Each day cybersecurity attacks put organizations and customer data at risk, causing companies to think differently about how they manage data and the level of risk involved. Users want to know that their digital transactions will be both seamless and secure and their privacy will be protected. Achieving more transparent and secure digital identity experiences requires augmenting existing cloud identity systems with a standards-based Decentralized Identity (DID) system. This new system gives users and organizations greater control over their data, allows them to prove their identity directly, and delivers a higher degree of trust and security for apps, devices, and service providers.
At the core of Decentralized Identity is verifiable credentials technology. It allows trusted providers to issue verified IDs to their users, such as a student ID from a university or a health record from a healthcare provider. When the user needs to prove a credential, they can share the verified ID digitally and the requester can confirm it’s been properly signed and is up to date automatically. It’s an easier, faster, and safer process for identity verification – each verified ID is immutable by design, can be shared quickly, and only the attestation is shared, not the personal data itself. It’s a win-win, and organizations around the world are already piloting these solutions for a variety of use cases.
For the month of January, to help you learn about this exciting new technology, we’ll be hosting a series of coordinated activities including live coding streams, blogs, YouTube videos, and more, all leading up to a fantastic Hackathon with over $10,000 in prizes. Our engineering, support, and product management teams will be there to provide tech support and guide you through the experience. All you need for the Hackathon is a laptop, your imagination, and the desire to do some simple coding to build a solution that issues and/or verifies VCs. There are a couple of pre-requisites that you’ll need to go through so please be sure you have everything you need to succeed on the day.
The list of events currently scheduled for January are:
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Date |
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01/13 |
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01/20 |
Twitch Stream – Introduction to DID (continued) |
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01/19 |
YouTube video playlist – Introduction to DID |
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01/24 |
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01/25 |
Twitch Stream – Build an app that uses Verifiable Credentials |
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01/25 |
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01/27 |
To get started, please scan the QR code or click the following link (https://425.show/blogreader) to issue your first Verified Credential.
We believe the DID ecosystem will grow and thrive by making standards, technical components, and code deliverables open source and accessible to all. We’re truly thrilled for the upcoming activities, and we look forward to partnering with individuals and organizations that want to build solutions using this exciting technology!
Sign-up to our Decentralized Identity Hackathon here. You may also want to follow us on Twitch and join our Discord channel to connect with our expert community and start collaborating
Learn more about Microsoft identity:
- Related Articles: New Blog Post | Microsoft’s 5 guiding principles for decentralized identities - Microsoft Tech Community / Decentralized digital identities and blockchain: The future as we see it - Microsoft Tech Community
- Return to the Azure Active Directory Identity blog home
- Join the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn
- Share product suggestions on the Azure Feedback Forum
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