DSR Cor­po­rati­on Comp­le­tes Bri­tish Colum­bia Code With Us Pro­ject to add sup­port of W3C Veri­fi­ab­le Cre­den­ti­als Data Model Stan­dard in­to Hyper­ledger AnonCreds

DSR Corporation (DSR) won its fifth Government of British Columbia (B.C. Gov) "Code With Us" project to enable B.C. Gov  or anyone who uses Hyperledger AnonCreds to issue privacy-preserving anonymous credentials (AnonCreds) and verifiable credentials (VC) in the data format defined in the W3C Verifiable Credential Data Model standard (W3C VC) format. DSR formalized AnonCreds in the W3C VC format, enabling its use in the Hyperledger AnonCreds Rust implementation. As one of initial authors and adopters of AnonCreds implementation, the DSR team successfully completed the three-phased project ahead of schedule and delivered it to B.C. Gov and AnonCreds community.  As a result of the project, both the Hyperledger AnonCreds open source specification and Rust implementation were updated. 

B.C. Gov is a leader in bringing together governance and technology to enhance citizen services and streamline administrative processes. It uses Hyperledger Aries components to issue and verify privacy-preserving Hyperledger AnonCreds in several verifiable credentials use cases and provides the Aries-based BC Wallet to receive and present those credentials. A long-term objective of BC Wallet is to help British Columbians feel more confident when they interact online. One of the main benefits of using Hyperledger AnonCreds there is more control over personal information. With BC Wallet, a user can approve every use of their digital credentials, such as:

• Provide only the information from a digital credential that’s needed for a situation
• It is possible to prove things about the user’s information without providing the specific documentation 
• For example, the user could prove they are over 19 without providing their birthdate

The original AnonCreds design and implementation pre-date the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model Standard format and, as such, did not follow that standard. The purpose of this Code With Us opportunity was to formalize the translation of AnonCreds format to the W3C VC/VP one. This will greatly contribute to the adoption of AnonCreds VC as one of the most privacy-preserving approaches in self-sovereign identity, closing the interoperability gap between AnonCreds and other W3C VC formats.

The work began with updating the AnonCreds v1.0 specification to include support for AnonCreds verifiable credentials and verifiable presentations in the W3C VC/VP Format. Subsequently, updates were implemented through pull requests to the Hyperledger AnonCreds Rust implementation repository to apply the W3C VC Format-related specification changes to the implementation. Finally, a functioning demonstration of the new functionality was created based on the Aries Framework Java Script. 

The DSR team efficiently tackled the project leveraging our unique expertise in Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), Rust programming language, AnonCreds and W3C Verifiable Credentials (VCs).  

The government's commitment to SSI aligns with DSR's expertise and over seven years of experience in the emerging field. DSR's collaboration with B.C. Gov has included the modernization of Hyperledger Indy and Hyperledger Aries digital identity frameworks where DSR is a primary contributor. These frameworks serve as the foundation of B.C. Gov's SSI solutions.  Earlier this year DSR was granted     four other Code With Us opportunities, such as adding verifier capabilities to Hyperledger Aries Bifold and BC Wallet, upgrading the Indy Test automation repository and VON Network and implementing a new version of the Indy CLI based on the Hyperledger Indy and Aries shared components. 

The Government of B.C.'s Digital Plan is a roadmap for the future of digital identity that can be adopted worldwide. It envisions a future where people feel empowered, services work quickly, and technology is at the center of the movement forward.

DSR’s Extensive Decentralized Identity Experience

DSR is among the original contributors to the initial code that required adaptation for this opportunity. Moreover, it served as key contributors to the AnonCreds implementation in Rust, spanning projects such as indy-crypto, Hyperledger Ursa, and indy-sdk (later divided into indy-shared-rs and anoncreds-rs). DSR has actively participated in numerous projects and Proof of Concepts (PoCs) utilizing AnonCreds. 

The DSR team possess extensive experience with the W3C VC format, demonstrated through our involvement in Hyperledger Aries projects, contributions to BBS+, implementation of Verifiable Data Registries (VDRs) and ledgers suitable for processing W3C VCs, as well as numerous applications and PoCs utilizing W3C VC.

Notably, the DSR team boasts over seven years of experience in utilizing Rust for developing production code and complex components. We possess a robust understanding of Rust best practices, design patterns, and hands-on experience with various popular libraries and frameworks. Our significant project portfolio includes contributions to Hyperledger Indy (indy-sdk, vdr-tools, indy-cli-rs, indy-vdr, etc.), Hyperledger Ursa, DIDComm Rust, Aries VCX, and various blockchain and smart contract projects. Our expertise extends to implementing libraries, cryptography functions, Web Backends, Blockchain applications, language wrappers for Rust libraries (uniffi, WASM, wasm-bindgen), as well as building and running Rust libraries on diverse platforms, including mobile and embedded systems.

Please contact us to learn more about decentralized identity or how to start your project to develop a decentralized system.