October 19, 2020
Starting during late 2019, Sovrin community members originated the Trust over IP (“ToIP”) concept and helped lead the formation of the ToIP Foundation as a new Linux Foundation project. The missions of each organization are different and highly synergistic.
The mission of the ToIP Foundation is to define a common stack of governance and technology that everyone can use to instantiate interoperable digital trust ecosystems. The mission of the Sovrin Foundation is to instantiate one such digital trust ecosystem—the one dedicated to providing self-sovereign Identity for All. Sovrin created the first Layer One public utility—the Sovrin public permissioned ledger, which is now operated by over 70 Sovrin Stewards. This is a foundational component required to enable the Sovrin ecosystem. With the growing realization that DID and VC open standards are in fact the long-needed paradigm shift required to finally build an interoperable trust layer for the internet, the Sovrin Foundation is advancing its mission by also building the Sovrin Ecosystem. The Sovrin Ecosystem will be a ToIP Layer Four governance framework whose purpose is to define what “self-sovereign identity” (SSI) really means in terms of a set of principles and policies that any other trust community can adopt to implement true SSI. Together, the Foundations are dedicated to expanding SSI availability and interoperability, which provides the Sovrin community with a wide range of new business opportunities.
This summer, the Sovrin Foundation community started to collaborate with ToIP by launching two important task forces that fortify and expand the Sovrin Governance Framework. The new task forces include:
Sovrin Utility Governance Framework Task Force (SUGF)
The purpose of the SUGF Task Force is to review, update, and refresh the existing Sovrin Governance Framework with specific focus on Sovrin Ledger, a ToIP Layer 1 public utility that supports the Sovrin Ecosystem and all other digital trust ecosystems.
Sovrin Ecosystem Governance Framework Task Force (SEFG)
The purpose of the SEGF Task Force is to develop the Sovrin Ecosystem, a ToIP Layer 4 ecosystem whose purpose is to enable SSI as a universal service. This Task Force is a sister effort to the Sovrin Utility Governance Framework (SUGF) Task Force.
If you would like to participate in these Sovrin task forces, please use the sign-up tables on the following Meeting Pages.
We expect a number of other ToIP connected task forces will form around subjects like User Experience, Trusted Identities at Work, and SSI terminology. In fact, Sovrin is gifting to ToIP the Sovrin Governance Framework Glossary V3, to provide the foundation of ToIP’s Terminology and Mental Models Working Group. We look forward to expanding our collaboration with ToIP. By working together, we will help establish SSI interoperability as an industry standard for mass adoption in support of the Sovrin Foundation’s Identity For All mission. If you have any questions or suggestions please contact info@sovrin.com.
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