Passkeys for decentralized IAM

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Quirin Schlegel

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

Individual

[GENERAL] Requested funds in ada

30000

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

5

[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)

This project wants to utilize Passkeys in conjunction with DIDs and traditional identity providers to enable a subset of blockchain functions in a more user oriented way.

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

Yes

[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.”

Atala Prism is currently the only solution for creating and managing DIDs on the cardano blockchain.

[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

I will be using a GNU General Public License v3.0 for this project and all of the produced code will be made public.

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution.

This solution reduces the barrier to entrance for novice blockchain users and traditional institutions with legacy infrastructure.

The core idea is to utilize the emerging passkey standard in a relatively conventional setting with an identity provider (server). However the innovation is that users are not stored in centralized databases, but instead their DIDs will be dynamically looked up on the blockchain. This approach offers a variety of access management modes, which are vital to integrate legacy infrastructure with blockchain solutions.

In this GitHub project you can find a more detailed explanation of the idea.

https://github.com/QSchlegel/dIAM

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

There is a reasonable chance that this concept will bridge the gap for many decentralized identity solutions, to gain wider adoption. Because blockchain systems face usability issues and legacy identity federation systems rely on legal assurances to be secure.

Hence a decentralized identity system should tolerate human errors and still follow code as law principles.

If this proposal can help to find synergies between legacy and blockchain systems, the impact for the SSI community on cardano would be positive.

In terms of measuring impact, developer engagement is the key.

So the main metrics are:

1. Github stars
2. Discord server members and message count

For more details about output sharing please consulate the documentation and communication milestones.

[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?

In Fund3 I have already delivered a project around utilizing smart contracts as accounts. 

Furthermore I maintain and develop the ScriptExplorer, which is a blockchain explorer focused on visualizing smart contracts.

This Concept is also the topic of my bachelor thesis and funding this project allows me to bring this research to the Cardano blockchain.

The actual workload of this project is split into research, software development, documentation and communication of the results.

1. The research has mostly been concluded and can be examined in the dIAM GitHub project.
2. The software development will contain writing Java code for Keycloak and integration with Atala Prism. My studies at the Technische Universität of Berlin have involved two courses on use of Java, so I am adequately capable to full fill these Tasks.
3. The documentation will be written with an open source framework called Docus, which extends the Nuxt (Javascript) framework. I maintain and develop an OSS blockchain explorer, which is also written with the Nuxt framework so I have in depth technical expertise concerning web development.
4. Communication will be based on a Discord server, where I offer technical support.

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

Prototype

1. Keycloak extension
2. Keycloak administration 
3. Keycloak authentication flow
4. Keycloak registration flow
5. Atala integration

The prototype will be based on keycloak, which is an open source identity provider that can be modified to facilitated the users needs. Also the prototype has to be connected to a Cardano node, this will involve an Atala prism node to read and write DIDs.

As a result users can login to a webpage by using a Passkey and be authorized by their DIDs.

Documentation

1. Nuxt Docus
2. Covering the Keycloak extensions
3. Covering the Atala integration
4. YouTube videos describing the usage of the prototype

The Documentation will span all relevant devops information and the Youtube videos will demonstrate how a user can interact with the running prototype.

Communication

1. Discord server

The Communication will be handled over a discord server, which provides faqs but I will also give personal support.

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

Quirin Schlegel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/quirin-schlegel-7553ba197/

1. F3 funded and delivered proposal https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/333447
2. Maintains and develops OSS blockchain explorer https://www.script-explorer.com/
3. Student at Technische Universität Berlin

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

Implementing the Keycloak extension and flows will be the most time consuming.

Thus I expect 3 months for these tasks. 

Integrating Atala will be done in parallel as soon as the first running version is available.

After that I will work on the Documentation and begin to test the implementation, if errors show up I will also fix them at this point.

These tasks should take around 2 months.

At last recording the videos and setting up the Discord server will take around 2 weeks.

1. Implementation 3 m => 17647 ₳
2. Documentation & Testing 2 m => 11764 ₳
3. Communication 2w => 2941 ₳
4. Ongoing Support min 1 year

An average for wage for a developer (20hour part-time) in Germany is over 2000 €, with around 5 months of development work this amounts to 10000€.

At the current Ada price of 0,34€ this amounts to 29411 ₳. The additional round up is warranted by at least 1 year of guarantied Support.

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

30k Ada is 0.4 % of the total Cardano Use Cases: Concept Budget this is from my opinion a fair share for a concept that offers many new use cases and eases the path to adoption for new user groups.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agrees to Fund 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