Decolonising financial compliance

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Jo Allum

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

info@venturecentre.nz

Additional applicants

Ben Tairea – Āhau.io

Robert O’Brien – Yūmi.ai

Darrell O’Donnell – Continuum Loop

Christine Martin – Continuum Loop

Mike Kelly – 2shakes

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

12

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source

[METADATA] Category of proposal

Standards and Regulation

[METADATA] SDG rating

8 – Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9 – Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

10 – Reduce inequality within and among countries

16 – Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Introduction

Notions of governance currently centre on the Westphalian concept of singular governmental authorities and nation-state identities. These are the concepts around which the global financial system currently operates. 

This proposal describes the resources and activities necessary to start doing the business and technical engineering bringing centuries old Tribal traditions and governance methods around identities, identifiers and trusted relationships, into today's digital ecosystem. And, in so doing, begin the development processes necessary to ensure that they are internationally recognised and compliant. This is a mission, and life-critical project to maintain the culture and grow the prosperity of Indigenous Tribes globally.

Jobs-to-be-done

Indigenous nations (e.g. Māori in Aotearoa / New Zealand) don’t yet have control over critical nation-building capabilities and technologies to maintain their own decentralised systems. This makes it seemingly impossible to implement the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights so that Tribal peoples can participate in global trade independent of colonisers systems.

Currently, nation-state identity documents are mostly used by default, however, “formal” reputation based on indigenous methods that signal a person is well-known and respected among their people and their Tribes are not yet available. Māori, are in a unique position (with decades old, internationally recognised constitutional agreements in place with the British Crown) to harness the opportunity for self determination, social, environmental, and economic prosperity made possible by customising Digital Identity technology to bring their centuries old trust traditions into the digital realm. 

Āhau has already started this work, is building a technological stack to issue and verify identities, has done analysis on related legislation, and has an engaged ecosystem. Our next step is to co-develop the agreements, frameworks, and technology necessary to interoperate with the NZ Government and business identity and compliance ecosystems. The technology is beginning to take shape, but ecosystem governance to support interoperability is needed.

We have built a strong network of key individuals, organisations, and Government departments who are highly engaged in this work (supported by the Fund 9 Project Catalyst funded project 'TribalDIDs=IndigenousSovereignty' still in progress). But, structured conversations and decision-making need to take place to begin to explore, build, and test human and computational workflows.

This project aims to align the needs of the ecosystem in Aotearoa on both a governance and technology basis.

There are two key elements being developed through this project:

• Ecosystem Governance — We will be taking a Minimum Viable Ecosystem (MVE) approach to building out a basic Ecosystem Governance Framework (EGF). We already have existing partners that have deep reach in Aotearoa’s finance, education, and healthcare sectors. We will be focusing initially on the financial side, compliance in particular.

• Technology — While the existing Āhau application is being developed to support the basics of credentialing (issuing, holding, and verifying), we need to tie the technology to an EGF. In particular, the Tribal Issuers and Compliance Systems Verifiers need to be formally linked. Financial institutions (Māori and non-Māori) need to know that any credentials are issued under high–assurance conditions. Further, Atala PRISM v2 is being integrated into the solution, which brings enterprise decentralised identity agent capabilities to bear.

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Technology projects often fail due to a lack of adoption by the ecosystem within which they intend to exist. To ensure the success of Āhau's TribalDIDs products, Yūmi’s Regenerative Finance protocols, built on Cardano and their interoperability with organisations like 2Shakes to complete CDD, AML/CFT KYC processes we need governance and compliance frameworks that meet global standards and engage existing ecosystem partners. 

This project facilitates the development of a Digital Identity ecosystem for Indigenous people, led by Aotearoa's Māori people, to realise the potential of peer-to-peer exchange of trustworthy digital credentials. A project that supports Māori cultural and societal values, traditions, and aspirations which echo those of indigenous people globally.

The project is possible due to a unique set of circumstances set in motion in the 1800’s with formal agreements between Māori and the British Crown. Now, after decades of reconciliation (and apologies from the Crown for not honouring the governance treaties), compliance standards and agreements, a still significant barrier to decolonization, can be addressed for the first time.

Recent shifts in legislation, such as the passing of the Digital Identity Services Trust Framework Bill (which received royal assent on 04APR2023), coupled with the development of Cardano’s infrastructure, and non-nation-state governed grant funding from Project Catalyst, have created a contemporary opportunity to honour those early constitutional agreements. Integrating Te Ao Māori (the Māori world view) and its indigenous systems and processes deeply into the systemic fabric of Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Our impact will be in the demonstration of what good can look like for community-based, bottom-up, Tribal trust registries—providing an example of decentralised governance interacting with centralised nation-state government. Enabling DIDs and VCs and an ecosystem of participants engaged and contributing to the workflows, indicative agreements, methods, roles, and standards to contribute to a documented MVE exemplar.

In summary, our project will;

• expand the Cardano user base by introducing the technology to Indigenous people, led by Aotearoa's Māori people

• contribute to Cardano's further development by leveraging Atala PRISM for identity verification

• enhance Cardano's reputation as a socially impactful platform, making Cardano more attractive to other developers and users looking for a platform that is structured to support human rights and facilitates meaningful change

We are providing a real-world use case demonstrating Cardano's potential to drive significant socio-technical impact. It supports and advances Cardano's mission of empowering individuals and communities through decentralised technology.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

Our intent is to begin the establishment of an ecosystem that proves end-to-end verification and maintenance of trust through open-standard, community-led, digital credentials and governance frameworks, with a core focus on compliance.

As a Proof of Concept, the primary objective is to validate the feasibility and potential value of the launch governance ecosystem project. The focus is on gathering insights, testing assumptions, building relationships, and assessing the potential for broader adoption rather than measuring the direct impact on productivity and growth that would typically be associated with a fully operational production project. 

As such, our success will be reflected in the ability for Āhau and other ecosystem participants to define and agree on requirements to be issuers, authorizers, relying parties, etc. and interoperate on a PoC basis.

We will measure:

1. Level of adoption with a select number of external systems to demonstrate interoperability, or receiving positive feedback from early adopters.
2. Feedback from users and stakeholders who interact with the PoC through surveys and interviews to gather qualitative data on their experience, perception of benefits, and suggestions for improvement. This feedback will provide valuable insights into the potential impact and user acceptance of the concept.
3. Level of user engagement and participation in the PoC project. We’ll track the number of active participants, their contributions to discussions, and their involvement in testing or providing feedback. Increased engagement will indicate interest in and potential value in the concept.
4. Support and buy-in from key stakeholders such as organisations, institutions, or regulatory bodies in terms of their willingness to provide resources, or endorse the PoC project. Stakeholder support is crucial to the project's potential scalability and future adoption.
5. Technical feasibility and performance of the PoC project, such as system response time, scalability, and compatibility with existing infrastructure. This will help us determine whether the concept can be successfully implemented in a production environment.
6. Evolution over the course of the project, including progress made in refining the concept, resolving technical challenges, and addressing user feedback. This iterative process helps validate the potential and lay the groundwork for future development and deployment.
7. Level of adoption outside of the Āhau project itself. While focused on the effort in Aotearoa, by Māori, this work has implications for other indigenous communities with whom we are in contact with.

Overall this multi-community effort should shine a light on Cardano as the preferred blockchain for its rich governance and support of societal change.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Our outputs from a completed Proof of Concept (PoC) project can be disseminated via:

1. Documentation and reports, including objectives, methodologies, key findings, and lessons learned, are published on the project partners' websites and available for download.
2. Stakeholder engagement with those who participate in the PoC project or have a vested interest in the topic (developers, organisations, regulatory bodies, industry associations, and potential users) through targeted workshops/webinars to share the project's outputs and engage in discussions to gather feedback and insights.
3. Industry conferences, seminars, and events to present the PoC project's findings and impact by submitting abstracts or proposals for presentations and demonstrations to relevant conferences.
4. Publish articles, blog posts, or whitepapers in relevant forums, groups, or social media discussions.

By effectively sharing the project's outputs, Āhau, Yūmi, 2shakes and Continnuum Loop aim to activate opportunities, such as:

• Partnership and Funding Opportunities for further development or scaling.
• Collaborative Projects with other organisations, research institutions, or government entities to explore and expand the concept's applications and impact.
• Industry Influence and Recognition to elevate the project team's visibility and establish them as thought leaders in the field, leading to invitations for further collaboration, speaking engagements, or participation in industry initiatives.
• User Adoption and Market Demand to generate interest and demand among potential users.
• Policy and Regulatory Impact through influence on policy discussions and regulatory frameworks and foster a supportive environment for the project's implementation.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

All of the parties making this proposal have existing businesses that have been in operation for 4–10 years and have experience working in the Digital Identity, Finance, and Compliance spaces. All have worked for, or are working with DLT, with Atala PRISM, IOG, and Project Catalyst, have completed projects funded by Project Catalyst and other private and public funds, or have built on Ethereum.

Our team members bring:

• Insights from Previous Projects so we can leverage the learnings, feedback received, and lessons learned to improve the financial management and execution of the new PoC project.
• Financial Management Expertise in managing funds in ADA within the context of Cardano Project Catalyst, including budgeting, tracking expenses, etc.
• Alignment with Cardano's vision, values, and objectives. This alignment enhances trust and accountability, as we have demonstrated their commitment to contributing to the growth and development of the Cardano ecosystem.
• Community Trust, support, and endorsement for past successful projects and those still in progress from the Project Catalyst community and Atala PRISM and Māori Tribes.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Our overall objective is to demonstrate what ‘good’ looks like for community-based, bottom up, ecosystem infrastructure. This involves establishing processes to develop trust registries enabling reusable DIDs and VC’s, engaging ecosystem participants to contribute to workflows, and making indicative agreements on methods, roles, and standards, which will be documented in the resulting MVE.

The Āhau project has been underway for several years and, in 2022, received support through Project Catalyst Fund 9. The Cardano community’s support was instrumental in carrying out the first experiments to explore the value of Māori organisations leveraging decentralised digital identity technologies for tribal administration processes in a number of use cases. 

This project will build on the work being done in the Fund 9 project. It will develop the ecosystem infrastructure to enable open participation with the wider ecosystem of credential providers to create new capabilities and bring technology and governance into alignment.

By the end of 2024, we aim to have the following documented and ready for demonstration, customization, and potential adoption:

• Trust Registry Creation and Operationalisation – To provide simple answers to questions that an entity may have (e.g., Is this Issuer authorised to issue a particular credential type under a given EGF?). This allows the entity to programme trust decisions as part of their compliance process. An open ecosystem trust registry will be designed and developed so that trusted organisations can be added, removed, updated, and verified by ecosystem participants.
• Credential Creation and Operationalisation – To ensure the credential meets identity requirements for financial compliance needs. This will be designed along with the tooling for open ecosystem use (read and update as needed).
• Credential Issuing System – Example processes and systems to enable easy onboarding and integration for ecosystem organisations to issue identity credentials.
• Wallet Onboarding and Credential Management – To onboard the Āhau identity wallet application (if an identity wallet is not already owned) on being issued a credential.
• Credential Presentation Integration – The processes and systems to enable easy onboarding and integration for ecosystem organisations to request identity credentials and for their customers to be able to respond to those requests if they are in possession of the correct credential.
• Trust Registry Verification Service – To enable verification of credentials issued by trusted ecosystem organisations.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Our Key Milestones and Expected Delivery Dates, along with the main tasks conducted to reach those milestones, are:

Milestone 1: EGF Workshop #1 (December 2023)

• We will have conducted our first workshop (virtual/hybrid) with critical stakeholders no later than December 15, 2023. 
• Prior to and by completion of EGF Workshop #1 we will have:
• Begun our Ecosystem Scan, Arena Scans, and Wardley Map to capture core ecosystem elements; and
• Designed the Tribal Issuer and Trust Registry that will begin work on post–workshop

• Success looks like: (acceptance criteria)
• Public sharing of community workshop (video report)
• Sharing of (readonly) Miro board for Ecosystem Scan, Arena Scans, and Wardley Maps
• Design tickets in Āhau gitlab project.

• Estimated cost of Milestone: ₳150,000ADA

Milestone 2: EGF Workshop #2 (February 2024)

• We will conduct an in–person workshop in Aotearoa in February 2024. 
• Prior to and by completion of EGF Workshop #2 we will have:
• Integrated Atala PRISM credential handling into Āhau – for Issuing, Holding, and Verifying (sample Verifier app).
• Designed the integration of 2Shakes API into the Āhau issuing process.
• Finalised the Ecosystem Scan and Arena Scans (delivered – PDF and recorded presentation).
• Provided a Milestone 2 summary report and presentation to Catalyst

• Success looks like: (Acceptance criteria)
• Technical demonstration (live and recorded) of Āhau components Issuing, Holding, and Verifying an identity compliance credential.
• Design tickets in Āhau.io GitLab.
• In-Person attendance (in Aotearoa/NZ) of governance workshop.
• Sumary presentation and report (live and recorded).

• Estimated cost of Milestone: ₳180,000

Milestone 3: Draft Candidate EGF (April 2024)

• A draft Ecosystem Governance Framework will be delivered to the Āhau community in April 2024. 
• Prior to and by completion of Milestone 3 we will have:
• Created initial design of the two operational pilot projects: 
• Table–top with professional service providers (e.g. lawyers, accountants) 
• Design will include an operating plan for the live exercise with professional service providers and compliance leaders from financial institutions. 
• Delivered a draft EGF for the Āhau MVE via the Āhau GitLab instance;
• Designed the integration of the 2Shakes compliance API into the Āhau application; Trust Registry, and verification tooling

• Success looks like: (Acceptance criteria)
• Two pilot project design (PDFs and Āhau.io web pages) documents shared.
• Draft EGF released via Āhau.io GitLab (for slow- and non-changing documents) and Google Docs (for more dynamic/changing documents).
• Design tickets in Āhau.io Gitlab for 2Shakes API integration for Holder, Verifier and Trust Registry components.

• Estimated cost of Milestone: ₳200,000ADA

Milestone 4: Āhau Onboarding (July 2024)

• Prior to and by completion of Milestone 4 we will have:
• Deployed prototype of an operational Trust Registry.
• Integrated the 2Shakes compliance API into Āhau:
• for issuance of re-usable compliance credentials for operational (pilot) use
• Integrated 2Shakes processes with the Āhau Trust Registry.
• Developed verifier tooling for pilot project use (and reference for implementation).
• Finalised the design of the operational pilot projects

• Success looks like: (Acceptance criteria)
• Prototype Trust Registry demonstrated (live and recorded);
• Running demonstration (live and recorded) or Āhau.io with live integrated 2Shakes API for Issuing, Holding, and Verifying including validation against Trust Registry;
• Operational Pilot documents (PDF) available.

• Estimated cost of Milestone: ₳100,000 ADA

Milestone 5 (October 2024): Final MVE EGF Deployed 

• Prior to and by completion of Milestone 5 we will have:
• Deployed the final MVE EGF in the Āhau GitLab instance, including:
• Clear delineation of Governed (key) Roles, Governed (Key) Activities, and the technical artefacts needed by our decentralised ecosystem partners.
• Integrated the Trust Registry into Āhau. 
• Conducting two pilot projects:
• Professional Organization - pilot conducted with licenced professionals (e.g., accounting firm, legal firm) for onboarding of clients.
• Regulated Institution - pilot conducted with a regulated institution 
• Released a verifier toolkit that makes integration of the Āhau–backed system into existing compliance tools and processes/

• Success looks like: (Acceptance criteria)
• Pilot project report (PDF) and presentation (live and recorded) summarising each pilot.
• Trust Registry deployed and demonstrated (live and recorded)
• Verifier Toolkit is available (github or gitlab);
• Final MVE EGF is available in GitLab.

• Estimated cost of Milestone: ₳100,000 ADA

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Deliverables, Outputs and Outcomes

Milestone 1: EGF Workshop #1 (December 2024)

• Deliverables: Draft Ecosystem Scan, Arena Scans, and Wardley Map
• Output: Miro Board, PDF and recorded presentation
• Outcomes: These draft products are used to drive the discussions during the virtual workshops. They provide a starting point for framing where the MVE needs to go. They also drive input that can be critical to understanding the ecosystem and its critical leverage points – which drive the success of the MVE.

Milestone 2: EGF Workshop #2 (February 2024)

• Deliverables: Tribal Issuer and Trust Registry Designs
• Output: PDF, gitlab issues
• Outcomes: These designs will drive two key things:
• Technical Efforts – Āhau needs a rigorous system for managing the key entities in the system. The Issuers are particularly critical as the impact of bad actors can be catastrophic. The Tribal Issuer design aims to ensure that we have the correct approach. The Trust Registry design is also critical and must be standards–based for broad adoption in Aotearoa/NZ. We believe the Trust Registry Protocol (a Trust Over IP Foundation specification) will allow this. 
• Indigenous co-creation – Cultural values and traditional knowledge are key to the approach and perspectives which are core to this projects' governance ecosystem design. It is critical Māori are engaged in every stage of design and development so that adoption and interoperation in an ecosystem are familiar concepts. These design artefacts are essential not just as part of the system design project itself but also as part of the broader communications around Digital Identity with our people.

Milestone 3: Draft Candidate EGF (April 2024)

• Deliverable: Pilot Project Operational Plans, Draft EGF, Designs complete for Trust Registry, Holder, and Verifier.
• Output: PDFs, Issues and designs in Gitab
• Outcomes: These products will prove substantial progress has been made on three fronts:
• Technical - the integration of the Trust Registry, Issuer, Holder, Verifier and Compliance tools will be complete and development started. Key risks will be mitigated.
• Governance: We will have a draft MVE EGF that allows us to focus on attracting and aligning our key partners for the initial launch. 
• Operational: We will have the early design of our operational pilots that we can share with the community for refinement. As we have Māori tribal leaders and government involved, we need to ensure we have sufficient time so these documents are shared well in advance of conducting the pilots.

Milestone 4: Āhau Onboarding (July 2024)

• Deliverable: Trust Registry (functioning prototype), Compliance API integrated, Verifier Tooling in place, Pilot Project plans finalised
• Output: Demonstration of Trust Registry and Verifier Tools (live and recorded video), PDF
• Outcomes: At this point in the project we are ready for the operational pilot projects. While final development continues, the tools will be ready for use in our pilot projects. We have received and adjusted the pilot projects.

Milestone 5 (October 2024): Final MVE EGF Deployed 

• Deliverable: Pilot Project Operational Plans, Draft EGF, proto
• Output: PDFs, Gitlab issues, Gitlab Markdown
• Outcomes: We will understand the viability and be able to size the work to follow, having gained insights from the whole experiment, and particularly around any project deviations (where new knowledge came to light). We will be able to share discoveries and future plans. 

Measures of project progress

We will be monitoring the following metrics to gain insights into our progress, identify potential areas of improvement, and make informed decisions to ensure the successful completion of the PoC; 

• Task Completion – Progress based on the number of completed tasks compared to the total number of tasks assigned.
• Effort and Time Spent – Measured through regular progress updates
• Collaboration and Communication – Measured through factors like meeting attendance, responsiveness to inquiries, active participation in discussions, sharing knowledge, coordinating tasks, and providing updates.
• Documentation Completion – Maintaining up-to-date documentation, design documents, technical specifications, etc., (essential for future reference and knowledge transfer).
• Team Wellbeing – Engagement and waiora (wellbeing).

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

The requested budget is for wages and expenses for twelve months of the project from its commencement in November 2023 to November 2024.

PROJECT COST US$197,100 (₳ = 0.27USD)

Software Specification & Engineering [45%] ₳328,500.00

Service Design and User Research [25%] ₳182,500.00

Technical Writing [9%] ₳65,700.00

Ecosystem Governance Framework Development (Workshops, Analysis, and Production) [10%] ₳73,000.00

Project Management [5%] ₳36,500.00

Software/Servers: $1000x12 months [6%] ₳43,800.00

₳ SUBTOTAL   ₳730,000.00

+ Fiscal Sponsorship/Treasury/Office expenses [10%] ₳73,000.00

₳ TOTAL ₳803,000.00

Further funding will be required to continue this work beyond this project/period, either through Project Catalyst or direct funding of Āhau and Yūmi specifically (incl. potentially setting up DAO infrastructure).

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

Our project team spans New Zealand and Canada. The four companies involved are proposing to undertake this work at a price point that is steeply subsidised given the professional and executive skills, knowledge, experience, and effort involved. We have deep experience and unique capabilities in the key areas we’re focused on:

• Māori culture, society, business ecosystem, and approach to life are grounded in what’s good for the taiao (environment). Māori don’t just “teach a man to fish”, they first ensure that the fish have a healthy and thriving ecosystem in which to flourish. Ecosystems, comprising deep and strong, multi-faceted relationships, are fundamental to being Māori. 
• The technological and Regulatory ecosystem and governance design that is required for this project will break yet more ground for the Cardano ecosystem. Our team includes leaders in the space who will be working on this project at every step from beginning to end. They bring dimensions, tools, and IP that will shorten our time to delivery.
• Open-source project deliverables to enable many more system re-indigenization and Tribe-based projects. The deliverables themselves will repay their cost many times over for all kinds of Tribes adopting Cardano all over the world.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept