Shunan University and Diamond Hands to develop a student ID system based on Web5
Shunan University has signed a outsourcing contract with Diamond Hands Inc. to develop a digital student identification system based on decentralized ID (DID) technology via the Web5 protocol.
We plan to add more features to the DID system incrementally, such as the Lightning Network payments and decentralized messaging, striving to make this project a cutting-edge model case for DID and Lightning technologies and adoption in Japan.
In considering this project, we will also collaborate with Shunan City with a view to developing it as a digital certificate that goes beyond the university.
More practical and private student ID system built with the Decentralized Identity(DID) and Web5
DIDs enable users to manage their own personal identity and data while Verifiable Credentials (VCs) prevent data forgery. We believe passwordless login utilizing DIDs and VCs will be some of the most important and fundamental technologies for a more decentralized web.
However, very few DID projects have yet reached practical usage and they are also lacking in terms of decentralization.
This project goes beyond the simple digitization of student ID cards, and as a DID and VC, allows third parties to verify personal information such as enrollment facts, name, date of birth, and course history including grades, while the student remains in control of his/her own information. We will realize these using web5, improving convenience, security, and privacy at the same time.
The system is already under active development and is scheduled to be ready for a PoC experiment with real students in Q2, 2024. The production system is planned to be rolled out to more students at Shunan University sometime next year and it aims to completely replace their physical student cards with the new DID system in the near future.
We believe this makes it not only the first practical pure DID system in Japan, but also this is one of the first real world use cases of Web5 in the world.
Looking to combine DID and Lightning for the emerging data market
DIDs and VCs have a high technological compatibility with the Lightning Network and we look to combine those technologies in future updates.
The Lightning Network is a layer 2 technology that enables fast and low-cost transfers of bitcoin in a decentralized fashion. Its instant micropayment capability can fuel a new and emerging data market on the decentralized web, made possible by DIDs and VCs. By combining these two technologies, we anticipate a whole new suite of interesting use cases, which we can’t imagine yet ourselves, will emerge.
For example, in particular for our student ID system, we can design a bitcoin incentive scheme based on students’ extracurricular activities; provide a student discount for Lightning payments to those who presented a student VC at local merchants and so on.
Diamond Hands is the leading Bitcoin-focused company in Japan with extensive experience in Lightning development and with reach across the globe, making us the perfect partner for this DID project spearheaded by Shunan University.