Cardano Interop NOW

THE BOTTOM LINE (to start with . . . ): 

(1) This proposal offers to integrate Cardano into a proven SSI wallet (the DIT Wallet - www.digitalidentitytrust.org),,) which is officially approved for use in Canada for government-issued credentials (and thus, suitable for all global use),

(2) This project (or one like it) is an absolute requirement for Cardano to become relevant in the greater digital identity space,

(3) Cardano cannot be successful as a trusted and legitimate DeFi, SSI, etc. ecosystem if it is an island unto itself (interop to participate in the global economy is absolutely required),

--> Cardano must integrate and cooperate with the global SSI, and overall decentralization efforts, to be a legitimate and trusted ecosystem. This type of interoperable digital ID wallet will immediately bring Cardano into the global digital identity community - full stop.

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 unlocks 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 a 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.

One of the gating items for low-friction adoption of Cardano as a global public identity utility are interoperable 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.

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

Timeline:

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

--> An open-source digital wallet (the DIT Wallet) that supports VCs anchored on Hyperledger Indy and Cardano blockchains, supported and hosted by the Digital Identity Trust Foundation (www.digitalidentitytrust.org).
[NOTE: the DIT Wallet already exists and is available on the Apple and Google app stores as a free app, and it has been approved for use for holding credentials issued by Canadian government agencies.]

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

UX/UI/QA Director: Liwen Zhang, ID Lynx Founder

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liwen-zhang-6069ba57/

• Email: liwen.zhang@idlynx.com

Marketing Director: Celia Yeung, ID Lynx Founder

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

• Email: celia.yeung@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

Definition of Success:

After 3 months:

• 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 North America and India, including government orgs;

After 12 months:

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

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

Use of Funds (US$):

• Modify existing opensource DIT Wallet to support Cardano interop = $18,000

• Expanded technical infrastructure = $3,000

• Updated UI/UX design = $7,000

-> TOTAL = $28,000