GC Blockchain Codefest

Verifiable Organization Network

Business Problem

The ability to verify information attesting to the identity and circumstances of participants in a service interaction is necessary to create security and trust online. This includes situations where the participants are not individual users but organizations – businesses, government agencies, and other groups acting as clients and service providers.

Given inadequate ability to digitally access and verify information about an organization’s identity, status, and relationships with the people that represent it, the participants in a service interaction remain effectively unknown and untrusted. The range of services government can deliver online is consequently limited with respect to sensitivity, value, and use of personal information.

Opportunity

Nascent blockchain technology provides a technical platform for managing and using decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials online. This technology builds on and enables claims-based identity:

• Claims-based identity provides a method for presenting information about an organization available to service applications.
• The advent of verifiable claims that are cryptographically signed increases the trustworthiness of the information presented

Adapting these methods and technologies (developed and developing as part of self-sovereign identity systems), government can increase its ability to access and verify information about organizations during online service interactions.

To this end, PSPC is participating in a pilot initiative referred to as the “Verifiable Organization Network.”

The Verifiable Organization Network (VON)

The Verifiable Organization Network (VON) pilot initiative consists of several government service providers that are collaborating to advance and develop an innovative and multi-jurisdictional approach to creating, managing, and sharing authoritative information about organizational entities – with initial focus being on businesses as clients of government programs and services.

Purpose

The purpose of the pilot is to develop a blockchain-enabled service that connects multiple trusted and authoritative sources of information about businesses into the “verifiable organization network”:

What It Is

VON is a set of business services and related technical components developed using the Hyperledger Indy distributed ledger. VON supports creation, issuance, and sharing of verifiable and cryptographically secure claims about businesses with authorized organizations. Current contributors are:

• Public Services and Procurement Canada (Supplier Registration Information (SRI)) – Authoritative information about a business’ status as a supplier to the Government of Canada, implemented on the Buyandsell.gc.ca secure platform
• Government of British Columbia (Corporate registry data) – Authoritative confirmation that a BC business is duly registered with the government and in good standing
• Government of Ontario (Corporate registry data) – Authoritative confirmation that an Ontario business is duly registered with the government and in good standing

Using VON, SRI can request trusted information from a registry partner to ensure at the time of registration as a supplier that a business:

• Exists as a legal entity in Canada
• Is in good standing in its home jurisdiction (i.e., not pending dissolution or been amalgamated)
• Has provided current and accurate business name information for use in procurement processes

These verifications occur prior to completion of the PSPC supplier registration process.

Current Work on VON

Work on the VON pilot is divided into two complimentary tracks designed to create trusted information and allow businesses to make effective use of that information.

Track 1: Create and use verifiable information about businesses

1. Develop blockchain-based verifiable claims and claim store for business registration credentials
a. Develop generic schema to define registration information
b. Create cryptographically secured and verifiable registration claims for a business that can be shared with other government organizations
c. Issue business registration credentials to an online claim store (acting as claim holder)
2. Develop a blockchain-enabled version of supplier registration that can:
a. Request, read, and verify cryptographically secured claims issued by another organization (for example BC Corporate Registrar and ON Corporate Registrar) as part of registration processes
b. Issue cryptographically secured procurement claims to registered businesses

Track 2: Provide businesses with greater control over their information and relationships
3. Develop business wallet to enable true self-sovereign identity for businesses
a. Businesses are in control of their data from claims issuers
b. Businesses decide what information is shared and with whom
c. The blockchain network guarantees schema–based role management via claims
4. Implement delegation of authority processes ( for individuals acting on behalf of businesses)
a. Businesses manage who can engage in digital interactions with government services
b. Government services can verify that service transactions are completed by authorized individuals with a known relationship with the business

Expected Benefits

By addressing issues that erode trust in the current online environment, the VON pilot will increase the integrity of digital interactions for both businesses and government service providers. Beyond this, the pilot will result in:

• Improved data integrity for client enrollment and program management systems
• Improved user experience for businesses (streamlined enrollment processes that are faster and simpler)
• Less friction for businesses in their interactions with government (simplified access to government services, reduce duplication of data)
• Increased transparency and control over service relationships