Open Source for Greater Good: Why we chose to make Veramo Open Source

The verifiable data landscape has experienced exponential growth in recent years, with the pace of innovation accelerating rapidly. Within this dynamic landscape, the presence of competing standards poses an interoperability challenge. To address this issue, Veramo was designed to offer flexibility, modularity, and scalability. It empowers developers to create a customized system from a growing list of standards, without concerns about interoperability or fast-changing specifications.

Competing standards can burden product owners and developers, who prefer to avoid vendor lock-in or invest extensive resources in building upon standards that are prone to change. However, this should not prevent businesses from bringing the immense value of verifiable data to their users. Over the past year, we’ve been working with a growing community, to build an ecosystem of interoperable functionality made possible through specialized community plugins that respect open standards.

Our Story

Veramo was born out of the uPort project (now defunct). uPort, which started at ConsenSys in 2015, entered the self-sovereign identity landscape during its early stages. Back then, self-sovereign identity was primarily theoretical, lacking standards and practical implementations. Undeterred, uPort took the initiative and developed its first architecture using smart-contract-based identities.

As time passed, the limitations of on-chain identities became evident as maintaining compatibility across various technology stacks (web, mobile, and backend) hindered rapid iteration, which is crucial in a rapidly evolving standards landscape. In 2021, uPort embarked on developing the next architecture iteration, which was internally referred to as DAF (DID Agent Framework) — which would later become Veramo.

Our primary goal was to create a flexible, modular, and extensible architecture that dApp developers could use as a base layer for using decentralized identities and verifiable credentials. Our mission is to empower developers to build better trust layers in their applications, irrespective of any particular tech stack or vendor.

Why Open Source?

There are some reasons why organizations and projects choose to go the open-source route, but for us, three (3) things stand out:

• Community First: We were open from the start, even before being close to done because we wanted to connect with other projects and collaboratively build a product that the community loves.
• Trust in the code: If the code is open source, it is easier for people to trust that their data is safe, and not uploaded to a certain server without consent. Since trust is one of the things that Web3 seeks to achieve, building an open and transparent community will ensure that our users can fully trust the project and contribute to steering its direction as well.
• Collaboration over competition: In a regulated industry, organizations focus on intellectual property software. However, as an open-source project, the competitive line is blurred, and we can all come together to form an ecosystem building the future of identity. We maintain a “Found a bug? Need a feature? Bring along” ambience, and it benefits the whole ecosystem.

Where we are today

Veramo has experienced tremendous growth over the past year, with a vibrant and engaged community of users and contributors. With over 300 stars on GitHub and thousands of weekly downloads, Veramo is becoming an essential tool for developers in building decentralized Identity into their applications without having to build from scratch or bother with the changing standards.

You have the opportunity to shape the future of identity, by getting involved. You can start by leaving a star on our project repo, providing valuable feedback on GitHub, participating in discussions on our Discord server, or testing new and existing features, your input is invaluable.

What Next? The Future of Decentralized Identity

As we look ahead, the future of decentralized identity holds immense promise and potential. Veramo, as an open-source project, is hands on deck in shaping this future, driving innovation, and empowering developers to build better trust layers in their applications. Let’s take a closer look at what this could mean:

Enhanced Privacy and Security: Decentralized identity puts individuals in control of their data, allowing them to selectively share information while maintaining their privacy. As technology evolves, we can expect even stronger encryption and privacy measures to ensure that user data remains secure and protected.

Seamless Interoperability: The issue of competing standards and interoperability challenges within the verifiable data landscape is being actively addressed. Veramo’s modular architecture enables developers to navigate this complexity effortlessly, integrating multiple standards and protocols into their applications. The future will bring further advancements in interoperability, making it easier for different systems to communicate and exchange verifiable data seamlessly.

Mainstream Adoption: Decentralized identity is gradually gaining recognition and acceptance in various industries and sectors. From finance to healthcare (Check out the CARO project by Spherity), supply chain management to social networks (Bluesky), decentralized identity has the potential to revolutionize how we interact with digital services and entities.

Empowerment and Inclusion: Decentralized identity has the power to empower individuals by providing them with ownership and control over their digital identities, bridging the identity gap, and enabling underserved populations and marginalized communities to access essential services and opportunities.

In conclusion, the landscape of decentralized identity is dynamic and ever-evolving. New technologies, standards, and protocols will emerge, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. As an open-source project, we will continue to adapt and incorporate these advancements, ensuring that developers have the tools they need to stay at the forefront of innovation.

Join us on this exciting journey as we pave the way for a future where individuals have control over their digital identities and trust is embedded in every interaction.

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