Elastos

Who Controls your Digital Destiny: Twitter Spaces Recap

Elastos Twitter Spaces speakers on the topic of DIDs and digital destiny.

EP 1 – Who Controls Your Digital Destiny?

In our first Twitter Spaces, we asked ‘Who controls your digital destiny’, setting the stage for an ongoing series of discussions with Web3 industry leaders from around the world who helped identify many of the aspects we anticipate will become critical to the success of Web3. The idea was that from this first discussion, additional Spaces could then delve deeper into each key component, with the aim of determining practical, actionable goals we can adopt together to help build the future we want to see.

We had a great panel: 

  • Sandy Carter (@Sandy_Carter) – COO at Unstoppable Domains
  • Harsh Rajat (@harshrajat) – Co Founder at Push Protocol
  • Sash  (@sash__mit) – Founder of Elacity
  • Humpty Calderon (@humptycalderon) – Founder Mosaic and community lead at Ontology 

Though our first session wasn’t recorded, we did capture a list of essential components that need to be explored if we as an industry want to forge our own digital destiny. They were: 

  • Identity and digital identity solutions such as DIDs were agreed to be foundational to solving issues around security, self-sovereignty and interoperability. 
  • Data storage such as cloud, local and decentralized storage solutions and how they could work together in an online/offline world. 
  • Decentralized communications and data sharing that is both secure and reliable. 
  • Digital Rights Management (DRM) and the need to protect and validate content for and by content creators.
  • Access Economy and new models for commerce. 
  • Financial systems and tools that link DeFi with traditional finance. 
  • Standardization and Regulation to build confidence, consistency and rigor in the Web3 industry.
  • Interoperability and the need to build a more inclusive Web3.
  • Automation and the use of AI as both an opportunity and a threat.
  • User experience (UX) and creating more frictionless experiences in Web3.
  • Security and trust. We need a Web3 where people can feel like their data, money and well-being are looked after. 

This discussion only scratches the surface. If the community has any additional points to include in the above list, please share in the comments. We hope to address each in future Twitter Spaces as part of our ongoing series….

…which is exactly what we did!

Ep 2 – Digital Destiny: Decentralized Identifiers

In our second panel, experts came together to discuss the crucial question: Why does identity matter in Web3? Despite some more technical glitches with this session, the conversation delved into various aspects of identity and its role in the emerging decentralized digital landscape. However, unlike the first session that was purposely broad, in this session, we focused on practical applications and more specific benefits of different technologies and to capture actions to help compel the industry to experiment, build and utilize DIDs

Our panel this time included: 

Here are the key takeaways from the discussion:

  1. Identity as a fundamental aspect of human interaction:
    The panelists highlighted that identity is not just important, but essential for human interaction and connection. Everyone has an identity since birth, and it shapes our interactions with the world around us. None of us have a digital destiny without a secure and self-sovereign identity. 
  2. Kim Cameron’s Seven Laws of Identity:
    Evin recommended listeners read Kim Cameron’s Seven Laws of Identity, a one-page guide that helps minimize risk and harm to individuals in the digital world. This document serves as a foundation for understanding the importance of identity.
  3. The inadequacy of current digital identities:
    The panelists emphasized that current digital identities in the connected Metaverse are not suited for human beings, as they are based on the atomic unit of Web3 – a public key, not a person. Our identities should encompass more than just our financial data and wallet contents.
  4. The need for decentralized identity: The panelists discussed the importance of decentralized identity solutions that allow individuals to express their full range of identities in a secure and privacy-preserving manner. Decentralized identity empowers individuals with greater control over their personal data and offers more robust ways to participate in the digital economy. 
  5. Verifiable credentials and zero-knowledge proofs: Otto described the need for identity tech to enable people to natively switch between profiles, and also be able to present credentials that were issued to any of these profiles. He gave the example that a person may choose to have a completely different gaming profile as opposed to their banking profile and that through the usage of zero-knowledge proofs, you should be able to demonstrate that you own a credential without needing to tie it to a specific identifier, which is sort of the problem with with some of the verifiable credential formats out there that they force you to reveal the identifier to whom that credential was issued. This is something that Polygon ID and Elastos DID can do.
  6. Different identity technologies need to work together: Panelists discussed the use cases of DIDs vs naming services such as .ETH or .ELA and the myriad number of different experimental DID approaches that are covered under W3C. It was generally agreed that it isn’t about one or the other but that the industry needs to work towards standardizing the application of different technologies for different use cases and that they should work together seamlessly. 
  7. The role of identity in building an equitable Web 3.0: In conclusion, the panelists agreed that decentralized identity is a vital component of Web3 and necessary for building a more equitable and user-centric internet. It enables individuals to enjoy richer, more meaningful experiences in the digital world, moving beyond the limitations of current public key-based identities.

The panel’s insightful discussion provided a deeper understanding of the importance of identity in Web3 and emphasized the need for continued innovation in the field of decentralized identity solutions. By addressing the challenges of digital identity, we can work towards a more inclusive, secure, and connected future that ensures each of us can forge our own digital destiny.

Check out the session recording.


The article and graphics were created by the Elavation Team.