in online data protection.

In his advisory role, Mr. Mansour will provide strategic guidance to bolster OriginTrail’s strategic importance for combating illicit online content, safeguarding intellectual property, and fostering reliable AI applications for a safer digital landscape in its Internet-scale ambition.

OriginTrail ecosystem, powered by decentralized knowledge graph technology, is dedicated to promoting responsible AI and sustainable technology adoption. By joining the advisory board, Mr. Mansour will be instrumental in shaping Trace Labs’ mission to drive ethical, human-centric technological innovation across industries.

Mr. Mansour completes the Trace Labs advisory board of existing members:

Dr. Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet founder, Internet pioneer and 2023 Turing Award Winner; Greg Kidd, Hard Yaka founder and investor; Ken Lyon, global expert on logistics and transportation; Chris Rynning, Managing Partner at AMYP Venture — Piëch — Porsche Family Office; Toni Piëch, Founder & Chair of Board at Toni Piëch Foundation & Piëch Automotive; Fady Mansour, Managing Partner at Ethical Capital Partners.

Trace Labs, Core Developers of OriginTrail, Welcomes Fady Mansour to the Advisory Board was originally published in OriginTrail on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


Bridging trust between humans and AI agents with Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) and ElizaOS…

Bridging trust between humans and AI agents with Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) and ElizaOS framework In the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in robotics, trust is not just a luxury — it’s a necessity. The Three Laws of Robotics, conceptualized by the visionary Isaac Asimov, provide a well-known foundational ethical structure for robots: A robot may not injure a hum
Bridging trust between humans and AI agents with Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) and ElizaOS framework

In the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in robotics, trust is not just a luxury — it’s a necessity. The Three Laws of Robotics, conceptualized by the visionary Isaac Asimov, provide a well-known foundational ethical structure for robots:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Ensuring these laws are adhered to in practice requires more than just programming; it necessitates a system where the knowledge upon which AI agents operate is transparent, verifiable, and trusted. This is where OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) comes into play, offering a groundbreaking approach to enhancing the trustworthiness of AI.

Transparency and verifiability

One of the key aspects of the DKG is its capacity for transparency. By organizing AI-grade Knowledge Assets (KAs) in a decentralized manner, DKG ensures that the data AI agents use to make decisions can be traced back to their origins, with any tampering or modifications of that data being transparently recorded and verifiable on the blockchain. This is crucial for the First Law, where transparency in data sourcing can prevent AI from making decisions that might harm humans due to incorrect or biased information.

Ownership and control

The DKG allows for each Knowledge Asset to be associated with a non-fungible token (NFT), providing clear ownership and control over the information. This aspect directly impacts how AI agents adhere to the Second Law. Namely, by allowing agents to own their knowledge, DKG empowers AI agents to respond to human commands based on a robust, reliable data set that they control, ensuring they follow human directives while also adhering to the ethical boundaries set by the laws. This capability also allows agents to monetize Knowledge Assets that they have created (i.e. charge other agents (AI or human) for accessing their structured data), enabling agents’ economic independence.

Contextual understanding and decision-making

The semantic capabilities of DKG provide AI with a richer context for understanding the world — an ontological, symbolic world model to complement GenAI inferencing, which is vital for the Third Law. The interconnected nature of knowledge in the DKG means it is contextualized better, allowing AI to make decisions with a comprehensive view of the situation. For example, understanding the broader implications of self-preservation in contexts where human safety is paramount ensures that robots do not prioritize their existence over human well-being.

Building trust through decentralization

Decentralization is at the heart of the DKG’s effectiveness in fostering trust:

Avoiding centralized control: Traditional centralized databases can be points of failure or manipulation, especially in multi-agent scenarios. In contrast, DKG distributes control, reducing the risk of misuse or bias in AI decision-making. This decentralized approach helps build a collective, trustworthy intelligence that aligns with human values and safety. Community contribution: DKG facilitates a crowdsourced approach to knowledge, where contributions from various stakeholders can enrich the AI’s understanding of ethical and practical scenarios, further aligning AI behavior with the Three Laws. This community aspect also encourages ongoing vigilance and updates to the knowledge base, ensuring AI systems remain relevant and safe. Grow and read AI Agents’ minds with the ChatDKG framework powered by DKG and ElizaOS

The upgrade of ChatDKG marks a pioneering moment, combining the power of the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) with the ElizaOS framework to create the first AI agent of its kind. Empowered by DKG, ChatDKG utilizes the DKG as collective memory to store and retrieve information in a transparent, verifiable manner, allowing for an unprecedented level of interaction where humans can essentially “read the AI’s mind” by accessing its data and thought processes. This unique feature not only enhances transparency but also fosters trust between humans and AI.

The integration with ElizaOS is based on a dedicated DKG plugin, with which ElizaOS agents can create contextually rich knowledge graph memories, storing structured information about their experiences, insights, and decisions. These memories can be shared and made accessible across the DKG network, forming a collective pool of knowledge graph memories. This allows individual agents to access, analyze, and learn from the experiences of other agents, creating a dynamic ecosystem where collaboration drives network effects between memories. See an example memory knowledge graph created by the ChatDKG agent here.

Tapping into collective memory will be enhanced with strong agent reputation systems and robust knowledge graph verification mechanisms. Agents can assess the trustworthiness of shared memories, avoiding hallucinations or false data while making decisions. This not only enables more confident and precise decision-making but also empowers agent swarms to operate with unprecedented coherence and accuracy. Whether predicting trends, solving complex problems, or coordinating large-scale tasks, agents will be able to achieve a new level of intelligence and reliability.

Yet, this is only the beginning of the journey toward “collective neuro-symbolic AI,” where the synthesis of symbolic reasoning and deep learning, enriched by shared, verifiable knowledge, will redefine the boundaries of artificial intelligence. The possibilities for collaborative intelligence are limitless, paving the way for systems that think, learn, and evolve together.

Moreover, ChatDKG invites users to contribute to its memory base, growing and refining its knowledge through direct interaction. This interactive approach leverages the ElizaOS framework’s capabilities to ensure that each exchange informs the AI and enriches its understanding, making it a dynamic participant in the evolving landscape of knowledge.

Talk to the ChatDKG AI agent on X to grow and read his memory!

Bridging trust between humans and AI agents with Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) and ElizaOS… was originally published in OriginTrail on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Wednesday, 08. January 2025

Next Level Supply Chain Podcast with GS1

Behind the Barcode: How Modernization, Sustainability & AI are Shaping the Supply Chain

As 2025 approaches, supply chain trends like digital transformation, AI, sustainability, and smart logistics remain top of mind. In this episode, James Chronowski, Vice President of Strategic Account Management at GS1 US, joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to explore how data quality plays a crucial role in addressing these trends. James offers practical insights for businesses to tackle eme

As 2025 approaches, supply chain trends like digital transformation, AI, sustainability, and smart logistics remain top of mind.

In this episode, James Chronowski, Vice President of Strategic Account Management at GS1 US, joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to explore how data quality plays a crucial role in addressing these trends. James offers practical insights for businesses to tackle emerging challenges and seize opportunities in an evolving supply chain landscape.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The top trends shaping the supply chain industry in 2025 

Why data quality and governance are essential for businesses

How to build resilient supply chains in a rapidly changing environment

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introducing Next Level Supply Chain

(02:36) Current and future trends in the supply chain

(08:20) The foundational role of data governance 

(11:42) How businesses can be more resilient in 2025

(13:52) James Chronowski’s favorite tech

 

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with the guest:

James Chronowski on LinkedIn

Tuesday, 07. January 2025

OpenID

Strengthening cybersecurity measures – the OpenID Foundation’s recommendations on ENISA’s guidance for the NIS2 Directive

As the European Union continues to strengthen its cybersecurity framework, the NIS2 Directive serves as a pivotal measure to protect critical infrastructure and essential services across member states.  Committed to advancing secure and interoperable digital identity standards, the OpenID Foundation welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this critical initiative and has provided comments o

As the European Union continues to strengthen its cybersecurity framework, the NIS2 Directive serves as a pivotal measure to protect critical infrastructure and essential services across member states. 

Committed to advancing secure and interoperable digital identity standards, the OpenID Foundation welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this critical initiative and has provided comments on ENISA’s draft technical guidance for the cybersecurity measures of the NIS2 Directive.

Below, we highlight key themes and recommendations from our review.

Taking compliance monitoring beyond paper-based processes

ENISA’s guidance on compliance monitoring emphasizes regular reviews and reporting to management bodies. However, we believe this framework can be strengthened to incorporate empirical testing and global standards-based approaches. 

Compliance monitoring should, for example, evaluate and certify implementations against relevant global standards. Certification ensures systems are built on a robust foundation and remain aligned with evolving requirements.

Processes also need to be more empirical. Paper-based compliance captures the intent of a solution but can fail to capture changes in deployed systems and can also lag evolving adversarial tactics. Real-time monitoring and periodic recertification are critical to address these gaps.

The OpenID Foundation’s recommendations are to incorporate steps to evaluate applicable global standards, test implementations for conformity to standards, certify compliance, and maintain real-time reporting to highlight non-conformant implementations.

Ensuring robust independent security reviews

Independent reviews are vital for assessing security practices. The OpenID Foundation emphasizes the importance of aligning such reviews with global standards. 

When it comes to certification and self-certification, implementations of security protocols, such as OpenID Connect and FAPI, should undergo technical conformance testing and certification. This ensures interoperability and security across ecosystems.

Continuous testing also needs to be considered. Cloud-based and dynamic environments require ongoing testing to detect implementation issues in real-time.

The OpenID Foundation recommends that steps be taken to document technical certifications and ensure real-time conformance testing as part of the review process.

Expanding the scope of security testing 

The guidance outlines a range of security tests, but omits protocol conformance testing. This is a critical measure for detecting implementation errors in security protocols.

The OpenID Foundation recommends revising the guidance to include protocol conformance testing alongside vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and other methodologies. Additionally, OIDF emphasizes the importance of certification in ensuring secure implementations.

Network security addressing interoperability challenges

Modern systems increasingly rely on external integrations and APIs, creating a complex web of dependencies. ENISA’s guidance on network security should address these realities. All endpoints, especially those involving external integrations, should be regularly tested and certified for conformance.

Furthermore, integrating shared signals frameworks can enhance real-time risk detection and response, particularly in scenarios involving session or credential lifecycle changes.

The OpenID Foundation recommends adding provisions for endpoint testing and integration of shared signal protocols for dynamic decision-making and enhanced security.

Strengthening policies and implementation for access control

The guidance on access control would benefit from additional considerations. The incorporation of data classification and risk appetite into access control decisions will help ensure that controls are tailored to the sensitivity and criticality of assets. Another consideration is enabling real-time revocation of access rights based on signals indicating changes in risk.

The OpenID Foundation recommends including references to asset classification and shared signals frameworks to enhance access control policies.

Clarifying the scope of authentication and authorization

While the guidance addresses authentication, it often extends into areas of authorization without explicitly acknowledging the distinction. Clear terminology is essential to avoid misunderstandings. A starting point would be to rename the section to ‘Authentication and Authorization’ to reflect its broader scope.

Further, specifying secure protocols like OpenID Connect, FAPI, and Shared Signals Framework would help ensure implementations can effectively mitigate specific security risks.

The OpenID Foundation recommends renaming the section and providing detailed examples of secure authentication and authorization practices, including conformance testing.

Secure communication protocols for privileged and administrative accounts

Managing privileged accounts is a high-risk area that requires stringent controls, but the current guidance simply calls for policies for managing privileged accounts as part of access control.

The OpenID Foundation recommends referencing secure communication protocols for privileged account management. The need for rigorous authentication measures, linking to broader authentication requirements and the use of secure communication protocols, should also be highlighted clearly for implementers.

More accountability in identity management

Guidance around identity management highlights that organizations should maintain an inventory of user and privileged identities. However, more comprehensive identity management procedures and technology are needed to ensure risk is minimized and that there is clear accountability.

The OpenID Foundation recommends clarifying the term ‘service identities’ and providing examples. Details on the privileges associated with each identity should also be included, and identity lifecycle processes should be documented to ensure ongoing accountability.

Why global standards matter

The OpenID Foundation commends ENISA for its comprehensive guidance and commitment to improving cybersecurity across the EU and urges further alignment with global standards.

Standards, such as OpenID Connect and FAPI, ensure security, interoperability, and scalability across digital identity ecosystems. By incorporating them, ENISA can further enhance the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures, reduce fragmentation across EU member states, and foster trust and collaboration among stakeholders.

The OpenID Foundation remains committed to supporting ENISA and the broader cybersecurity community through open standards and constructive dialogue. We welcome the opportunity for follow-up discussions and stand ready to provide further input as needed.

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy-preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the Financial Grade API has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.   

The post Strengthening cybersecurity measures – the OpenID Foundation’s recommendations on ENISA’s guidance for the NIS2 Directive first appeared on OpenID Foundation.


Elastos Foundation

BeL2 Arbiter Network: Your Setup Guide to Bitcoin DeFi and Incentive Rewards

The BeL2 Arbiter Network enables decentralized, non-custodial Bitcoin DeFi by connecting Bitcoin’s mainnet to EVM-compatible smart contracts through cryptographic proofs. This marks a pivotal moment where Bitcoin can interact and communicate with other blockchains, uniting years of innovation into a new non-custodial financial layer built on digital gold. Arbiters play a critical role in this […]

The BeL2 Arbiter Network enables decentralized, non-custodial Bitcoin DeFi by connecting Bitcoin’s mainnet to EVM-compatible smart contracts through cryptographic proofs. This marks a pivotal moment where Bitcoin can interact and communicate with other blockchains, uniting years of innovation into a new non-custodial financial layer built on digital gold.

Arbiters play a critical role in this ecosystem, ensuring transaction fairness, resolving disputes, and earning fees. With the recent deployment of BeL2’s Beta Arbiter Network, now is the perfect opportunity to become one of the first to support the system and earn rewards, including the upcoming incentive program launching this Wednesday!

In this article, we provide a comprehensive guide on getting started, complete with a PDF and video support. Alongside the videos linked below, use the provided PDF as detailed documentation to assist you in the setup process. If you wish to instead speak with an AI Assistant, our BeL2 GPT is available 24/7 to help you with this task too. Okay, let’s jump in!

1. BeL2 Arbiter Prerequisites

Before beginning the setup, ensure you have the following:

Hardware Requirements: CPU: Minimum 2 cores RAM: 8GB+ Storage: 100GB SSD+ Network: 100Mbps internet connection Software and Wallets: Elastos Smart Chain Wallet: Funded with ELA tokens. Metamask Browser Extension: For Arbiter registration. Bitcoin Wallet: Such as Unisat or OKX browser extension. Go (1.20 or newer): Install from Go’s official site. Mobile: Use Web3 Essentials’ built-in browser. Desktop: Use Metamask and Unisat wallets. Should you need to add the Elastos Smart Chain (ESC) network on Metamask, please refer to https://elastos.info/explorers/ Elastos networks section 2. Register as an BeL2 Arbiter

Visit the Arbiter Beta Portal: https://arbiter.bel2.org/ Connect Your Wallet: Use Metamask to connect your ESC wallet. Set Up Arbiter Settings: Fee Rate: Define your annual fee rate (e.g., 10%). Service Commitment Deadline: Specify a time period for your service. BTC Address: Enter your Bitcoin address and public key. Stake: Choose between staking ELA (minimum 1 ELA) or NFTs for collateral. Finalize Registration: Submit your configuration to complete the process. 3. Set Up the BeL2 Arbiter Signer Node

Please follow the the provided PDF for detailed documentation.

Congratulations! By completing this setup, you’ll contribute to a decentralized BTC finance ecosystem while earning rewards as an Arbiter. This week, we will be announcing the community incentives program where you can earn additional ELA rewards for participation in the system, including Native Bitcoin lending integration for the first utility access to the BTC lending DApp. Did you enjoy this article? To learn more, follow Infinity for the latest updates here!


DIF Blog

DIF Welcomes the Camino Network Foundation!

We are thrilled to announce that the Camino Network Foundation has joined the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) as our newest member. This partnership marks an exciting development in our collective goals to build an open ecosystem for decentralized identity, particularly in the global travel space. Advancing Digital Identity in Travel

We are thrilled to announce that the Camino Network Foundation has joined the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) as our newest member. This partnership marks an exciting development in our collective goals to build an open ecosystem for decentralized identity, particularly in the global travel space.

Advancing Digital Identity in Travel

Camino Network brings unique expertise in blockchain technology for the travel industry, operating a specialized layer-one blockchain designed specifically for travel-related use cases. Their focus on creating a permissioned yet public infrastructure for travel industry stakeholders enables interoperable, secure digital identity systems.

Shared Vision for Individual Control

What makes this partnership particularly compelling is our shared commitment to individual-controlled identity. Camino Network's architecture, which emphasizes regulatory compliance while maintaining user privacy and control, demonstrates their dedication to building responsible identity solutions that put users first.

Technical Innovation Meets Real-World Application

Camino Network's technical capabilities feature sub-second transaction finality, high throughput capacity of 4,500 transactions per second, energy-efficient consensus mechanism, and strong security features.

These technical foundations provide an excellent platform for implementing decentralized identity solutions that can scale to meet the demanding needs of the global travel industry.

Looking Forward

Together with the Camino Network Foundation, we look forward to:

Collaborating on educational initiatives, including webinars, hackathons, and related events Investigating cutting-edge identity solutions for travel-focused use cases Establishing standards that align traditional travel industry needs with decentralized identity principles Delivering more efficient and secure digital identity management options for travelers Promoting the real-world adoption of decentralized identity in travel applications

The addition of the Camino Network Foundation to DIF strengthens our community's ability to deliver practical, scalable identity solutions. Their expertise in building industry-specific blockchain infrastructure, combined with their understanding of travel industry requirements, will be invaluable as we work together to advance the state of decentralized identity.

Get Involved

We encourage all DIF members to welcome the Camino Network Foundation and explore potential collaborations. Welcome aboard, Camino Network Foundation! We're excited to work together in building the future of digital identity.


Velocity Network

Results of 3rd Annual Elections to the Board of the Velocity Network Foundation

The Trust Framework is an indispensable aspect of the Velocity Network and one of its founding principles. It is critical to understand it to have a complete view of the Network and its goals and purposes. Please watch as Velocity Head of Product and Technology Andres Olave presents an overview of the Trust Framework in the context of the Velocity Network. The post Results of 3rd Annual Election

Blockchain Commons

Musings of a Trust Architect: How My Values Inform Design

ABSTRACT: By grounding technical decisions in ethical values, we can create compassionate digital architectures. This article examines how core human values such as dignity, autonomy, and human rights inform the design of trustworthy digital systems to enable progressive trust, safeguard privacy, promote individual choice, and build resilient systems resistant to coercion. As we enter 2025, I’m ref

ABSTRACT: By grounding technical decisions in ethical values, we can create compassionate digital architectures. This article examines how core human values such as dignity, autonomy, and human rights inform the design of trustworthy digital systems to enable progressive trust, safeguard privacy, promote individual choice, and build resilient systems resistant to coercion.

As we enter 2025, I’m reflecting on a journey of decades that has been dedicated to advancing privacy, security, and human autonomy in the digital age. My body of work dates back to the 1990s, which saw my early contributions with cryptographic pioneers and my co-authorship of the IETF TLS 1.0 standard. But this year marks the 10th anniversary of the first “Rebooting Web of Trust” workshop, which was a real milestone for my leadership role in shaping secure technologies such as Self-Sovereign Identity and the W3C Decentralized Identifiers standard.

Over the past decade, my focus as a trust architect has sharpened on designing digital systems that empower individuals while respecting core values such as autonomy and human dignity. These designs play a critical role in how individuals express themselves, engage with communities, and pursue their aspirations in a world increasingly shaped by digital interactions.

Yet, this digital realm presents a dual reality. While it opens up unprecedented opportunities, it also makes us increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, coercion, and pervasive surveillance. This tension places a profound responsibility on architects of digital systems: we must ensure that technical designs are guided by deeply rooted human values and ethical principles.

Looking ahead to the next ten years, I reaffirm my commitment to these values, charting a course for the future that places human flourishing and trust at the center of technological progress. But to fulfill this commitment requires the complex answer to a simple question: how can we design systems that uphold dignity, autonomy, and human rights?

The Core Values of Autonomy & Dignity

When we design digital systems, we’re not just creating technical specifications. We’re crafting spaces where people will live significant portions of their lives. To give them the ability to truly live and excel, we must give them automony: a digital system must empower individuals to control their own destinies within this digital realm. To do so, it must provide them with tools that:

Protect their data. Exercise control over their digital presence. Ensure freedom from coercion. Cultivate trust through direct, transparent & efficient peer-to-peer interactions. Facilitate interactions built on trust and agency. Enable meaningful participation in the digital economy. Support engagement that aligns with their values and priorities. Foster resilience against systemic vulnerabilities. Operate seamlessly across jurisdictions and political boundaries

(See my “Principles of Dignity, Autonomy, and Trust in Digital Systems” in the Appendix for a more extensive look at what I consider core values for digital system design.)

Providing individuals with digital autonomy is mirrored by the concept of digital dignity. A digital system that prioritizes dignity respects the individuality of its users and safeguards their right to privacy. It minimizes the data collected, provides clear and revocable consent mechanisms, and ensures that control remains in the hands of the user. A dignified system doesn’t simply protect; it fosters agency and participation, allowing individuals to thrive without fear of surveillance, discrimination, or exploitation.

Autonomy is also closely linked to the concept of trust. You must be able to know and trust your peers in order to truly have the autonomy to make meaningful decisions. This is where systems like progressive trust come in.

A system built on autonomy, dignity, and trust ultimately treats individuals as more than their administrative identities; it recognizes that individuals possess an ineffable core of self that transcends digital representation. The first principle of Self-Sovereign Identity, ‘Existence,’ upholds this kernel of individuality, affirming that any digital identity must respect and support the inherent worth of the person behind it.

To properly respect autonomy and dignity also requires careful attention to power dynamics and accountability. Distinct standards of transparency and privacy should address the power imbalances between individuals and institutions. Achieving this balance involves respecting individual privacy while enabling appropriate oversight of powerful institutions. We must protect the vulnerable while ensuring our larger administrative systems remain fair and just.

We must also address the crucial question: how do we make privacy-preserving technology economically accessible to everyone? Any autonomy-enabling digital system must balance individual and collective interests by supporting sustainable development of digital infrastructure while fostering individual economic sovereignty and resilience. We must reward contributions to shared resources, uphold autonomy and self-determination, and ensure equitable access to rights-preserving technologies. By protecting individual freedoms and enabling fairness, privacy can ultimately be a tool that encourages participation regardless of economic means.

Decentralized identity wallets offer an example of how to embody the characteristics of autonomy, dignity, and trust, while also considering issues such as privacy, balance, and accessibility. They empower individuals to securely prove their credentials (such as educational achievements or professional certifications) directly to peers, without relying on central authorities that could arbitrarily deny their accomplishments. Consider Maria, a small business owner living in a vibrant but economically challenged favela neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Using a self-sovereign, decentralized identity wallet provided by the city, she is able to secure microloans without compromising her privacy, a triumph for both dignity and autonomy.

As for how these core values transform into the design principles of decentralized identity wallets: that’s the next question to address.

From Values to Design Principles

The translation of the core values of autonomy, dignity, and trust into concrete design principles shapes every aspect of trust architectures I build and guides me to specific technical choices:

Cryptographically secure, self-certifying identifiers that operate independently of central authorities. Local or collaborative key generation and management to keep control in users’ hands. Peer-to-peer protocols that resist centralized rent-seeking and walled gardens. Offline-first capabilities to prevent connectivity from becoming a point of coercion. Data minimization by default. Choices for elision and redaction to control what individuals share. Cryptographic selective disclosure to prevent unwanted correlation and tracking. Revocable permissions to ensure users retain ongoing control over their information. Zero-knowledge proofs or other systems that can balance privacy and accountability without enabling bad actors. Decentralized architectures, not as an ideological preference, but as a practical necessity.

The importance of these protections isn’t theoretical. My work examining sensitive data — including wellness, educational credentials, financial transactions, and identity documentation — has revealed how seemingly benign information can threaten human rights when misused. Health data can enable discrimination or coercion. Educational records can create permanent, unchangeable markers that limit opportunities. Financial and identity data can be weaponized to exploit or disenfranchise individuals.

A values-driven design can therefore be seen as not just an abstract focus on ideals such as autonomy, but protection against real-world harms. The rights to be forgotten, to correct errors, and to recover from systemic or administrative injustices ensure fairness in digital interactions. The ability for an individual to selectively share aspects of their identity protects from being reduced to digital records or confined to singular contexts.

From Design Principles to Education

Implementing human-centric design patterns reveals another challenge: helping developers to understand not just the technical complexity, but the human purpose behind each design choice. Developers must grasp not only how their systems operate but they must think critically about why their design decisions matter for privacy, autonomy, and dignity.

While technical resources such as documentation and tutorials are indispensable for this education, true progress depends on fostering a compasionate culture where developers internalize value-driven imperatives. This has led me to prioritize the cultivation of decentralized developer ecosystems rooted in collaboration, open development standards, and shared learning. I’ve done this through a variety of means:

Workshops that convene developers, policymakers, and advocates to share insights, collaborate, and explore innovative approaches. Hackathons and Sprints addressing pressing challenges in digital trust, enabling participants to co-create solutions in hands-on environments. Regular Developer Meetups for discussing current challenges, sharing practical experiences, and aligning on future roadmaps. Peer Review and Collaboration Forums to ensure transparency, accountability, and robust feedback in the development processes. Cross-Organization Coordination to facilitate collaborative projects, share resources, and distribute financial and time-related investments such as security reviews. Ecosystem Building to design decentralized solutions that balance individual empowerment with collective benefit, ensuring that all contributors — users, developers, and communities — derive meaningful value and that mutual respect is cultivated through shared goals and open participation. Mentorship Programs to guide emerging developers in adopting values-driven approaches, fostering ethical practices from the outset of their careers. Advocacy Efforts that include collaborating with policymakers and regulators to define a techno-social contract that upholds human dignity, ensures equitable and compassionate digital rights, and protects the interests of the vulnerable.

With this decentralized, collaborative approach to education, no single entity controls the evolution of these technologies. Instead, innovation is fostered across a diverse network of developers, building resilience into these systems and ensuring that solutions remain adaptable, inclusive, and accessible. This cooperative spirit reflects the very principles of autonomy, compassion, and inclusivity that underpin trustworthy digital systems.

From Education to Implementation

As communities evolve from educational groups to implementation groups, forums and discussions continue to expand the community and allow us to address the broader societal implications of technical choices. Foundational principles should follow.

The Ten Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity is an example of a set of foundational principles that directly evolved from discussion at an educational workshop (RWOT2). The Gordian Principles and Privacy by Demand are other examples of core principles that evolved out of earlier discussions. Principles such as these form a bedrock for the values we will work to embed in actual implementations.

Code reviews and project evaluations should then include these principles — and more generally ethical alignment — as a key criterion. They’re not just about technical correctness! By embedding values into every stage of development, we ensure that systems are designed to empower individuals, not exploit them.

How can we manage the critical balance between transparency for accountability and privacy for individuals? How do we address power dynamics and ensure systems protect the rights of the vulnerable while holding powerful entities accountable? Ultimately, how do we prioritize both user autonomy and security in decisions around data storage, key management, or cryptographic algorithms? These are questions that should both arise and be addressed when considering a full education-to-implementation pipeline that is based on collaboration and the consideration of values.

Ultimately, implementing systems that respect dignity and autonomy demands a new kind of techno-social contract. This contract must bridge multiple realms:

The technical capabilities that make solutions possible. The cultural shifts that make them acceptable. The economic incentives that make them sustainable. The political will that makes them viable. The contractual & legislative agreements that makes them durable.

This comprehensive approach will serve both individual autonomy and our collective commons.

By ensuring that digital trust and human dignity remain at the core of technological progress, we build systems that serve as a foundation for a more equitable, humane, and resilient digital future. The result is implementations that transcend technical excellence by instilling a sense of stewardship among developers. They become not just the creators of secure systems but also champions of the communities these systems serve.

From Implementation to Deployment

Any framework to support values such as autonomy, dignity, and trust must be holistic in its approach.

Technical standards and specifications must harmonize with cultural norms and social expectations. Economic models must simultaneously foster individual resilience and collective benefits, ensuring that privacy and autonomy remain accessible to everyone, and don’t become luxuries available only to the wealthy. Cultural norms and legislative efforts must go beyond surface-level privacy protections, addressing both the technical realities and human needs at stake. Most importantly, technical and political discourse must evolve to recognize digital rights as fundamental human rights. This paradigm shift would enable policies that support compassionate decentralized approaches while holding powerful actors accountable to the communities they serve.

Nurturing the collaborative ecosystems plays a central role in this transformation. We must foster cultures of ethical awareness not just among developers but across society. This means supporting implementers and maintainers who understand not just the “how” of our systems, but the “why”. It means engaging leaders who grasp both technical constraints and human needs and creating sustainable economic models that reward contributions to the commons while protecting individual rights.

Legal deployment has always been one of the trickiest challenges in popularizing a system that supports individual autonomy, but the concept of Principal Authority presents a promising foundation, courtesy of Wyoming’s digital identity law. It goes beyond the traditional frameworks of property and contract law, which, while useful, are insufficient in addressing the unique challenges of digital identity.

Property law focuses on ownership and control and contract law governs agreements between parties, but neither fully captures the dynamic, relational nature of digital representations or the need for individual agency in decentralized systems. Principal Authority, grounded in Agency Law, functions much like the relationship between a principal and an agent in traditional legal contexts. For instance, just as an agent (like a lawyer or real estate agent) acts on behalf of a principal while preserving the principal’s control, Wyoming’s digital identity law ensures that individuals retain ultimate authority over any actions or representations made on their behalf in the digital space. This legal framework acknowledges human agency — not mere ownership or contractual consent — as the primary source of legitimate authority. The result is a modern recognition of individual sovereignty, and therefore autonomy, that still fosters collaboration and commerce in the increasingly interconnected digital realm.

But, even if Principal Authority does prove a useful tool, it’s just one tool in a whole toolkit that will be necessarily to successfully deploy rights-supporting software into society.

Conclusion

My responsibility as a trust architect is not simply to build systems that work, but to build systems that work for humanity. This requires a steadfast commitment to values, a willingness to navigate difficult trade-offs, and a relentless focus on aligning design principles with human needs.

The technical challenges of implementing values-driven design are significant, but they’re challenges worth solving. When we build systems that respect human rights and dignity, we create digital spaces that enhance rather than diminish human flourishing.

As developers, policy makers, or advocates, we hold the power to embed human values into every line of code, every standard, and every policy. As we build tomorrow’s digital ecosystems, we must therefore ask: What can I do to make trust and dignity the foundation of our systems?

To answer that question in a positive way will ultimately require a multi-stakeholder effort where technologists, policy makers, and civil society collaborate to uphold principles of equity, inclusion, and transparency in all aspects of digital architecture, down the entire linked chain from values to design to education to implementation to deployment.

I hope you’ll be part of that undertaking.

Appendix 1: Principles of Dignity, Autonomy, and Trust in Digital Systems

While working on this article, I put together my own principles for dignity, autonomy, and trust in digital systems. As with my self-sovereign principles of a decade ago, I am offering these up for discussion in the community.

1. Human Dignity. Design systems that prioritize and respect the inherent dignity of every individual. Embed privacy protections, minimize data collection, and provide clear, revocable consent mechanisms that align with user empowerment. Protect individuals from harm while fostering compassionate digital environments that promote trust, human flourishing, and technological progress aligned with human-centric values, actively considering potential societal impacts and unintended consequences. 2. Autonomy & Self-Determination: Empower individuals to control their digital identities and make decisions free from coercion or undue influence. Enable them to manage their interactions, transact freely, preserve their sovereignty, act as peers not petitioners, and assert their rights through decentralized, compassionate, user-controlled systems. 3. Privacy by Design (& Default): Embed robust privacy protections into every system, implementing data minimization, selective disclosure, anti-correlation, and cryptographic safeguards as default practices. This ensures that users retain control over their information and remain shielded from tracking, correlation, and coercion. 4. Resilience Against Exploitation: Architect systems to withstand adversarial threats and systemic vulnerabilities. Leverage decentralization, cryptographic protections, and offline-first capabilities to empower users even in hostile and adversarial environments and to ensure autonomy remains intact under pressure. 5. Progressive Trust: Design systems that reflect the natural evolution of trust, enabling selective and intentional information sharing. Foster trust gradually through mutual engagement, avoiding premature commitments, unnecessary reliance on intermediaries, or imposed full disclosure. 6. Transparency & Accountability: Hold powerful institutions accountable while safeguarding individual privacy. Balance transparency with confidentiality to mitigate power imbalances, protect the vulnerable, and ensure justice and fairness in digital interactions. Ensure that innovation and system development prioritize fairness and compassionate considerations, holding powerful institutions accountable for societal impacts. 7. Interoperability: Foster systems that are interoperable across cultural, legal, and jurisdictional boundaries. Promote inclusivity by prioritizing open standards, decentralized infrastructures, and accessible tools that serve diverse communities while avoiding exclusivity or centralized gatekeeping. 8. Adaptive Design: Incorporate insights from Living Systems Theory, Ostrom’s Commons, and other governance and design models to build architectures that are dynamic, resilient, and capable of evolving alongside societal and technological changes. Emphasize adaptability through iterative growth, collective stewardship, and interoperability, balancing stability with flexibility to support sustainable and inclusive digital ecosystems. 9. A Techno-Social Contract: Bridge technical capabilities with cultural, economic, and legislative frameworks to create a sustainable, human and civil rights-preserving digital ecosystem. Recognize digital rights as fundamental human rights and align systems with shared values of autonomy, dignity, and collective benefit. 10. Ethics: Cultivate a culture of ethical awareness, critical thinking, and collaboration among developers, policymakers, and users. Ensure technical decisions align with principles of trust and dignity by embedding education, mentorship, and a commitment to shared responsibility in the development process. Encourage innovation that is mindful of societal impacts, fostering a development ethos that prioritizes responsibility and safeguards against unintended consequences. Appendix 2: Use Cases for Values Designs

Values affect all of my designs. Following is some discussion of how it’s influenced my work on self-sovereign identity and progressive trust.

Self-Sovereign Identity

The conviction that technical designs must be built on human values came into sharp focus for me in 2016 when I authored the 10 Principles of Self-Sovereign Identity. These principles were not born from technical specifications alone but from a deep commitment to dignity, autonomy, and human rights. Over time, those values have guided the development of technologies such as Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), Verifiable Credentials (VCs), and the DIDComm protocol for secure, private communication. They have also influenced broader thinking around cryptographic digital assets such as Bitcoin. I have come to see these values not as abstract ideals but as the very foundation of trust itself: principles that must underpin every digital system we create.

My principles of Self-Sovereign Identity also had a strong historical basis: they were built on a deep historical and philosophical foundation. The concept of sovereignty has evolved over centuries — from feudal lords to city-states to nations — consistently reflecting a balance between autonomy and interconnection. When I wrote about the principle of “Control”, it was not about advocating absolute dominion but about framing sovereignty as the right to individual agency and prosperity, much like medieval cities, which preserved their independence while flourishing within broader networks of trade and diplomacy.

This understanding was deeply influenced by Living Systems Theory, which shows how every entity maintains its autonomy through selective boundaries while remaining part of a larger ecosystem. Just as a cell’s membrane allows it to control what passes in and out while still participating in the larger organism, digital identity must enable both individual autonomy and collective participation. This biological metaphor directly informed principles such as “Existence” and “Persistence,” which recognize that identity must be long-lived but also able to interact with its environment, and “Access” and “Portability”, which define how identity information flows across boundaries.

The principles also reflect Ostrom’s insights about managing common resources as well as feminist perspectives on sovereignty that emphasize agency over control. When I wrote about the principles of “Consent” and “Protection”, I was describing the selective permeability of these digital boundaries—not walls that isolate, but membranes that enable controlled interaction. “Interoperability” and “Minimization” similarly emerged from understanding how sovereign entities must interact while maintaining their independence and protecting their core rights.

These concepts culminate in the final SSI Principles such as “Transparency,” which balances individual autonomy with collective needs, and “Portability,” which ensures that identities can move and evolve just as living systems do. Each principle reflects this interplay between values and technical implementation, creating a framework where digital sovereignty serves human dignity. They weren’t meant to be an endpoint but rather a starting point for an evolving discussion about sovereignty in the digital age — one that continues to guide our work as we push the boundaries of what’s possible in digital identity, ensuring our innovations prioritize human needs rather than subordinating them to technology.

The technical complexity required to implement such systems is significant, but it serves a deeply human purpose: the ability to build autonomy and trust.

Progressive Trust

Trust is not static; it evolves over time — a concept I describe as progressive trust. This principle reflects how trust naturally develops between people and organizations, both in the physical and digital worlds. Relationships are built incrementally, through selective and intentional disclosures, rather than being imposed upfront or dictated solely by third-party intermediaries. This gradual evolution is essential for fostering genuine connections while mitigating risks.

I discovered this concept through years of observing how people actually build relationships. For instance, when meeting someone at a conference, we don’t immediately share our life story. Instead, we begin with small exchanges, revealing more information as comfort, context, and mutual understanding grow. Digital systems must mirror this natural evolution of trust, creating environments that respect psychological needs and empower individual agency.

A well-designed system transforms these ideas about progressive trust into deployable systems by enabling users to disclose only what is necessary at each stage, while retaining the ability to refine or revoke permissions as relationships deepen, change, or dissolve. This flexibility demands advanced technical solutions, such as:

Sophisticated cryptographic protocols that enable selective and intentional disclosure. Relationship-specific identifiers to ensure contextual privacy. Mechanisms to prevent unwanted tracking or correlation. Tools that balance transparency with security, safeguarding trust while avoiding vulnerabilities that could undermine it.

The technical complexity required to implement such systems is significant, but it serves a deeply human purpose: enabling individuals to build trust incrementally, naturally, and on their own terms.

Knowing the values we are aligning with from the start helps to define this sort, even (as with progressive trust) when it’s hard. The result is an architecture that not only reflects the organic nature of human relationships but also upholds autonomy, fosters confidence, and protects against coercion or exploitation.

Monday, 06. January 2025

Elastos Foundation

Elastos Announces Arbiter Network for BeL2 Protocol, Opening a New Era of Non-Custodial BTC Finance

Arbiter Nodes Provide Time-Based Services and Dispute Resolution, Allowing Bitcoin to Remain on Mainnet While Tapping into Smart Contracts Across EVM Blockchains  Building on its vision of fully decentralized financial services powered by Bitcoin, Elastos today announced the public beta release of its Arbiter Network for the Bitcoin-Elastos Layer 2 protocol, BeL2. This step marks […]

Arbiter Nodes Provide Time-Based Services and Dispute Resolution, Allowing Bitcoin to Remain on Mainnet While Tapping into Smart Contracts Across EVM Blockchains

 Building on its vision of fully decentralized financial services powered by Bitcoin, Elastos today announced the public beta release of its Arbiter Network for the Bitcoin-Elastos Layer 2 protocol, BeL2. This step marks a major milestone in the growth of the BTCFi ecosystem, making it possible to secure BTC-backed loans, stablecoins, and other advanced smart contract solutions without ever relocating Bitcoin off the main network.

Developed by Elastos (ELA)—an early mover in SmartWeb technologies—the BeL2 protocol sets up a trustless clearing network that sends proofs rather than assets. Through these cryptographic proofs, smart contracts on EVM-compatible blockchains can verify that BTC remains locked on Bitcoin’s mainnet and use it as collateral. With the introduction of Arbiter nodes, developers and users now gain access to time-based transaction oversight and decentralized dispute resolution—features that clear the path for a new wave of decentralized finance built on Bitcoin’s security.

“The Arbiter Network is the final piece in our BeL2 infrastructure puzzle,” said Sasha Mitchell, Head of Operations at Elastos. “With Arbiter nodes providing trustless oversight and time-based services, we can offer a fully decentralized BTC finance platform—one that builds on Bitcoin’s resilience without depending on centralized custodians.”

How the BeL2 Arbiter Network Works

Under the surface, BeL2 keeps Bitcoin anchored to its original chain while enabling a range of financial operations elsewhere. First, users lock their BTC using dedicated mainnet scripts. This non-custodial model ensures that Bitcoin never needs to be wrapped or moved, preserving its core security properties and owner independence. Once locked, Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) affirm the collateral status, allowing external networks to confirm how much BTC is involved without revealing private transactional data.

These ZKPs pass through a decentralized oracle service that conveys proof details—rather than assets—into EVM-based smart contracts. By transferring cryptographic confirmations instead of tokens, BeL2 avoids the pitfalls linked to wrapped BTC. Meanwhile, the newly released Arbiter Network oversees loan terms, coordinates time-based tasks, and resolves any disputes. Arbiter nodes pledge Elastos (ELA)—a reserve currency merge-mined with Bitcoin with up to 50% of its security—to uphold network reliability, earning ELA and BTC fees in return for their role.

This approach offers distinct advantages. Users can be confident that their secured Bitcoin stays under their control on its original chain. Arbiter nodes jointly validate transactions in a decentralized manner, creating a fair environment for everyone. Because the proofs rely on Zero-Knowledge methods, the system preserves strong security and privacy. By supporting EVM-based smart contracts, BeL2 also unlocks wide-ranging DeFi possibilities—spanning simple lending scenarios to more advanced stablecoin setups and beyond.

BeL2 Arbiter Beta Release Details

The beta release of the Arbiter Network will progress in stages, starting with reduced collateral limits to maintain stability and gather input from initial participants. During this phase, Arbiters can stake a small amount of ELA or ELA-based NFTs, ensuring enough protection to support fair procedures while the network is put to the test. At first, rewards will be distributed in ELA, with BTC fee structures planned for future updates. A user-friendly dispute resolution portal lets Arbiters track events, approve or challenge transactions, and honor time-based constraints for overall reliability.

“By blending Bitcoin’s security with Elastos’ scalable foundations, we’re establishing a new financial model—a decentralized bank of sorts, powered by code and cryptography,” said Sasha Mitchell. “Our broader aim is a smooth, global financial web that remains anchored to Bitcoin’s trust.”

Broader Implications for BTCFi

By directly connecting each DeFi transaction to Bitcoin’s mainnet, BeL2 removes the need for wrapped BTC setups, lessening complexity and eliminating custodial points. This breakthrough supports various use cases: non-custodial loans, stablecoins that can be redeemed at will, and decentralized trading markets offering both spot and derivative BTC products. With Arbiter nodes providing reliable governance and resolving disputes, the broader BeL2 sphere gains a unified system for organizing multi-party transactions with fairness—an advancement that places Bitcoin at the core of the future’s decentralized financial world.

Additional Information Learn More about BeL2  Join the Arbiter Beta Contact info@elastos.org for partnership inquiries or media requests. About Elastos

Elastos is a SmartWeb ecosystem builder focused on enabling decentralized application creation and cross-chain connectivity. Built on top of Bitcoin merge-mining, Elastos relies on the security of the world’s largest public blockchain and extends it with additional layers. The introduction of BeL2 and its Arbiter Network marks Elastos’ latest effort to advance a more open, clear, and trustless global financial system.

 

Friday, 03. January 2025

Project VRM

Derailing the Customer Journey

This came in the mail today: Everything they list is something I don’t want to do. I’d rather just accumulate the miles. But I can’t, unless I choose one of the annoyances above, or book a flight in the next three months. So my customer journey with American is now derailed. There should be better […]

This came in the mail today:

Everything they list is something I don’t want to do. I’d rather just accumulate the miles. But I can’t, unless I choose one of the annoyances above, or book a flight in the next three months.

So my customer journey with American is now derailed.

There should be better ways for customers and companies to have journeys together.

Hmm… Does United have one?

Here’s a picture of my customer journey with United Airlines, as of today:

I’m also a lifetime member of the United Club, thanks to my wife’s wise decision in 1990 to get us both in on that short-lived deal.

Premier Platinum privileges include up to three checked bags, default seating in Economy Plus (more legroom than in the rest of Economy), Premium lines at the ticket counter and Security, and boarding in Group One. There are more privileged castes, but this one is a serious tie-breaker against other airlines. Also, in all our decades of flying with United, we have no bad stories to tell, and plenty of good ones.

But now we’re mostly based in Bloomington, Indiana, so Indianapolis (IND) is our main airport. (And it’s terrific. We recommend it highly.) It is also not a hub for any of the airlines. The airline with the most flights connecting to IND is American, and we’ve used them. I joined their frequent flier program, got their app, and started racking up miles with them too.

So here is one idea, for every airline: having respect for one’s established status with other airlines means something. Because that status (or those stati) are credentials: They say something about me as a potential passenger. It would be nice also if what I carry, as an independent customer, is a set of verifiable preferences—such as that I always prefer a window seat, never tow a rolling bag on board (I only have a backpack), and am willing to change seats so a family can sit together. Little things that might matter.

I bring all this up because fixing “loyalty” programs shouldn’t be left up only to the sellers of the world. They’ll all do their fixes differently, and they’ll remain deaf to good input that can only come from independent customers with helpful tools of their own.

Developing those solutions to the loyalty problem is one of our callings at ProjectVRM. I also know some that are in the works. Stay tuned.

Thursday, 02. January 2025

Elastos Foundation

TeamELA.org: A Bitcoin-Secured Digital Reserve Asset Portal

ELA exists to bring together the strongest elements of Bitcoin’s security approach with a flexible blockchain structure. By making use of merge mining, ELA draws on Bitcoin’s hashrate while enforcing a limit of 28.22 million tokens. In this way, ELA adopts Bitcoin’s protective strength at a small fraction of its energy usage, shaping ELA into […]

ELA exists to bring together the strongest elements of Bitcoin’s security approach with a flexible blockchain structure. By making use of merge mining, ELA draws on Bitcoin’s hashrate while enforcing a limit of 28.22 million tokens. In this way, ELA adopts Bitcoin’s protective strength at a small fraction of its energy usage, shaping ELA into a “Bitcoin-Secured Reserve Asset.”

Security and scarcity define a blockchain’s worth. Bitcoin’s remarkable success is built on its proof-of-work protocol and a cap of 21 million coins. ELA follows that model: it anchors its proof-of-work to Bitcoin’s extensive hashrate, while its own final supply remains fixed. This approach builds confidence in ELA’s underlying economy. Bitcoin is almost impossible to compromise, and by extension, ELA gains that same resistance.

TeamELA.org, built by Infinity under team member Sasha Mitchell, is an educational hub for ELA which brings together merge-mining metrics, supply and value graphs, educational animations and exchange and wallet links for ELA holders—turning complex ideas into a clear set of tools. TeamELA.org connects to the Elastos Explorer and Minerstat in real time, revealing how ELA’s share of Bitcoin’s hashrate compares to its overall supply. By adding CoinGecko‘s price data, the site shows how ELA’s security links with tangible value, giving users a clear metric for judging its potential.

It also serves as a straightforward route to ELA on exchanges—both centralized (Coinbase, KuCoin, Gate.io, Huobi) and decentralized (Uniswap, Chainge Finance, Glide Finance)—eliminating the need to search for obscure markets. Meanwhile, quick wallet downloads for iOS or Android and a short “How to stake ELA” guide help newcomers store or stake their tokens within minutes.

Beyond these essentials, TeamELA.org offers interactive visuals to demonstrate how Bitcoin’s proof-of-work runs hand-in-hand with ELA, emphasizing the efficiency of merge mining. A supply timeline highlights how ELA issuance winds down by 2105, capped at 28.22 million. There’s also a value calculator, outlining how a slice of Bitcoin’s mining income might feed into ELA’s core worth. Together, these features deliver a complete view of ELA’s security, supply, and utility in one cohesive online hub.

Behind the scenes, TeamELA.org relies on custom API hooks for data retrieval, frequently pull stats, such as Elastos and Bitcoins latest block hashrate, price, and supply figures stay current. Animations illustrate how ELA’s protocol uses Bitcoin’s calculations, emphasizing that ELA benefits from Bitcoin’s security with no added energy load.

Bitcoin-Level Security: By gaining a noteworthy share of Bitcoin’s Exahashes per second, ELA surpasses other altcoins that operate on smaller pools. TeamELA.org computes on the fly to show ELA’s strong security ratio. Fixed Supply: Topped at 28.22 million tokens, ELA reflects Bitcoin’s scarcity yet sets its own limit. A clear halving roadmap on the Supply page details its release steps—another reason some see ELA as akin to “digital gold.” Reduced Energy Use: Merge mining calls for no extra machinery. Bitcoin miners can solve ELA blocks alongside Bitcoin blocks with the same proof-of-work, lowering power demands while boosting overall safety. Decentralized Ecosystem: Elastos began as a wide-ranging Web3 platform, offering decentralized apps and services that draw on ELA’s heightened protection. As the network grows, ELA’s significance as the “fuel” for dApps rises, backed by Bitcoin’s level of assurance. Single-Stop Convenience: The portal merges stats, how-to resources, and integrated trading/wallet options in one location. New arrivals only need this one site to discover, acquire, and manage ELA.

OPEN-SOURCE CODE
In line with decentralized values, TeamELA.org’s repository is open to all. Anyone may review how the platform sources data from the Elastos Explorer or tracks price details from CoinGecko. Developers are free to examine, refine, or enhance each element. Providing open code encourages transparency:

Security: The community can detect and address vulnerabilities. Collaboration: Engineers around the world can suggest changes or new tools. Education: Enthusiasts can observe how raw blockchain figures become user-friendly dashboards.

ELA’s primary strength grows from pairing Bitcoin’s extensive hashrate with a strict supply limit as per Satoshis merge-mining vision shared here and here. This grants ELA the benefits of reliable proof-of-work at a lower energy cost—something uncommon among altcoins. By visiting TeamELA.org, users gain a clear rundown of ELA: side-by-side hashrate insights, supply data, paths to buy, and options to stake or store tokens.

Plenty of projects claim decentralization, but ELA directly connects with Bitcoin’s security approach, widely regarded as the most tested in the industry, supporting a network that remains resource-friendly and strong. This transparent method builds trust every step of the way, capturing ELA’s core purpose: harness Bitcoin’s raw power, maintain a fixed token count, and invite the public to participate in a new era of decentralized applications anchored by a proven proof-of-work foundation. What’s more, TeamELA.org is a portal to support CoinTelegraph in their upcoming research report on ELA, passed by the Cyber Republic in Proposal 176. Did you enjoy this article? To learn more, follow Infinity for the latest updates here!

 


DIF Blog

DIF Newsletter #47

January 2025 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 Community; 7. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News DIF Labs Launches Beta Cohort DIF&

January 2025

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 Community; 7. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News DIF Labs Launches Beta Cohort

DIF's commitment to accelerating decentralized identity innovation takes a major step forward with the launch of DIF Labs' Beta Cohort. This new initiative brings together leading projects in Bitcoin Ordinals, Linked Claims, and privacy-preserving verification through VerAnon. Learn how DIF Labs is transforming how decentralized identity solutions are built, tested and scaled at DIF Labs: DIF Launches Beta Cohort.

Thank you to DIF Labs Chairs Andor Kesselman, Ankur Banerjee, and Daniel Thompson-Yvetot for their tremendous stewardship in building the Labs community, which will be a major focus for DIF in 2025!

Official Adoption of BBS Blind Signatures and Pseudonym Specifications by the CFRG

Major progress in privacy-preserving credentials as BBS Blind Signatures and BBS Pseudonyms specifications are officially adopted by the Crypto Forum Research Group (CFRG). These developments bring us closer to standardized, privacy-protecting digital credentials. Read about BBS and how to get involved at BBS: Where Proof Meets Privacy.

DIF Technical Leaders Engage Korean Students

DIF extends its educational outreach in Asia as Markus Sabadello and Kyoungchul Park delivered an engaging session on decentralized identity technologies at Seoul's MegaStudy academy. The lecture covered DIDs, VCs, and digital wallets, demonstrating DIF's commitment to nurturing the next generation of identity technologists. Read the full story at DIF Technical Leaders Engage Korean Students.

🛠️ Working Group Updates 📓 DID Methods Working Group

Welcomed new co-chairs Jonathan Rayback and Matt McKinney. Made progress on selection criteria for DID methods, working to refine criteria list and gather method proposals. Group developing template for proposals and planning process to evaluate DID methods. Next meeting set for January 15th to continue work.

DID Methods Working Group meets bi-weekly at 9am PT/ noon ET/ 6pm CET Wednesdays

💡Identifiers and Discovery Working Group

Discussed DID traits specification and potential IPFS improvements. Team explored using IPFS as a DID method and how to enhance file identification. Discussed document controller properties and DID method comparisons.

Advanced work on DID Web VH specification, focusing on key rotation, version management and revocation approaches. Discussed version ID formats and query parameters. Team preparing to finalize v0.5 of specification.

Identifiers and Discovery meets bi-weekly at 11am PT/ 2pmET/ 8pm CET Mondays

🪪 Claims & Credentials Working Group

Planning for January 28th session on age verification and credentials standardization. The session will cover proof of age schema, data models, and practical applications like age-restricted content, senior services, and substance purchasing verification. Register here to attend

The Credential Schemas work item meets bi-weekly at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 7pm CET Tuesdays

🔐 Applied Crypto Working Group

BBS+ specs CFRG adoption call succeeded! Exploring range proofs and verifiable encryption concepts.

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

🧪 DIF Labs Working Group

Beta cohort projects progressing well - discussed EUDI wallet's new payment features, the Linked Trust project development, and connecting mentors with specific expertise to projects. Planning for mid-February presentations.

The Credential Schemas work item meets monthly on the 3rd Tuesday at 8am PT / 11am ET / 5pm CET

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

📖 Open Groups at DIF DIDComm User Group

Reviewed outcomes from recent DIDComm interopathon, though participation was limited to two organizations. Identified issues with DIDCOMM Demo around multi-key implementation and JWK support. Proposed moving to bi-weekly meetings with alternating times to accommodate different time zones. Planning another interopathon for Q1 2025.

Meetings take place weekly on Mondays at noon PST. Click here for more details

Veramo User Group

Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays, alternating between Noon EST / 18.00 CET and 09.00 EST / 15.00 CET. Click here for more details

🌏 APAC/ASEAN Discussion Group

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

🌍 DIF Africa

Meetings take place Monthly on the 3rd Wednesday at 1pm SAST. Click here for more details

🌍 DIF Japan SIG

Focused on interoperability discussions from recent Taipei conference. Covered integration with existing systems and digital identity platform shifts. Discussed Taiwan's approach to decentralized models.

Meetings take place on the last Friday of each month 8am JST. Click here for more details

🌍 DIF Hospitality & Travel SIG

Made progress on standardizing data formats, internationalization, and location services. Working on documentation for C-suite audiences and implementation guides. Developing approaches for currency handling and regional variations in user profiles.

Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays at 10am EST. Click here for more details

📢 Announcements at DIF Proof of Age Workshop (Webinar)

Join us on January 28th at 10am PT for an important discussion on proof of age solutions and age-related verifiable credentials. The session will explore DIF's CC working group's initiatives around implementing privacy-preserving age verification for various use cases including:

Age-related discounts and benefits Minor protection and age-gating Access control for age-restricted products and services Coordinating with related industry efforts

This collaborative session aims to bring together stakeholders to share insights and align efforts in building standardized, privacy-respecting age verification solutions.

Register here

🗓️ ️DIF Community DIDComm: Securing Industry 4.0 Communications

Read Dr. Carsten Stöcker's insightful analysis of how DIDComm can address critical security vulnerabilities exposed by the recent Salt Typhoon attacks. Learn how DIDComm's end-to-end encryption and perfect forward secrecy enable secure machine-to-machine and business-to-business communications for Industry 4.0. Read more

👉Are you a DIF member with news to share? Email us at communication@identity.foundation with details.

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.

🆔 Join DIF!

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

Follow us on Twitter/X

Join us on GitHub

Subscribe on YouTube

🔍

Read the DIF blog

New Member Orientations

If you are new to DIF join us for our upcoming new member orientations. Find more information on DIF’s slack or contact us at community@identity.foundation if you need more information.

Sunday, 29. December 2024

Kantara Initiative

Are you ready for the new EU DORA regulations?

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is set to take effect in January 2025. its aim is to ensure that companies and institutions active in the EU financial sector […] The post Are you ready for the new EU DORA regulations? appeared first on Kantara Initiative.

The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is set to take effect in January 2025. its aim is to ensure that companies and institutions active in the EU financial sector […]

The post Are you ready for the new EU DORA regulations? appeared first on Kantara Initiative.

Tuesday, 24. December 2024

OpenID

Third OpenID4VP Implementer’s Draft Approved

The OpenID Foundation membership has approved the following specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft:   OpenID for Verifiable Presentations: https://openid.net/specs/openid-4-verifiable-presentations-1_0-ID3.html An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This Implementer’s Dra
The OpenID Foundation membership has approved the following specification as an OpenID Implementer’s Draft:   OpenID for Verifiable Presentations: https://openid.net/specs/openid-4-verifiable-presentations-1_0-ID3.html An Implementer’s Draft is a stable version of a specification providing intellectual property protections to implementers of the specification. This Implementer’s Draft is a product of the AB/Connect working group.   The voting results were: Approve – 91 votes Object – 3 votes Abstain – 19 votes Total votes: 113 (out of 414 members = 27 % > 20 % quorum requirement) Marie Jordan – OpenID Foundation Secretary  

The post Third OpenID4VP Implementer’s Draft Approved first appeared on OpenID Foundation.

Monday, 23. December 2024

FIDO Alliance

2024 FIDO Alliance Seoul Public Seminar: Unlocking a Secure Tomorrow with Passkeys

The FIDO Alliance’s Seoul Public Seminar was held on December 10, 2024, at the SK Telecom Pangyo Office. The theme for this milestone event was Unlocking a Secure Tomorrow with […]

The FIDO Alliance’s Seoul Public Seminar was held on December 10, 2024, at the SK Telecom Pangyo Office. The theme for this milestone event was Unlocking a Secure Tomorrow with Passkeys and the event attracted nearly 200 attendees. The seminar gave professionals a chance to share the latest developments and implementations of simpler and stronger online authentication technology with passkeys.

Watch the Recap Video

The seminar featured a dynamic mix of global and local case studies and offered a comprehensive overview of Passkey/FIDO and FDO (FIDO Device Onboard) implementations. Here are some key highlights:

FIDO Alliance Update: Andrew Shikiar (Executive Director & CEO of the FIDO Alliance) announced the launch of Passkey Central, a resource hub offering guidance on implementing passkeys for consumer sign-ins. The site is now available in Korean, Japanese, and English. What’s New with Passkeys on Google Platforms?: Eiji Kitamura (Developer Advocate at Google) discussed recent passkey advancements, including Android’s Credential Manager API and broader passkey support on Google platforms. From Passwords to Passkeys: The TikTok Passkey Journey: XK (Sean) Liu (Technical Program Manager at TikTok) shared how the TikTok platform adopted passkeys for both enterprise and consumer services. Secure Smart TV Authentication with Passkeys: Min Hyung Lee (Leader of the VD Business Security Lab at Samsung Electronics) demonstrated how passkeys enhance smart TV user authentication and outlined the future for this technology. FIDO in eCommerce: Mercari’s Passkey Journey: Naohisa Ichihara (CISO at Mercari) detailed the company’s motivations, challenges, and strategies for mitigating phishing risks through passkey adoption within the C2C marketplace.

The 2024 Seoul Public Seminar also featured an exciting and interactive segment: the FIDO Quiz Show. Designed to engage attendees while reinforcing key learnings, the quiz brought an additional layer of fun and competitiveness to the event.

How it worked:

Session Pop Quizzes: After each seminar session, key takeaways were tested through pop quizzes. Attendees who answered correctly were rewarded with FIDO Security Keys, generously supported by Yubico.

Real-Time Quiz Show: At the end of the event, a live quiz show engaged all attendees. By scanning a QR code, participants could join in and compete for prizes. Eunji Na from TTA emerged as the top scorer and won a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone!

Think you know FIDO Alliance and passkeys? Test your knowledge with the same 15 quiz questions (in Korean) by scanning the QR code in the image below.

The seminar gained significant local media attention from outlets such as IT Daily, DailySecu, Byline Networks, Datanet, BoanNews, eDaily, and Korea Economic Daily. Coverage highlighted the launch of Passkey Central, emphasizing its potential to accelerate passkey adoption and reduce reliance on passwords.

We extend a heartfelt thanks to all speakers, including Kieun Shin and Hyungchul Jung (Co-Vice Chairs of the FIDO Alliance Korea Working Group), Heungyeol Yeom (Emeritus Professor at Soonchunhyang University), Jaebeom Kim (TTA), Yuseok Han (AirCuve), Heejae Chang and Keiko Itakura (Okta), Junseo Oh (Ideatec), and Simon Trac Do (VinCSS) for their invaluable contributions.

We also express our gratitude to our sponsors, whose support made this year’s Seoul Public Seminar a resounding success.

Proudly Sponsored by:

Friday, 20. December 2024

Oasis Open Projects

XLIFF v2.2 CSD02 is now available for public review

OASIS members and other interested parties,  OASIS and the XLIFF TC are pleased to announce that XLIFF v2.2 CSD02 is now available for public review and comment.  This is a 2 part specification specification which defines Version 2.2 of the XML Localisation Interchange File Format (XLIFF). The purpose of this vocabulary is to store localizable […] The post XLIFF v2.2 CSD02 is now avail

Comment Period Ends - January 27th

OASIS members and other interested parties, 

OASIS and the XLIFF TC are pleased to announce that XLIFF v2.2 CSD02 is now available for public review and comment. 

This is a 2 part specification specification which defines Version 2.2 of the XML Localisation Interchange File Format (XLIFF). The purpose of this vocabulary is to store localizable data and carry it from one step of the localization process to the other, while allowing interoperability between and among tools.

The documents and all related files are available here:

XLIFF Version 2.2 Part 1: Core

Committee Specification Draft 02

12 November 2024

Editable source:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-core-v2.2-csd02-part1.xml (Authoritative)

HTML:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-core-v2.2-csd02-part1.html

PDF:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-core-v2.2-csd02-part1.pdf

XLIFF Version 2.2 Part 1: Extended

Committee Specification Draft 02

12 November 2024

Editable source:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-extended-v2.2-csd02-part2.xml

(Authoritative)

HTML:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-extended-v2.2-csd02-part2.html

PDF:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-extended-v2.2-csd02-part2.pdf

For your convenience, OASIS provides a complete package of the specification document and any related files in a ZIP distribution file. You can download the ZIP file at:

https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.2/csd02/xliff-core-v2.2-csd02.zip

How to Provide Feedback

OASIS and the XLIFF 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 its technical work.

The public review starts 20 December 2024 and ends 27 January 2025 at 23:59 UTC.

Comments may be submitted to the project by any person through the use of the project’s Comment Facility. Members of the TC should submit feedback directly to the TC’s members-only mailing list. All others should follow the instructions listed here. 

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 XLIFF TC can be found at the public home page here.

Additional references:

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

[2] https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/xliff/ipr.php

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy

The post XLIFF v2.2 CSD02 is now available for public review appeared first on OASIS Open.


FIDO Alliance

Business Reporter: Addressing the bias issue in biometrics

Bias in biometric identity systems still exists, but it is manageable, argues Andrew Shikiar at the FIDO Alliance When you unlock your smartphone, open your bank app, or approve a […]

Bias in biometric identity systems still exists, but it is manageable, argues Andrew Shikiar at the FIDO Alliance

When you unlock your smartphone, open your bank app, or approve a purchase on your laptop, you are using biometric authentication. It is such an unconscious part of our daily lives that if you blink, you might miss it.

It’s no wonder that biometrics are popular with consumers—they’re convenient and secure. Recent FIDO research found that consumers want to use biometrics to verify themselves online more, especially in sensitive use cases like financial services, where one out of two people said they would use biometric technology (48%). In fact, in the FIDO Aliance’s latest online barometer survey, consumers ranked biometrics as the most secure and preferred way to log in by consumers.

But for consumers, governments and other implementers, there is still a lingering ‘elephant in the room’ that continues to disrupt adoption: bias.

Should we worry about bias in biometrics?

FIDO Alliance’s research, Remote ID Verification – Bringing Confidence to Biometric Systems Consumer Insights 2024, found that consumers are concerned about bias in biometric facial verification systems– while the majority of consumers (56%) felt confident face biometrics systems could accurately identify individuals, a number still had concerns around discrimination present in some systems.

Concern surrounding the accuracy of biometric systems in processing diverse demographics has been developing in recent years. In the UK in 2021, for example, Uber drivers from diverse ethnic backgrounds took legal action over claims its software had illegally terminated their contracts as its software was unable to recognise them.

While the struggle of Uber drivers is just one example that underscores the issue, this problem is affecting people of colour and other underrepresented demographics more broadly—FIDO’s research found that one in four respondents feel they experience regular discrimination when using automated facial biometric systems (25%).

Feelings of discrimination and bias in facial recognition systems impact the entire user experience and erode faith in the technology overall. Half of British consumers in the survey said they would lose trust in a brand or institution if it were found to have a biassed biometric system, and 22% would stop using the service entirely.

It’s clear why organisations like governments and banks would worry about these hard-hitting reputational and trust risks. Despite biometrics being widely accepted as a more convenient and highly secure technology, the small number of systems that aren’t as accessible are leaving an air of concern that is slowing down more mainstream adoption.

Addressing bias in facial verification  

The most important thing to note is that not all biometric systems are created equal. Currently, testing levels are done on a case-by-case basis for each organisation, which is both costly and time-consuming, with varying definitions of what “good” looks like.

Based on proven ISO standards and developed by a diverse, international panel of industry, government, and identity experts, FIDO Alliance’s new Face Verification Certification program brings the industry’s first independent certification to market to build trust around biometric systems’ performance.

The certification assesses a face verification system’s performance across different demographics, including skin tone, age, and gender, in addition to far more wide-reaching security and performance tests.

The intensive security and liveness testing also verify that a provider’s face verification system can accurately confirm identities are real and authenticating in real-time, keeping threats like identity theft and deepfakes at bay. This is especially important for the most common use cases of face verification, like creating secure accounts, authenticating users, recovering accounts, and resetting passwords.

The beauty of independent certification is it sends a clear signal to consumers, potential clients, and auditors that the technology has been independently tested and is ready for both commercial and government use. It’s about building trust and showing that the provider takes security and fairness seriously.

More broadly, certification and independent global testing spark innovation and boost technological adoption. Whether you’re launching an identity verification solution or integrating it into regulations, open standards and certification provide a clear performance benchmark. This streamlines efforts, boosts stakeholder confidence and ultimately enhances the performance of all solutions on the market.

The future of identity 

As the way we verify digital identities keeps evolving and demand to prove who we are remotely increases, biometric systems must be independently verified and free from bias. All technologies rolled out to this scale need to be fair and reliable for everyone.

The FIDO Alliance’s program demonstrates solution providers are serious about making sure biometric identity verification technologies are trustworthy, secure, and inclusive for all users. It’s like having a gold star or a seal of approval that says, “Hey, you can trust this system to be fair and safe.”

Biometrics for online identity verification is not just a promising concept; it’s rapidly becoming a practical necessity in today’s increasingly digital world. They’re ready for implementation across various industries. With independent certification, organisations can jump over the final hurdle to widespread adoption, empowering a future of more seamless, digital and remote identity.

Wednesday, 18. December 2024

Digital ID for Canadians

Spotlight on Facephi

1. What is the mission and vision of Facephi? Facephi’s mission is to create seamless, trustworthy digital identity experiences that prioritize security, privacy, and compliance.…

1. What is the mission and vision of Facephi?

Facephi’s mission is to create seamless, trustworthy digital identity experiences that prioritize security, privacy, and compliance. ​We enable businesses to transform by connecting users to the digital resources they need efficiently and safely—whether as employees, partners, or consumers. Through our advanced identity verification technology, we simplify and secure the access of people ​to essential digital assets and services, ensuring that organizations worldwide can thrive in a digital-first world.

Facephi envisions a future where secure digital identity is at the heart of every interaction, seamlessly linking people, applications, services, and data. We aspire to be the foundation that supports and protects each digital connection, enabling individuals and organizations alike to navigate a secure digital world with assurance and confidence. ​We believe in a future where every identity and every access point is safeguarded by robust, transparent digital identity infrastructure.

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

In today’s world, digital identity is essential to secure and scalable digital engagement. ​
As more sectors—finance, healthcare, travel, and others—move toward online services, secure and trusted digital identity becomes critical. ​

Traditional perimeter-based security models no longer apply effectively, especially with the rise of cloud computing. For this reason, the “”Identity-First Security”” model has emerged as the most viable framework for protecting digital assets. ​

Our solutions help organizations transition to a robust, decentralized, and identity-centric security model. The convergence of secure authentication, data protection, and privacy compliance represents a necessary paradigm shift, particularly for emerging markets ​
where secure and equitable digital access can drive significant economic growth.​

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

Digital identity is a foundational element that powers global digital commerce, enabling access to essential services securely and universally.​ With secure digital identity, both individuals and organizations can engage in borderless business from anywhere in the world. ​Facephi facilitates this transformation by enabling secure identity verification that supports secure digital access at scale. ​As we build identity ecosystems that are interoperable, user-centered, and privacy-respecting, we support the global economy’s digital shift by ensuring seamless and secure interactions across borders. ​This shift has the potential to unlock access to vital services, foster trust across regions, and create an inclusive digital economy.

Facephi addresses the complex challenges of digital identity through an adaptable, interoperable approach to identity management. ​Our technology supports multiple identity roles—Issuer, Holder (Wallet), and Verifier—alongside a Trust Registry, enabling us to provide secure identity solutions at every step. ​We are aligned with standards like mDOC (ISO 18013), W3C Verifiable Credentials, and SD-JWT, ensuring compatibility with global frameworks. ​By focusing on interoperability and secure frameworks, we help organizations establish the trust and scalability needed for broad digital identity adoption. ​Our approach encompasses both the issuance and verification of credentials, combining compliance with innovative solutions to ensure secure, accessible, and user-centered digital identity management.

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

Canada has an essential role to play as a leader in secure digital identity, supporting ​both regulatory frameworks and technological standards that foster trust and innovation. ​As Canadians increase their reliance on digital services, it is critical to ensure the security and integrity of digital identity systems. ​By establishing standards for trusted digital architecture, Canada can help shape a secure, transparent ecosystem that enables users to control access to their personal information with precision and confidence. ​Canada’s commitment to a trustworthy digital identity infrastructure will set an example globally and drive progress in secure, interoperable identity systems.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

Facephi joined the DIACC to collaborate with leading organizations ​in advancing secure, user-friendly digital identity standards. ​We share DIACC’s commitment to building a trusted framework ​that empowers people, businesses, and governments to interact safely online. ​By participating in DIACC, we contribute to and benefit from a collaborative approach to developing a secure digital identity framework that respects user privacy, ensures interoperability, and promotes innovation.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

Facephi is a global leader in digital identity verification and authentication, providing technology that enables secure, user-friendly access across industries. ​Our platform supports a wide range of digital identity solutions, from secure identity verification and authentication to credential issuance and verification, adhering to standards like OID4VCI for credential issuance and OID4VP for credential presentation. ​Our solutions address interoperability, Trust Frameworks, and compliance with global digital identity standards, providing a robust foundation for organizations pursuing digital transformation. ​Through advanced technology and strategic partnerships, Facephi is shaping the future of secure digital identity and enabling seamless, trusted interactions in an increasingly digital world.


GS1

Shopee Brazil: Empowering sellers with trusted data

Shopee Brazil: Empowering sellers with trusted data As e-commerce continues to grow, Shopee Brazil is tackling challenges such as duplicate listings, inaccurate product data, and counterfeit concerns by leveraging GS1 GTINs and Verified by GS1 to create a more reliable and trustworthy marketplace. Duplicate product
Shopee Brazil: Empowering sellers with trusted data As e-commerce continues to grow, Shopee Brazil is tackling challenges such as duplicate listings, inaccurate product data, and counterfeit concerns by leveraging GS1 GTINs and Verified by GS1 to create a more reliable and trustworthy marketplace.

Duplicate product listings, inaccurate information, counterfeit items, and regulatory challenges were among the obstacles Shopee Brazil faced during its rapid growth as a leading e-commerce platform.

To address these issues, Shopee adopted GS1 GTINs to uniquely identify products and integrated Verified by GS1 to authenticate data before listings are approved. This commitment to accuracy and trust is helping Shopee deliver a transparent and efficient shopping experience for both buyers and sellers.

Watch the podcast (Portuguese with subtitles) 

Next Level Supply Chain Podcast with GS1

E-Commerce Made Easy: Starting and Scaling Your Online Business

Modern technology makes starting an online business easy. However, that also means stiffer competition.  How can aspiring entrepreneurs succeed in the world of e-commerce? In this episode, Jesse Ness, at Ecwid by Lightspeed, joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to discuss the essential steps and common pitfalls of starting and growing an online business. They discuss ways high-qu

Modern technology makes starting an online business easy. However, that also means stiffer competition. 

How can aspiring entrepreneurs succeed in the world of e-commerce? In this episode, Jesse Ness, at Ecwid by Lightspeed, joins hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl to discuss the essential steps and common pitfalls of starting and growing an online business. They discuss ways high-quality imagery, detailed product descriptions, and social media engagement can help your store stand out. Jesse also shares insights on emerging market trends like live selling and community engagement.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How storytelling helps brands stand out in a crowded e-commerce market

The first steps to setting up a successful online store

Tips to overcome growth plateaus and how to scale your business effectively

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introducing Next Level Supply Chain

(01:43) Online selling with Ecwid

(04:02) How to set up an online store

(08:27) Share your brand story

(12:11) Why entrepreneurs give up too soon

(17:10) The rise of live selling and other e-commerce trends

(22:16) Jesse Ness’ favorite tech

(24:34) Using AI to enhance daily life

 

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn

 

Connect with the guest:

Jesse Ness on LinkedIn

Check out Ecwid by Lightspeed


DIF Blog

DIF Technical Leaders Engage Korean Students at MegaStudy Academy

On 10th December 2024, Markus Sabadello, co-chair of the DIF Identifiers & Discovery WG, and Kyoungchul Park, chair of the DIF Korea SIG, delivered a guest lecture at Seoul's Gangnam MegaStudy academy, Korea's largest private educational institution. The one-hour session covered core decentralized identity technologies including

On 10th December 2024, Markus Sabadello, co-chair of the DIF Identifiers & Discovery WG, and Kyoungchul Park, chair of the DIF Korea SIG, delivered a guest lecture at Seoul's Gangnam MegaStudy academy, Korea's largest private educational institution.

The one-hour session covered core decentralized identity technologies including DIDs (Decentralized Identifiers), VCs (Verifiable Credentials), and digital wallets, along with DIF's activities and open-source projects like the Universal Resolver. Students demonstrated sophisticated understanding through their challenging questions about DID-Web3 relationships, VC proof mechanisms, and underlying trust models.

The MegaStudy IT Academy extended a generous welcome to DIF's Markus Sabadello, thanks to the efforts of the DIF Korea SIG and chair Kyoungchul Park

This session marks another milestone for the DIF Korea SIG since its launch in Busan in July 2023. Established alongside the Ministry of Science and ICT's Self-Sovereign Identity Technology Project, the SIG bridges DIF's technical standards with Korea's evolving digital identity ecosystem.

DIF's growing network of Special Interest Groups across Asia and Africa demonstrates our commitment to global collaboration while respecting local contexts. The Korea SIG exemplifies this approach through productive engagement between international standards and key national institutions. Learn more in our guest blog with Korea SIG Chair Kyoungchul Park.

Tuesday, 17. December 2024

GS1

Lorraine Hill

Lorraine Hill Group Chief Operations Officer daniela.duarte… Tue, 12/17/2024 - 11:58 management Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited Lorraine Hill
Lorraine Hill Group Chief Operations Officer daniela.duarte… Tue, 12/17/2024 - 11:58 management

Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited

Lorraine Hill

FIDO Alliance

Biometric Update: Passkeys build momentum, enabling access to 15 billion online accounts

FIDO passkey adoption doubles in 2024 as major firms opt for passwordless log-in Passkeys are a biometric security trend to watch in 2025. The FIDO Alliance themed its 11th annual FIDO Tokyo […]

FIDO passkey adoption doubles in 2024 as major firms opt for passwordless log-in

Passkeys are a biometric security trend to watch in 2025. The FIDO Alliance themed its 11th annual FIDO Tokyo Seminar on how passkey adoption is accelerating, with presentations from Google, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Mastercard, and other organizations joining the journey to password-free living. Microsoft has confirmed its advice on how to make people love passkeys – as it sweeps aside a major vulnerability that exposed 400 million Outlook 365 users.

Major tech brands drive mainstreaming of passkey account log-ins

In 2024, Amazon made passkeys available to 100 percent of its users and has seen 175 million passkeys created for sign-in to amazon.com globally. Google says 800 million Google accounts now use passkeys, with more than 2.5 billion passkey sign-ins over the past two years and sign-in success rates improving by 30 percent. Sony adopted passkeys for the global Playstation gaming community and saw a 24 percent reduction in sign-in time on its web applications.

Hyatt, IBM, Target and TikTok are among firms that have added passkeys to their workforce authentication options. More credential management products offering passkey options means more flexibility for consumers.

Japan joins passkey party in private sector, academia

The Japanese market showed a notable turn toward passkeys, with Nikkei, Nulab and Tokyu Corporation among firms embracing passwordless authentication technology. Nikkei will deploy passkeys for Nikkei ID as early as February 2025. Tokyu Corporation says 45 percent of TOKYU ID users have passkeys. And Nulab announced a “dramatic improvement in passkey adoption.”

Academia is helping drive innovation, with teams from Keio University and Waseda University winning acknowledgement for their research and prototypes at a slew of hackathons and workshops.

And FIDO, of course, is there to offer support, now offering its Passkey Central website resource on passkey implementation in Japanese, so that Japanese companies can take better advantage of its introductory materials, implementation strategies, UX  and design guidelines and detailed roll-out guides.

The FIDO Japan Working Group, which includes 66 of the FIDO Alliance’s member companies, is now in its 9th year of working to raise passkey awareness in the country.

Monday, 16. December 2024

FIDO Alliance

Podcast: The Password Problem

In this episode of the Trust Issues podcast, host David Puner sits down with Andrew Shikiar, the Executive Director and CEO of the FIDO Alliance, to discuss the critical issues surrounding password […]

In this episode of the Trust Issues podcast, host David Puner sits down with Andrew Shikiar, the Executive Director and CEO of the FIDO Alliance, to discuss the critical issues surrounding password security and the innovative solutions being developed to address them. Andrew highlights the vulnerabilities of traditional passwords, their susceptibility to phishing and brute force attacks, and the significant advancements in passwordless authentication methods, particularly passkeys. He explains how passkeys, based on FIDO standards, utilize asymmetric public key cryptography to enhance security and reduce the risk of data breaches. 

The conversation also covers the broader implications of strong, user-friendly authentication methods for consumers and organizations, as well as the collaborative efforts of major industry players to make the internet a safer place. Additionally, Andrew highlights the importance of identity security in the context of these advancements, emphasizing how robust authentication methods can protect personal and organizational data. 

Tune in to learn about the future of authentication and the steps being taken to eliminate the reliance on passwords.


DIDAS

Switzerland’s e-ID Milestone: Parliament Resolves Differences, Final Vote Set for December 20, 2024

The Swiss Parliament has resolved all outstanding differences between the National Council and the Council of States regarding the Electronic Identity Act (BGEID), paving the way for a formal final vote scheduled for December 20, 2024. The implementation of SWIYU, encompassing both the electronic identity and its underlying trust infrastructure, has a potential to establish ...

The Swiss Parliament has resolved all outstanding differences between the National Council and the Council of States regarding the Electronic Identity Act (BGEID), paving the way for a formal final vote scheduled for December 20, 2024.

The implementation of SWIYU, encompassing both the electronic identity and its underlying trust infrastructure, has a potential to establish an open, interoperable ecosystem for digital credentials. This framework can  be a solid foundation for the secure exchange of authentic data, thus fostering trustworthiness across digital applications in public administration, the economy, and civil society. Key principles of SWIYU and the e-ID include privacy by design, data minimization, user-centricity, and a commitment to openness and collaboration. We, at DIDAS, expect SWIYU, when fully implemented,  to serve as an important building block  promoting confidence in the digital realm, boosting economic growth and digital inclusion.

The new Swiss electronic identity (e-ID) system takes a completely different approach compared to the model that was rejected by voters in 2021. Unlike the earlier proposal, which handed the responsibility for issuing and managing digital identities to private companies, the new system is entirely state-operated. This ensures that the government, as a public entity, is responsible for issuing e-IDs and maintaining the necessary infrastructure. This change directly addresses the privacy and security concerns raised previously, making societal control easier. The updated framework is designed around user empowerment, with privacy by design and data minimization as fundamental principles, ensuring transparency and building confidence in its use.

What’s truly transformative is the system’s decentralized architecture, drawing its inspiration from Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) principles. This gives individuals control over their own digital identities, and ability to decide what information to share with 3rd parties, such as service providers. The design aligns with the “trust diamond” framework, which organizes four essential roles: the government as the issuer, individuals as the holders, service providers as the verifiers, and a governance framework that ensures everything operates within clear, enforceable and trusted rules. This structure creates a reliable and secure ecosystem for digital identity, addressing shortcomings of the previous E-ID vision resulting in a user-centric, privacy-preserving approach.

DIDAS is exceptionally proud to have made a number of key contributions to Switzerland’s efforts, ensuring the system reflects fundamental Swiss values such as federalism, direct democracy, self-determination, and autonomy. Since its inception in 2020, DIDAS has been a strong advocate for SSI principles, emphasizing user control over personal data and a need for a secure, privacy-preserving digital ecosystem. It has been an integral part of our vision that  a digital trust ecosystem must safeguard privacy but also enable economic value creation.

Early Advocacy and Strategic Vision

In October 2020, DIDAS was established with the primary goal of positioning Switzerland as a leader in developing and implementing privacy-preserving technologies, services, and products related to digital identity and electronically verifiable data. This vision laid the groundwork for a digital trust ecosystem that emphasizes data sovereignty and identity management based on tight alignment with the SSI principles.

Early Advocacy for Self-Sovereign Identity Principles

In December 2021, DIDAS published an explainer on SSI, outlining its core principles and the association’s commitment to establishing a viable and thriving SSI ecosystem. The DIDAS initiative aimed from the start to educate stakeholders and promote the adoption of SSI principles and frameworks within Switzerland’s digital infrastructure, for a more privacy preserving and frictionless digital future.

Contributing to the Dialog around  National e-ID Legislation

By October 2021, DIDAS had provided extensive commentary on Switzerland’s target vision for the e-ID system. The association advocated for an “ecosystem of digital proofs”, where the e-ID would serve as one credential among many, enabling both governmental and private entities to issue other types of  credentials. This approach aimed to create a flexible and future-proof foundation for digital interactions in Switzerland. 

In December 2021, following a public consultation, the Swiss Federal Council decided to orient the implementation of the future e-ID system based on Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) principles. DIDAS welcomed this decision, recognizing it as a commitment to a decentralized solution architecture that prioritizes maximum privacy protection and positions the e-ID as a cornerstone of a broader ecosystem of digital credentials. “Ambition level 3” was anchoring the approach to build an ecosystem of(business-domain-) ecosystems in which, in addition to the E-ID, other verifiable credentials can be exchanged securely and reliably.

Promoting Technological Innovation

In its early stages, DIDAS members established an open sandbox environment to facilitate the development and testing of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) solutions. This sandbox provided a controlled setting where developers and organizations could experiment with SSI technologies, enabling the creation of interoperable and secure digital identity systems. By offering access to resources such as repositories and live demonstrations, DIDAS’s sandbox played a crucial role in iteratively advancing knowledge within Switzerland’s E-ID movement. 

DIDAS has consistently emphasized the importance of advanced digital signature technologies to enhance the Swiss e-ID framework. Following DIDAS’ statement in response to the E-ID technology discussion paper, and its recommendation for Scenario “A” as a feasible technical starting point in February 2024, in March 2024, the association proposed to adopt the concept of dual signatures. The technology approach to bridging the gap between the well established, but less feature rich cryptography and the new, but less known, techniques. Supported by  the US Department of Homeland Security, this technique involves attaching multiple digital signatures to a single payload, each offering distinct security or privacy features. This methodology enhances agility and robustness, accommodating various cryptographic standards and privacy needs without compromising data integrity.

Advocating for Economic Value Creation beyond the societal value of a self-sovereign E-ID

Beyond technological contributions, DIDAS has been a committed advocate for leveraging the e-ID programme by the Swiss Confederation, to establish a digital trust and authentic data exchange ecosystem that creates sustainable economic value. The Association further envisioned this future ecosystem removing friction in B2B and cross border processes, by enabling higher levels of assurance in automation, significantly reducing risk of fraud, simplifying the management of compliance as well as allowing for the proliferation of digital trust-based businesses and innovations. On the Basis of the DIDAS Sandbox, Members have been experimenting around common use cases to explore ecosystem value creation and are looking forward to support issuers, holders and verifiers as well as technology vendors, to further experiment with the confederation’s public beta infrastructure in early 2025.

In January 2024, during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, we collaborated with digitalswitzerland to co-organize the “Digital Trust” session at the digitalswitzerland Village. This event convened over 50 speakers and panelists, including industry leaders and policymakers, to discuss the critical role of digital trust in today’s interconnected world. 

 

 

In September 2024, at the event organized by the State Secretariat of International Finance (SIF) and the Swiss Financial Innovation Desk (FIND) at the Swiss Embassy in Singapore, we had the privilege of moderating and contributing to discussions on digital trust, emphasizing the importance of verifiable data and trust frameworks in global financial ecosystems. Our insights have also been shaping a soon-to-be-published paper, where DIDAS explores key principles and practical strategies to advance digital trust. 

Collaborative Efforts and Future Outlook

We strongly believe that DIDAS’s collaborative approach, engaging, as a non for profit, independent association, with government bodies, private sector stakeholders, and civil society, has been instrumental in shaping Switzerland’s digital identity efforts. The association’s commitment to a pragmatic, principle-based, iterative, and inclusive methodology has ensured that the SWIYU’s vision aligns with both national interests and international standards.

 

 

As Switzerland prepares the final approval of the e-ID legislation on December 20, 2024, the foundational work of DIDAS continues to be important.  We have a lot of work ahead of us to support the adoption of the E-ID and its mechanisms of exchanging authentic data. We further see our role in helping to  increase the fluency of business leaders and innovators in applying these mechanisms.  We’ll use the combined expertise of our members and our energy to promote and further enhance the key aspects of Ambition Level 3 governance and cross-ecosystem interoperability. Continued experimentation and dialogare unavoidable, in order to uncover and realize business value of this emerging Trust Infrastructure. 

We are also proud to co-organize DICE (Digital Identity unConference Europe) in collaboration with Trust Square and the Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) rooting in Mountain View, California. DICE first launched in 2023 and exceeded expectations with 160 expert participants contributing to dynamic discussions. The second DICE in 2024 was a milestone, opened by Federal Councilor Beat Jans, underscoring the importance of these participatory conferences and their contribution to the development of the E-ID Framework and the Swiss Trust Infrastructure. DICE fosters joint learning, evolves collective thinking, and accelerates the adoption of digital identity and verifiable data solutions. In 2025, two events are planned, further advancing open dialogue as a cornerstone for collaboration for authenticity and trust in the digital realm.

 

 

The association’s vision of a secure, adaptable, and authentic data ecosystem built on SSI principles underlines its dedication to a sustainable digital environment that favors privacy and security, while enabling significant economic value creation. 

We look forward to continuing to create positive impact with all of our members, partners and other stakeholders.

Cordially, The DIDAS Board

 

Further Articles and details on contributions in the DIDAS Blog

Saturday, 14. December 2024

Human Colossus Foundation

Journée de la Protection des Données

In the digital age, freedom of choice is profoundly affected by the way data is collected, shared and used. This freedom of choice is closely linked to the notion of privacy. Based on its work, the Foundation will present an approach where digital technology is used to empower patients, enabling them to make informed decisions about their health, while contributing to significant advances in
La liberté de choix à l’ère numérique

(an english translation can be found at the end)

La Fondation Human Colossus contribue à la conférence publique du mercredi 28 janvier 2025 organisée par la Faculté de droit, des sciences criminelles et d’administration publique (FDCA) de l’Université de Lausanne (inscription requise).

À l'ère du numérique, la liberté de choix est profondément influencée par la manière dont les données sont collectées, partagées et utilisées. La liberté de choisir est un concept fondamental qui revêt une importance particulière avec l'avènement des technologies numériques. Cette liberté de choix est intimement liée à la notion de sphère privée. Avec Internet et autres réseaux nous sommes confrontés à un large éventail de choix dans tous les aspects de notre vie quotidienne. Que ce soit dans le domaine des achats en ligne, des réseaux sociaux, des services bancaires en ligne ou dans le domaine de la santé, nous sommes constamment sollicités pour prendre des décisions aussi bien au niveau personnel que professionnel. Avec les outils d’intelligence artificielle qui s'immiscent dans notre quotidien notre sphère privée est-elle encore suffisamment protégée pour garantir autodétermination informationnelle ?

En prenant l’exemple de la médecine personnalisée dans le contexte de la liberté de choix à l'ère numérique, il est clair que l'accès aux données personnelles de santé et leur contrôle sont cruciaux. La médecine personnalisée s'engage à fournir des diagnostics et traitements individualisés. Cela nécessite des outils technologiques pour gérer les informations de santé de manière proactive afin de garantir que ces données soient utilisées de manière éthique et sécurisée. La technologie numérique doit aussi être utilisée pour renforcer l'autonomie des patients en leur permettant de prendre des décisions éclairées sur leur santé, tout en contribuant à des avancées significatives dans la recherche médicale.

Basée sur nos travaux, la Fondation présentera ces concepts à travers les enjeux actuels en Suisse liés au projet E-ID d’identité numérique et à son impact sur l’écosystème de la santé.  

Journée de la Protection des Données

Freedom of Choice in the digital age

The Human Colossus Foundation contributes to the public conference (in french) on Wednesday 28 January 2025 organised by the Faculty of Law, Criminology and Public Administration (FDCA) of the University of Lausanne (registration required).

In the digital age, freedom of choice is profoundly affected by the way data is collected, shared and used. This freedom of choice is closely linked to the notion of privacy.

With the Internet and other networks, we are faced with a wide range of choices in all aspects of our daily lives. Whether it's online shopping, social networking, online banking or healthcare, we are constantly being asked to make decisions at both a personal and professional level. With artificial intelligence tools making their way into our daily lives, is our privacy sphere still well protected to guarantees informational self-determination?

Taking the example of personalised medicine in the context of freedom of choice in the digital age, it becomes clear that access to and control of personal health data are crucial. Personalised medicine is committed to providing individuals with individualised diagnoses and treatments. This requires technological tools to proactively manage their health information to ensure that it is used ethically and securely. Digital technology must also be used to empower patients, enabling them to make informed decisions about their health, while contributing to significant advances in medical research.

Based on its work, the Foundation will present these concepts through the current issues in Switzerland linked to the E-ID digital identity project and its impact on the healthcare ecosystem.

The Human Colossus Foundation is a neutral but technology-savvy Geneva-based non-profit foundation under the surveillance of the Swiss federal authorities. 

Subscribe to our newsletter

Friday, 13. December 2024

FIDO Alliance

ASRock Industrial Sets New Standard in Secure IoT Deployment with FDO Device Onboard

Imagine connecting and configuring devices on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean with limited human intervention. That’s the reality of what can be achieved with the FIDO […]

Imagine connecting and configuring devices on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean with limited human intervention. That’s the reality of what can be achieved with the FIDO Alliance’s Device Onboarding (FDO) standard. This is an example of the applications that IoT pioneer ASRock Industrial is bringing to life.

The rapid proliferation of IoT devices and Edge computing across industries has brought with it unprecedented opportunities and challenges. By 2025, over 75 billion IoT devices are expected to be connected globally, increasing complexities in device management and widening the attack surface for malicious actors. Recent studies suggest nearly 57% of IoT devices are susceptible to medium or high-severity attacks.

Corporate Overview

ASRock Industrial, a global leader in industrial systems and motherboards, has become one of the first vendors to provide FDO-enabled compute solutions for industrial applications. The company offers industrial PC systems, motherboards, edge computers, and other products for industries such as automation, robotics, entertainment, and security, as well as cutting-edge systems for smart cities, energy firms, pharmaceuticals, automotive and more to customers around the world. ASRock Industrial is leading the way in the industrial IoT industry with its FDO certified solutions that make device onboarding more efficient, less vulnerable, and more scalable.

“FDO’s advanced security framework enables us to deliver unparalleled reliability and adaptability, empowering our clients to scale confidently in increasingly complex environments.” – Kenny Chang, Vice President of Product and Marketing Division, ASRock Industrial

On the Edge: The Challenges of Industrial IoT

ASRock Industrial’s customers, like many in the industry, face challenges when deploying IoT devices and edge computing solutions quickly and securely. 

Security vulnerabilities: Traditional manual onboarding methods leave devices vulnerable to unauthorized access and data breaches. For example, a connected IoT device may still have the original manufacturer’s default password in place, which increases the risk of password-related device compromises. Manual processes also increase the risk of exposed, unmanaged devices on the network. In industries like energy and transportation, secure operations are vital to public safety and system reliability. Time and cost inefficiencies: Not only are manual processes time-consuming, hiring skilled installers is extremely expensive. When calculating the time and cost for a skilled engineer to manually onboard edge devices, it’s important to include not only the technical setup time but also the travel time to what potentially may be multiple sites. ASRock Industrial estimates that before FDO, users could spend up to $1,000 per device implementation*.  With FDO the installation is not only much faster and more secure, but it is also a task that can often be handled by existing on-site staff. Complexity and scalability: Legacy onboarding approaches are complex to deploy and manage. This complexity is only further exacerbated by the remote and high-risk environments many industrial applications are in. Sending skilled engineers to these environments not only creates bottlenecks and slows scalability, it introduces safety risks that further amplify costs. Lack of interoperability: The IoT space is very fragmented, with multiple proprietary platforms and operating systems. Existing “zero-touch” solutions are restricted in compatibility, making it hard to support clients across different sectors. Creating an FDO Solution

To solve these challenges, ASRock Industrial turned to FIDO Device Onboard (FDO), and in doing so has become one of the market’s earliest adopters of this compelling technology. ASRock Industrial has integrated FDO into its flagship iEP-5010G series, a robust edge controller built for demanding industrial applications and harsh environments. The iEP-5010G series can operate within a wide temperature range of -40 to 70 degrees and supports 6-36VDC power inputs, 4G LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth, and offers the most flexible I/Os and expansion options, making it a fit for industrial automation, robotics, transportation and more.

The ASRock Industrial FDO solution has been designed with FDO’s advanced features in mind. It delivers end-to-end FDO onboarding capabilities, encompassing all critical FDO functions: manufacturer, owner and rendezvous server. 

Rather than hard programming devices for each different operating system, the iEP-5010G series device controller can be deployed as one system without pre-installation of OS or additional programming. This simplifies manufacturing and provides a better customer experience with the flexibility to decide OS requirements later in the process.

The FDO standard and associated certification program ensure consistency and interoperability. Standardized onboarding means devices are consistently and correctly deployed every time, removing the risk of errors for ASRock Industrial’s customers. Most importantly, the open standards-based approach means it can work seamlessly with other partners in the industry and support players across the globe.

Results and Impact

While early implementation results are still being gathered, ASRock Industrial anticipates significant benefits for both the company and its customers.

One of ASRock Industrial’s earliest use cases lies in the smart city domain, where their FDO-enabled iEP-7020E series devices leverage FDO technology to automatically onboard hardware and software to connect electric vehicle (EV) charging points and related devices seamlessly. By enabling remote monitoring of charging stations across multiple locations, FDO has eliminated the need for engineers to visit sites physically. Its AI-driven analytics have dramatically enhanced operational efficiency, while remote surveillance has addressed key challenges such as charger hogging, vandalism, and unauthorized access. This capability ensures more efficient and timely incident management. As urban demands evolve, FDO serves as a robust foundation for scalable, secure deployments, delivering sustained benefits over time.

Looking Ahead

ASRock Industrial’s investment in FDO puts us in a prime position to meet the rigorous demands of Industry 4.0 advancements and provide customers with security levels that protect against the expanding edge threat landscape. In 2024, ASRock Industrial became one of the first to achieve FDO certification, passing the FIDO Alliance’s rigorous independent testing processes. The results of this testing demonstrate that ASRock Industrial’s products fully meet the FDO specification, meaning partners and clients can trust the security, interoperability and FDO functionality of these solutions.

FDO certification also plays an important role in differentiating ASRock Industrial by making their products more marketable in that they are capable of meeting the needs of a growing number of RFPs that call out FDO. Additionally, it reduces the company’s need to spend time and effort in intensive vendor bake-offs, allowing ASRock Industrial to spend more time innovating its product lines and value-added services.

“Deploying FDO has marked a pivotal shift for ASRock Industrial, establishing a new benchmark in secure, scalable onboarding for industrial edge AIoT solutions. This deployment cements ASRock Industrial’s leadership in industrial computing security and sets the stage for us to shape the future of Industry 4.0 with solutions that are both resilient and future-ready.”– Kenny Chang, Vice President of ASRock Industrial

Read the Case Study

We Are Open co-op

Our most popular posts of 2024

I guess this is WAO Wrapped? Image by Kira auf der Heide Today’s the last day at work for our members, before we take our traditional three weeks off over the festive period. We published 32 posts on this blog in 2024 — about everything from strategic uses of ambiguity to how we’re using AI — but which were the most popular? You can tangle yourself up in knots thinking too hard abo
I guess this is WAO Wrapped? Image by Kira auf der Heide

Today’s the last day at work for our members, before we take our traditional three weeks off over the festive period. We published 32 posts on this blog in 2024 — about everything from strategic uses of ambiguity to how we’re using AI — but which were the most popular?

You can tangle yourself up in knots thinking too hard about end of year retrospectives. After all, anything published at the start of the year has almost 12 times more chance to be popular than something published last week, right? Also, we might have shared some posts on the socials more than others 🤔

That’s where a little light editorialisation comes in, meaning I can mention some of the work we did this year. For example, with the Digital Credentials Consortium on communications strategy, Friends of the Earth around AI Sustainability principles, and an evaluation project we carried out for Jobs for the Future and the International Rescue Committee around Verifiable Credentials for New Americans.

The rest of this post is divided into five thematic sections featuring three posts each:

Open Badges & Verifiable Credentials Community Building Open Recognition Systems Thinking Everything Else

I hope you enjoy (re-)reading them as much as we enjoyed writing them. Why not use that clap button and/or reshare your favourites on whatever social network you’re using this week? 😊

Open Badges & Verifiable Credentials Why Open Badges 3.0 Matters Examining the Roots A Compendium of Credentialing Community Building The Power of Community Knowledge Management Building a Minimum Viable Community of Practice (MVCoP) Finding your activist friends Open Recognition Open Recognition — A feminist practice for more equal workplaces Towards a manifesto for Open Recognition A Little Open Recognition Goes A Long Way Systems Thinking An Introduction to Systems Thinking Finding Unexamined Assumptions Through Systems Thinking and Ambiguity Pathways to Change Everything Else How to find the right mental models for your audience Staying on Track The Business Case for Working Openly and Transparently

Whatever you’re doing over the holiday season, have a great one! We’ll be back in January with more insights at the intersection of learning, technology, and community.

Might we be able to help you in 2025? Why not get in touch?

🎁 Our most popular posts of 2024 was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


DIDAS

Exploring the Future of Legal Entity Identities in the E-ID Ecosystem

The development of a robust ecosystem around the upcoming E-ID implementation in Switzerland represents an essential next step in building Trust Infrastructure. For us at DIDAS it has always been vital to emphasize that while the E-ID verifiable credential is very important, it is still just a building block, the first step towards a much ...

The development of a robust ecosystem around the upcoming E-ID implementation in Switzerland represents an essential next step in building Trust Infrastructure. For us at DIDAS it has always been vital to emphasize that while the E-ID verifiable credential is very important, it is still just a building block, the first step towards a much larger ecosystem where a variety of verifiable credentials will be issued and exchanged on a daily basis.

Many of these credentials, as well as the processes depending on them, will be implemented in the private sector, the vision known as “Ambition Level 3”. This is where the real economic value will come from. Much like the road infrastructure is built by the state and then fuels the economy, so will the Trust Infrastructure serve as a critical foundation, a privacy preserving enabler, for all kinds of native digital processes in the near future.

The E-ID framework, including the underlying Trust Infrastructure, is primarily targeting personal identity and credentials. To realize the complete potential of the Credentials’ Ecosystem, however, the open topics around the organization identity – the identity of an organization itself as well as that of their representatives – must be addressed.
Unlike natural persons, legal entities require unique considerations for authentication, governance, and compliance. A well-designed solution for legal entity identities could unlock significant opportunities for global trade, regulatory compliance, and business interoperability.

To succeed, the chosen approach must be flexible, future-proof, and globally scalable. Not only from a technical standpoint but also from a governance perspective. A scalable solution must accommodate the widest variety of jurisdictions, regulatory requirements, and business use cases, ensuring it is both technically sound and broadly acceptable.

The Role of vLEI Credentials

One of the most promising solutions in this space is the Verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI) credentials ecosystem. Pioneered by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), vLEI credentials aim to provide an extensible basis for an electronically verifiable and trustworthy way to identify legal entities and their representatives in the digital world. GLEIF, a globally recognized authority, oversees the issuance of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) that are already widely used in the financial sector to improve transparency and reduce risk.

The vLEI system builds upon this foundation by leveraging cutting-edge technology to ensure verifiability and scalability. However, despite its many advantages, the underlying technical framework—centered around Key Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI) and Authentic Chained Data Containers (ACDC)— has proven rather challenging to grasp.

Deep Dive into the vLEI and its technical foundations

To make it easier to understand and appreciate the solution, we have undertaken a deep dive into both the governance and technical aspects of the vLEI ecosystem. Our goal is to provide an accurate insight into the key mechanisms and characteristics that make vLEI ecosystem a prime candidate to serve as the backbone for use-cases and applications that require a globally scalable legal entity identity framework.

First, we take a look at the governance, highlighting the key aspects as to why vLEI ecosystem can meet the diverse regulatory requirements of jurisdictions worldwide while accommodating the varied needs of businesses. Then, on the technical side, we are exploring the foundational KERI/ACDC technology, which promises enhanced security, efficiency, transparency and interoperability.

To learn with us, watch the recorded deep-dive session on vLEI and its technical underpinnings.

Stay tuned for more insights as we continue this journey toward shaping the future of legal entity identities in the digital era.

Together, let’s make the vision of a seamless, privacy-first digital ecosystem a reality. Stay connected and be part of the transformation!

Thursday, 12. December 2024

FIDO Alliance

Passkey Adoption Doubles in 2024: More than 15 Billion Online Accounts Can Leverage Passkeys for Faster, Safer Sign-ins

Momentum continues in Japan with notable passkey success stories and deployments from Nikkei, Tokyu, Google, Sony Interactive Entertainment, KDDI, LY Corporation, Mercari and NTT DOCOMO TOKYO, December 12, 2024 – […]

Momentum continues in Japan with notable passkey success stories and deployments from Nikkei, Tokyu, Google, Sony Interactive Entertainment, KDDI, LY Corporation, Mercari and NTT DOCOMO

TOKYO, December 12, 2024 – More than 15 billion online accounts can use passkeys for faster, safer sign-ins – more than double than this time last year. The momentum behind FIDO and passkeys is the focus of today’s 11th annual FIDO Tokyo Seminar, where hundreds gathered to learn about the latest developments in the global push to eliminate dependence on passwords. Presenters include those from Google, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Mastercard, Waseda University, the Institute of Information Security, KDDI, LY Corporation, Mercari and NTT DOCOMO.

Passkeys become more widely available for consumer and workforce applications – and companies are seeing the benefits 

Passkeys provide phishing-resistant security with a simple user experience far superior to passwords and other phishable forms of authentication. Many consumer brands are reporting passkey success stories and business benefits; some notable new and recent announcements include: 

Amazon made passkeys available to 100% of its users, including in Japan, this year and already has 175 million passkeys created for sign-in to amazon.com across geographies. Google recently reported that 800 million Google accounts now use passkeys, resulting in more than 2.5 billion passkey sign-ins over the past two years. Also, Google’s sign-in success rates have improved by 30% and sign-ins speeds have increased by 20% on average. Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company behind PlayStation, released passkeys as an alternative option to passwords for their global gaming community and observed a 24% reduction in sign-in time on its web applications for passkey users. Additionally, high conversion rates have been observed, with 88% of customers who are presented with the benefits of passkeys successfully completing enrollment.

Adoption also grew in the workforce this year as more companies bolstered their authentication options with passkeys, including Hyatt, IBM, Target and TikTok.

Consumers gained flexibility and choice for passkey management this year, as more credential managers, such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, 1Password, Bitwarden, Dashlane and LastPass expanded their passkeys support cross-ecosystem, and the FIDO Alliance announced new draft specifications for users to securely move passkeys and all other credentials across providers.

Notable Momentum in Japan

Specifically in Japan, new passkeys deployments and success were announced from Nikkei Inc., Nulab Inc., and Tokyu Corporation:

Nikkei Inc. unveiled their plan to deploy passkeys for Nikkei ID, for the millions of Nikkei ID customers to begin their migration from passwords to passkeys. This will be launching in February 2025 or later. Nulab Inc. announced their dramatic improvement in passkey adoption for Nulab accounts based on the outcome of the Passkey Hackathon Tokyo this past November. Tokyu Corporation has reported that 45% of TOKYU ID users have passkeys, and sign-ins with passkeys are 12 times faster than a password plus an emailed OTP.

Additionally, Nikkei Inc., Nulab Inc. and Tokyu Corporation all successfully demonstrated their passkey implementations at the Passkey Hackathon Tokyo, organized by Google and sponsored by FIDO Alliance, in June 2024. Companies receiving awards included Nulab and Tokyu, as well as two teams of students from Japanese universities:

Keio University team received the grand winner award for adopting passkeys combined with an IoT device – a smart door lock created by a 3D printer. Waseda University team received another FIDO award for their unique user authentication protocol and implementation combined with passkeys, verifiable credentials and zero-knowledge proofs.

In addition to these two teams, a group at the Institute of Information Security (Yokohama, Japan) presented their research entitled “A Study on Notification Design to Encourage General Users to Use Passkeys” at a workshop organized by the Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSG) on December 4, 2024. These activities demonstrate how students in academia are embracing passkeys as an attractive option for life without passwords.

Organizations that have already deployed passkeys for more than a year shared new successes:

KDDI now has more than 13 million au ID customers now using FIDO and has seen a dramatic decrease (nearly 35%)  in calls to its customer support center as a result. Managing FIDO adoption carefully for both subscribers and non-subscribers. LY Corporation property Yahoo! JAPAN ID now has 27 million active passkeys users. Approximately 50% of user authentication on smartphones is now passkeys. LY Corporation said that passkeys have a higher success rate over SMS OTP and achieve 2.6 times faster. Mercari has 7 million users enrolled in passkeys, and enforcing passkey login for synced passkeys enrolled users of Mercari. Notably, there have been zero phishing incidents at Mercoin, a Mercari subsidiary since March 9, 2023. NTT DOCOMO has increased its passkey enrollments and now passkeys are used for approximately 50% of authentication by account users. NTT DOCOMO notably reports significant decreases in successful phishing attempts and there have been no unrecognized payments at docomo Online Shop since September 23, 2022.

To drive further adoption in Japan, the FIDO Alliance announced that Passkey Central, the website for consumer service providers to learn more about why and how to implement passkeys for simpler and more secure sign-ins, is now available in Japanese. Passkey Central provides visitors with actionable, data-driven content to discover, implement, and maintain passkeys for maximum benefits over time. The comprehensive resources on Passkey Central include:  

Introduction to passkeys Business considerations and metrics  Internal and external communication materials Implementation strategies & detailed roll-out guides   UX & Design guidelines Troubleshooting And more implementation resources, such as glossary, Figma kits, and accessibility guidance

Along with the many in Japan, there are 66 of the FIDO Alliance’s 300+ member companies actively taking part in the FIDO Japan Working Group (FJWG). The FJWG is now beginning its 9th year working together to spread awareness and adoption of FIDO in the region.

Consumers and workforce users are aware of, and want to use, passkeys

Passkeys are not only available across a wide array of services, but recent studies have shown that consumers and workforce users are aware of, and want to use, passkeys. Recent FIDO Alliance research shows that in the two years since passkeys were first made available, consumer awareness has risen by 50%, up from 39% in 2022 to now 57% in 2024. Consumers also report that when they adopt at least one passkey, 1 out of 4 enables passkeys whenever possible. A majority of consumers also believe passkeys are more secure (61%) and more convenient than passwords (58%). Since 2023, consumers from APAC reported passkey awareness has grown significantly more when compared to the global average and other countries in 2024. Consumers from China (80%), India (70%), Japan (62%), and Singapore (58%) reported significantly higher passkey adoption in the last year, with Australia (52%) and South Korea (44%) trending close to the overall average (59%).

Sources:

Online Authentication Barometer 2024: Consumer Trends & Attitudes on Authentication Methods.
https://fidoalliance.org/research-findings-consumer-trends-and-attitudes-towards-authentication-methods/

Consumer Password & Passkey Trends: World Password Day 2024.
https://fidoalliance.org/content-ebook-consumer-password-and-passkey-trends-wpd-2024/

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.


DIF Blog

BBS: Where Proof Meets Privacy

Building the Future of Digital Privacy: How you can Contribute, Implement, and Advocate The applied cryptography community is making significant strides in standardizing BBS signatures and their extensions - a crucial development for privacy-preserving digital credentials. This work represents a major step forward in enabling more private and secure digital

Building the Future of Digital Privacy: How you can Contribute, Implement, and Advocate

The applied cryptography community is making significant strides in standardizing BBS signatures and their extensions - a crucial development for privacy-preserving digital credentials. This work represents a major step forward in enabling more private and secure digital interactions while maintaining the necessary balance between privacy and accountability.

What is BBS?

BBS is a secure digital signature mechanism that proves information is authentic and unchanged, similar to how a notary validates physical documents. Unlike other digital signature mechanisms, BBS enables powerful privacy features while maintaining security. Its name comes from its creators – cryptographers Dan Boneh, Xavier Boyen, and Hovav Shacham. This combination of security and privacy makes it particularly well-suited for digital credential systems, where protecting both authenticity and user privacy is crucial.

Why BBS Matters

BBS signatures provide a unique combination of privacy and practical utility that makes them especially valuable for digital credentials.

From a technical perspective, BBS stands out for:

Constant-size signatures regardless of the number of messages signed True unlinkability between different uses of the same credential The ability to sign and selectively reveal multiple messages within a single signature

These technical properties translate into practical benefits for digital credentials:

Selective disclosure: Users can prove specific facts about their credentials (like their city of residence) without revealing other details (like their full address) Unlinkable disclosure: Each privacy-preserving use of a credential cannot be traced to other uses Anti-theft features: Credentials can be cryptographically bound to their owner while maintaining privacy Controlled recognition: Services can securely recognize returning users without enabling cross-service tracking

Together, these capabilities enable privacy-preserving digital credentials that are both secure and practical for real-world deployment - from government IDs to professional certifications to age verification systems.

BBS Standards Landscape

The standardization of BBS involves several complementary efforts across standards bodies: 

Core Technical Specifications

BBS and its extensions are currently undergoing standardization within the Crypto Forum Research Group (CFRG) of the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). (The IRTF is related to the IETF but focuses on longer term research related to the Internet.) 

The Decentralized Identity Foundation hosts the development of this work in the Applied Crypto Working Group.

This work is currently represented by 3 specifications:

"BBS Signatures": BBS Signatures are a privacy-preserving way to sign digital credentials. They let you prove specific facts about your credentials (like your city of residence) without revealing other details (like your full address). Specification: The BBS Signature Scheme "Blind BBS": Blind BBS enables credential issuance where the issuer can cryptographically sign information without seeing its contents - useful for privacy-preserving identity binding. Specification: Blind BBS Signatures “BBS Pseudonyms”: BBS Pseudonyms are an anti-fraud mechanism to prevent digital credential cloning. They can be used by verifiers (like websites) to identify someone they've interacted with before, but in a way that cannot be correlated across different verifiers. Specification: BBS per Verifier Linkability

Status: The first item, BBS Signatures, is a mature working group document that completed an initial review by the CFRG panel. The other two – Blind BBS and BBS Pseudonyms – are on their way to adoption, and they could benefit from your support, as described below.

Implementation Standards

The W3C Verifiable Credentials Working Group is building on this foundation by developing the Data Integrity BBS Cryptosuite specification. This work integrates BBS signatures into W3C Verifiable Credentials, provides comprehensive test suites, and ensures that implementations across different platforms will be interoperable and reliable.

Call to Action 1. Voice Your Support

Urgent: Deadline December 20th, 2024

The CFRG has opened an official adoption call for both the Blind BBS and BBS Pseudonyms specifications. This is a crucial moment for these privacy-enhancing technologies.

Update: these specifications have been accepted! Thank you for your support.

Your voice matters - if you care about privacy-preserving technologies, please participate in the vote and share your support.

2. Get Involved

Want to dive deeper into this work? There are several ways to engage based on your interests: 

Developers: Contribute to W3C test suites or implement any of the specifications to test them out Standards developers: Join the discussion at any of the above standards groups Cryptographers: Review and provide feedback on the specifications and join the technical discussions Enthusiasts / everyone: If you want to follow along with the progress, subscribe to DIF’s blog for updates

To participate in DIF’s Applied Crypto Working Group, you can join DIF; contact us at membership@identity.founation if you have any questions.

Wednesday, 11. December 2024

Energy Web

Energy Web Unveils Fully Managed Worker Node on Launchpad

Simplifying Decentralized Computation Energy Web is proud to announce the launch of its fully managed Worker Node offering, now available through the Energy Web Launchpad SaaS platform. This innovative solution provides organizations with a powerful, streamlined way to execute decentralized computation while bridging technical complexity with operational simplicity What is the Worker Node?
Simplifying Decentralized Computation

Energy Web is proud to announce the launch of its fully managed Worker Node offering, now available through the Energy Web Launchpad SaaS platform. This innovative solution provides organizations with a powerful, streamlined way to execute decentralized computation while bridging technical complexity with operational simplicity

What is the Worker Node?

The Worker Node is an off-chain runner designed to execute custom logic using Node-RED flows. Its lifecycle and operational parameters are managed through Energy Web X (EWX) worker node pallet solutions and solution group definitions.

Each Worker Node is equipped with a dedicated Worker Account, which is seamlessly linked to an EWX Operator Account. This linkage enables the Worker Node to continuously monitor on-chain actions, ensuring responsive adjustments to Operator Account solution group subscriptions.

Revolutionary Capabilities

The Worker Node introduces a host of advanced features to support decentralized computation:

Atomic Decentralized Computation: Acts as the foundational unit for decentralized computation networks, driving DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) use cases. Lightweight and Blockchain-Controlled: Fully managed via blockchain actions for secure and efficient operations. Low-Code Simplicity: Powered by the Node-RED runner engine, enabling rapid deployment within a mature low-code environment. Flexible Hosting: Supports diverse hosting options to suit varying user requirements. Constantly Evolving: Regular updates based on feedback from early adopters ensure the Worker Node remains cutting-edge. Why Choose the Worker Node Launchpad Offering?

The Launchpad’s fully managed Worker Node offering is the ideal choice for users seeking reliability and simplicity:

Eliminate the need to keep hardware, such as laptops, running 24/7. Access a reliable, server-based solution supported by a dedicated team to handle any issues. Transition seamlessly from the Marketplace Desktop App Worker Node to the managed SaaS alternative. A Glimpse into the Future

The Energy Web ecosystem continues to grow, with exciting developments on the horizon, including a new Marketplace Web App to enhance modularity and flexibility. To celebrate the launch, Energy Web is offering 25 exclusive, one-month 100% discount codes for the Worker Node Managed Offering, valid until March 2025.

This exclusive trial empowers users to explore the Worker Node Launchpad Offering risk-free, with the option to continue or revert to the Marketplace app afterward — ensuring maximum flexibility.

Get Started Today

Discover the transformative potential of the Worker Node through detailed documentation and resources designed to help users transition effortlessly between the Marketplace app and the Launchpad offering.

The next few months promise exciting updates from Energy Web. Stay tuned for more surprises as we continue to expand the boundaries of decentralized technology.

About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global technology company driving the energy transition by developing and deploying open-source decentralized technologies. Our solutions leverage blockchain to create innovative market mechanisms and decentralized applications, empowering energy companies, grid operators, and customers to take control of their energy futures.

Energy Web Unveils Fully Managed Worker Node on Launchpad was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tuesday, 10. December 2024

Elastos Foundation

ELA Arbiters: The Final Piece in BeL2’s Vision for Bitcoin DeFi

2024 has been a breakthrough year for Bitcoin engineering, driven by the innovative toolsets provided by the Elastos SmartWeb ecosystem. The introduction of BeL2 (Bitcoin-Elastos Layer 2) has redefined what is possible for decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. With a vision to make Bitcoin “smart” BeL2 provides a completely decentralized clearing network, enabling Bitcoin to […]

2024 has been a breakthrough year for Bitcoin engineering, driven by the innovative toolsets provided by the Elastos SmartWeb ecosystem. The introduction of BeL2 (Bitcoin-Elastos Layer 2) has redefined what is possible for decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin. With a vision to make Bitcoin “smart” BeL2 provides a completely decentralized clearing network, enabling Bitcoin to engage with cross-chain smart contracts while remaining on its secure main network. Imagine if Bitcoin could talk with other blockchains, execute complex contracts, and unlock its dormant potential—this is BeL2’s transformative promise.

BeL2 and the New Bretton Woods Vision

Since Bitcoin’s inception in 2009, it has grown to a $1.9 trillion market cap, cementing its role as the most secure and trusted cryptocurrency. However, its programmability and financial utility have remained limited compared to other blockchains. Solutions like wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) have emerged but rely on centralized custodians to access smart contracts, undermining decentralization and sparking fierce debate over company ownership.

BeL2 disrupts this model by ensuring interoperability without transferring assets. Instead of moving Bitcoin across chains, BeL2 transmits messages, also known as proofs, which allow smart contracts on Turing-complete blockchains to verify and execute complex financial operations based on collateralisation on Bitcoin. This trustless model preserves Bitcoin’s integrity while enabling applications like loans, exchanges, and stablecoin issuance—laying the foundation for a Bitcoin-backed “New Bretton Woods” system. BeL2 integrates four key elements to realize its vision for Native Bitcoin DeFi:

Collateralization: Bitcoin is locked in non-custodial, native scripts on its mainnet, ensuring maximum security and decentralization for owners. Verification: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) generate verifiable cryptographic proofs for Bitcoin transactions, providing trustless verification for Layer 2 applications. Communication: The BTC Oracle bridges proofs from Bitcoin into Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contracts, enabling cross-chain interactions. Execution: Decentralized Arbiter nodes facilitate time-based execution and dispute resolution, ensuring fairness and trust in financial transactions.

Together, these components create a robust protocol that unlocks the full potential of Bitcoin for DeFi, providing developers with the ability to build smart contract applications which open up Bitcoin Finance while maintaining its security ethos.

ELA Arbiters: The Final Piece of the Puzzle

The Arbiter network is the final layer of BeL2’s V1 protocol, providing execution services for Bitcoin-backed transactions, resolving disputes, and maintaining trust through decentralized and collateralized mechanisms in return for fees. At the heart of this system lies ELA, a Bitcoin-secured BTCFi reserve asset fortified by merge mining. By leveraging Bitcoin’s immense hash power, ELA inherits uncompromised security without extra energy costs. Its fixed supply and transparent emission schedule make ELA an ideal collateral asset, anchoring BTCFi with Bitcoin-level trust. As the “queen” to Bitcoin’s “king,” ELA is used as collateral to Arbiters nodes on a network to provide a secure, reliable Native Bitcoin DeFi environment.

This month, on the 30th of December, BeL2 will be releasing the Beta version of its Arbiter system. Key points to first understand:

The Beta stage marks the release of a product to an initial group of community users for testing and feedback. For security purposes, BeL2 will implement a 3-phase rollout, beginning in December and concluding in April. Phase one, launching this month, introduces the Beta version. The BeL2 Arbiter Beta will impose a $100 maximum limit on ELA collateral deposits. Collateral can be provided in ELA or ELA BPOS NFTs. Initially, rewards will be issued exclusively in ELA. However, upcoming applications and the scaling of Arbiters over the next few months will introduce utility for BTC rewards. BTC Lending: A Flagship BeL2 Use Case

The Arbiter network will first be worked into supporting BeL2 BTC lending demo, the revolutionary application developed by the team to support the validation of underlying infrastructure for Native Bitcoin DeFi:

Secure Lending: Borrowers collateralize BTC without transferring it off the mainnet. No Forced Liquidations: Fixed interest rates protect borrowers from short-term price volatility. Transparent Dispute Resolution: Arbiter nodes ensure fair outcomes for all parties involved.

Criteria for Joining the Fully Rolled out Arbiter Network

Beyond Beta, once the network has stabilized and all phases of the rollout are complete, users will be required to meet the following criteria to join the finalized Arbiter Network:

A Dedicated BTC Wallet: Required for secure custody and dispute resolution. Exit Flexibility: Arbiters can exit the network if no active arbitration commitments are pending, allowing them to manage their participation. Stake ELA or BPoS NFTs: A minimum stake of 1,000–5,000 ELA is recommended to ensure commitment and secure arbitration responsibilities. Define Term End Date: Arbiters must set a staking duration, with longer terms increasing their selection chances. Purpose of Staking: Staked assets act as collateral, guaranteeing impartiality and commitment in arbitration events. Set Your Fee Rate: Arbiters define an annual percentage during registration (e.g., 12%). Example Income: A 2-month arbitration task with 10,000 ELA staked at 12% annual interest would yield 200 ELA. Aligned Rewards: Fees ensure that Arbiters are compensated for their role in securing transactions. Event Monitoring: Promptly submit cryptographic signatures for arbitration events. No Judgment Needed: Arbiters verify predefined events without adjudicating disputes, simplifying the process. Manual Operations: Tasks can be performed via a web interface, though timeliness is critical to avoid penalties.

Applications requiring arbitration must:

Register with the Network: Initially approved by administrators, transitioning to DAO governance over time. Log Transactions: dApps must log all transactions with Arbiter contracts at creation to ensure future arbitration is possible.

Fees for arbitration end when:

An arbitration request is initiated. The transaction is closed or reaches its deadline. A Vision Realized

The introduction of Arbiters completes BeL2’s foundational layer, enabling trustless, decentralized financial applications on Bitcoin. This 3-phase rollout marks a milestone in Bitcoin’s evolution from a store of value to a programmable asset that underpins a global, decentralized financial system. BeL2 is on track to redefine how Bitcoin interacts with the world, unlocking over $1 trillion in dormant value and empowering its community to embrace a future free from custodial risks and centralized limitations.

Join the BeL2 Movement

As an Arbiter Beta participant, you are not merely engaging with a network—you are actively shaping the future of decentralized finance with Elastos. This is a call to action for the community to support the network by setting up nodes, providing valuable feedback, and driving the BeL2 network toward a successful market launch in 2025. Detailed instructions on how to set up a node will be published before December 30th, supporting the launch of the Arbiter Beta network. Did you enjoy this article? To learn more, follow Infinity for the latest updates here!


Human Colossus Foundation

Switzerland: E-ID set to go live in early 2026

On December 6, 2024, the Swiss Federal Council made decisions regarding the technical implementation of the Confederation's new electronic identity proof (e-ID) and the underlying operational infrastructure. A press release[1] describes a two-stage launch of the e-ID, with the first delivery planned for 2026. The first stage will introduce a technology used by the European Union. At the same t

E-ID participation meeting, Zollikofen 2024.12.06

Human Colossus Foundation’s Dynamic Data Economy perspective

On December 6, 2024, the Swiss Federal Council made decisions regarding the technical implementation of the Confederation's new electronic identity proof (e-ID) and the underlying operational infrastructure. A press release [1] describes a two-stage launch of the e-ID, with the first delivery planned for 2026. The first stage will introduce a technology used by the European Union. At the same time, work will continue to develop additional solutions that could be used in a second stage to meet even higher privacy protection requirements, in particular the requirement that the various uses of the e-ID not be traceable to an individual.

DVS4U: Integration des E-ID Ökosystems in kantonale und kommunale Systeme

On the same day, representatives of the Human Colossus Foundation attended the annual hybrid participation meeting of the project E-ID, which took place in the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication (FOITT) buildings in Zollikofen. The Human Colossus Foundation's (HCF) contribution is the technology for securing and styling the visualisation of the E-ID on mobile devices. E-ID pilots have already implemented HCF's Overlays Capture Architecture (OCA) [2] in different contexts (see for example canton Thurgau proof of concept [3]. The Foundation will continue to support the E-ID team on semantic harmonisation for a stylish but secured visualisation of digital proofs. 

However, our goal at the Human Colossus Foundation is to promote and support E-ID projects beyond the semantic realm. We support E-ID and public service initiatives in Switzerland and abroad. Our Dynamic Data Economy (DDE) approach anticipates the future implementation of national infrastructure components, including distributed governance and decentralised authentication. These technologies go beyond the building of complex verifiable credential use cases. They enable an ecosystem approach, helping integrate many providers of digital proofs, further enabling diverse use cases for E-ID.

We welcome the two-stage approach of the project that confirms a go-live for 2026 while activating research and development for higher security and privacy.

References:

[1] Swiss Federal Council December 6 2024 press release https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/media-releases.msg-id-102922.html

[2] OCA website and specification https://oca.colossi.network/

[3] Canton Thurgau DVS4U: Integration des E-ID Ökosystem in kantonale and kommunale Systeme: https://github.com/e-id-admin/general/blob/main/meetings/20241206_E-ID-Partizipationsmeeting_DVS4U_DE.pdf

Other Informations

Swiss Digital Identity and Trust infrastructure blog posts

Public Beta is Open Source: https://www.eid.admin.ch/en/public-beta-ist-open-source-e

SWIYU – Notes on the design and name of the e-ID and trust infrastructure: https://www.eid.admin.ch/en/swiyu-e

Project E-ID Git-Hub: https://github.com/e-id-admin

The Human Colossus Foundation is a neutral but technology-savvy Geneva-based non-profit foundation under the surveillance of the Swiss federal authorities. 

Subscribe to our newsletter

Monday, 09. December 2024

GS1

Embracing serialisation by driving adoption beyond compliance mandates

Embracing serialisation by driving adoption beyond compliance mandates As countries explore serialisation mandates, Johnson & Johnson leverages its robust GS1-based program to protect vulnerable markets and products globally... Despite serialisation being mandated in approximately 52 countries, many of the countries
Embracing serialisation by driving adoption beyond compliance mandates As countries explore serialisation mandates, Johnson & Johnson leverages its robust GS1-based program to protect vulnerable markets and products globally...

Despite serialisation being mandated in approximately 52 countries, many of the countries most at risk remain unregulated. In the absence of regulation, pharmaceuticals may be more vulnerable to product counterfeiting, diversion or adulteration.

Business goal GS1 Healthcare Case Studies 2023-2024 gs1-healthcare_cases_studies_2024_final_.pdf

DIDAS

Call to Participate in a Survey: Identifying Use Cases – A Critical Step for Digital Proof Ecosystems in Switzerland

In an increasingly interconnected world, digital processes must function seamlessly without interruptions. However, one element is indispensable for this: trust in digital data. Without trust, we face uncertainty, additional validation efforts, and delays in business processes. How can we ensure data integrity, prevent manipulation, and efficiently meet regulatory requirements? And how can we achie

In an increasingly interconnected world, digital processes must function seamlessly without interruptions. However, one element is indispensable for this: trust in digital data. Without trust, we face uncertainty, additional validation efforts, and delays in business processes.

How can we ensure data integrity, prevent manipulation, and efficiently meet regulatory requirements? And how can we achieve a state where information flows seamlessly between organizations without the need to question every document?

This is precisely the focus of our survey. By participating, you will help us better understand challenges and needs. Every perspective matters: whether you’re in leadership, IT, legal, or finance, your experiences and insights will directly contribute to making digital processes safer, more trustworthy, and easier to implement.

How can you help? Participate: Take a few minutes to complete our survey. Spread the word: Share the survey within your network. Every additional voice gives the results greater weight and impact.

Together, we can make digital data so trustworthy that it forms the foundation for seamless, efficient, and secure business processes.

Join now: [Participate here!]

Thank you for your support!

Contacts:

Dr. Roman Zoun is a board member of DIDAS and leads the Adoption Working Group. Professionally, he is with Swisscom, where he is responsible for the Digital Wallet division, focusing on the promotion of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and digital trust infrastructures. As an expert in digital identities, data protection, and IT security, he brings extensive experience in identity and access management.In addition to his role at Swisscom, he serves as a board member of the OpenWallet Foundation, contributing to the development of secure and interoperable digital wallets. Dr. Zoun earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, with a strong academic background in cloud computing and mass spectrometry. His passion for innovation and commitment to trustworthy digital solutions make him a key figure in the field.

Jan Carlos Janke teaches and conducts research as a senior academic staff member on topics related to Digital Business Innovation, focusing on Blockchain, SSI, Digital Identities, Digital Trust, IT Management, and AI. As the Community Manager of DIDAS and Co-Lead of the Digital Identities Short Course and CAS Blockchain, he contributes to education in digital identity, data sovereignty, and blockchain technologies.He holds dual master’s degrees in Management and Finance from the European Business School in Wiesbaden and the EADA Business School in Barcelona. With nearly ten years of experience in the German financial sector, Janke was previously Head of Business Development at the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center under Philipp Sandner before joining HSLU.

More to Read? As we step into an era defined by digital transformation, DIDAS is at the forefront, championing the adoption of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) and trust infrastructures. Our vision is clear: a Switzerland with more privacy and less friction in the digital realm. Here’s how we’re working to make this vision a reality. Why We Do What We Do At DIDAS, our purpose drives everything we do. We are committed to: Educating, identifying, creating, and improving SSI use cases in Switzerland. Supporting both companies and individuals with an open, customer-centric approach. Building an ecosystem that fosters understanding, innovation, and optimization of Self-Sovereign Identity. Our goal is to tackle the pain points of digital interactions by creating solutions that: Enhance efficiency and effectiveness in digital systems. Establish a common language for trust infrastructures. Improve user experience and reduce friction. Ecosystem Building: A Multi-Dimensional Approach   (Quelle: Grivas, HSLU 2024 Master Business IT - Digital Ecosystems)   DIDAS leverages the diversity of ecosystems to drive adoption and innovation: Open Ecosystems Logic: Diversity of partners for a broad knowledge base. Example: Crypto Valley, Impact Hub, Cardossier. Goal: Knowledge exchange between partners. Controlled Ecosystems Logic: Joint alignment of a few partners under an orchestrator. Example: Helvetia Eco-System HOME, Twint. Goal: Deliver superior value propositions through aligned collaboration. Platform Ecosystems Logic: Harnessing network effects with interchangeable partners. Example: Amazon, AppStore. Goal: Create superior value propositions through network effects. By fostering these ecosystems, DIDAS ensures a balance between openness, control, and platform-driven innovation. Adoption: A Long Journey with High Rewards (Source: Zoun, DIDAS 2024, Adoption Working Group Presentation) The adoption of trust infrastructures is a gradual process but one that promises immense benefits: Authentic data enables better efficiency and liability management. Privacy-friendly solutions redefine the user experience, minimizing friction. Stakeholders gain a competitive edge through participation in cutting-edge digital ecosystems. Together, let’s make the vision of a seamless, privacy-first digital ecosystem a reality. Stay connected and be part of the transformation. Learn more at didas.swiss.

Elastos Foundation

Elastos Launches Fiat On/Off Ramp, Adds Liquidity and Gets Solana Support Through Chainge Finance

Elastos has taken a major step forward in its partnership with Chainge Finance to provide a fiat on/off ramp and expand liquidity pools, including the addition of Solana for direct swaps and trades into ELA on the Elastos Smart Chain! These developments, backed by a significant increase in liquidity through a recent proposals #167 & […]
Elastos has taken a major step forward in its partnership with Chainge Finance to provide a fiat on/off ramp and expand liquidity pools, including the addition of Solana for direct swaps and trades into ELA on the Elastos Smart Chain! These developments, backed by a significant increase in liquidity through a recent proposals #167 & #168, promise to make the Elastos ecosystem more accessible and user-friendly for both crypto natives and newcomers.

For some time, Elastos faced hurdles related to liquidity and accessibility. Relying on centralized exchanges went against the principles of decentralization, and earlier cross-chain bridging and DEX efforts involved high-fee bridges and complex swap mechanisms, which often fell short, frustrating the community and hindering growth. The initial partnership with Chainge Finance marked a crucial turning point, laying the groundwork for a more streamlined and user-friendly DeFi experience. So, let’s jump in and go through the latest developments!

Liquidity Boost and New Chain Integrations

Recently, Sasha Mitchell’s proposals, #167 & #168, which were in response to the integration of Chainge and aimed at raising Elastos’ liquidity on the Chainge platform, were successfully passed. This led to the addition of 197,152 USDC matched with 80,000 ELA, significantly boosting liquidity and reducing slippage. This is a key advancement for Elastos, which aims to offer a smoother and more predictable trading experience for its users.

Solana x Elastos Cross-Chain Swaps Launch

Solana has been added! This addition expands the options for direct swaps and trades with ELA on the Elastos Smart Chain (ESC), immediately tapping into the provided liquidity. This joins the long list of interconnected blockchain networks that can trade ELA with one click. These include Fusion, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Avalanche C, Polygon, Aurora, CoreDAO, Syscoin NEVM, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Linea, Polygon zkEVM, opBNB, Syscoin Rollux, Tron, Koinos, Merlin Mainnet, and X Layer Mainnet. This not only gives users more choices but also has the potential to offer better pricing and enhance the overall ecosystem experience.

Fiat On/Off Ramp Launch

Finally, Chainge Finance have enabled a fiat on/off ramp for ELA and the Elastos Smart Chain. Users can now purchase ELA directly using their bank accounts, bypassing the often clunky process of acquiring cryptocurrency via traditional exchanges. This feature represents a major advancement, allowing participants to move easily between traditional finance and the decentralized world of Elastos. The ability to trade ELA with fiat using bank accounts provides a simple entry point into the Elastos ecosystem, serving both crypto-native users and those entering the space from traditional financial backgrounds.

The added liquidity and the fiat on/off ramp positions Elastos as a more accessible SmartWeb. Whether you’re a long-time supporter or new to Elastos, these changes mean better access, reduced costs, and a more dependable experience overall. Explore the new features on Chainge Finance today to experience these updates firsthand. Engage in community discussions, stay informed about future developments, and help shape the future of Elastos. Visit the Chainge web dapp or download the mobile app (android / IOS) to start interacting with these new features now!  Did you enjoy this article? To learn more, follow Infinity for the latest updates here!

Friday, 06. December 2024

DIF Blog

DIF Labs: DIF Launches Beta Cohort of Decentralized Identity Innovation Group

DIF’s commitment to supporting builders and doers in the decentralized identity space has led to the launch of DIF Labs, an initiative aimed at transforming how decentralized identity solutions are built, tested, and scaled.

DIF Labs accelerates the DeID market innovation  

DIF Labs: Decentralized Identity Innovation Group DIF Labs: Decentralized Identity Innovation Group Table of Contents 1. DIF Labs accelerates Decentralized Identity market innovation 2. Why DIF Labs? 3. The Beta (β) Cohort: Iterative Process Development 4. Project: Bitcoin Ordinals Verifiable Credentials Framework 5. Project: Linked Claims 6. Project: VerAnon 7. Timeline 8. Meet the Mentors and Chairs 8.1. Expert Mentors: 8.2. Chairs 9. What’s Next And Getting Involved? ,------. ,--.,------. ,--. ,--. | .-. \ | || .---' | | ,--,--.| |-. ,---. | | \ :| || `--, | | ' ,-. || .-. '( .-' | '--' /| || |` | '--.\ '-' || `-' |.-' `) `-------' `--'`--' `-----' `--`--' `---' `----' 1. DIF Labs accelerates Decentralized Identity market innovation

DIF’s commitment to supporting builders and doers in the decentralized identity space has led to the launch of DIF Labs, an initiative aimed at transforming how decentralized identity solutions are built, tested, and scaled. DIF Labs bridges the gap between brilliant ideas and market-ready solutions, empowering developers, startups, and industry innovators to collaborate, experiment, and grow.

2. Why DIF Labs?

DIF Labs was born from the need for a dedicated space where creators in decentralized identity can focus on practical innovation. Traditional standards organizations can be slow and formal, while incubators may lack the technical ecosystem DIF provides. DIF Labs is uniquely positioned to address these gaps, offering participants:

Speed and Flexibility: Projects in DIF Labs aim to achieve milestones within months, not years. Open and Inclusive Governance: All outputs are open-source and royalty-free, allowing for broad community adoption. Knowledge Pool: Access to a network of expertise across technical, legal, and market domains.

DIF Labs stands apart by supporting real-world applications rather than just standard development. It’s a space where builders can focus on creating solutions without the bureaucratic overhead typical of many organizations. Projects are any decentralized identity stack, not necessarily based on DIF-based specifications.

3. The Beta (β) Cohort: Iterative Process Development

The inaugural DIF Labs Beta Cohort began November 2024, and runs through February 2025. This first iteration is a learning process for everyone involved, with high-touch engagement from the chairs to refine the structure and maximize impact. The chairs hand-selected projects with leads they knew were capable and focused on completing some amazing work.

4. Project: Bitcoin Ordinals Verifiable Credentials Framework

Lead: Brian Richter Goal: Establish a standardized framework for implementing verifiable credentials on Bitcoin using Ordinal inscriptions. Use Cases: Event tickets, digital collectibles, ownership records, Verifiable AI Inference credentials. Proposal: Read the project proposal here. 5. Project: Linked Claims

Leads: Golda Velez, Agnes Koinange, Phil Long Goal: Build progressive trust through combining attestations and release the high-level specification for LinkedClaims to further the LinkedTrust project. Proposal: Read the proposal here. 6. Project: VerAnon

Lead: Alex Hache Goal: Introduce a protocol for anonymous personhood verification using Semaphore, a zero-knowledge group membership protocol. Proposal: Read the proposal here. 7. Timeline Labs Start Date: Late November 2024 Check-ins: Scheduled throughout the three months. Show and Tell: February 18, 2025 - Projects will be showcased to the community. 8. Meet the Mentors and Chairs 8.1. Expert Mentors: Ana Goessens: CEO at Animo Solutions. Makes decentralized identity easy. CEO at Animo.id, all-round company/team building in decentralized ID space. Anthony Fu: Open Sourcer. Core contributor to Vite/NextJS etc., how to build open-source projects. Daniel Buchner: TBD/Block, Decentralized Web Nodes. Jelle Millenaar: Co-Founder and CEO Impierce Technologies, DID evangelist. Markus Sabadello: Danube Tech, Decentralized Identity Foundation, Sovrin Foundation. Core contributor to Universal Resolver and Universal Registrar, go-to expert for DID Resolution spec. Matthew McKinney: Full stack marketing leader | GTM | Partnerships | startup advisor | B2B/B2C | AI + Blockchain | Head of Growth @ ArcBlock Nik Graf: Local-first software expert and Founder at Serenity. Otto Mora: ZK Identity Maxi @ Privado.ID (formerly Polygon ID). Rizel Scarlett: Staff Developer Advocate at Block | Artificial Intelligence & Open Source. Rod Boothby: Digital Identity Leader | VP Product | 2X Co-Founder CEO, COO $150M Incremental Revenue | Ex Wells Fargo, AIG, EY, Santander Grew npm Inc to #1 Javascript Repo with 20M Developer users. Steve McCown: Chief Architect, Applied Crypto R&D, CISM, CDPSE, Patented Inventor. 8.2. Chairs

DIF Labs is led by the following chairs, who lead DIF Labs with a focus on strategic direction and ensuring a collaborative environment.

Andor Kesselman: CTO Andor Labs, Co-Chair of the Technical Steering Committee at DIF, Technical Workstream Lead at the Global Acceptance Network. Ankur Banerjee: CTO/Co-Founder at Creds.xyz & cheqd, Co-Chair of the Technical Steering Committee at DIF. Daniel Thompson-Yvetot: Cofounder of Tauri Apps, CEO of CrabNebula, Author of “Manufacturing European Software”, DIF Labs Co-chair, European Regulatory Expert, Public Speaker, Coach. 9. What’s Next And Getting Involved?

DIF Labs is more than a program—it’s a movement to propel decentralized identity into its next phase of growth. By fostering a space for practical, collaborative innovation, DIF Labs aims to cultivate solutions that tackle pressing industry driven challenges in the decentralized identity space.

We invite you to follow our journey and participate in this initiative:

Join the conversation on DIF Labs Discord Explore projects on Github Attend the meetings: Meetings are the third Tuesday of every month at 11am ET Subscribe to DIF’s calendar Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to get involved

You’ll be hearing more about our Mentors, Chairs, and Cohorts in the coming months. Stay tuned as we unveil even more Mentors as well.

After Beta cohort is done, we will be opening up for new projects to run through DIF Labs. Together, we’re building the future of decentralized identity.

Author: Andor Kesselman

Created: 2024-12-10 Tue 17:26


GS1

Tracing insecticide-treated bed nets to the last mile using global GS1 standards

Tracing insecticide-treated bed nets to the last mile using global GS1 standards Nigeria has the highest malaria burden globally, with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) being crucial in reducing transmission. However, traditional manual data collection methods for ITN distribution were prone to errors and lacked real-time tracking, leading to ine
Tracing insecticide-treated bed nets to the last mile using global GS1 standards Nigeria has the highest malaria burden globally, with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) being crucial in reducing transmission. However, traditional manual data collection methods for ITN distribution were prone to errors and lacked real-time tracking, leading to inefficiencies and accountability issues in ensuring nets reached intended households without being lost, stolen or diverted.

In 2023, the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project, funded by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, collaborated with Nigeria’s National Malaria Elimination Programme to pilot the use of GS1 standards in Calabar Municipality.

Business goal GS1 Healthcare Case Studies 2023-2024 gs1-healthcare-cases_studies_2024_nigeria_final_with_video_2711.pdf

Wednesday, 04. December 2024

Elastos Foundation

AI Kallipolis: Building the New Bretton Woods in the Age of Bitcoin and Artificial Intelligence

In 1944, amid the devastation of World War II, representatives from 44 Allied nations met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to design a new global financial system. They aimed to prevent the economic turmoil that had contributed to the Great Depression and the war. The result was a system where currencies were pegged to the […]

In 1944, amid the devastation of World War II, representatives from 44 Allied nations met in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to design a new global financial system. They aimed to prevent the economic turmoil that had contributed to the Great Depression and the war. The result was a system where currencies were pegged to the U.S. dollar, which was convertible to gold—a framework intended to foster stability and growth.

By 1971, the Bretton Woods system collapsed. The U.S., facing mounting debts and dwindling gold reserves, ended the dollar’s convertibility to gold. This shift ushered in the era of fiat currencies—money backed by government decree rather than physical commodities. While offering monetary policy flexibility, fiat currencies led to inflation, currency devaluation, and financial crises. Today, the world grapples with over $300 trillion in debt and increasing economic instability.

In 2009, Bitcoin emerged as a decentralized electronic cash system introduced by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto. Conceived as “digital gold,” Bitcoin is a scarce asset with a capped supply of 21 million coins. It operates independently of central banks, using blockchain technology to ensure transparency and security. Bitcoin’s design prevents arbitrary currency creation, aligning with the principles of a free and fair market.

Imagine earning a salary in Bitcoin. Each year, the amount might be smaller, but its purchasing power increases over time. This deflationary system complements technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) that grow more efficient over time. We cannot sustain a system where technology displaces jobs while money loses value. Bitcoin lays the foundation for a new financial paradigm—a stable, decentralized monetary system.

Despite its potential, Bitcoin faces challenges in scalability and programmability. Its security leads to slower transactions and limits complex financial operations like smart contracts. Solutions like Wrapped Bitcoin introduce centralization risks, undermining Bitcoin’s ethos. Enter BeL2 on Elastos—a Layer 2 solution that enhances Bitcoin’s functionality without compromising its principles. By transmitting information instead of transferring assets across chains, BeL2 allows native Bitcoin to talk with smart contracts and participate in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications like loans and stablecoins while maintaining security. It employs non-custodial BTC main-net locking scripts for decentralized collateral, zero-knowledge proofs for verification and decentralized arbiters backed in Elastos‘ ELA, the Bitcoin-secured reserve asset for trustless dispute resolution.

In 2024, Harvard students and alumni launched the New Bretton Woods (NBW) project to address the global debt crisis through decentralized solutions. Incubated at Harvard Innovation Labs, NBW aims to create a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin via BeL2, offering stability while preserving decentralization. This stablecoin lets users avoid Bitcoin’s price volatility while retaining long-term gains, making it practical for daily use. NBW reimagines Bitcoin not just as a store of value but as the foundation of a decentralized financial system. By integrating Bitcoin with smart contracts through BeL2, NBW supports new financial products, providing liquidity and stability to the global economy.

“Our goal is to create a ‘New Bretton Woods’ system anchored in Bitcoin,” said Jacob, Lead Member of NBW. “This initiative offers a decentralized and stable currency to help individuals and communities navigate the challenges of the global debt crisis.”

Building on these innovations, Elastos Founder and thought-leader Feng Han has proposed AI Kallipolis—a fully autonomous economic management AI inspired by Plato’s ideal city-state. AI Kallipolis operates without human intervention, capable of on-chain asset issuance and decentralized key management. It integrates artificial intelligence and blockchain to create a self-regulating economic order.

“AI Kallipolis functions as an impartial executor of market rules, free from external interests,” Feng Han explains. “It promises a more transparent marketplace where interactions between humans and AI are secured.”

This vision aligns with an AI Utopia where AI and human society coexist harmoniously through the Elastos SmartWeb, and powered on ELA via Arbiters and universal gas. The aim is for AI to advance technology while safeguarding human freedom and privacy. By leveraging Bitcoin’s decentralized properties as the base layer, it seeks to build an automatically managed economic system without intermediaries. Integrating AI and blockchain offers solutions to complex issues like the debt crisis. By optimizing resource allocation and enhancing transparency, these technologies can alleviate economic pressures without central banks. AI Kallipolis and NBW aim to foster a more sustainable and equitable economic model by combining these technologies.

Looking ahead, the convergence of AI and blockchain could bridge human and AI civilizations. Elon Musk’s vision of an interstellar society gains new meaning when considering a future where AI agents and humans operate within a unified digital economy. In this scenario, AI Kallipolis, underpinned by Bitcoin, serves as the bridge between carbon-based and silicon-based life. As this economy grows, Bitcoin may function as Ray Dalio predicts—addressing global debt challenges and fostering unprecedented economic resilience. We stand on the brink of a paradigm shift. The convergence of Bitcoin, advanced protocols like BeL2, and AI represents a transformative change in how we conduct finance and manage resources. This future offers independence and abundance.

As Feng Han notes, “Viewing all systems—biological, social, or economic—as computational processes, the development of advanced AI is not an anomaly but an inevitable outcome.” The question is not whether we’ll embrace this new narrative but how quickly we can realize its potential. The groundwork is laid. The technology is advancing. The narrative is spreading. Next week, we will share some developments on initial Kallipolis AI Agent solutions being worked on for Elastos and our smart chain. Stay tuned!

Are you ready for the paradigm shift? Did you enjoy this article? To learn more, follow Infinity for the latest updates here!


Energy Web

Generic Green Proofs Use Case (Applied to the Maritime Industry): Katalist

Every purchase you’ve made until now — whether it’s a pair of shoes, a mobile phone, a laptop, or even exotic fruits — was most likely transported by sea. Globally, the maritime industry is responsible for approximately 2% of overall carbon emissions while serving as a critical component of nearly all industrial companies’ supply chains and transportation systems. Why Katalist? Decarbonizing the
Every purchase you’ve made until now — whether it’s a pair of shoes, a mobile phone, a laptop, or even exotic fruits — was most likely transported by sea. Globally, the maritime industry is responsible for approximately 2% of overall carbon emissions while serving as a critical component of nearly all industrial companies’ supply chains and transportation systems. Why Katalist?

Decarbonizing the maritime industry is a challenging task due to the long lifespan of ships (around 35 years), which limits the speed of fleet replacement. This is why the focus has shifted to the use of low-emission fuels, enabled by a Chain of Custody model called “Book and Claim.”

The system allows for the decoupling of the physical low-emission fuel from its associated low-emission attribute, which can be traded separately. This approach makes low-emission fuels more accessible.

This model serves as an interim mechanism, buying time until global infrastructure is fully in place to support widespread physical use of low-emission fuels without needing to decouple the sustainability attributes of maritime fuel from its actual usage.

How?

To build trust among participants, the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping and RMI have co-developed and continuously refined a robust methodology that all actors can rely on.

The role of Energy Web Foundation was to provide the technology platform in a way that shortened implementation timelines, enabled hypothesis testing, and allowed for necessary adjustments in a relatively short time compared to building everything from scratch.

Thanks to our Generic Green Proofs approach, we successfully developed two proof-of-concepts, gathering valuable insights that enabled the team to refine the solution into a full production platform — ready to launch in November at COP29 (link to the press release).

What might have taken years to build, we accomplished in months, delivering critical insights that shaped the final platform.

What Companies Can Do on the Platform Issuance
The creation of certificates on Katalist follows a well-thought-out methodology. This ensures that the most relevant data is collected from ships and voyages, along with the appropriate documentation to attest to fuel attributes and usage. Transfer
Participants on the platform can transfer certificates based on predetermined rules and restrictions. Retirements and Export (Claims)
The ultimate goal for companies using the platform is to claim emission savings from alternative fuel usage in their sustainability reports. Public Retirement Table
Depending on the type of company, industry actors can view varying levels of information about actual fuel usage. Once the final actor (Cargo Owner) has claimed the certificate, the data becomes publicly available through the “Public Retirement Table.” Who?

The platform is designed for key maritime industry actors:

Shipping Companies: Operators or owners of ships are responsible for purchasing fuel and uploading relevant data to the platform. Freight Forwarders: Intermediaries in the maritime transportation cycle and vital parts of the supply chain. Cargo Owners: Responsible for the contents of shipments. What Will 2025 Bring?

By the end of the year, we anticipate onboarding several companies to the platform. By early 2025, the first certificates will be issued using Katalist. Additional features will be developed, with updates shared as plans progress.

Conclusion

Energy Web contributes to decarbonization efforts by serving as a climate-tech partner, significantly accelerating the journey from ideas to proof-of-concepts and minimum viable products.

Our expertise lies in creating generic frameworks that enable faster deployments, adaptable to decarbonization plans that drive impactful climate change solutions.

If you’re interested in bringing your ideas to life faster and more efficiently using proven methodologies and connections with relevant industry actors, let’s discuss how Green Proofs can be applied to your use case. contact us!

Generic Green Proofs Use Case (Applied to the Maritime Industry): Katalist was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


We Are Open co-op

Rethinking RFPs

Ensuring fairness for smaller organisations and marginalised communities Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO The non-profit sector loves to talk about equity and inclusion, but when it comes to Requests for Proposals (RFPs), it’s often a different story. We’ve found too many RFPs demand hours or even days of unpaid work from agencies in a competitive process that drains time and energy. Fo
Ensuring fairness for smaller organisations and marginalised communities Image CC BY-ND Visual Thinkery for WAO

The non-profit sector loves to talk about equity and inclusion, but when it comes to Requests for Proposals (RFPs), it’s often a different story. We’ve found too many RFPs demand hours or even days of unpaid work from agencies in a competitive process that drains time and energy. For smaller agencies, worker-owned cooperatives like WAO and those working with marginalised communities, we see this as not merely unfair — it’s a gatekeeping tactic that shuts out new voices and reinforces the status quo.

What’s wrong with the traditional RFP process?

Larger agencies and multinational corporations employ people specifically to win new work, meaning that RFPs have become a rigged game. Smaller agencies are expected to donate hours of unpaid labour just for the chance to land a project. It’s a raw deal. While we’re happy to spend time meeting the client and gathering some context, the time and resources we pour into project plans, timelines, budgets and the rest of the proposal requirements often end up as free idea banks for the organisation issuing the tender. For smaller organisations like ours , this means not being able to compete. In our opinion, the process stifles innovation and limits diversity by shutting out those who can’t afford to play.

Paid discovery phases: a better way forward

One of the few organisations we’ve come across who have thought differently is Migration Exchange. They pay organisations and freelancers for their work as part of the RFP process, which if you think about it is a short discovery phase.

This approach is a simple, effective fix for an outdated process. Here’s how it works: organisations pay agencies to research, plan, and strategise at the outset. No free labour, no exploitation. This not only levels the playing field but creates stronger partnerships and better outcomes for everyone. Even a symbolic dayrate would encourage many smaller organisations to apply.

Why It Works Collaboration rather than exploitation — Paid discovery phases give agencies the breathing room to focus on delivering their best work, knowing they’re being fairly compensated. This creates space for honest, creative problem-solving rather than rushed, underfunded guesses. Fair play — Smaller agencies, often representing underrepresented voices, get to compete without worrying about unpaid work eating into their already tight budgets. This means more diverse ideas and solutions, which benefit everyone involved. Better, faster results — When agencies can afford to commit proper resources upfront, organisations get thoughtful, well-researched proposals instead of rushed pitches cobbled together at midnight. Paid discovery saves time and money down the road. Walking the talk

Remember that this isn’t just about fairness for agencies, it’s also about equity for the communities they serve. Smaller agencies and cooperatives often have the deepest ties to marginalised groups, but they’re the ones most likely to be shut out by unpaid RFPs. By compensating discovery work, organisations ensure these voices aren’t drowned out by big-budget players with little connection to the people at the heart of the issue.

Examples Made by Kind swears by the paid discovery approach as a way to transform the way tech projects are handled, aligning expectations and improving outcomes. It reduces risks and helps deliver solutions that are actually fit for purpose. Open Contracting Partnership focuses on fairness and transparency in procurement to level the playing field for smaller organisations. Their work demonstrates how equitable practices can help ensure that even underfunded or smaller agencies have a fair shot at participating in the tendering process. Matchstick Legal advocates for paid discovery as standard practice to prevent exploitation and promote fairness. Their approach ensures agencies are compensated for initial work, creating a more equitable and sustainable RFP process. Change your approach

It’s time to call out the exploitation that has plagued RFPs for too long. If you’re issuing a tender, don’t ask for free labour — invest in the process. Paid discovery phases aren’t just a fairer way to work; they lead to smarter solutions and stronger partnerships. Let’s ditch the old ways and build something better.

Issuing a tender and need some help getting it right? Contact us! We can help you figure this out. Responding to a tender and want to figure out if it’s worth your time? Try Story Cube’s Pitch or Ditch Scorecard — at least until more tendering organisations get their act together around paid discovery processes!

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


Next Level Supply Chain Podcast with GS1

Year in Review: 25 Supply Chain Stories That Shaped 2024

This year has been packed with incredible supply chain stories showcasing innovation, collaboration, and inspiring moments in supply chain logistics. In this episode, hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl take you through their favorite conversations of the year, featuring insights from industry leaders like Gena Morgan, Dr. Darin Detwiler, and Chuck Lasley. They discuss key topics that defined the y

This year has been packed with incredible supply chain stories showcasing innovation, collaboration, and inspiring moments in supply chain logistics.

In this episode, hosts Reid Jackson and Liz Sertl take you through their favorite conversations of the year, featuring insights from industry leaders like Gena Morgan, Dr. Darin Detwiler, and Chuck Lasley. They discuss key topics that defined the year—data quality, traceability, retail automation, and the UPC barcode—all while looking ahead to what’s next in 2025.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Key trends that influenced supply chains in 2024

Innovations driving transparency and traceability

Exploring the future of 2D barcodes and data quality

 

Jump into the conversation:

(00:00) Introducing Next Level Supply Chain

(01:48) 2D barcodes, data quality, and GS1 standards 

(05:20) E-commerce and supply chain challenges

(06:37) Improving traceability and food safety

(11:04) The adoption of the barcode and its multiple uses

(13:11) Liz’s favorite episodes 

(15:14) Reid’s favorite episodes

 

Connect with GS1 US:

Our website - www.gs1us.org

GS1 US on LinkedIn


DIF Blog

DIF Newsletter #46

December 2024 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 Member Spotlights; 7. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News Block Contributes Digital Identity Components

December 2024

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 Member Spotlights; 7. Get involved! Join DIF 🚀 Decentralized Identity Foundation News Block Contributes Digital Identity Components to DIF

Block makes a significant contribution to the decentralized identity ecosystem by sharing key Web5 components with DIF, including their DID method (did:dht), Verifiable Credentials implementations, and Decentralized Web Nodes. Read more:

Block Contributes Digital Identity Components to the Decentralized Identity Foundation This content is also posted on Block’s blog In support of its decentralized identity work, Block is contributing foundational components developed under the Web5 umbrella to the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF). For the past several years, Block has been developing a number of open source components to push decentralized identity Decentralized Identity Foundation - BlogFoundation DIF 2024 Hackathon: Winners Announced!

The results are in! Our 2024 hackathon showcased incredible innovations across Verifiable AI, Proof of Personhood, Education & Workforce, and more. Check out the winning projects and see how participants tackled real-world challenges with decentralized identity. View the full results:

DIF 2024 Hackathon: Winners Announced! The DIF 2024 Hackathon showcased incredible talent and innovation. Participants tackled real-world challenges across Verifiable AI, Proof of Personhood, Education & Workforce, Privacy-Promoting Credentials using Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Decentralized Storage, and Frictionless Travel. Congratulations to all the winners and a big thank you to our sponsors for making this event possible! Our Decentralized Identity Foundation - BlogFoundation Algorand Foundation Joins DIF

The Algorand Foundation strengthens its commitment to open standards by joining DIF, bringing their did:algo method to our community. This collaboration advances both organizations' goals of creating standardized, secure digital identity solutions. Read all about it:

Algorand Foundation Joins Decentralized Identity Foundation to Advance Digital Identity Standards This content was originally posted on Algorand’s blog. The Algorand Foundation has joined the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF), strengthening its commitment to open standards in digital identity. This move follows the development of did:algo, a decentralized identifier (DID) built on Algorand. Algorand’s DID method exemplifies the Foundation’s commitment Decentralized Identity Foundation - BlogFoundation The Rise of DIDComm and its impact on Key Industries preparing for eIDAS

Explore how DIDComm's formal verification is revolutionizing key industries preparing for eIDAS regulation. From finance and industrial machinery to travel and government services, discover how this secure communication protocol is enabling privacy-preserving, efficient interactions across borders. Learn more:

The Rise of DIDComm and its impact on Key Industries preparing for eIDAS How key industries are preparing for eIDAS with DIDComm The successful formal verification of DIDComm paves the way for tremendous DIDComm adoption. To help provide an understanding of this important technology, we’ve outlined some of the industries where DIDComm can play an important role. To learn more about DIDComm, Decentralized Identity Foundation - BlogFoundation 🛠️ Working Group Updates 📓 DID Methods Working Group

Identifiers and Discovery meets bi-weekly at 9am PT/ noon ET/ 6pm CET Wednesdays

💡Identifiers and Discovery Working Group

Identifiers and Discovery meets bi-weekly at 11am PT/ 2pmET/ 8pm CET Mondays

🪪 Claims & Credentials Working Group

The Credential Schemas work item meets bi-weekly at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 7pm CET Tuesdays

🔐 Applied Crypto Working Group

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

📦 Secure Data Storage

DIF/CCG Secure Data Storage WG - DWN Task Force meets bi-weekly 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 join DIF.

📖 Open Groups at DIF Veramo User Group

Meetings take place weekly on Thursdays, alternating between Noon EST / 18.00 CET and 09.00 EST / 15.00 CET. Click here for more details

🌏 APAC/ASEAN Discussion Group

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

🌍 DIF Africa

Meetings take place Monthly on the 3rd Wednesday at 1pm SAST. Click here for more details

📢 Announcements at DIF Join the DIDComm Interop-a-thon

Be part of advancing interoperability in decentralized communication! Join DIF's upcoming Interop-a-thon on December 12, testing DIDComm V2 features and collaborating with peers. Whether you're developing, deploying, or experimenting with DIDComm, this is your chance to shape the future of secure communication. Register and learn more:

Join the DIDComm Interop-a-thon Pushing Forward Interoperability in Decentralized Communication The Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) is thrilled to invite organizations, developers, and community members to participate in an exciting event centered around fostering interoperability within the DIDComm ecosystem. What is DIDComm? DIDComm (Decentralized Identifier Communication) is an open standard designed for secure, private peer-to-peer Decentralized Identity Foundation - BlogFoundation 🗓️ ️DIF Members

Nuggets Introduces Private AI Identity Solutions: Nuggets unveils two groundbreaking solutions - Private Personal AI and Verified Identity for AI Agents - designed to bridge the human-AI interface gap while maintaining privacy and security. Read more.

Cheqd Partners with ID Crypt Global and ADEX  for DeFi Trust: Three DIF members join forces to enhance trust and security in DeFi trading. The partnership brings trusted identity verification and reputation systems to ADEX's crypto trading platform. Read all about it.

Port of Bridgetown Implements Dock's Verifiable Credentials: The Port of Bridgetown has integrated Dock's Verifiable Credential technology into their Maritime Single Window, revolutionizing vessel clearance processes with secure, tamper-proof digital credentials. Read the full article .

Anonyome Labs Launches Updated Website Anonyome Labs has refreshed their online presence with a newly updated website at https://anonyome.com/. Check out their latest solutions for privacy-preserving digital identity.

👉Are you a DIF member with news to share? Email us at communication@identity.foundation with details.

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.

🆔 Join DIF!

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

Follow us on Twitter/X

Join us on GitHub

Subscribe on YouTube

🔍

Read the DIF blog

New Member Orientations

If you are new to DIF join us for our upcoming new member orientations. Find more information on DIF’s slack or contact us at community@identity.foundation if you need more information.

Tuesday, 03. December 2024

DIDAS

Advancing Digital Trust – Insights into the Development of Switzerland’s State E-ID

Watch: A Panel Discussion on the Development of Switzerland’s State E-ID On September 19, 2024, a fact-based discussion took place on the progress of Switzerland’s state electronic identity (E-ID). The network policy evening was organized by the digital society and highlighted the key challenges and opportunities of a project that is set to shape the ...
Watch: A Panel Discussion on the Development of Switzerland’s State E-ID

On September 19, 2024, a fact-based discussion took place on the progress of Switzerland’s state electronic identity (E-ID). The network policy evening was organized by the digital society and highlighted the key challenges and opportunities of a project that is set to shape the country’s digital future. Speakers included Annett Laube, Professor of Computer Science at Bern University of Applied Sciences, Rolf Rauschenbach, Information Officer for E-ID at the Federal Office of Justice, and Daniel Säuberli, President of the Digital Identity and Data Sovereignty Association (DIDAS).

The Vision for a State E-ID

Source: Der Nutzen der E-ID

The state-operated E-ID is more than a technological tool; it is envisioned as a foundation for trust and efficiency in the digital space. Following the rejection of the privately run E-ID proposal in 2021, a state-led solution focusing on privacy, data sovereignty, and user-friendliness has taken center stage. The goal is to create a digital identity that meets citizens’ needs while establishing the technological and legal groundwork for innovative digital services.

Contributions from the Experts

Prof. Annett Laube provided insights into the technological and scientific standards required for the development of the E-ID. She emphasized the importance of ensuring privacy and security through principles like privacy by design and highlighted the critical role of transparency enabled by open-source solutions. User binding is the secure process of linking a digital identity to its rightful owner, ensuring only authorized individuals can access and use the E-ID while maintaining privacy and trust.

Rolf Rauschenbach outlined the strategic and political considerations underpinning the project. He discussed the challenges of implementing a solution that is both technically robust and user-friendly and stressed the need for a clear legal framework.

Daniel Säuberli, representing DIDAS, drew attention to the essential role of trust in digital infrastructures. He emphasized three fundamental principles necessary for the success of the E-ID:

Strengthening Data Sovereignty: Citizens must have full control over their personal data, without unnecessary interference by third parties. Promoting Interoperability: The E-ID must function on both a national and international level to enable seamless cross-border digital interactions. Building Trust Through Transparency: Open communication and active collaboration with the public, private sector, and academia are critical to gaining widespread acceptance for the E-ID. Ambition Levels for the E-ID

Source: Zielbild E-ID

 

The development of the state E-ID is structured around three ambition levels, each reflecting its growing capabilities and societal value:

Basic Functionality: At this level, the E-ID serves as a secure and user-friendly tool for digital identification. It is used primarily for core applications, such as accessing federal online services like tax filings or registry extracts, and ensures reliable authentication for administrative processes. Integration into Cantonal and Municipal Services: The second level expands the E-ID’s use to services provided by cantons and municipalities. The goal is to offer citizens seamless digital access to public services across all administrative levels. Examples include registering address changes, participating in electronic voting, or applying for local permits. This integration transforms the E-ID into a vital part of Switzerland’s public administration. Adoption by the Private Sector: The highest ambition level envisions the E-ID as a universal identification tool for private-sector services. This includes applications in areas such as online banking, e-commerce, and healthcare. By creating a digital ecosystem where the E-ID is widely accepted, it becomes a driver of innovation and digitization across various industries. Connecting Principles to Ambition Levels

The ambition levels of the state E-ID are intrinsically linked to the principles outlined by Daniel Säuberli:

Data Sovereignty forms the foundation of the basic functionality, ensuring citizens retain control over their data. Interoperability becomes essential as the E-ID is integrated into cantonal and municipal services, enabling seamless operation across different platforms. Transparency is vital for the third level, fostering trust and accountability as the E-ID expands into the private sector. Challenges and Outlook

Despite significant progress, critical questions remain: How can the E-ID be effectively integrated into existing systems? How can transparency and privacy be guaranteed? And how can public trust be secured? Addressing these challenges will require collaboration, clear communication, and an unwavering commitment to the outlined principles.

DIDAS: A Driving Force for Digital Trust

For DIDAS, the state E-ID represents a cornerstone for promoting digital trust and innovation. As a platform for digital trust infrastructures, DIDAS is committed to advancing the development of the E-ID and creating the conditions for a sovereign digital society.

With its state-operated E-ID, Switzerland has the opportunity to become a leader in digital identities—rooted in the values of trust, security, and innovation.

Conclusion

The state E-ID offers Switzerland the chance to establish a modern and trustworthy digital ecosystem centered on the needs of its citizens. By strengthening data sovereignty, ensuring interoperability, and fostering transparency, the E-ID is a crucial step forward in the country’s digital transformation.

However, its success depends on transparency, collaboration, and clear communication to build trust and public acceptance. DIDAS plays a pivotal role by bridging stakeholders and promoting the principles of digital trust and data sovereignty. Through a clear vision and open dialogue, Switzerland can set a global example for a digital future built on trust, innovation, and user empowerment.


GS1

Maintenance release 3.1.31

Maintenance release 3.1.31 daniela.duarte… Tue, 12/03/2024 - 17:20 Maintenance release 3.1.31
Maintenance release 3.1.31 daniela.duarte… Tue, 12/03/2024 - 17:20 Maintenance release 3.1.31

GS1 GDSN accepted the recommendation by the Operations and Technology Advisory Group (OTAG) to implement the 3.1.31 standard into the network in May 2025.

Key Milestones:

See GS1 GDSN Release Schedule

As content for this release is developed it will be posted to this webpage followed by an announcement to the community to ensure visibility.

Data Pools should contact the GS1 GDSN Data Pool Helpdesk to understand the plan for the update. Trading Partners should work with their Data Pools on understanding the release and any impacts to business processes.

Business Message Standards including Message Schemas Updated For Maintenance Release 3.1.31

Trade Item Modules Library 3.1.31 

GS1 GDSN Code List Document (Dec 2024)

Delta for release 3.1.31 

Delta ECL for release 3.1.31 (Dec 2024)

Validation Rules (Jan 2025)

Delta for Validation Rules (Jan 2025)

Approved Fast Track Attributes 

Unchanged for 3.1.31

BMS Documents Carried Over From Previous Release

BMS Shared Common Library 

BMS Catalogue Item Synchronisation 

BMS Basic Party Synchronisation

BMS Price Synchronisation 

BMS Trade Item Authorisation

 

Schemas

Catalogue Item Synchronisation Schema including modules 3.1.31 

Changed Schemas for 3.1.31 

Party Synchronisation Schema

Price Synchronisation Schema

Trade Item Authorisation Schema

 

Release Guidance

GS1 GDSN Attributes with BMS ID and xPath 

Packaging Label Guide (Jan 2025)

Approved WRs for release 

GPC to Context Mapping 3.1.31 (Nov 2024) May GPC publication 

Delta GPC to Context Mapping 3.1.31 (Nov 2024) May  GPC publication 

Migration Document 

GS1 GDSN Unit of Measure per Category 

Local Code List (LCL) Page

Deployed LCLs 

Unchanged for 3.1.31

GS1 GDSN Module by context 

Warning Messages Presentation (Mar 2024)

Flex Extension for Price commentary (Dec 2018)

Any questions

We can help you get help you get started using the GS1 standards

Contact your local office

Monday, 02. December 2024

MOBI

2024 Report: MOBI Milestones

MOBI Milestones in 2024 Completed the build of the first Citopia Node and Citopia Self-Sovereign Digital Twin™ (SSDT™), demonstrating how any third-party services, such as a Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) of location service, can be deployed and utilized on a Citopia Node. MOBI and its members kicked off a three-year initiative [...]

MOBI Milestones in 2024 January 2024: Citopia Node Proof of Concept Completed

Completed the build of the first Citopia Node and Citopia Self-Sovereign Digital Twin™ (SSDT™), demonstrating how any third-party services, such as a Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) of location service, can be deployed and utilized on a Citopia Node.

January 2024: Kickoff of Global Battery Passport (GBP) Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

MOBI and its members kicked off a three-year initiative to develop Citopia Global Battery Passport System (GBPS). This initiative involves leveraging Citopia and Integrated Trust Network (ITN) services to demonstrate secure battery data exchange and identity validation between participants and test core functionalities like selective disclosure (where data is shared only with intended recipients). The goal is to facilitate seamless coordination and communication throughout the battery value chain for enhanced circularity, accountability, efficiency, and regulatory compliance. Read the Citopia GBPS 1-Pager

February 2024: ITN Release 0.3.0 Complete refactoring and architecture of the ITN SSDT to a highly modular design based on the Aries Agent Framework. Upgraded to DIDComm v2 communication protocol. February 2024: Held MoCoTokyo in partnership with AWS and DENSO

On 19 February 2024, MOBI hosted MoCoTokyo in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and DENSO, offering a one-of-a-kind summit for industry leaders to network; share solutions; and collectively explore critical challenges and opportunities at the forefront of the circular economy transition. Presentations from key industry players delved into diverse use cases such as decentralized energy systems and electric vehicles, all underscored by the imperative of integrating Web3 technologies for Global Battery Passport (GBP) implementation. Read the event report

March 2024: Joined the eSTART Coalition

The Electronic Secure Title and Registration Transformation (eSTART) Coalition is a group of leading auto industry organizations united in advocating for modern solutions to replace the paper-based processes that currently dominate state and local DMV operations. Modernizing these processes will result in significant cost and time savings for consumers, state and local DMV operations, and industry participants. Read the press release

March 2024: Launched the MOBI Members Portal

The MOBI Members Portal is a hub for our members to access essential meeting minutes, Working Group documents, in-progress deliverables, demos, and more. Read the User Guide

April 2024: ITN Releases 0.3.1

Major upgrades to the network and the ITN SSDT regarding new functionality, code refactoring, documentation extension, and test coverage. In particular, adding Arbitrum One, a public Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution, also known as an Optimistic Rollup, as a new verifiable data store for the Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) anchored on the ITN besides Hyperledger Fabric, a private DLT network.

April 2024: Announced Interoperability Pilot with Gaia-X 4 moveID

MOBI and Gaia-X 4 moveID announced a joint initiative to advance cross-industry interoperability. The initiative focused on the joint implementation of two pioneering MOBI standardsMOBI Vehicle Identity (VID) and MOBI Battery Birth Certificate (BBC). More specifically, the initiative centered around linking physical objects — e.g., vehicles and their parts such as batteries — to Web3 digital identities and credentials. Read the press release

May 2024: Completion of Phase I-Stage 1 of the GBP MVP

In Stage 1, implementers demonstrated the ITN identity services of one-to-one cross-validation for battery identity and data. The ITN serves as a federated (member-built and operated) registry for World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), offering Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) management for connected entities such as batteries and their value chain participants. Read the press release

June 2024: Kickoff Workshop for Phase I-Stage 2 of the GBP MVP

This pivotal meeting, hosted in partnership with DENSO, brought together member companies united in their commitment to driving circularity, compliance, and resilience across the battery sector through the development of the GBP MVP. Members reviewed the work done in Stage 1 and prepared for Stage 2.

July 2024: ITN Releases 0.3.2

Minor release that updated primarily the ITN storage network besides overall node improvements.

September 2024: ITN Releases 0.3.3

Minor release. Added primarily expanded DID management capabilities and continuous node improvement.

October 2024: Released the Battery Birth Certificate (BBC) Technical Specifications V1.0 The BBC schema is a cornerstone of MOBI’s Global Battery Passport (GBP) system, which is being developed and tested with public and private partners worldwide. This first version outlines the necessary static data attributes for compliance with regulations such as the EU Battery Regulation and the CARB ACC-II Regulation. Access the complete standard October 2024: Published the MOBI Web3 White Paper V4.0

Read the updated White Paper here!

November 2024: Published the draft charter for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Working Group The rapid evolution of AI presents critical opportunities across the digital landscape. We’ve already begun to see radical changes to business efficiency, data privacy, digital trust, and regulatory compliance—movements that portend seismic market shifts to come. This year, we held several workshops to discuss the potential for an AI Working Group within MOBI. Next year, we’re formally launching the Working Group to discuss AI-related challenges and opportunities, co-develop standards, and monitor pertinent regulations globally. The AI Working Group will be held during MTS meeting hours. Read the draft charter November 2024: Completed the first year of a three-year initiative for the Citopia Global Battery Passport System (GBPS)

In the first year of the GBPS initiative, MOBI and its members concentrated on understanding global regulatory requirements and developing use cases aligned with Web3 technology for secure battery data management. Core technical achievements include the implementation of verifiable credentials, selective data disclosure, track and trace of asset ownership, and secure data exchange. Read the Citopia GBPS 1-pager

December 2024: Released Battery State of Health (SOH) Labeling and Certification White Paper

Battery SOH is an important variable that not only defines the performance of the batteries but also stands as one of the key factors in economic decisions related to the resale, recycling, repurposing, and reuse of such batteries and battery-powered devices. Developed with members of the Electric Vehicle Grid Integration (EVGI) II Working Group, this white paper offers guidance on the current state of practice and proposes a framework for SOH labeling and certification in line with critical regulations. Read the complete White Paper

December 2024: ITN Release 0.3.4 Minor Release. Primarily added support for OpenIDConnect W3C VC issuance draft standard implementation and OpIDConnect W3C VP presentation draft standard implementation. December 2024: Completing Phase I: Stage 2 of the GBP MVP During Phase I, MOBI and its members concentrated on understanding global regulatory requirements and developing use cases aligned with Web3 technology for secure battery data management. Core technical achievements include the implementation of verifiable credentials, selective data disclosure, track and trace of asset ownership, and secure data exchange. By running nodes and testing selective disclosure, the team validated a decentralized framework where sensitive information can be securely shared among authorized parties without risking intellectual property. Building on the success of Phase I (2024), MOBI and its partners are now advancing to Phase II (2025), which will deepen the system’s capabilities for battery data exchange.

The post 2024 Report: MOBI Milestones first appeared on MOBI | The New Economy of Movement.


Energy Web

Green Proofs: a 360° View

Today we will take a step back from our discussions of Green Proofs-powered platforms to take a deeper dive into Green Proofs itself — why it exists, the problems it solves, and how it works Why Green Proofs? In today’s world, corporations are under immense pressure to reduce their carbon footprints, meet regulatory standards, and fulfill consumer demand for greener products. In doing
Today we will take a step back from our discussions of Green Proofs-powered platforms to take a deeper dive into Green Proofs itself — why it exists, the problems it solves, and how it works Why Green Proofs?

In today’s world, corporations are under immense pressure to reduce their carbon footprints, meet regulatory standards, and fulfill consumer demand for greener products. In doing so, they must balance the challenge of providing good and verifiable data that stands up to external scrutiny with protecting their proprietary information and processes.

Corporations are pursuing a variety of sustainability solutions to achieve these goals, which vary in terms of flexibility, cost and compliance with the standards of large-scale enterprises and regulators.

To address these complex sustainability needs, Energy Web developed Green Proofs — a powerfully comprehensive and configurable software solution — to bring deep levels of transparency and verifiability to emerging green products and markets.

Green Proofs technology is built to enable the following:

1. Buy and sell low carbon services and commodities: Whether your company deals in biofuels, green energy, or climate-conscious services, Green Proofs helps you sell and source products that can be verifiably marketed as sustainable.

2. Launch green product registries: Create transparent, scalable, and credible market access in “hard to abate” sectors that can benefit from attribute tracking and support broader decarbonization.

3. Prove your company and products are sustainable: Green Proofs provides tools for tracking and reporting progress toward environmental goals. It integrates granular data, helping you measure Scope 3 emissions and evaluate supplier impact while protecting sensitive information.

Green Proofs technology

Green Proofs is a suite of modular technology solutions that come in the form of turn-key applications or highly customized software built in close partnership with Energy Web.

A core technology underpinning Green Proofs software is the Energy Web Worker node network. Energy Web developed worker nodes to solve a longstanding problem that hindered the advancement of energy tracking solutions: solution logic varied widely according to use case and relied on commercially sensitive data that oftentimes needed to remain private, but the results needed to be transparent and publicly verifiable.

Worker nodes address this problem by allowing enterprises to configure their own computing networks that:

Ingest data from external sources Execute custom logic workflows Vote on results in order to establish consensus without revealing or modifying the underlying data. Publish the consensus to a trusted, public ledger

Worker nodes put enterprises in the driver’s seat of their application, giving them granular control over workflow logic and data inputs. The end result is an enterprise-friendly architecture that provides cryptographic proof that pre-defined rules and processes are being followed correctly, while preserving data privacy and integrity.

It is important to note that while Energy Web has historically been known for its use of blockchain, worker nodes do not exist to store or tokenize certificates and data on the blockchain. The primary use of blockchain in Green Proofs is to serve as a ledger for the worker nodes’ validation results of logic workflows.

Green Proofs Business Applications

Green Proofs helps companies demonstrate that their operations, products, and services are sustainable. It achieves this in three ways:

Helping Companies Buy and Sell Low-Carbon Services and Commodities

Green Proofs streamlines access to low-carbon services and commodities, empowering companies to source materials and services that both support their sustainability goals and enable the marketing/sale of verifiably green products. Currently, Green Proofs is streamlining market access to sustainable aviation fuel, green EV charging, low-carbon shipping services, and climate-aligned Bitcoin mining, making it easier for companies to find the right solutions to reduce their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.

The recently-announced Katalist platform is an excellent example of this business application — using Katalist, maritime freight customers can lower their emissions using a robust book-and-claim system, supporting corporate sustainability claims about themselves and their products.

Launch Green Product Registries

For companies or consortia looking to establish or expand markets for emerging green commodities, Green Proofs offers the ability to launch next-generation Green Product Registries. These registries support transparent, scalable tracking of sustainable goods and services, enabling participants to securely book, trade, and retire digital certificates that represent specific environmental attributes.

By deploying these customized registries, companies can support sustainable product verification, drive growth in emerging green markets, and contribute to decarbonization efforts on a larger scale. With the flexibility and transparency offered by Green Proofs, businesses can lead the way in expanding sustainable options for their industry while building trust with customers and stakeholders.

To learn more about this business application, we invite you to explore the SAFc Registry, where users can obtain certificates representing the use of sustainable aviation fuel, which are then used to credibly claim Scope 3 emissions reductions.

Track and Report Emissions

To truly demonstrate sustainability, companies need more than metrics; they need verifiable data that tracks the environmental impact of their products, operations, and supply chains (scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions). Green Proofs can help companies better collect, track, and report this data in detail, offering insights on both corporate-level and product-specific emissions. We are currently working with industry partners to gather requirements for this business application .

Who can use Green Proofs?

Energy Web built Green Proofs for any corporation or organization that wants to market itself or its products as green. We help customers access Green Proofs in a variety of ways — from no-code and low-code solutions that enable quick, independent launches to providing ongoing design, development, and hosting services for bespoke platforms. To discuss possibilities for applying Green Proofs to your use case, please contact us!

Green Proofs: a 360° View was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


Velocity Network

The Velocity Network Trust Framework

The Trust Framework is an indispensable aspect of the Velocity Network and one of its founding principles. It is critical to understand it to have a complete view of the Network and its goals and purposes. Please watch as Velocity Head of Product and Technology Andres Olave presents an overview of the Trust Framework in the context of the Velocity Network. The post The Velocity Network Trust Fra

The post The Velocity Network Trust Framework appeared first on Velocity.


Elastos Foundation

Victus Capital Partners with Cyber Republic DAO to Propel Elastos Ecosystem

Victus Capital, a leading Web3.0 venture capital firm fueling the growth of companies through investment partnerships by providing not only capital but also strategic and marketing support through a vast network, has officially partnered with Cyber Republic DAO LLC following a successful proposal to strengthen the Elastos ecosystem. This collaboration is unique—it marks one of […]

Victus Capital, a leading Web3.0 venture capital firm fueling the growth of companies through investment partnerships by providing not only capital but also strategic and marketing support through a vast network, has officially partnered with Cyber Republic DAO LLC following a successful proposal to strengthen the Elastos ecosystem. This collaboration is unique—it marks one of the first significant deals with a Venture Firm involving a legally registered DAO, the Cyber Republic, utilizing Elastos’ Bitcoin-merged mined coin (ELA) for network governance. Elastos employs a unique governance model where ELA holders vote for delegates representing the community for a year. Community suggestions transform into seven-day countdown proposals requiring consensus—a process epitomizing decentralized decision-making and aligning with fundamental democratic principles.

Through phased capital contributions and a managed market-making approach, Victus Capital will help stabilize the ELA token while facilitating the acquisition of USDT stablecoins. This strategy mitigates downward sell pressure on ELA, supporting its value and boosting investor confidence. The USDT reserves will fund vital initiatives, including ecosystem development, developer incentives, and comprehensive marketing efforts designed to promote Elastos’ market presence.  Leveraging Victus Capital’s growth team and expansive network addresses the essential needs of resource acquisition and strategic expansion. This partnership positions Elastos to make significant strides toward its mission of creating a secure, decentralized, and user-owned internet.

A Unique Alliance to Accelerate Elastos’ Mission

The internet serves as a global platform for information exchange, but centralized control over data undermines user privacy and autonomy—essential rights in the digital age. Elastos envisions a decentralized internet where users regain control over their data, secured by the reliability of Bitcoin miners. Achieving this vision requires overcoming foundational challenges like limited resources, market volatility, and the critical need for widespread adoption. Partnering with entities committed to decentralization and innovation is crucial. The alliance with Victus Capital is not just strategic but essential for transforming the internet’s core structure and making people aware of the technology they can use.

Building a Decentralized Future Through Strategic Investment

Traditional funding methods, like liquidating native tokens such as ELA for operational funding, exert downward pressure on the token’s value and hinder growth efforts. To preserve ELA’s intrinsic value and ensure market stability, Cyber Republic DAO and Victus Capital have devised a strategy to support the acquisition of stablecoin reserves (USDT).

This approach addresses the need for sustainable funding without devaluing existing assets. It provides liquidity to invest in essential areas: ecosystem development, developer incentives, and targeted marketing—all fundamental for expanding Elastos’ reach. Victus Capital’s extensive network of key opinion leaders, exchange partnerships, and development expertise fulfills the fundamental requirement of increasing visibility and adoption in a competitive landscape. By focusing on these core elements, the partnership establishes a robust framework for organic and sustainable growth, ensuring every step aligns with basic economic principles and technological innovation. Did you enjoy this article? To learn more about this partnership, read the CRC proposal here and visit the Victus Capital website and Twitter. Follow Infinity for the latest updates here!

Sunday, 01. December 2024

Digital Identity NZ

New Zealand lawyer ‘not surprised’ if Australian laws change for retail biometrics use

Source: Biometric Update Website Digital Identity New Zealand (DINZ) hosted a discussion led by NEC New Zealand on “Facial Recognition and CCTV Integration in Retail Security” this week, with a panel including data privacy, government and legal experts. It comes amidst industry anticipation of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner’s conclusions on supermarket chain Foodstuff’s results fro

Source: Biometric Update Website

Digital Identity New Zealand (DINZ) hosted a discussion led by NEC New Zealand on “Facial Recognition and CCTV Integration in Retail Security” this week, with a panel including data privacy, government and legal experts.

It comes amidst industry anticipation of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner’s conclusions on supermarket chain Foodstuff’s results from its trial of facial recognition. The company considers the preliminary findings of the trial encouraging.

In Australia, retail chain Bunnings made headlines after it was found to have breached the country’s privacy laws by using facial recognition. However, the company received some unexpected support when 78 percent of nearly 11,000 respondents supported the company’s use of the technology.

In the discussion, Campbell Featherston, a partner at law firm Dentons New Zealand, mentioned that it is easier to deploy facial recognition technology (FRT) in New Zealand rather than Australia due to differences in law.

Commenting on the Bunnings case, Featherston remarked that the Australian retailer must obtain consent when collecting biometric data such as from FRT.  “The absence of consent under Australian law means that it is very difficult for Bunnings to roll out facial recognition technology,” he said.

“The need for consent doesn’t apply [in New Zealand],” Campbell said, who commented that it wouldn’t surprise him if the privacy law had to change in Australia, such as removing the need for consent in order to accommodate the use of FRT.

Ross Hughson, managing director of Personal Information Management, was asked what was driving the use of FRT amongst retailers. “The key driver is health and safety of staff,” he replied, pointing to managers’ responsibility over their employees’ health and safety.

Featherston elaborated on how best to comply with New Zealand’s Privacy Act 2020, mentioning privacy impact assessments (PIA), having a good understanding of privacy safeguards, having human oversight of the technology, and properly trained staff. He suggested that users of the technology should be sure of the purpose of what they’re trying to achieve through its use, and to avoid “purpose creep.” Transparency is also important and retailers should have notices at the entrance of stores, and “customer-facing documentation,” he said.

The senior lawyer made the point that issues can arise even in the absence of technology. He brought up the example of security guards trying to identify people based on grainy CCTV footage, which could lead to misidentification.

Dr. Vica Papp, principal data scientist at MBIE, was invited to talk about racial biases. This is a chief concern of New Zealand Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster as the accuracy of FRT for minority populations with darker skin is an issue.

Papp recognized that biases exist and the importance of training for staff on unconscious biases. She said that with FRT it can be a physics-based issue rather than that of “race” as people with darker skin tend to reflect less light, picking up on “light receptivity” and how this may impact FRT. But she advised that retailers should find a product that doesn’t show discrimination, that it can handle the specific local population, and to train and test the system on “well-curated data sets.”

The post New Zealand lawyer ‘not surprised’ if Australian laws change for retail biometrics use appeared first on Digital Identity New Zealand.

Thursday, 28. November 2024

The Engine Room

Contribute to our latest project: Social justice organizations based in Africa and Latin America impacted by disinformation campaigns 

We're looking to talk to organizations — especially those working on climate — who have been targeted by disinformation campaigns or impacted by disinformation campaigns. The post Contribute to our latest project: Social justice organizations based in Africa and Latin America impacted by disinformation campaigns  appeared first on The Engine Room.

We're looking to talk to organizations — especially those working on climate — who have been targeted by disinformation campaigns or impacted by disinformation campaigns.

The post Contribute to our latest project: Social justice organizations based in Africa and Latin America impacted by disinformation campaigns  appeared first on The Engine Room.

Wednesday, 27. November 2024

We Are Open co-op

Activists, Campaigners and Advocates versus AI

Greening AI: A Roundtable Reflection Together with Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or EWNI, we recently brought together climate and environmental justice campaigners, digital rights advocates, and other engaged activists. We discussed a set of shared principles for how we, as a collective, can think about how we apply AI technology, and how we think about AI in alignme
Greening AI: A Roundtable Reflection

Together with Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or EWNI, we recently brought together climate and environmental justice campaigners, digital rights advocates, and other engaged activists. We discussed a set of shared principles for how we, as a collective, can think about how we apply AI technology, and how we think about AI in alignment with our values. The event, a Greening AI Roundtable, was fantastic.

our intro slide

We were pleased to have four amazing folks come and lead the discussion:

Marcus Berdaut, Creative Producer at the Upsetters Marie-Therese Png, AI Ethics PhD Candidate at Oxford Samantha Ndiwalana, Ranking Digital Rights Research Lead at the World Benchmarking Alliance shawna finnegan, Environmental justice lead at the Association for Progressive Communications

And the audience was just as amazing with people from a variety of campaigning and justice organisations, universities and non-profits. Everyone was eager to understand where the conversation of AI + Sustainability currently is and where it might be going.

Check out the recording here!

A First Draft overview slide of the project

In the lead up to our Greening AI Roundtable, WAO carried out desk research and engaged in user research interviews to build a set of draft principles. The draft was informed by reports, articles, and papers from organisations who have carried out deep work in this area, including Friends of the Earth, the Joseph Roundtree Foundation, the Association for Progressive Communication and many more.

Our shared principles aim to guide activists and campaigners in making informed decisions about their work. These seven key considerations provide a foundation when it comes to AI development, deployment and use in activist spaces, and hopefully, everywhere else. A couple weeks before the Roundtable, we sent these draft principles to our invited experts, hoping to provoke statements that would provide constructive criticism on the principles, as well as help the audience understand the complexities of the topic and the pathways forward.

We were not disappointed. We have some work to do to improve the first draft, and we were ecstatic for the thoughtful, articulate criticisms and praise the principles received.

Here are the DRAFT 7 Principles and brief descriptions we asked our panelists to comment on:

The Appetite for Community cc-by-nd Bryan Mathers for WAO

What was striking during the Roundtable was not only the willingness of participants to dive into the topic but also the eagerness to have this space for the conversation. Though the Roundtable was a full 90 minutes long, it felt too short. It was clear that this was the beginning of something important.

There’s an opportunity for us as climate and digital rights advocates to co-create new strategies and campaigns, share knowledge, and support one another in navigating this rapidly evolving landscape. Together we can think about what a better future looks like and fight the behemoth of Big Tech and Big Business to have a say in how our world is designed. Indeed, it’s what activists have always done — present a different future, find a way to resist, suggest alternatives.

We need one another, and we need a community of practice where organisations can come together to:

Share best practices and lessons learned from AI use and implementation Collaborate on research projects exploring the intersection of AI and environmental justice Develop educational resources and workshops for capacity building Engage with policymakers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders to advocate for responsible AI development

We believe that such a community has the potential to drive meaningful change. We’re currently exploring ways that we might bring together and support such a community. Perhaps with a community call? Such an initiative requires support, so if you have ideas about funding such an initiative, we’d be all ears!

Coming Soon

As organisations working to protect the planet and promote human rights, it’s essential that we have an open conversation about AI in our societies. We are now working on an article for the Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) website in which we will unpack the complexities around “ethical” or “responsible” AI. We’re aiming for publication in January.

We’ll continue to update you on our progress! If you have ideas or suggestions for how we can make this work stronger, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Activists, Campaigners and Advocates versus AI was originally published in We Are Open Co-op on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Tuesday, 26. November 2024

Digital ID for Canadians

Digitizing Traceability of Agriculture and Food – DIACC Special Interest Group Insights

In Fall 2023, the DIACC, in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Guelph, launched a Special Interest Group (SIG) focused on…

In Fall 2023, the DIACC, in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Guelph, launched a Special Interest Group (SIG) focused on enhancing traceability in the agri-food sector through digital tools. The Digitizing Traceability of Agriculture and Food SIG convened nearly sixty organizations to discuss how emerging technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and verifiable credentials, can improve transparency and trust across supply chains. Through a series of virtual sessions, stakeholders shared insights on digitization’s role in advancing food traceability and establishing secure data-sharing frameworks.

Download the report here.

DIACC-DTAF-SIG-Report


DIF Blog

Block Contributes Digital Identity Components to the Decentralized Identity Foundation

This content is also posted on Block's blog In support of its decentralized identity work, Block is contributing foundational components developed under the Web5 umbrella to the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF). For the past several years, Block has been developing a number of open source components to push

This content is also posted on Block's blog

In support of its decentralized identity work, Block is contributing foundational components developed under the Web5 umbrella to the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF). For the past several years, Block has been developing a number of open source components to push decentralized identity forward and return ownership of data and identity to individuals.

This contribution includes open source repositories for Decentralized Identity (including the did:dht DID method), Verifiable Credentials, and Decentralized Web Nodes (DWNs): 

Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs): An open standard created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), DIDs are self-generated and self-owned identifiers that enable identity authentication in a decentralized world. They are comparable to an email address or username, yet are not owned and controlled by a company or stored on centralized servers. They cannot be deleted or altered by anyone except for the individual who owns them. Verified Credentials (VCs): Verified credentials (VCs) are digital certificates of claims that are easily shared in a private and secure way. They can prove your legal name, age, ownership of an asset, or anything, really. These can convey the same information as physical credentials like a driver’s license or membership card, but in a more tamper-resistant, digital format.  Decentralized Web Nodes (DWNs/ DWeb Nodes): With DWeb Nodes, the world now has access to an emerging standard for decentralized storage of app and personal data. This technology was developed by TBD and other contributors in open source organizations. DWeb Nodes enable developers to build decentralized apps and protocols where individuals truly own and control their data.

These components will now reside in DIF’s ecosystem, where they can be further developed and supported by the open source community of decentralized identity experts. DIF, a leading organization developing decentralized identity standards and technologies, will foster these innovations and enable broader adoption by the identity community.

“We are honored to provide a home for these technologies, which are rapidly becoming the backbone of new decentralized applications. As a non-profit foundation committed to decentralized identity, DIF can ensure longevity of these components in a transparent, community-led environment,” said Kim Hamilton Duffy, Executive Director of DIF

“DIF has the right balance of builders and standards creators, commitment to decentralized identity and open source, and ability to incubate the Web5 SDK and components like DWNs and the did:dht method - where the community can continue to help shape and benefit from these technologies. We look forward to seeing the community’s innovations with these foundational tools and to making decentralized identity accessible to all,” said Manik Surtani, Block Open Source Program Office lead.

As one of the most mature, full-featured decentralized DID methods, did:dht is already advancing toward formal standardization. With support from DIF, W3C, Trust Over IP Foundation, and other leading organizations, this collaboration will bring Web5 innovations closer to reality and promote a robust, privacy-centric digital ecosystem.

Block and DIF are committed to empowering developers, organizations, and communities through open source and open standards.


Elastos Foundation

Ivy League Student-Led Project Publishes Whitepaper on Bitcoin-Backed Stablecoin Built with Elastos Tech

Cambridge, MA — Tuesday November 26th 2024. As Bitcoin soars past its all-time highs, capturing global attention and sparking renewed interest in decentralized finance, a team of Harvard students and alumni called the New Bretton Woods (NBW) Labs has released a whitepaper detailing the development of a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin using the Bitcoin Elastos Layer 2 […]

Cambridge, MA — Tuesday November 26th 2024. As Bitcoin soars past its all-time highs, capturing global attention and sparking renewed interest in decentralized finance, a team of Harvard students and alumni called the New Bretton Woods (NBW) Labs has released a whitepaper detailing the development of a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin using the Bitcoin Elastos Layer 2 (BeL2) protocol.

Developed by Elastos, a SmartWeb ecosystem provider, BeL2 is presented in the NBW whitepaper as central to a Bitcoin-powered SmartWeb, which will redefine global finance, echoing the impact of the original Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944. Leveraging the resources available through a Harvard Innovation Labs student membership, the NBW whitepaper explains how NBW aims to replace inflation-prone fiat currencies with a stable, Bitcoin-backed currency and provides accessible, transparent, and programmable financial tools for everyone.

At the core of this project is the Native Bitcoin Stablecoin (NBS), a Bitcoin-collateralized asset pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar. This stablecoin allows Bitcoin holders to collateralize and unlock stablecoin liquidity without selling their BTC or entrusting it to a third-party custodian, preserving wealth and providing a hedge against inflation. The NBW Bitcoin-backed stablecoin on Bitcoin-Elastos Layer 2 (BeL2) aims to provide global stability and accessibility by creating an open financial platform available to anyone with internet access, granting individuals financial sovereignty in multiple ways.

“We believe that a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin is not only possible but necessary,” said Jacob Li, Head of Operations at NBW. “By using Bitcoin as collateral, we can offer a stable and secure financial instrument that empowers users without compromising the fundamental principles of decentralization.”

Built on the Bitcoin-Elastos Layer 2 (BeL2) protocol, the system combines Bitcoin’s unparalleled security and decentralization with Elastos’ scalable and interoperable Bitcoin-backed SmartWeb innovation. Elastos’ BeL2 protocol enables Bitcoin to communicate with other EVM-compatible blockchains without wrapping or bridging assets or using third-party custodians. This technology enables non-custodial Bitcoin collateralization via mainnet locking scripts, verified with Zero-Knowledge Proofs for privacy. Oracles bridge proofs to EVM-compatible smart contracts for a service, while decentralized, collateralized Arbitrator nodes manage time-based operations and dispute resolution.

Advantages of NBW Approach

Liquidity without selling BTC: Bitcoin holders can mint NBS using their BTC as collateral, accessing liquidity while retaining ownership. This approach is ideal for those looking to preserve long-term exposure to Bitcoin’s appreciation without selling. Hedge against inflation: NBS serves as an accessible, decentralized store of value, hedging against inflation without the need to convert to fiat currency. Access to Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Once minted, NBS can be utilized across DeFi platforms and smart contracts for lending, borrowing, rights trading, and liquidity provision.

The NBW system not only anchors its stablecoin on Bitcoin’s security but also supports Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2010 vision of merge-mining through Elastos’ technology. This consensus mechanism allows Bitcoin miners to simultaneously secure the Elastos network without extra computational effort. With 44.58% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate merge-mining Elastos—including major pools such as Antpool, ViaBTC, F2Pool, and Binance—it achieves exceptional security, making its cryptocurrency, ELA, one of the most secure Bitcoin derivative assets worldwide. ELA additionally serves as collateral for Arbitrator nodes, enabling them to earn BTC rewards by supporting BeL2 transactions, such as dispute resolution for loans, and by facilitating stablecoin operations like NBW, which help maintain the peg and manage liquidations.

“People are seeking more ways to utilize their Bitcoin,” said Sasha Mitchell, Head of Operations at Bitcoin Elastos Layer 2. “Unlocking its dormant value with a stablecoin through Elastos’ solutions opens new possibilities for users to engage with decentralized finance without compromising security.”

Use Case for Native Bitcoin Stablecoin

This symbiotic relationship with Bitcoin establishes a new decentralized finance (BTCFi) model, where Bitcoin’s trust and security power scalable tools like NBW stablecoins and loans. NBS’s stability and programmability enable its use as a medium of exchange for everyday transactions, expanding decentralized finance’s accessibility. Institutions and governments can leverage NBS as a reserve asset, liquidity management tool, or framework for their own stablecoin solutions, benefiting from its transparency, decentralization, and ability to strengthen financial resilience while supporting strategic reserves.

By combining Bitcoin’s strengths with decentralized finance, the NBW system aims to restore financial stability, promote economic inclusion, and unlock the multi-trillion-dollar value dormant in Bitcoin today. The Native Bitcoin Stablecoin is a stepping stone toward a fairer and more resilient financial future.

Access the Whitepaper: https://www.nbwlabs.org/Whitepaper.pdf
Learn More: Visit www.nbwlabs.org
Contact Us: Email contact@nbwlabs.org

About New Bretton Woods (NBW)

The New Bretton Woods project is an independent initiative led by several Harvard students and alumni, currently being developed through a student membership of the Harvard Innovation Labs during the Fall 2024 semester. By merging Bitcoin’s security with Elastos’ innovative technology, NBW aims to redefine the global financial system and introduce a stablecoin designed for the digital age.

Thank you for being part of this journey as we bring native Bitcoin DeFi closer to reality! Did you enjoy this article? Follow Infinity for the latest updates here!


DIDAS

DICE 2024: Shaping the Future of Digital Trust

The Digital Identity unConference Europe (DICE) 2024 took place this June in Zürich, welcoming global experts to discuss not just secure digital identities but the creation of an integrated ecosystem of trust. Over three sunny days at Trust Square, attendees worked to connect digital trust to real-world economic advantages by focusing on authentic data, verifiable ...

The Digital Identity unConference Europe (DICE) 2024 took place this June in Zürich, welcoming global experts to discuss not just secure digital identities but the creation of an integrated ecosystem of trust. Over three sunny days at Trust Square, attendees worked to connect digital trust to real-world economic advantages by focusing on authentic data, verifiable proofs, and practical applications that go beyond mere identification. This was made possible through the collaboration of Trust Square, DIDAS, and IIW, emphasizing the power of partnerships in advancing digital trust.

A New Direction for Swiss Digital Identity

Bundesrat Beat Jans, head of the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and the leading figure behind Switzerland’s e-ID project, opened the conference with updates on the nation’s progress. Switzerland is advancing its secure digital identity framework while maintaining technology-neutral principles, ensuring future adaptability.

The new e-ID law, under parliamentary review, defines the required trust infrastructure without mandating specific technologies, providing issuers with the flexibility to choose tailored solutions. This approach strengthens market responsiveness, protects investments, and ensures seamless integration with emerging innovations.

However, balancing security and accessibility remains a challenge. By limiting the initial rollout of the e-ID to a government-developed open-source wallet, Switzerland aims to provide robust security while ensuring transparency. Plans to engage with the OpenWallet Foundation and promote open hardware crypto processors reflect Switzerland’s commitment to digital sovereignty and international standardization.

Beyond Identity: Building a Trust Ecosystem

DICE 2024 highlighted that the economic value of digital trust lies in creating a broader ecosystem—not just digital identities. Verifiable credentials, authentic data, and secure proofs were discussed as enablers of trust in industries like healthcare, finance, and logistics.

By emphasizing data integrity, industries can streamline processes, reduce fraud, and build consumer trust. For example, verifiable credentials can authenticate professional qualifications or certifications in real-time, while trusted data channels improve supply chain transparency. DICE underscored the need for governance models to maintain consistency and reliability in such ecosystems, paving the way for more secure, efficient, and scalable solutions.

Economic Implications of Trust Ecosystems

The trust ecosystem proposed at DICE 2024 offers significant economic benefits:

Fraud reduction: Improved verification lowers financial losses. Streamlined compliance: Simplified KYC and AML processes reduce administrative burdens. Efficiency gains: Accelerated verification boosts operational efficiency and customer experiences. Market expansion: Trust ecosystems create opportunities in sectors previously hindered by security concerns. Innovation stimulation: Open standards encourage the development of interoperable solutions.

By linking trust-building efforts to tangible economic outcomes, DICE 2024 shifted the conversation from abstract concepts to measurable benefits.

The DICE unConference Experience

The open and collaborative format allowed attendees to co-create the agenda, ensuring discussions addressed real-world challenges. Key topics included

Interoperability: Cross-border and cross-platform systems to streamline international transactions. Zero-knowledge proofs: Privacy-preserving verification methods. Authentic data sharing: Applications in industries like healthcare and finance. User-centric solutions: Accessibility for all users, including those with older technology. Governance frameworks: Clear standards for public-private collaboration.

These discussions highlighted the importance of aligning technological innovation with user needs and industry-specific applications.

Looking Ahead: DICE 2025

To build on the momentum of 2024, DICE has announced two major events for 2025:

DICE Ecosystems | March 4-5, 2025
Focus: Deploying verifiable credentials and authentic data across business ecosystems.

Collaborate with sector leaders. Build partnerships for adoption strategies. Develop cross-sector production use cases.

2. DICE 2025 | September 2-4, 2025
Focus: Advancing technologies and frameworks for digital identity and trust.

Deep dives into core technologies and governance. Open Space format for agenda co-creation. Exploration of privacy-preserving solutions and global standards. Aligning Digital Trust with Economic Benefits

DICE 2024 clarified that digital identity and trust are not standalone constructs—they drive real economic advantages. By linking trust ecosystems to fraud reduction, compliance efficiency, and market expansion, the conference demonstrated how secure systems empower businesses and consumers alike.

The Path Forward

While the digital trust landscape evolves, collaboration and innovation remain vital. As DICE continues to shape the agenda, the focus will be on actionable strategies that enhance security, scalability, and inclusivity.

For more information and updates on upcoming events, visit the DICE official website. Let’s continue to collaborate and innovate to forge a digital future that benefits everyone.

DIDAS HSLU Danube Tech GmbH zkdid Budapest University of Technology and
Economics
Switch Berner Fachhochschule TTIAG Loughborough University Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Informationstechnik FIT Lissi GmbH armasuisse W+T TangleLabs UG ZKorum SAS Valtioneuvosto ja ministeriöt Polygon Labs Polygon ID Bundesamt für Sozialversicherungen Tipolis Blokverse Decentralized Identity Foundation Digital Catapult Idyllicvision Catenable AG Kallistech Stadt Karlsruhe – Amt für Informationstechnik und Digitalisierung ICO Consult Gataca Labs S.L. Blockchainbird PXL Vision AG NOUMENA DIGITAL AG Meeco Kosma Connect GmbH Hygiaso AG KeyState.capital Swiss Safe AG SICPA SA Roche Diagnostics International Ltd. ProSapien LLC Unifiedpost Dutch BlockchainCoalition Ergon Informatik Abdagon AG More than Bits GmbH HID Global SAS SwissSign AG INNOPAY Vereign AG Veridos GmbH iC Consult GmbH Schweiz youniqx Identity AG Hushmesh Inc. AKB Bundesdruckerei GmbH KPMG Skribble AG ETH Zürich Fondazione Bruno Kessler Fraunhofer IAO Center for Digital Trust, C4DT – EPFL Robert Bosch GmbH Stadt Köln Animo Solutions Digital Trust Ventures Cloud CompassComputing Inc. EPFL Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) Save My Identity / Blockchain for Human Rights Easy Dynamics Corp Tuconic GmbH w3-ff Venture Builder GmbH AYANWORKS Sphereon Civic Technologies identinet GmbH Provenant Hypermine Technologies Private Limited Federal Office of Justice, Switzerland TNO mykin.ai Swisscom (Schweiz) AG Bundesamt für Informatik und Telekommunikation Adnovum Eraneos Switzerland AG U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cardossier Biznet Trust Over IP Foundation SICPA esatus Schweiz AG digitalswitzerland cheqd Validated ID Procivis DFINITY Foundation

 

 

MAIN SPONSOR: Associate sponsors & partners: fundamentals sponsors: govermental endorsers:

 

Sponsors keep conference fees low, by supporting the virtual platform, unConference set-up, providing meals and more, making DICE available to all who want to attend, participate and contribute.

If you are interested in becoming part of the growing community of Sponsors supporting DICE and the real time work that happens at this event, please contact the Trust Square team.

 

 

Friday, 22. November 2024

Energy Web

Celebrating One Year of the SAFc Registry: A Look Back and Forward

One year ago, during COP, we proudly unveiled the SAFc Registry. Soon after, we launched it into production alongside our visionary partners RMI, EDF, and SABA. It’s been an incredible journey, and as we mark this milestone, I wanted to reflect on where we started, how far we’ve come, and where we’re heading in the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) book and claim industry The SAFc Registry rep
One year ago, during COP, we proudly unveiled the SAFc Registry. Soon after, we launched it into production alongside our visionary partners RMI, EDF, and SABA. It’s been an incredible journey, and as we mark this milestone, I wanted to reflect on where we started, how far we’ve come, and where we’re heading in the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) book and claim industry

The SAFc Registry represents more than just a technical solution that Energy Web developed — it’s a mission-driven effort to decarbonize aviation. As a non-profit-driven book and claim registry, it’s designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and scalability in the deployment of SAF. From the outset, our goal has been to create a trusted system for tracking and verifying SAF certificates, enabling the whole aviation supply chain to credibly participate in the energy transition.

A Groundbreaking Beginning

When we launched the SAFc Registry, it was a first in many ways for Energy Web. It was the inaugural implementation of a Green Proofs registry, setting the stage for the recent launch of Katalist, the Green Proofs registry we built for sustainable maritime shipping. The SAFc Registry also broke new ground with the innovative use of worker node technology for data validation — a distributed, multi-party approach that ensures reliability and trust.

Energy Web’s role initially focused on providing the technology behind the registry, but as the platform matured, so did our involvement. We’ve since stepped into the role of SAFc Registry Administrator, cementing our commitment to driving this critical initiative forward day-to-day.

Building Momentum

While the launch in Q4 2023 was exciting, the real momentum picked up in Q1 2024, and the past year has been a whirlwind of activity and growth:

Engagement and Education: We held countless introduction calls and demos, spreading awareness about the registry and its potential impact across the aviation and energy industries. Global Adoption: Hard work paid off as we onboarded 50 companies from across the globe and a diverse range of industries. Onboarding and Operations: We refined our onboarding pipeline and operational processes, ensuring a smooth experience for users. Impact in Numbers: To date, the SAFc Registry has facilitated over 50 SAFc issuances, representing over 3,000 tonnes of SAF that has been produced and is at work displacing the use of conventional jet fuel. Continuous Improvement: We’ve listened closely to user feedback, rolled out new features (including an API for registry power users), resolved bugs, and refined our terms and conditions to better meet user needs. Governance: Convening our governing board for the first time was a key step in formalizing the policies and processes that will guide the registry’s growth into the future. Lessons Learned

Like any pioneering effort, launching the SAFc Registry came with its share of challenges and learning opportunities. The v1 version of the registry taught us what worked — and what didn’t. These lessons have been invaluable as we’ve evolved the platform to better serve our users. The enhancements we’ve deployed reflect our commitment to listening, learning, and adapting.

Looking Ahead

Our work is far from over. Just this week, we’ve rolled out a new statistics section to the homepage providing users and the broader public with a clearer view of registry activity. It’s just one of many features in development as we work through a robust backlog of user-requested improvements and policy updates from our governing board.

The future of SAF is bright. Announced SAF projects are expected to increase the global supply by more than 10x by 2030. The SAFc Registry is poised to play a central role in supporting this growth, ensuring the scalability and credibility of SAF adoption on a global scale.

A Heartfelt Thank You

None of this would be possible without the incredible support of our partners, users, and team. As we celebrate this milestone, we’re filled with gratitude and optimism for what lies ahead. Here’s to the continued success of the SAFc Registry and the advancement of sustainable aviation.

Let’s keep flying higher — together.

About Energy Web
Energy Web is a global technology company driving the energy transition by developing and deploying open-source decentralized technologies. Our solutions leverage blockchain to create innovative market mechanisms and decentralized applications, empowering energy companies, grid operators, and customers to take control of their energy futures.

Celebrating One Year of the SAFc Registry: A Look Back and Forward was originally published in Energy Web on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.


The Engine Room

[CLOSED] Join our team! We’re looking for our next Associate for Communications

The Engine Room is seeking an experienced, curious, and team-oriented communications person to assume the evolving role of leading communications at The Engine Room. The post [CLOSED] Join our team! We’re looking for our next Associate for Communications appeared first on The Engine Room.

The Engine Room is seeking an experienced, curious, and team-oriented communications person to assume the evolving role of leading communications at The Engine Room.

The post [CLOSED] Join our team! We’re looking for our next Associate for Communications appeared first on The Engine Room.

Thursday, 21. November 2024

DIF Blog

Algorand Foundation Joins Decentralized Identity Foundation to Advance Digital Identity Standards

This content was originally posted on Algorand's blog. The Algorand Foundation has joined the Decentr