Power to the People with Self-Sovereign Identity – Part 1
By Takis Diakoumis, Chief Technology Officer.
SSI enables the sharing of data in a new, controlled and trusted way
By Takis Diakoumis, Chief Technology Officer.
SSI enables the sharing of data in a new, controlled and trusted way
Supporting learners in our rapidly evolving digital age is critical not only for their own personal development but also for our collective progress as modern societies. We recognise today that learning is not always formal, that it does not only occur during specific stages of our life but is ongoing and is itself evolutionary. Fundamental tenets of the Groningen Declaration – signed to foster and support the portability of academic credentials – reinforce this by elevating global academic and professional mobility as basic rights of learners everywhere.
Portable learner credentials and the ability to securely assert claims to knowledge is the key enabler in ensuring this freedom of movement across places of learning and work. In exploring the next sustainable ecosystem for learners, we begin to note the technological evolution of self-sovereignty and the broader reimagination of our digital identity.
The core principle around self-sovereign identity (SSI) is the reaffirmation that individuals have complete ownership and control of their personal data and they alone govern how and when that information is shared. Typical digital interactions and the relationships that have formed around them, are ruled by the terms supplied by service providers like the online social and professional networks. Users – learners, can only assert themselves through these platforms on those terms.
SSI enables the sharing of data in a new, controlled and trusted way, a way where no one can take it away or switch it off. A new foundational connection between institutions and learners is formed where we can completely reimagine the learner relationship, for life. The enormous impact is beyond any one sector. It is about human connections and digital trust; about how we relate to the world around us and where learners become the cornerstone of the next digital revolution.
Self-sovereign identity and the technological leap over early blockchain usage presents as a powerful solution to handing over ownership and control of learner credentials to the learners themselves. Using innovation to disrupt is at the centre of SSI development as we accelerate towards a world turning traditional notions of who we are on its head.
In the next series of SSI posts, we look to explore the different ways in which SSI can empower learners to take control of their digital identity and assert their academic credentials. We will examine the mechanisms available to start doing some of this today and investigate what the future may hold as this new and rapidly evolving ecosystem is realised.
For more information, please contact:
Takis Diakoumis
Chief Technology Officer
