Giving DIDs and VCs a push

 We have a chicken and egg problem in digital identity. Few governments and institutions are thinking about digital identity, Decentralized Identifiers(DID), and verifiable credentials(VC), and even fewer are moving towards providing digital identities and VCs. Because DIDs and VCs are not available, there is no demand, and there is no demand because they are not available. Many use cases require DIDs and VCs but are waiting or creating workarounds.

Newly created organizations are tackling similar problems one such organization is bringing untrusted data into trusted environments by using staking, bonding, and reputation mechanisms. Just like trusted data enables new use cases, coupling trusted data with DIDs and VCs will allow the next generation of Defi and Smart Contracts to accomplish even more.

Before the invention of computers and the internet, identity was very decentralized; transactions required personal relationships and trusted third parties. The first generation of the internet, Web 1.0, had content websites, search engines, and very decentralized and read-only.

The second version of the web, Web 2.0, is writable is very centralized, dominated by large companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook (Meta), and Salesforce. Identity is now more centralized than at any point in human history.

Web 3.0 is the next version of the web, will be where the web becomes executable and will change everything again. Trusted decentralized identity and verifiable credentials are requirements for the executable web. If we continue in the same direction as Web 2.0, the web will be even more centralized and controlled by large, powerful corporations. Advancing DIDs and VCs has never been more critical, and if we don't find a way to accelerate it now, it will get harder to wrest control from corporations.

The ideas, techniques, technology, and standards that allow DIDs and VCs to function took decades to develop. Decentralized identity has never seen more progress than it has recently. The specifications and technologies are ready to be used. Developers could implement web 3.0 use cases now, but institutions and governments are not prepared and will take a long time because they are slow to understand and adopt new technologies.

We can sit back and wait for governments and institutions to act, or we can make DIDs and VCs happen now at a large scale. This proposal intends to bridge the gap to enable the use cases of Web 3.0.

The first step needed to create digital IDs and credentials from institutions that do not now support DIDs and VCs is to define Trust and Governance Frameworks. A trust framework defines the rules for issuing credentials. A governance framework is a blueprint for building a digital trust community.

Goals

This proposal will create trust and governance framework documents using the Trust Over IP Governance Metamodel Specification.

Demographics

The demographics that this proposal will serve will be a broad range of countries and jurisdictions because it enables credentials currently unavailable.

Action Plan

Use the resources to design and write the frameworks and get input from competent cryptography and SSI experts.

Roadmap

30 days First Draft of Trust Framework

60 days First Draft of Governance Framework

90 Days Final Draft of Trust and Governance Framework

Objectives and Key Results (KPI)

Documents completed

Reviews completed will be recorded

Skills Required

Cryptography, Self Sovereign Identity (SSI), Atala Prism

Budget Breakdown

Technical writers $8,920

Cryptographers $9,427

Total: $18,854