2020 — How SSI Went Mainstream
January 12, 2021
An introduction to SSI and where it came from.
2020 as a growth catalyst and where SSI is going.
A Sovrin Foundation perspective.
Written by:
Chris Raczkowski — Sovrin Foundation, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Drummond Reed — Evernym, Chief Trust Officer; ToIP, Steering Committee Member
It goes without saying that last year was transformational for the world. Along with pains felt by many, the challenges of 2020 were also a catalyst for positive growth. The global SSI community, dedicated to privacy-respecting digital identity, has risen to these challenges. Digital identity solutions have been called into action by governments and companies large and small to help mitigate pandemic-related public health challenges. This call to action has accelerated adoption of SSI across many use cases where it brings new standards of truly privacy-respecting digital identity control to all peoples of the world.
But first, what is SSI?
SSI is an acronym for self-sovereign identity, representing the secure, privacy-respecting digital identity model developed around blockchain technology starting in 2016. During the last five years acceptance of this model has grown rapidly. SSI utilizes best practices in open-source cryptography and decentralized computing in tandem with humanistic governance. It also helped drive development of new technology open standards such as Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers. While SSI incorporates a wide range of complex technology and detailed governance, its essence is captured in the opening chapter of a book that will be published during 2021:
“The best overall analogy for the decentralized identity model (SSI) is in fact exactly the way we prove our identity to each other every day: by getting out our wallet and showing the credentials we have obtained from other trusted parties. ... With decentralized digital identity, we just do this with digital wallets, digital credentials, and digital connections.” ¹
SSI has emerged as a, “simple, neutral, memorable name for this new model for digital identity.” ²
Open Source and Open Standards: Growth Engines of SSI
SSI is rooted in core principles of privacy-respecting Internet-scale identity architecture first laid out by individuals like Kim Cameron with his Laws of Identity, which were published in 2006. Such governance principles, combined with open-source technology advances in blockchain, cryptography, supporting software and standards, ultimately gave rise to reliable SSI infrastructure starting in 2017. Open-source development of digital identity technology, standards and principles is truly the engine of SSI growth.
The Sovrin Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation, was established in 2016 to promote global adoption of SSI as an open standard for digital identity. Over the past five years the Foundation has operated the Sovrin Ledger as the best-known SSI identity network, helped advanced the most widely used SSI open-source software (Hyperledger Indy, Ursa, and Aries), published the most widely used SSI governance framework, and drives SSI thought leadership in areas including data protection, financial inclusion, IoT, and government-issued ID. In its role as an originator and disseminator of open-source SSI concepts and code, the Sovrin Foundation is dedicated to supporting SSI development in cooperation with companies, organizations and governments around the world.
One of the most important products of this work is the “Sovrin Stack,” shown in Figure 1.
The Sovrin Stack was the first conceptualization of SSI infrastructure as a four-layer stack, where the lower two layers provide cryptographic trust needed for machine-to-machine communications and the upper two layers provide human trust needed for business, legal, and social interactions.
The Sovrin Stack also represents the first recognition of the critical role governance frameworks play in bridging the technological innovations of SSI with real-world policy requirements of governments, industries, businesses and individuals. In fact, as the importance of governance frameworks became more widely acknowledged, the SSI community recognized that specialized governance was needed at all four layers of the stack. During early 2020 the Sovrin Stack evolved into the Trust over IP (ToIP) stack, shown in Figure 2.
As a model for decentralized digital trust infrastructure at Internet-scale, the ToIP stack was compelling enough that in May 2020 it became the cornerstone of a new Linux Foundation project called the ToIP Foundation. Rapid growth of ToIP Foundation membership is a testament to how core concepts of SSI architecture are strongly supported by respected governments and companies.
Emergence of entirely new organizations promoting SSI adoption is evidence of the effectiveness of the Sovrin Foundation’s open-source approach to advancing technology and thought leadership. The Foundation’s success is measured not only in by results it delivers, but in the progress of derivative and novel SSI products and services created by organizations which build on contributions of Sovrin and the global SSI community.
2019: Early success ahead of unexpected crisis
Prior to the global public health crisis of 2020, SSI was progressing along a steadily increasing adoption curve. Start-up companies, global corporations, digital identity privacy organizations and a variety of national and regional governments (Canada, UK, US, Germany, British Columbia, Ontario, etc.) were all expanding SSI infrastructure and launching initial use cases. This advancement was based on vigorous technology development (open-source software architecture, code and standards), a robust global public identity utility (the Sovrin Ledger), the first comprehensive decentralized digital identity governance framework (the Sovrin Governance Framework), and proof of concept use cases produced by a variety of governments and companies.
Woven throughout this activity, the Sovrin Foundation acted as a convener, facilitator and beacon for the global SSI community. The Foundation’s commitment to the Principles of SSI, open-source technology and identity ecosystem governance, combined with efforts to sow the ethos of SSI across a spectrum of use-cases, helped to create fertile ground for emergent applications. During this course of activities Sovrin and the SSI community unknowingly primed the world for tremendous acceleration of SSI adoption during a most unexpected year.
2020: The SSI Springtime
As the world embarked on a new decade at the start of 2020, almost no one could have guessed what their lives and societies would look like 365 days later. Public health challenges of 2020 brought tremendous stress and grief to most corners of the world. Yet, the situation also created opportunity for unprecedented growth of technologies that could address urgent social needs. For SSI, this meant compressing what could have been a five-to-ten-year adoption process for sensitive use-cases into a period of 12 months.
During normal times, new technology standards for critical services such as medical information credentials, travel credentials and critical worker credentials often face regulatory review and approval marathons spanning years or even decades. Fortunately, prior to 2020, the core components of SSI had already been assessed and accepted by respected companies and governments. These organizations understood that trusted digital identity must be privacy-respecting, which is a central requirement for SSI technology and governance. With solutions needed immediately for verifiable proof of medical test results, vaccination status, etc., the standards and technology developed with the support of the Sovrin Foundation and the global SSI community have been fast-tracked into service.
Just a few of the SSI implementations that were launched in 2020 or are pending launch in early 2021 include:
- IATA Travel Pass will be the first verifiable credential capable of providing proof of COVID-19 test and vaccination status at airports around the world,
- NHS Staff Passport is the first portable digital identity credential for doctors and nurses in one of the largest public healthcare networks in the world,
- GLEIF (the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation), based in Switzerland and the only global online source that provides open, standardized and high quality legal entity reference data, is committed to following the SSI model for digital identity credentials for companies.
- SSI4DE, co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, supports showcases for secure digital identities in Germany, and Chancellor Angela Merkel declared digital identity as a priority matter during December 2020.
- MemberPass brings SSI to financial services with Credit Union customer identity verification,
- Farmer Connect is realizing is vision to “Humanize consumption through technology” by enabling and empowering individual coffee farmers to more easily work with global enterprises, and reducing costs and inefficiencies for large companies to work directly with small and often remote farmers.
- Lumedic Exchange is the first network designed exclusively for patient-centric exchange of healthcare data using SSI-based verifiable credentials.
While scientists and professionals in the fields of biology, genetics, immunology, medicine and public health are the superstars of 2020, SSI is also in a position to make a major contribution. Reliable digital credentials for medical test results and vaccination status, in the form of W3C Verifiable Credentials backed by privacy-respecting governance, can help societies more safely return to normal levels of social interaction and restart economies. At the same time, the SSI model will be establishing new standards and expectations for person identity data management and control by individuals.
2021: Looking Forward
Unexpected urgencies that accelerated broad acceptance of the SSI digital identity model during 2020 will continue into 2021. Ongoing challenges of the global pandemic can be mitigated by expanded use cases and public acceptance of trusted digital identity. In the most forward-thinking and dynamic jurisdictions, SSI progress is anticipated in the following areas:
- Verifiable digital vaccination credentials to facilitate safer operations at some workplaces, medical facilities and senior care centers,
- International travel enabled by vaccination and medical test results quickly and easily proved with the power of verifiable digital credentials,
- Rollout of government-issued ID such as driver licenses in the form of digital credentials conforming to SSI standards and securely stored in privacy-respecting digital wallets on smart phones,
- Expansion of SSI digital identity networks, along with demonstrated interoperability of digital credentials and their verification across multiple networks using smart phone apps (digital ID wallets),
- Laws and regulations implemented at state, provincial and national levels which support the use of digital Verifiable Credentials for medical, financial and other uses.
While the wellbeing of individuals and societies during this historic time rests largely on the clear thinking and actions of responsible scientists, business leaders and government leaders, SSI is also playing a significant role. The Sovrin Foundation is dedicated to supporting global adoption of SSI to help mitigate challenges of this pandemic, while advancing its mission of Identity for All.
Notes
- Alex Preukschat, Drummond Reed. Self Sovrin Identity. Manning. Publication expected spring 2021.
- Ibid.
Originally published at https://sovrin.org on January 12, 2021.
