Community Posts

February 17, 2020

Fourth pillar of an SSI network: SSI advocacy

Note: In celebration of Sovrin Foundation’s new membership program, the Foundation is writing a series of blogs that highlight the core activities it provides as a nonprofit which Sovrin Chairman Phil Windley refers to as the “Four Pillars of an SSI Network”. Much of the material used in this blog post was originally published on […]

February 13, 2020

Third pillar of an SSI network: Community engagement

Note: In celebration of Sovrin Foundation’s new membership program, the Foundation is writing a series of blogs that highlight the core activities it provides as a nonprofit which Sovrin Chairman Phil Windley refers to as the “Four Pillars of an SSI Network”. Much of the material used in this blog post was originally published on […]

February 4, 2020

Second pillar of an SSI network: Network operations

Note: In celebration of Sovrin Foundation’s new membership program, the Foundation is writing a series of blogs that highlight the core activities it provides as a nonprofit which Sovrin Chairman Phil Windley refers to as the “Four Pillars of an SSI Network”. Much of the material used in this blog post was originally published on […]

January 30, 2020

First pillar of an SSI network: Governance

Note: In celebration of Sovrin Foundation’s new membership program, the Foundation is writing a series of blogs that highlight the core activities it provides as a nonprofit which Sovrin Chairman Phil Windley refers to as the “Four Pillars of an SSI Network”. Much of the material used in this blog post was originally published on […]

January 28, 2020

Become a member of the Sovrin Foundation

Announcing Sovrin Foundation’s new membership program for champions of data protection and privacy. Note: The Sovrin Foundation has a new membership program for individuals and organizations that wish to become involved with and support the mission of the Sovrin Foundation. To celebrate the start of this initiative, the Foundation will publish a series of blog […]

January 8, 2020

Giving people the privacy protection they need in the coming decade

The Sovrin Network shows how blockchain-based digital identity systems simplify and strengthen data privacy. The emergence of data privacy as a consumer right over the past decade accelerated through a series of scandals and data breaches and reached a crescendo with the introduction of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation. Better known as GDPR, […]

January 6, 2020

Hyperledger Aries community drives growth & interoperability in 2020

In the space of just a few short months, the landscape for the Hyperledger Identity community has dramatically altered. Three projects now exist within the Hyperledger greenhouse (Indy, Aries, Ursa) offering a plethora of tools and libraries to begin the trusted exchange of decentralized identity credentials. More contributors and maintainers than ever are working together […]

November 11, 2019

Building a community of self-sovereign identity allies to forge alliances and moving decentralized identity forward

Last week, the DID Alliance, a new initiative focusing on usability and provenance for decentralized identity, issued a press release announcing the launch of their organization. In the press release, the DID Alliance mistakenly included the Sovrin Foundation in their list of members. While the Sovrin Foundation has been working with the DID Alliance in […]

September 10, 2019

The Sovrin Foundation announces a new Task Force on Compliance and Payments

Digital tokens, digital payments, and other forms of digital value exchange experienced  explosive growth over the past few years. Transmitting money or other types of stored value digitally is almost always faster and more convenient for both parties—and is often  more secure. As a result, companies outside of formal regulated banking are now offering financial […]

August 30, 2019

The vision for a truly trustworthy internet

By Scott Perry, member of the Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group Scott Perry owns and operates Scott S. Perry CPA PLLC, a boutique cybersecurity CPA audit Firm which is one of only seven Firms qualified to audit public Certification Authorities (internet trust anchors) in the U.S.. He is a founding member of the Sovrin Governance […]

August 20, 2019

Sovrin governance spotlight: Economic Advisory Council

Earlier this year, issuers of Sovrin-based verifiable credentials started writing directly to the Sovrin Public Ledger. This significant milestone for the Sovrin Network not only supports the mission of the Sovrin Foundation in providing Identity for All, but also the work of the Sovrin Stewards and Transaction Endorsers that are bringing self-sovereign identity products and […]

July 30, 2019

An incubator for digital independence

By: Heather Dahl, Executive Director & CEO, Sovrin Foundation On July 23rd, the Sovrin Foundation announced the launch of the first ever incubator for decentralized digital identity. The Self-Sovereign Identity Incubator, which will be based in San Francisco, marks the transition from decentralized identity as a concept that can solve the persistent problem of verifying […]

July 8, 2019

Announcing four Sovrin Governance Framework WG Task Forces

By Drummond Reed, Chair of the Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group After finishing V2 of the Sovrin Governance Framework, the Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group (SGFWG) has launched four task forces to continue exploring the cutting edge of policy for self-sovereign identity (SSI) and verifiable credentials. Each of these task forces is tackling a problem […]

June 20, 2019

Sovrin on Technometria

Thoughts on Libra Originally posted on Technometria by Phil Windley Chair, Sovrin Foundation Board of Trustees Summary Facebook has announced their Libra cryptocurrency. This is good news for cryptocurrencies and market-incentivized networks. I worry that Libra’s financial inclusion might come with an attendent loss of privacy or autonomy.     Yesterday, after months of speculation, Facebook […]

May 22, 2019

Announcing the new Sovrin Governance Framework blog series

By Drummond Reed, Chair of the Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group Welcome to the new monthly blog of the Sovrin Governance Framework Working Group (SGFWG). We are launching this blog to celebrate the launch of the Sovrin Governance Framework (SGF) Version 2, which was formally approved by the Sovrin Board of Trustees on 27 March […]

May 21, 2019

Sovrin proudly contributes to Hyperledger Aries

By Sam Curren, Sovrin Agent Architect One of the clear highlights of Consensus 2019 for the decentralized identity community was when Brian Behlendorf took the stage and announced Hyperledger Aries, the newest project to be accepted into Hyperledger under the Linux Foundation. Sovrin Foundation led the charge for Aries to be added to Hyperledger. Aries […]

April 15, 2019

Sovrin Foundation joins EU blockchain association as founding member

The Sovrin Foundation is proud to be a part of a community where digital innovation inspires collaboration among distinct sectors of society to advance technologies that will ultimately improve the way we live. One such example occurred on April 3, 2019 when the European Union Commission launched the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA). […]

February 18, 2019

2018 Yearly Report—Moving Forward

Dear Sovrin Community, I’m delighted to share with you the Sovrin Foundation 2018 annual report showcasing the fantastic growth and stability we saw last year. To date, the Sovrin Foundation has approved over 70 Stewards and welcomed contributions from over 250 unique contributors. Some of the highlights of the report include: Upgrading the Sovrin Network with key […]

January 4, 2019

Sovrin looks forward to the New Year

Dear Sovrin Community  –  Within the Sovrin Foundation you’ll find a combination of unique traits that are woven into the fabric of this small, but growing, organization. Perhaps these traits are a function of the size of our organization and its humble beginnings. Small groups of people with shared passions often work well together. Perhaps […]

December 20, 2018

Self-sovereign identity video: An introduction to Sovrin

Imagine a world where the things you use to prove your existence in the physical world (like a driver’s license, passport or college degree) could be securely stored, managed and shared online. The Sovrin Network is designed to do this. Sovrin gives identity holders the ability to manage controllable, trustworthy, and verifiable digital credentials– that […]

December 14, 2018

Workday’s Behind the Cloud Series Features Sovrin Foundation Chairman

Behind the Cloud is a video series produced by Workday, (NASDAQ: WDAY), a leader in enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. The series explores the technology and people integral to the enterprise cloud. Dr. Phillip Windley, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Sovrin Foundation and co-founder of the Internet Identity Workshop, […]

December 3, 2018

Evernym accelerator program: A global community building the future of identity with Sovrin

  Last month, self-sovereign identity (SSI) pioneer, Evernym, launched an Accelerator Program to encourage the widespread adoption of SSI. The Accelerator Program provides a collaborative forum for organizations to learn the technical, business and policy-related implications for SSI so that they can deploy decentralized identity solutions as quickly as possible. Participants also gain direct access […]

November 29, 2018

Sovrin welcomes EBPI, lab10 collective, Spark, and Swisscom Blockchain as Founding Stewards

We’re excited to welcome the European Business Process Institute (EBPI), lab10 collective, Spark, and Swisscom Blockchain as Founding Stewards. These organizations join more than 50 Sovrin Stewards who span software experts, telecom and IT giants, NGOs, blockchain experts and financial institutions. Sovrin Stewards share a common belief in self-sovereign identity (SSI) as a public utility […]

November 2, 2018

Event: TPAC 2018

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop standards across the internet. Every year the W3C holds combined Technical Plenary and Advisory Committee meetings (TPAC). This year TPAC 2018 took place at Cité Centre des Congrès de Lyon, France from October […]

November 1, 2018

Announcing public review of the Sovrin Governance Framework V2

The Sovrin Foundation is pleased to announce the beginning of the public review period for the Sovrin Governance Framework V2. As the “constitution” of the Sovrin Network, this set of documents specifies the purpose, principles, and policies that govern Sovrin as a global public utility for self-sovereign identity. The first version of the Sovrin Governance […]

October 29, 2018

“Identity for Good” program helps provide SSI to NGOs and nonprofits

We’ve teamed up with Evernym, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum, to form Identity For Good, an initiative to provide non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and nonprofit organizations with free access to the latest tools, technology, and expertise surrounding self-sovereign identity (SSI). This December, five organizations will be chosen by a panel of judges, to participate […]

October 23, 2018

Press release: Sovrin Foundation, Ontology, and Evernym collaborate on interoperable decentralized identity networks

Today we are excited to announce a collaborative partnership with Evernym and Ontology to co-develop our blockchain-based technologies, together helping advance self sovereign digital identity for all. This work aims to support the interoperability of our respective digital identity networks and we hope to eventually provide a seamless identity management experience for identity holders worldwide. […]

October 1, 2018

Sovrin at Rebooting the Web of Trust

This past week, Sovrin Foundation CTO Nathan George and Sovrin Security Maven Mike Lodder attended the seventh meeting of  Rebooting the Web of Trust (RWOT) in Toronto, Canada. The mission of RWOT is to share ideas, discuss important digital identity topics and write papers on the ideas and technologies being used to improve decentralization for […]

September 12, 2018

Steward spotlight: IBM

IBM is among the world’s biggest contributors to open blockchain development and has a long history of research and innovation in emerging technologies. That is why it may come as no surprise that the company is among Sovrin’s Stewards. Today we talk to Dan Gisolfi, DE and CTO for Trusted Identity at IBM, about how […]

September 4, 2018

Community spotlight: Self-sovereign identity developer meetup takes DID for a spin

The Utah Sovrin Meetup group recently hosted a Developer Brown Bag in Provo, UT that brought together developers from throughout the digital identity ecosystem. Software engineers from BYU’s Pico Labs and the Sovrin community came together with programmers and enthusiasts from companies like Evernym and ControlFusion to talk about Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Pico Engines. […]