Cardano Interop NOW

*** Impact on Challenge Metrics ***

DIDs and Verifiable Credentials are being rapidly adopted to implement secure, privacy-respecting digital identity solutions following the SSI model of decentralized digital ID. EU governments, Canada, India, and other countries are moving strongly to roll out the issuance of digital credentials (as VCs that leverage the DID/VC standards) to their citizens. Government-issued ID will continue to be the gold standard for personal identification, and this activity will unlock tremendous opportunities for extensible private sector use cases for DIDs and VCs.

The current preferred standard for anchoring DIDs and VCs is to utilize Hyperledger Indy networks, where the Sovrin MainNet Ledger is the trusted leader. For Cardano to become a leading provider of "public identity infrastructure," there must be smooth interoperability delivered by applications that utilize the most popular identity ledgers.

It is also important to understand that there is unlikely to ever be "one ledger to rule them all" in the identity space, and smooth interop is the gateway to maximum user adoption. We can then expect users to gravitate over time toward the most efficient and trusted ledgers for their digital identity needs.

THEREFORE, the gating item for low-friction adoption of Cardano as a global public identity utility is to have VC issuer/verifier platforms and digital ID wallet apps that flexibly utilize Cardano and other ledgers, with minimal user distraction. Interop is crucial in the SSI-space, especially to secure support within and between governments. To be successful, any VC/DID platforms that utilize the Cardano ledger must be interoperable with other popular ledgers – particularly Hyperledger Indy.

The CARDANO INTEROP NOW project exactly delivers a VC issuer/verifier platform and a FREE open-source digital identity wallet to accelerate the adoption of Cardano as a premier global digital identity utility.

*** Timeline ***

The following goals will be completed within three months after the project start. Our proven team, with world-class expertise in digital identity, SSI, and distributed ledger tech, will deliver:

1. A DID/VC issuer and verifier platform (based on our existing product) that incorporates Cardano ledger interoperability with other ledgers (i.e. Indy), and

2. an open-source digital wallet that supports VCs anchored on Hyperledger Indy and Cardano blockchains, supported and hosted by the Digital Identity Trust Foundation (www.digitalidentitytrust.org).

*** Use fo Funds (US$-equivalent) ***

• Architectural design of Cardano and Hyperledger Indy interop = $18,000

• Modify existing VC issuer/verifier platform to support Cardano interop = $28,000

• Modify existing opensource VC wallet to support Cardano interop = $18,000

• Expanded server costs & other technical infrastructure = $3,000

• Additional UI/UX design developers = $11,000

-> TOTAL = $78,000

*** Team ***

Project Architect: Chris Raczkowski, CEO ID Lynx Ltd. (www.idlynx.com); prior Chairperson/ED of Sovrin Foundation; 20+ years of entrepreneurial success during a 30-year professional career; BS/MS Engineering, MBA

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-raczkowski-b2a92a/

• Email: chris.raczkowski@idlynx.com

Product Owner: Kirankalyan Kulkarni, CEO of Ayanworks (www.ayanworks.com)

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kkkulkarni/

• Email: kalyan@ayanworks.com

Dev Lead: Ajay Jadhav, CTO of Ayanworks

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jadhavajay/

• Email: ajay@ayanworks.com

Visionary: Don Waugh, entrepreneur at large

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donwaugh/

• Email: don@waugh.com

Additional experienced staff to be assigned.

*** Definition of Success ***

After 3 months:

• Production-ready issuer/verifier platform that fully supports Cardano and Hyperledger Indy blockchains;

• Open-source, open-standards, multi-lingual digital wallet that supports privacy-respecting biometric authentication that seamlessly supports interop between Cardano and Hyperledger Indy anchored VCs available as a FREE app on Android/iOS stores;

After 6 months:

• Stable & growing userbase of digital wallet across Canada and India, including government orgs;

• Commercial adoption of VC issuer/verifier platform in the US, Europe, and India;

After 12 months:

• Open-source, open-standards digital wallet globally recognized as the most trusted digital identity wallet;

• Issuer/verifier platform in use by 10 mid-to large size companies, as well as five regional and/or national governments.

• Digital wallet and issuer/verifier platform enables Cardano to compete as the preferred distributed ledger for the adoption of decentralized digital identity globally.