Cardano/KERI production Identity Browser Extension

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Lance Byrd

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Incorporated)

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

3

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

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

RootsID will enhance the KERI secure browser extension and publish a production version in main browser stores to enable webapp builders and users to participate in the Cardano/KERI vLEI ecosystem

[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] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

RootsID will enhance the open source Apache 2.0 licensed KERI secure browser extension with further contributions to that repository under the same Apache 2.0 license.

[METADATA] Horizons

Identity & Verification

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

The Cardano/KERI identity ecosystem is the leading blockchain implementation of the KERI identity protocols. KERI supports production identity solutions such as the GLEIF vLEI providing secure organizational identity in banking, finance, supply-chain, telecom and cross-border industries.

Aligned with Cardano Foundation, RootsID is promoting Cardano as the main Blockchain Watcher for GLEIF vLEI Identifiers and Verifiable Credentials. We are strongly believers that Cardano is the best alternative to provide transparency, auditability, availability, timing, consensus, and decentralization to Enterprises and Legal Entities. To push the adoption, we propose to enhance the open source Signify Browser Extension to support extra capabilities and publish a production version in the main browser stores.

In order to understand the importance of the solution we need to explain what the GLEIF vLEI ecosystem is.

The vLEI is an ISO standard, standing for “Verifiable Legal Entity Identifier,” is a digital and cryptographic evolution of the traditional entity identifier known as LEI. It enables decentralized and automated validation of organizational identities. vLEI also allows the distribution of credentials that link individuals to formal organizational roles, allowing them to authenticate their identity in various activities from financial transactions to official communications.

The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) was established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, providing a distinct and unique identifier for entities involved in financial transactions. While the LEI system has significantly enhanced transparency in the financial sector, the rapid pace of digital transformation called for its evolution. To meet the needs of the modern digital ecosystem, the Verifiable LEI (vLEI) was introduced. The vLEI retains the unique identification attributes of the LEI and augments them with verifiability, ensuring that the digital identity is both authentic and unaltered.

[source]

We should also introduce the KERI technology. You can find useful to hear the following interview at the Cardano Summit 2023 to Thomas Mayfield, team lead of Cardano Foundation's Decentralized Trust and Identity Solutions, or to read the following post at Medium that we use to cite the following:

In recent years, the Key Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI) has emerged as one of the most promising technologies within the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) ecosystem. It was first presented by Sam Smith in his paper . KERI has a decentralized secure root-of-trust based on cryptographic self-certifying identifiers. It uses hash chained data structures called Key Event Logs that enable ambient cryptographic verifiability. In other words, any log may be verified anywhere at any time by anybody. It has separable control over shared data which means each person or entity truly controls their own identifiers.

Our Solution

We will enhance the KERI secure browser extension and publish a production version in the browser stores to enable webapp builders and users to participate in the Cardano/KERI vLEI ecosystem. This browser extension was initially developed by RootsID as the winners of a bounty provided by Provenant.

The browser extension, initially implemented for Chromium browsers, uses signify-ts to connect to a KERIA agent and retrieve user Indetifiers (AIDs) and their associated keys and credentials. Those AIDs and credentials are used to sign in to enabled websites. Once a signin is associated with a website, it's stored in chrome store for future use.

The Signify Browser Extension as in its current state lacks some basic features needed to support Cardano as well as advance functionalities to issue and present verifiable credentials.

In this project we propose to implement the following features to the open source project:

• Support for AID Key Event Logs backed in Cardano
• Support for single-signature indentifier operations
• Support for multi-signature identifier operation
• Out of Band Introductions
• Cryptographic challenging and responses
• Credential presentation exchanges (IPEX protocol)
• Integration wallet-webapp

Finally, we will publish the production version of the identity browser extension to the main browser stores.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

GLEIF vLEI ecosystem is being adopted globally and as the number of participating companies grows, it will increase the use of verifiable credentials that enables a smarter, less costly and more reliable way to make decisions about who to do business with.

We believe that if we can position Cardano as a first option for a witness of their Legal Identifiers, the adoption and usage of vLEIs will directly impact in the adoption and promotion of Cardano. That is the business value that we are envision to generate to Cardano with this project.

We are also leveraging the following Cardano projects:

• Cardano Foundation Identity Wallet: https://github.com/cardano-foundation/cf-identity-wallet/blob/main/README.md
• RootsID Cardano Watcher: https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/11/cardano-open-developers/gleif-network-super-watcher-on-cardano-by-rootsid-725aa
• RootsID Cardano Backer (PoC): https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/64263
• DoulaID: https://projectcatalyst.io/funds/12/f12-cardano-use-cases-concept/maternal-mortality-crisis-solution-doulaid-an-identity-app

This project is not only of importance to Cardano, but also to the GLEIF vLEI ecosystem and the KERI community. As regular participant of those communities, we will share the results with them and promote the usage to participating companies.

The real metric of success is the adoption of Cardano as a Root of Trust to Organization Identity. That metric can be tracked by the Cardano Watcher in the blockchain.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

RootsID is supremely confident in our ability to implement this solution. And the KERI/Cardano ecosystem is by far the most advanced KERI and vLEI blockchain implementation:

• RootsID is the primary implementor for the KERI secure browser extension. We know it inside and out.
• RootsID is also the original implementor for the KERI Super-Watcher and Cardano KERI Backer which were funded by Catalyst. We know them inside and out.
• RootsID is integrating with the Cardano Foundation mobile identity app in our F12 Catalyst proposal DoulaID and are in regular contact with their development team. We are highly confident in our ability to integrate with their excellent identity wallet.
• RootsID has helped the GLEIF vLEI ecosoystem on several projects including a Pilot with a European Regulator, which implements a webapp using the KERI secure browser extension.
• RootsID has already put into place a test harness for vLEI webapp solutions. It is ready for Cardano/KERI test cases.

We've been delivering Open Source building blocks for the Self-Sovereign Identity ecosystem in Cardano since Fund 6. Our funded proposal are listed in lidonation where you can find that we have delivered successfully and on time more than 15 funded proposals.

Additionally, the team participates actively in the worldwide SSI community by attending and collaborating to several working groups in the Decentralized Identity Foundation, the Hyperledger foundation, the Trust over IP foundation, and the KERI community.

We’ve been providing technical services and consultancy on Decentralized Identity to several companies and organizations including:

• IOG
• Cardano Foundation
• GLEIF
• Provenant

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

M1: Planning and design

The goal of this first milestone is to plan the activities of the project, including the initial definition of the features and the design of the UI/UX. 

The milestone outputs will be:

1. Technical definition of features that will be implemented
2. Design of the UI components for the features that will be implemented
3. Project planning and task allocation: based on items 1 and 2, we will define and plan each individual development and operational task using an Agile methodology and will be published in the GitHub repository issue tracker and project management tool.

Acceptance criteria:

The milestone should be accepted when all deliverables defined above are completed. The goal is to have clearly defined:

1. How the features will be implemented
2. How the UI will look like
3. How we are going to implement in terms of developer resources allocation. That is the project planning per se

Item 1 and 2 will be more technical, however an overall review should be enough to understand the architecture at a high level. Item 3 is just the detailed planning of task for the next milestones.

Evidence of milestone completion:

1. For the first output, a document published to the open source repository of the project describing each feature that will be implemented
2. For the second output, the design will be published using Figma design tool. A link will be provided, and pdf copies if needed.
3. For the last output, the creation of individual GitHub issues defining each development activity created in the repository and organized in milestones that can be easily tracked.

All the evidence will be published in the open source GitHub repository KERI secure browser extension 

M2: Implementation of first set of enhanced features

The goal of this milestone is to implement the first batch of features designed

Milestone outputs:

The existing browser extension will be enhanced with the initial set of features defined in Milestone 1, with the designed UI and planed for this milestone (in github issues). The code will be merged in the open source repository KERI secure browser extension, and should be ready to be loaded in the browser as an unpacked code.

Open source code will be available to use in the project Github repository

Acceptance criteria:

The extension should have the new features developed and ready to be loaded in a browser as unpacked code. The features should be fully functional, however some errors and bugs may be detected. With the errors new issues should be created an allocated for Milestone 3.

Evidence of milestone completion:

The full evidence for completeness is the demo of the Cardano KERI secure browser extension with corresponding archive. Since this task may require expertise and knowledge of this technology, the evidence will also consist of a video showing and explaining how the prototypes deliver its functionalities.

M3: Implementation of second set of enhanced features and bug fixes

The goal of this milestone is to implement the second batch of the features designed and fix any bugs that were detected. The browser extension should be ready to be published to the browser stores in the next milestone

Milestone outputs:

The existing browser extension will be enhanced with the second set of features defined in Milestone 1, with the designed UI and planed for this milestone (in github issues). The code will be merged in the open source repository KERI secure browser extension, and should be ready to be loaded in the browser as an unpacked code.

Additionally, all opened issues in github will be fixed and closed,

Open source code will be available to use in the project Github repository

Acceptance criteria:

The extension should have the all the features developed and ready to be loaded in a browser as unpacked code. The features should be fully functional, and ready to be published to the browser stores in the next milestone.

Evidence of milestone completion:

The full evidence for completeness is the demo of the Cardano KERI secure browser extension with corresponding archive. All corresponding github issues with activities will be completed. Since this task may require expertise and knowledge of this technology, the evidence will also consist of a video showing and explaining how the prototypes deliver its functionalities.

FM: Publish to browser store, final documentation and Closeout Report and Video

The main goal of this final milestone is to get the browser extension published in the main browser stores so anyone can be download and use it. Documentation and final reports will be delivered.

Milestone Outputs:

The output of this milestone is to submit the extension to the Chrome and Firefox extension catalogs. Final documentation will be incorporated in the repository as well. 

Additionally, well be deliver:

• Final close-out report
• Final closeout video

Acceptance criteria

The browser extension should be available in Chrome and Firefox extension stores. 

Also, final documentation will be available in the repository as well as the closeout report and video.

• Final closeout report is publicly available
• Final closeout video is publicly available

Evidence of milestone completion:

1. The extension available in Chrome store
2. The extension available if Firefox store
3. Close-out report
4. Close-out video

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

This project will be delivered by:

Rodolfo Miranda is a co-founder of RootsID and contributor on several of our projects, including RootsWallet. 

His background includes a MS EE degree at Stanford University and more than 25 years of successful work experience in both large multinational companies and owned startup projects. His main activities involve architecting, developing, and implementing large scale software solutions for the Telecommunication Industry. Lately, he was engaged in blockchain technologies and became an enthusiast of Self Sovereign Identity. He’s an active contributor in the Aries, DIDComm, KERI and Anoncreds Working Groups.

He’s also involved in the Cardano Community, participating as a veteran Proposal Advisor, member of the LATAM Cardano Community, and the Cardano Community SSI Alliance.

LinkedIn

Lance Byrd is a co-founder of RootsID, a group of decentralized identity specialists building open source software for digital identity. Several of their projects have been funded by Catalyst. He is primarly focused on RootsWallet, the end-user identity wallet.

His background includes a BS in Computer Science (UMBC) and MS in Information Assurance (Capitol College) and more than 22 years of software development as a consultant. He has developed massive scale data analytics and visualizations, machine learning analysis pipelines, and worked with University researchers to bring their work to market. He has also built and taught technical certification courses for several different topics in data analysis, big data, and compliance.

He completed the first cohort of the Atala Prism Pioneer program and is now part of the Atala Prism Astros program.

Linkedin

Hunain Bin Sajid is the lead-UI developer for the KERI secure browser extension and related webapps.

LinkedIn

Rodolfo will be leading the project with Lance and RootsID staff providing supporting development, testing, and deployment of our Cardano and KERI technologies.

Since we are participating in multiple proposals we have carefully planned our time allocation for each of us. We defined our individual commitment per week as if all of the proposals are funded including extra activities. Based on that, we defined the allocation per proposal for each of us needed to deliver the proposal in time.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Budget is mostly composed of development hours at a ratio of ₳200/hr, plus the hosting costs. Based on the activities defined above the requested breakdown budget is:

• Design: 20hr = ₳4.000
• Documentation: 20hr = ₳4.000
• Project Plan: 20hr = ₳4.000
• Development: 300hr = ₳60.000
• DevOps tasks: 50hs = ₳10.000
• Test and improvement iterations: 50hr = ₳10.000
• Yearly AWS instance: ₳1.200
• Domain name + SSL: ₳100

TOTAL BUDGET: ₳93,300

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

The cost of the project goes directly for the development of an open source product that can be by dappes and webapps to create business around business that holds vLEI credentials. Likewise, we envision that the product will help onboard Legal Entities/Organizations that participate in the vLEI GLEIF ecosystem. The real value is provided when those Organizations anchors their Organizational Identities in Cardano, producing actual transactions in the blockchain that contribute in the trustfulness of their business operations. By this means, not only the transactions fees contribute to the Cardano ecosystem, but also consolidates the benefits of Cardano Business community.