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CreatingtheNewWorldofTrustFinalNotesfromRebootingtheWebofTrust
What'sNext?
OnNovember3rdand4th,theRebuildingtheWebofTrustdesignworkshoplookedatthefutureofdecentralizedtrustontheinternetwiththegoalofproducing3-5whitepapersandspecs.ThosepaperswerepolishedforreleaseinDecember,leavingthequestion:what'snext?
Ourmajorgoalistoproducesomethingnotableforthe25thanniversaryofPGP,inJuly2016.Thisshouldbeaworkingproof-of-conceptthatcanhelptheWebofTrusttoreachabroaderaudience.Itshouldbesomethingthat'sbothusableandusedanditneedstobecompelling.
Ifwecanmeetthisgoal,wecanmakeourdesignideasintoreality.
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WhatWe'reBuilding
ThewhitepapersandspecsproducedatthedesignworkshoparethefirstproductsofournewWebofTrust,andtheycanbethegermofourdevelopmentgoingforward.
Foranextstep,we'vehighlightedsomeadditionalpapersthatwethinkcoulddraweverythingtogetherandhelptotellourstory.TheyincludeanarticlearticulatingtheneedforanewWebofTrust,explanatoryintroductionsforsomeofourexistingwhitepapers,definitionsofanagreed-uponlanguage,andpossiblyafewmoreusecases.
Beyondthat,ourdesignworkshophighlightedtwoprojectsthatwerepopularandwhichcouldbecomeamajoremphasisforthegroup.
ThefirstisDPKI,adecentralizedPKIsystemthatreceivedanextensivewhitepaperatthedesignworkshop.Figuringouthowtofundandshipitwasthemostpopularsuggestionforournextstepamongdesignworkshopparticipants.
Thesecondisasolutionforrefugeeidentityasdiscussedin"StartingfromZero",oneoffiveusecasesinthe"OpportunitiesCreatedbytheWebofTrustforControllingandLeveragingPersonalData"whitepaper.ThisusecaseevolvedtodiscusstheongoingplightofSyrianrefugeesbuthasonlyincreasedinimportancesincethe11/13terroristattacksonParis.
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Itmightbethatneitheroftheseprojectsisrightfor2016.Thecorrectanswermightbeasubsetofoneofthemorsomethingelseentirely.Buttheseweretheprojectsthatreceivedthemostattentionatthedesignworkshop,makingthemagoodstartingpointfordiscussions.
Whateverprojectwedecideupon,weshouldkeepinmindthefollowinggeneralprinciples:
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Buildingaplatformcanbebothdifficultandexpensive,butit'salsothesortofthingthatyoudon'twantinthehandsofasinglecompany,sothatmightbeaperfectgoalforanunaffiliatedgroupofthissort.
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However,platformswon'tgetthepublicexcited.Forthatweneedakillerapp.•
Themostsuccessfulprojectwillprobablyincludebothaplatformandanapp,
supportingthebigpictureandthepublicperception.
Aswemapoutthetopographyofthenewdigitalworld,wehopetoturnourWebofTrustintoawholeWorldofTrust.
TheRoadto2016
Theholidaysmakeimmediatemovementtoward2016goalsdifficult,butgrouphangoutsinearlyJanuarycouldsupporttheRebootingtheWebofTrustgroupmovingforward.
Thosehangoutscanalsohelpusdecideuponournextevent.Possibilitiesincludeahackathon,aworkshop,anotherdesignshop,smallworkinggroups,orevenfundraisingevents.WearecommittedtoholdingthisnexteventinWinter2016.AsthefirstdesignworkshopwasheldintheCaliforniaBayArea,theEastCoastmightbeagoodvenueforafollow-upevent,tohelpexpandtheWebofTrustgroupbeyondthe40orsopeoplepresentinSanFranciscoinNovember.
Theultimategoalisalargeget-togetherinJuly2016,where75orsoexpertscouldcelebratetheanniversaryofPGP…andunveilthenewestadditiontotheWebofTrust.
FundingQuestions
Howtofundawinter2016event,anysmallerevents,andthecreationofacompellingreleaseforJuly2016remainsanopenquestion.VCs,donations,andgrantsofferthemostobvioussources,butwemightalsobeabletopresentpitchestotheIETF,EuropeanDARPA,oreventheUN.
Topursuethosepossibilities,wefirstneedtodecideuponourfocus.Hopefullythat'swhattheupcominghangoutswillallow.Fromtherewecanadaptandexpandtheearlydesignworkwe'vealreadydonetocreateproposalsorwritegrants…andultimatelystartrebootingtheWebofTrust.
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AdditionalCredits
LeadPaperEditor:ShannonAppelcline
What’sNextSupport:ChristopherAllen,BrianWeller,SoniaSawhney
AboutRebootingtheWebofTrust
ThispaperwasproducedaspartoftheRebootingtheWebofTrustdesignworkshop.OnNovember3rdand4th2015,over40techvisionariescametogetherinSanFrancisco,Californiatotalkaboutthefutureofdecentralizedtrustontheinternetwiththegoalofwriting3-5whitepapersandspecs.Thisisoneofthem.
WorkshopSponsors:RespectNetwork,PricewaterhouseCoopers,OpenIdentityExchange,andAlacritySoftware
WorkshopProducer:ChristopherAllen
WorkshopFacilitators:ChristopherAllenandBrianWellerwithgraphicfacilitationbySoniaSawhneyandadditionalpapereditorial&layoutbyShannonAppelcline
What’sNext?
ThedesignworkshopandthispaperarejuststartingpointsforRebootingtheWebofTrust.Ifyouhaveanycomments,thoughts,orexpansionsonthispaper,pleasepostthemtoourGitHubissuespage:http://bit.ly/weboftrust-issues.Wearealsoplanningformoregatheringsonthistopicinthenearfuture,withtheobjectbeingtohavesomethingnotablereadyforreleaseonthe25thanniversaryofPGP,inJuly2016.Ifyou’dliketobeinvolvedorwouldliketohelpsponsortheseevents,email:
[email protected]
