Government Trust Frameworks

The Blockchain Advocacy Coalition has a Verifiable Credentials Policy Committee including digital identity experts from a variety of industries. IOG is represented by Tony Rose, who has been a member of the coalition for several years. If this proposal is selected, we would allocate a committee seat to the Catalyst Community. They could be represented by a DAO, or other mechanism. Integrating a decentralized governance framework into our policy team will add a unique and needed perspective to the policy making process.

We have an author and a legislative vehicle to introduce the CA Trust Framework (draft language attached). The Trust Framework allows developers on Cardano and other decentralized ledgers to build identity solutions to an interoperable standard recognized by the CA government. The bill language is being shared with other states as part of our multistate coalition work, and the text of the bill is output that can be shared and replicated across jurisdictions. The goal is to pass the bill which will direct the state to create a working group to formalize interoperable standards, and create a pilot demonstrating their use in California.

This will make the community more competitive for government contracts, and leverage the use of the Cardano infrastructure for public/private partnerships. Passage of a bill recognizing products built on platforms like Cardano will also spur public and institutional adoption of Cardano ecosystem projects.

Where are Trust Frameworks being Used Globally:

● Canada- Has had a Trust Framework since 2018 and a project using those standards to

issue business licenses, OrgBook, since 2019

● UK- In Aug 2021 the UK published their updated Trust Framework

● New Zealand- Introduced Trust Framework Legislation in September 2021

How could one be used in CA?

● Digital Driver's Licenses

● Enable Portability of ID Verification across government agencies without Linked

Identifiers (CDT proposal)

● Provide better security for health records or state issued benefits (unemployment

insurance, WIC programs, Medi-Cal, CalFresh etc)

Roadmap: 

-Bill draft published and circulated to other states/governments (jan 2022)

-Bill passage through committee hearings (march 2022)

-Bill passage through each house (assembly/senate- by Aug 2022)

-Bill signature by Gov. Gavin Newsom (october 2022)

Budget:

Lobbyist- 120k for a legislative cycle 

Organizing/Advocacy/Coalition Building Costs- 75k

Public Relations/Media support-50k

Total: 245k