Decentralized Identity: Connecting Besu, Cardano, AnonCreds, Cheqd, OIDC4VC, AFJ

This is an in depth technical workshop focused on decentralized identity and interoperability. Anyone interested in the topic is welcome to join.

The Hyperledger implementation of self-sovereign identity (SSI) is traditionally associated with CL AnonCreds verifiable credential format, Aries exchange protocols based on DIDComm and an Indy ledger as a verifiable data registry (VDR). These are mature technologies used in production systems. Indy and CL AnonCreds played a key role in shaping self-sovereign identity before the establishment of various other SSI standards and specifications.

Nowadays such specifications as W3C VC, OpenID for Verifiable Credentials (OIDC4VC), SD-JWT and others gain increasing attention due to plans for adoption by European Digital Identity Architecture and Reference Framework, NIST, DHS etc. Moreover, although Indy Ledger is a great and proven VDR option for permissioned cases, nowadays permissionless proof-of-stake ledgers can be a reasonable alternative, as well as other distributed ledger technologies (DLT) from the Hyperledger family.

The main goal of the workshop is to invalidate a misconception that Hyperledger Aries SSI projects can only work with CL AnonCreds, DIDComm and Indy Ledger. We are going to prove a possibility to apply Agent Framework JavaScript (AFJ) for issuance and verification of Verifiable Credentials in W3C format, usage of OIDC4VC for credentials exchange, and leveraging external permissionless ledgers as a VDR. Moreover, we are going to show a synergy between two graduated Hyperledger projects: Aries and Besu. It will be done by means of a new Indy Ledger 2.0 proof-of-concept initiative based on Hyperledger Besu.