Next week, Hyperledger is bringing together over a thousand industry leaders and practitioners from around the world for its annual Hyperledger Global Forum (March 3-6) in Phoenix, Arizona.
The event is designed to drive awareness, education, adoption, and advancement of enterprise blockchain technology while giving attendees the opportunity to collaborate with other contributors and learn vicariously through a series of interactive workshops.
To help you navigate four packed days of presentations of content, we put together our top event recommendations for those looking for digital identity-related topics, particularly as they pertain to Hyperledger Indy, Ursa, and Aries.
Here’s what we recommend:
Day One (Tuesday, March 3)
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
Identity Working Group: Solving the Problem of Digital Trust
If you visit the Sponsor Showcase during the first break of the conference, you can learn about the Identity Working Group from Evernym’s Chief Trust Officer, Drummond Reed. He will explain how you can join the Working Group on their mission to solve the problem of digital trust.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 10:45-10:55am
Location: SIG booth (near the Info Desk in the Sponsor Showcase)
Experience Level: Any
Project: Identity
BUSINESS TRACK
Case Study: Credit Unions Adopt Decentralized Identity – Successes, Challenges, and Lessons Learned from MemberPass Pilot Programs
CULedger’s Julie Esser will share the stage with one of their customers, TruWest Credit Union, to discuss the results of, and lessons learned from, the recent pilots of MemberPass (a consumer-focused global digital identity solution leveraging Evernym technology) by credit unions.
Attendees will leave with actionable takeaways that can be applied to the implementation of any self-sovereign identity initiative, along with a better understanding of how businesses like TruWest can benefit from expedited identity verification across customer touchpoints and the enhanced overall security and protection of customer data.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 11:00-11:40am
Location: 102 A
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Financial
TECHNICAL TRACK
Building Secure Protocols Using Ursa
Join Evernym’s Brent Zundel and the Sovrin Foundation’s Mike Lodder for a discussion on some of the most popular features in Hyperledger Ursa and how they can be used to build private and secure protocols on blockchains.
The talk will include real-world examples of how Brent and Mike have used these features through their own work in Indy and Aries, as well as a discussion around some of the most common mistakes made when using cryptographic algorithms.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 11:50am-12:30pm
Location: 103 A
Experience Level: Advanced
Industry/Project: Security, Protocols, Ursa, Indy, Aries
BUSINESS TRACK
Building Self-sovereign Identity in South Africa
Join Absa’s Jakub Kočí and Patrik Staš to hear how they’ve approached rolling out self-sovereign identity solutions in South Africa, with a special focus on how they used Indy/Aries and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 11:50am-12:30pm
Location: 102 A
Experience Level: Intermediate
Industry/Project: Financial, Identity, Indy, Aries
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
“I Need An Identity Solution”
You can spend lunch with “Birds of a Feather” by picking a table with a discussion that you find interesting. Evernym product manager Richard Esplin will be at the table marked “I Need An Identity Solution.” He is looking forward to discussing the various solutions available today, the benefits of a decentralized identity system, and best practices for organizations deploying an identity solution.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “I Need An Identity Solution”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Internet of Things Solutions
Another option is to discuss the Internet of Things with the Sovrin Foundation’s Adam Burdett and Nikita Khateev, an engineer from Evernym’s development partner DSR.They have both played with IoT devices as Indy Agents, and we expect an interesting conversation.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “Internet of Things Solutions”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, IoT
TECHNICAL TRACK
Standards and Interoperability for Identity
Sovrin Foundation CTO Nathan George will share the latest advances in trusted information flows and the standards being incubated to promote interoperability and network effects across multiple blockchains and platforms. This presentation will cover the work being done in Hyperledger Indy, Hyperledger Aries, the W3C, and the Decentralized Identity Foundation.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 2:00-2:40pm
Location: 103 A
Experience Level: Beginner
Industry/Project: Identity, Standards, Interoperability, Indy, Aries
TECHNICAL TRACK
DIDs without Blockchains – Implementing Peer DIDs in an Hour or a Day
Evernym’s Chief Architect, Daniel Hardman, will discuss the role of Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) in self-sovereign identity, and what it means to take DIDs off-chain (in exchange for massive benefits for scale, performance, cost, and decreased complexity).
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 2:50-3:30pm
Location: 103 A
Experience Level: Advanced
Industry/Project: Identity, Indy
BUSINESS TRACK
Selling Blockchain to the C-Suite
The benefits of blockchain across multiple use cases and industries are becoming evident as more pilots and proofs of concept are implemented, including lower costs and increased efficiencies. But making the leap from pilot to production is a challenge for many technology and innovation organizations as they struggle to quantify those benefits in terms that satisfy c-level executives. That challenge is made more difficult by the fact that blockchain projects don’t always lend themselves to traditional business models. (Example: If costs are distributed, how are returns realized?)
This Think Tank will look at how projects that are already seeing success have been justified, including business models, metrics and more. It will look at the many use cases being developed by vendors in the blockchain space and how those projects have been assessed in terms of business value. The intent of the session is to help technologists learn how to evaluate their projects and sell blockchain to the c-level.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 2:50-3:30pm
Location: 101 B
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Productizing
PROJECTS KIOSK
Hyperledger Aries: Tools for Trusted Interactions
In the Sponsor Showcase during the afternoon break, Evernym’s Richard Esplin will be introducing Project Aries. He will briefly share the main components of the project, as well as resources for new contributors looking to get involved.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 3:45-3:55pm
Location: Projects Kiosk (near the Developer Lounge in the Sponsor Showcase)
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Aries
TECHNICAL TRACK
Understanding the Hyperledger Indy Distributed Ledger
In this architecture-focused presentation, Evernym’s Alexander Shcherbakov will discuss Hyperledger Indy’s implementation of a distributed ledger (indy-node) and its use in both digital identity and general-purpose applications.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 4:15-4:55pm
Location: 103 A
Experience Level: Intermediate
Industry/Project: Identity, Indy
TECHNICAL TRACK
Design Patterns for Decentralized Protocols (Avoiding Blockchain Centralization)
Evernym’s Daniel Hardman will share his thoughts on the misconceptions around blockchain’s “decentralization” and the common centralization problems to watch out for. He’ll explore some Gang-of-Four-style design patterns that are truly decentralized, that you can implement in your own solutions—and tips for looking at antipatterns where blockchain doesn’t keep the architecture from centralizing.
You’ll come away with terminology, diagrams, and examples that will make your decentralization goals easier to achieve, and that will protect you from gotchas.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 5:05-5:45pm
Location: 103 A
Experience Level: Intermediate
Industry/Project: Governance
BUSINESS TRACK
Grafting Blockchains into Enterprise Businesses – The LEI and Digital Verifiable Credentials
This presentation demonstrates the results of the Digital Verifiable Credential Proof of Concept conducted by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), along with developer BR-AG,in cooperation with its network of regulators, Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) issuers and organizations/businesses developing trusted identification solutions secured by blockchain technologies.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Tuesday, March 3
Time: 5:05-5:45pm
Location: 102 A
Experience Level: Intermediate
Industry/Project: Identity, Indy
Day Two (Wednesday, March 4)
PROJECTS KIOSK
Hyperledger Ursa: Don’t Roll Your Own Crypto
Evernym’s senior crypto engineer, Brent Zundel, will lightly harangue onlookers about the dangers of ‘rolling your own’ cryptographic algorithms, while extolling the virtues of the Hyperledger Ursa library.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 10:45-10:55am
Location: Projects Kiosk (near the Developer Lounge in the Sponsor Showcase)
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Ursa
BUSINESS TRACK
Building Identity and Credit Solutions for the Developing World Using Hyperledger Technology
Join Kiva’s Alan Krassowski for an overview of the solutions Kiva (a global non-profit focused on financial inclusion) has been putting in place in the developing world that provide better access to identity and credit for traditionally underserved communities.
He will walk through fundamental design decisions Kiva has made relative to its project requirements and how the Kiva team chose among Hyperledger technologies including Indy, Aries, Ursa, Fabric, and Besu.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 11:00-11:40am
Location: 102 A
Experience Level: Intermediate
Industry/Project: Identity, Fintech
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Discussing Consensus Algorithms
During lunch on Wednesday, you can join Evernym’s Alexander Shcherbakov to discuss the consensus algorithms that power distributed ledgers. This is a great opportunity to get answers to your questions about blockchain technologies and learn the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches to distributed consensus.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table marked “Discussing Consensus Algorithms”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Indy
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Trust Over IP Stack
Alternatively, you can have lunch with Evernym’s Drummond Reed and discuss the four layers of Trust over IP and its role in adding a contextual, interoperable lens to self-sovereign identity. A conversation with Drummond is a masterclass in explaining self-sovereign identity in a way that anyone can understand.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “Trust Over IP Stack”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Governance
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Data Sharing With Verifiable Credentials
A third option for a lunch conversation is to join the Sovrin Foundation’s Mike Lodder to discuss the role of verifiable credentials (VCs) in self-sovereign identity, and how they enable the secure, private, and trusted transfer of information.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “Data Sharing with Verifiable Credentials”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity
TECHNICAL TRACK
All Are Welcome Here: Creating an Inclusive Hyperledger Community
Core to SSI is the idea that the technology must work for everyone, everywhere. It must work not only for those in the developed world, but also for refugees, the ‘stateless,’ and those without access to the Internet or the hardware to hold their own digital wallets.
As such, it’s critical that SSI is designed for—and by—everyone.
This presentation will focus on the role of diversity and inclusion in open source, with actionable tips for Hyperledger contributors and group leaders around creating an inclusive and civil environment and cultivating a diverse community. This session will go through the best practices for conducting meetings, writing code reviews and enabling asynchronous collaboration to create an inclusive environment. Though focused on Hyperledger tools, these skills can apply broadly to any open source project.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 2:50-3:30pm
Location: 103 A
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Inclusivity
PROJECTS KIOSK
Hyperledger Indy: An Identity Focused Ledger
The Sovrin Foundation’s Adam Burdett will introduce potential new contributors to Hyperledger Indy and explain the blockchain’s roles in enabling self-sovereign identity.
Date: Wednesday, March 4
Time: 3:30-3:40pm
Location: Projects Kiosk (near the Developer Lounge in the Sponsor Showcase)
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Indy
Day Three (Thursday, March 5)
WORKSHOP
Getting Started with Indy and Aries: Beginner and Advanced Scenarios
This full-day technical workshop, led by the Province of British Columbia’s John Jordan and Cloud Compass Computing’s Stephen Curran, will cover beginner and advanced sessions on getting started with Hyperledger Indy and Hyperledger Aries.
The morning session will cover the business basis of both Hyperledger Indy and Aries, highlighting the crucial role verifiable credentials will play in adding a layer of trust to the Internet. A hands-on session will cover deploying an Indy-based Aries agent that receives verifiable credentials and presents those credentials to a verifying service. The session is for attendees interested in understanding the business context of these important projects and is appropriate for developers new to Indy and Aries.
The afternoon session will focus on the building and deployment of an Aries agent. The session has a technical focus with the goal of getting a developer new to this technology up and coding. This workshop will expose participants to a complex agent ecosystem of mobile agents, enterprise agents and the use of verifiable credentials to enable access to OpenID-Connect-based web applications.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Thursday, March 5
Time: 9:00am-6:00pm, with lunch and coffee breaks
Location: 102 C
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Indy, Aries
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Contributing to Identity Projects (Indy, Aries, Ursa)
Evernym’s Richard Esplin invites all potential contributors to a lunch conversation explaining how to start contributing to Hyperledger’s identity projects, including an interactive discussion about the biggest needs and opportunities in these projects.
Date: Thursday, March 5
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “Contributing to Identity Projects”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Indy, Aries, Ursa
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Secure Key Management
Learn more about decentralized key management during a lunchtime discussion with Mike Lodder from the Sovrin Foundation.
Date: Thursday, March 5
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “Secure Key Management”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity
Day Four (Friday, March 6)
WORKSHOP
Hands-on Introduction to Decentralized Identity using Hyperledger Indy and Aries
Join the Sovrin Foundation’s Nathan George (CTO) and Ken Ebert (Software Architect & Open Standards Engineer) for a day-long tutorial that will guide attendees through deploying a Hyperledger Indy blockchain, the on-boarding processes for a public deployment (Sovrin BuilderNet), installing an Aries cloud agent and a mobile or edge agent, and exchanging credentials and proofs between participants.
By the end of this tutorial, participants will be introduced to the various frameworks, standards and code repositories available under Hyperledger, and have practiced with the tools necessary to start creating their own verifiable credentials and trusted information flows.
Click here to learn more or save the event to your schedule.
Date: Friday, March 6
Time: 9:00am-6:00pm, with lunch and coffee breaks
Location: 102 C
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity, Indy, Aries
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Governance Frameworks
Join our Chief Trust Officer, Drummond Reed, for a lunch discussion on the role of governance frameworks in adding a human trust layer to self-sovereign identity and Trust over IP applications.
Date: Friday, March 6
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: ‘Birds of a Feather’ lunch table, marked “Governance Frameworks”
Experience Level: Any
Industry/Project: Identity
Learn what SSI means for your business
We hope you find this list useful as you navigate the Hyperledger Global Forum. The workshops, demos, and presentations should provide a valuable overview of self-sovereign identity and the open-source technology available today. To get a more personalized look at what SSI means for your industry and your organization’s needs, flag down anyone with an Evernym shirt; we’d love to chat. You can also email us to carve out some time with Drummond Reed, Richard Esplin, Daniel Hardman, or any of our other team members in attendance.