The Unified Identity Protocol (UIP) is an implementation of Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) for people, organisations, and things. The protocol is an implementation of the W3C proposed standards for Decentralized Identifiers (DID), Verifiable Credentials and other proposed decentralized identity standards. It is implemented using the IOTA Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) as a neutral, open and decentralized network. The UIP core implementation is initially driven by the IOTA Foundation (IF).
IOTA is an open-source distributed ledger built with the Internet of Things in mind. It can be leveraged for a number of purposes, including feeless microtransactions and messaging with data integrity.
Tangle Identity provides a toolkit to foster the adoption of the Unified Identity Protocol (UIP), an implementation of the Self Sovereign Identity (SSI) concept based on the IOTA Distributed LedgerTechnology (DLT).
The Tangle Identity project consists of several components including a high-level implementation of the UIP core, examples and documentation. Any Self Sovereign Identity project can only become a success as code solutions become possible, alongside a strong effort for adoption. The toolkit lowers the barrier-to-entry and fosters adoption. An initial whitepaper about the subject of SSI and a Unified Identity solution can be found here.
In scope:
-
Development of the code for Tangle Identity
-
Develop a high-level protocol
-
Create tutorials and code samples
-
Develop tools and applications
-
-
Educate and experiment through the publication of thought leadership
-
Write whitepaper(s) to compliment code
-
Explore specific cases per industry
-
-
Build and demonstrate interoperability with complementary technologies
-
Contribute to the development of the Unified Identity Protocol
This project provides a quick entry point for developers exploring decentralized identity and allows them to rapidly prototype concepts and business models. The governance framework and guidance of the Eclipse Foundation will help to ensure that development meets the requirements of the wider community. Equally, Tangle Identity will introduce a layer of digital trust to the existing Eclipse ecosystem.
An initial implementation of the UIP can be found here https://github.com/iotaledger/identity.ts, however, this is considered an experimental implementation. Development of a Rust codebase is in a planning phase and will be started soon, enabled by IOTA’s Request for Comment process (see https://github.com/iotaledger/protocol-rfcs). Some extra details about the roadmap of UIP can be found on https://roadmap.iota.org/digital-identity.
The Tangle Identity project’s components will be developed in parallel to the core protocol.