The Sovrin Foundation Welcomes Four New Founding Stewards

November 26, 2018

Salt Lake City and London, Nov. 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Sovrin Foundation, an international nonprofit that administers the Sovrin Network, today announced it has welcomed the European Business Process Institute (EBPI), lab10 collective, Spark New Zealand and Swisscom Blockchain as its newest Founding Stewards. These organizations are dedicated to enabling self-sovereign identity for all and join a diverse ecosystem of more than 50 others around the world that help support the operation of the Sovrin Network – a decentralized network allowing identity holders to personally manage their own digital identifications.

“Worldwide, interest in self-sovereign identity is gaining pace,” said Heather Dahl, Executive Director & CEO of the Sovrin Foundation. “And we are seeing more and more organizations using the Sovrin Network to create innovative solutions to identity problems. In this, the role played by Stewards is critical to the maintenance, security, and success of the Network. We are delighted to welcome lab10 collective, EBPI, Spark, and Swisscom Blockchain as our newest Founding Stewards, and we look forward to working with these organizations to bring about a digital identity management revolution.”

EBPI is a leading provider of qualified and secured information exchange services, primarily for the Dutch government. As a leader in government chain automation, EBPI looks to the Sovrin Network for solutions on qualified information exchange. “EBPI believes in the protection and control of personal information and that starts with a global identity that allows the user to control who and when to share their data with,” said Coen Egberink, CEO of EBPI. “With Sovrin, we at EBPI believe that the fundamental network and features have been established to be able to build secure and controlled applications. Being part of this foundation and community will help us to participate actively in this transformative and innovative space to bring a self-sovereign identity to all.”

lab10 collective, a cooperative focused on developing blockchain-based technology solutions across various industries, hopes that by becoming a Sovin Steward, it can make an impact in the identity management space. “We at lab10 collective live and breathe decentralization and data privacy,” said Thomas Zeinzinger, CEO of lab10 collective. “It is our belief that self-sovereign identity in combination with zero-knowledge proofs are the key ingredients to reclaim people’s right for privacy on the internet. Therefore, it was just natural to us, to apply to be a Sovrin Steward, and we are delighted that we could join the network.”

Spark is New Zealand’s largest communications and IT services provider and the first Sovrin Steward in this country. The company has recently announced that it is forming a new subsidiary business entity with the purpose of focusing on emerging technologies, including self-sovereign identity. Dr. Claire Barber, Product Director of Spark, said, “We’re delighted that Spark has been accepted to play an anchor role in the Sovrin Network, helping create the infrastructure, systems, and protocols that will establish better, more secure ways for New Zealanders to be able to trust in the integrity of online transactions and information sharing.”

Swisscom Blockchain is a one-stop shop for blockchain advisory services that helps organizations to successfully implement blockchain technologies in their business models. By becoming a Sovrin Steward, Swisscom Blockchain joins the Sovrin Foundation in supporting the mission of making self-sovereign identity a worldwide standard. “Those who have the means to give people back control of their identities have a responsibility to do so,” said Luigi Riva, Head of SSI initiative of Swisscom Blockchain AG. “We strongly believe in self-sovereign identity, and joining the Sovrin Network is an important step for us towards this vision.”

In addition to operating nodes on the Sovrin Network, Stewards have the right to vote on any changes to the ledger-specific portions of the Sovrin open source code. EBPI, lab10 collective, Spark, Swisscom Blockchain, and all other Stewards have agreed to abide by the principles and requirements established in the Sovrin Trust Framework, the legal foundation of the Sovrin Network.

About the Sovrin Foundation
The Sovrin Foundation is a nonprofit organization established to administer the Trust Framework governing the Sovrin Network, a public service utility enabling self-sovereign identity on the internet. The Sovrin Network is operated by independent Stewards and uses the power of distributed ledger technology to give every person, organization, and thing the ability to own and control their own permanent digital identity.

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Helen Garneau
Sovrin Foundation
+1 801 701-1848
helen@sovrin.org