What are decentralized identifiers (DIDs), how do they enable self-sovereign identity, and what does W3C standardization mean for interoperability and adoption? Evernym's Drummond Reed and Brent Zundel discussed all this and more on our Sep 26, 2019 webinar.

1. @evernym | info@evernym.com | September 2019
Decentralized Identifiers:
The linchpin of SSI
The Self-Sovereign Identity Company

2. Drummond Reed
Chief Trust Officer,
Evernym
Co-Author,
DID Spec
@drummondreed
Brent Zundel
Senior Crypto Engineer,
Evernym
Co-Chair,
W3C DID Working Group
@brent_zundel
A little about us

3. On the agenda
What are decentralized identifiers?
What does a DID look like?
How are DIDs being used today?
Why do we need standardization?
What has been the journey of standardization?
What is the significance of the W3C’s new Working Group?
Conclusion
Q&A

4. What is a DID anyway?

5. The linchpin of self-sovereign identity
IP addresses: the fundamental building blocks of
the Internet
DIDs: the fundamental building blocks of the
trust layer of the Internet

6. Decentralized Identifiers
(DIDs)
A new type of globally unique identifier
(URI) that does not require a centralized
registration authority because control of
the identifier can be proved using
cryptography.

7. DIDs have four core
properties:
1. A persistent identifier
You can keep it as long as you need it
2. A resolvable identifier
You can look it up to discover metadata
3. A cryptographically-verifiable identifier
You can prove control using cryptography
4. A decentralized identifier
No centralized registration authority is required

8. Comparison of DIDs
with URLs and email addresses
Property URL Email DID
Persistent (non-reassignable) ✘ ✘ ✔
Resolvable ✔ ✘ ✔
Cryptographically-verifiable ✘ ✘ ✔
Decentralized ✘ ✘ ✔
Human-friendly ✔ ✔ ✘

9. What does a DID look like?

10. URNs (Uniform Resource Names, RFC 8141)
DIDs

11. How are DIDs being used
today?

12. Some statistics
There are currently 32 DID methods registered in the
informal W3C Credentials Community Group DID
Method Registry
○ https://w3c-ccg.github.io/did-method-registry/
○ Three for Bitcoin
○ Six for Ethereum
The Sovrin Foundation currently has 71 stewards
around the world hosting a public permissioned
distributed ledger for DIDs
The Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario
have issued over 1.4 million verifiable business license
credentials based on DIDs

13. Why do we need
standardization?

14. Having a universal DID
standard enables:
● Interoperability: Use interoperable
standards so DID infrastructure can make
use of existing tools and software libraries
designed for interoperability.
● Portability: Be system and
network-independent and enable entities to
use their digital identifiers with any system
that supports DIDs and DID Methods.
● Simplicity: Favor a reduced set of simple
features in order to make the technology
easier to understand, implement, and
deploy.
● Adoption: Standards define the way things
are done on the web.

15. Today, there are at least
four categories of DIDs:
1. Ledger-based: DIDs that are registered and
resolved using blockchains or distributed
ledgers
2. Peer-to-peer: DIDs that are shared directly
peer-to-peer and do not require a public
ledger
3. Layer 2: DIDs that leverage a blockchain or
DLT but are not registered on it directly
(e.g., Microsoft ION)
4. Alternative: Interesting new types of DIDs
that do not meet all four core properties

16. With a universal standard, all
DIDs will be interoperable.
Everyone will be able to use the type of DID that
they trust.

17. DIDs pave the way for global
adoption
Governments, enterprises, and developers can
all benefit from:
● years of international collaboration;
● well-tested online technical references;
● educational materials; and,
● the economies of scale created by wider
use of a single standard.

18. What has been the journey of
DID standardization?

19. A brief history of DIDs
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Spring IIW: First
blockchain identity
discussions
W3C VCTF: A
Decentralized Hash
Table for the Web
Fall IIW: Decision to
begin blockchain ID
projects
DHS: Awards 1st
blockchain Identity R&D
contracts
IIW+RWOT: DID Spec
work fully underway
IIW+RWOT: First DID
Spec nearly complete
DHS: First DID Spec
published & contract
complete
DHS:
DKMS contract
awarded; work begins
W3C CCG: DID Spec
contributed
DHS:
DKMS Design &
Architecture V3
published
W3C CCG: Second draft
of DID Spec
W3C CCG: Work on DID
WG Charter begins
DHS:
DKMS Design &
Architecture V4
published
W3C CCG:
Community Final
Draft of DID Spec
W3C:
DID WG Charter
approved

20. What’s next for DIDs?
And what’s the significance of the new
W3C DID Working Group?

21. Approval of a new
W3C DID Working Group
On September 5, the W3C approved the charter for a
new DID Working Group, bringing us one step closer to
an Internet-wide standard.
● Chairs: Dan Burnett (ConsenSys), Brent Zundel
(Evernym)
● Editors: Manu Sporny (Digital Bazaar), Drummond Reed
(Evernym), Markus Sabadello (Danube Tech)
● 54 participants from 18 member orgs
○ AKASHA, BrightLink, Conexxus, Credly, Etri, GS1,
Microsoft, Scottish Government, SecureKey, Sovrin
Foundation, Surf Net, Transmute, Universities
Admissions Centre, Wiley

22. Working Group
Deliverables
● Recommendation-Track Specification
○ Decentralized Identifiers v1.0
● W3C Notes
○ Decentralized Identifier Use Cases v1.0
○ Decentralized Characteristics Rubric v1.0
● Other Deliverables
○ Test Suite and Implementation Report

23. The path to becoming a W3C standard (rec)
Aug 2021Jul 2021
March 2021
(CR2)
Nov 2020
(CR1) .
Nov 2019
(FPWD)
May 2020
(Feature freeze)
Source: https://www.w3.org/2019/Process-20190301/

24. Learn more and get the
latest updates
● The DIDWG Charter
● The W3C DIDWG Page
● The Draft Spec
● Join the DIDWG
● Join the W3C

25. Conclusion

26. DIDs may be plumbing,
but they are essential plumbing.
Without them, SSI would not be possible.

27. Take the next step in
your SSI journey
Join 50+ organizations taking SSI for a test flight.
evernym.com/plans

28. Take the next step in
your SSI journey
Join 50+ organizations taking SSI for a test flight.
evernym.com/plans

29. Thank you
Questions? Please drop them in the chat!
Connect with us via Twitter or Email
@drummondreed
@brent_zundel
info@evernym.com