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Spotlight on Mavennet

1. What is the mission and vision of Mavennet?

Mavennet’s vision is to build a new world of trust. 

We strive to empower large enterprises with better and more effective ways to securely share information and value. We build on technologies such as blockchain and AI to help transform entire industries. Our focus extends to several industries: financial services, supply chain, energy, the public sector and media and entertainment. Our business focuses on challenging the status quo of industries that are in need for disruption, either internally or externally.

2. Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

Identity is at the foundation of any sharing of value or information. 

Traditional identity management systems are vulnerable to single points of failure, they raise privacy issues for the data they carry and limit the possibility of secure interoperability. In industries with business processes that rely on complex workflows or transactions amongst multiple stakeholders, the need for trustworthy digital identity becomes paramount.

At Mavennet, we are implementing decentralized identifiers to our suite of supply chain products to be able to associate a robust digital identity to actors and assets along a network. In conjunction with verifiable credentials (VCs) we enable cryptographically sound and privacy preserving claims that provide transparency and traceability to value chain participants. Ultimately, this trusted digital history of physical assets enables industries to have reliable provenance of goods and attribute actions to stakeholders. This addresses the most pressing pain points of global supply chains: traceability, auditability, flexibility and stakeholder management. 

Unlocking trustworthy digital identity in a way that is easy to implement in existing enterprise environments and can be readily adopted by multiple industries is crucial. It opens new pathways to emerging markets that are vulnerable to lack of trust amongst participants. 

3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does Mavennet address challenges associated with this transformation?

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the lack of responsiveness and flexibility of global supply chains, as evidenced by the spike in closures of manufacturing facilities and the unmet demand for basic commodities. An added concern for international trade is the rise in counterfeiting, which exceeds $900 billion USD annually. These threats to the security and stability of global supply chains can be in part offset by the adoption of digital identities. Their power to unlock fast, secure and trustworthy exchanges, can significantly improve the operational and business process efficiency of industries as a whole. This overhaul of internal traditional processes translates into more globally competitive businesses and positions Canada as an incrementally valuable trading partner.

Mavennet has been deeply involved in the space of decentralized identities and VCs through the deployment of an energy traceability platform that provides end-to-end visibility of assets. This solution, called Neoflow, has laid out new standards for exchange of data in the form of VCs between supply chain stakeholders by identifying them with a unique decentralized identifier. Our goal is to aid the transformation towards digital identities by providing a set of standards and APIs that enable seamless integration with other vendors with the same vision and legacy systems.

4. What role does Canada have to play as a leader in the space?

Canada is particularly well poised to act as a leader in this space, given its strong international voice relative to its size.

Canada has a unique opportunity to drive the standards for adoption at an international level, due to its position as a global emerging innovation ecosystem and technology hub. Further, as a top global exporter of crude oil, gold, wheat, aluminum and others, Canada plays a key role in the way that international trade is conducted. The country has the international relevance to coordinate and propagate digital identity initiatives.

5. Why did Mavennet join the DIACC?

Defining identity standards collaboratively is an essential step when you are looking at transforming entire industries. Up to now we have been doing work with decentralized identity and VCs standards applied to the industries we focus on. We hope to leverage our experience and vision to contribute to the work DIACC does and help raise the water level for Canadian technology as a whole.

6. What else should we know about Mavennet?

We are currently working on exciting solutions for governments and multinational companies in Canada, US and Europe. The core IP of these solutions involves identity management, asset traceability, digital assets, analytics and artificial intelligence. Some of these are:

  • Neoflow – provides end-to-end digital traceability for energy. In particular we are working with the United States Department of Homeland Security  to help with traceability in the oil and gas sector. Multiparty, real-time, immutable data and insights gathered by Neoflow allows governments and key stakeholders to make data-backed decisions on supply/demand, regulation policies and tariffs.  
  • MetalTrail – traces the steel value chain, including materials’ dependencies, to certify the true origin, quality and environmental footprint of steel products.  
  • QCAD – is the first fully-regulated Canadian Dollar Stablecoin. This product was created through Stablecorp, a joint venture between 3iQ and Mavennet.  
  • MavenStamp – seamlessly provides “immutability as a service” through an API. It enables non-technical users to timestamp data on the blockchain and obtain  evidence of its existence. 

Earlier this year Mavennet launched an EU sponsored multinational blockchain research project funded at $12 million CAD. Mavennet leads the consortium as the technical lead. In this way, we are excited to continue contributing to the digital identity space and to be in such a privileged company with the DIACC. 

Spotlight on Folio Technologies

1. What is the mission and vision of Folio?

We are in business to enable everyone to manage their own identity by building the most trusted mobile identity platform. We have a real opportunity to transform digital identity to be as convenient and accessible as it is secure and trustworthy:

  • Make securing digital credentials on a smartphone the new normal
  • Enable absolute privacy for every user in every situation
  • Establish an open, digital identity ecosystem
  • Provide an inclusive and accessible platform, free to the user
  • Lead the innovation of biometrics and AI to eradicate identity fraud

2.  Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

Digital trust will be crucial across the economy as now, more than ever, people need to be able to prove their identity and their status remotely.  

But digital and ‘trust’ don’t always marry well in people’s minds. Now with everything ‘going digital’ at a blistering rate, the individual needs to be in control – if they don’t trust, if they can’t access and feel secure… digital identity becomes a burden and a threat.

3.  How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does Folio address challenges associated with this transformation?

Digital identity has the capacity to increase inclusion, citizen participation, and access to critical services for all. Rather than waiting 2 weeks for a face-to-face appointment with a local government department or driving 2 hours to the nearest bank, digital identity will allow all Canadians to prove who they are at the click of a button and unlock a wealth of sensitive and high-value services. We live in a connected world but the ability to prove your identity in that remote context has been slow to catch up. It’s time that we enable the same “contract of trust” that can be achieved in a face-to-face encounter but in a digital context.

At Folio, we believe all citizens should have choice and ownership of how they manage their identity, always taking active steps to build consent-driven, privacy-preserving solutions that nonetheless do not compromise on usability and experience. The self-sovereign, decentralised models will only thrive when the infrastructure suits the market and as such puts the citizen at the very centre of the ecosystem. Using Folio will allow Canadian citizens to register for a multi-purpose digital wallet, storing their credentials there and using them for an expanding set of services, private and public.

4. What role does Canada have to play as a leader in the space?

Canada is already contributing meaningfully to the global dialogue on digital identity, with DIACC facilitating debate, engagement and progress on critical pieces of infrastructure like standards and frameworks like the Pan Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF) that will enable decentralized digital identity and pave the way for international interoperability. Most importantly it’s the citizens themselves who are engaged and that is the most important stakeholder group. As the DIACC 2019 survey testified, 70 per cent of Canadians are ready to embrace digital identity as a means to improved inclusion and remote access to critical services. The expertise and know-how is there with exciting tech hubs across the provinces, regional governments approaching the topic with cautious optimism, and DIACC providing the forum and nurturing the dialogue between these stakeholder groups. It feels like Canada could be on the cusp of something exciting.

5.  Why did Folio join the DIACC?

Digital identity requires collaboration and Folio is committed to participate in the local and international communities that will be driving the development and adoption of technology innovation in this fast-moving space. DIACC represents a diverse cross section of public and private sector stakeholders who will help Folio understand the localised opportunities and participate in the development of the PCTF for best practice and interoperability. 

6.  What else should we know about Folio?

Folio Technologies (Folio) is HQ’d in London, operates globally and is part of the wider SGO Group. SGO is committed to innovative companies that demonstrate long-term promise in areas that enhance lives especially in the key areas of:

  • Identity, Health Passports and Privacy (Folio)
  • Democracy and citizen participation (e.g. Smartmatic)

SGO is built on the extraordinary success of Smartmatic, which leads the electronic voting industry in terms of revenue, profitability, geographical presence, innovation and quality of support services. SGO is headquartered in London.

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