Spherity Blog

This condensed version of a whitepaper from the Rebooting the Web of Trust conference challenges the dominance of centralized platforms in IT valuation and strategy. Written collaboratively by leading thinkers in decentralized identity, it explores how decentralized systems—built as meta-platforms—can foster more cooperative, resilient, and future-proof business models than the closed ecosystems that dominate today.

Identity systems can be very abstract, heady things to grasp intuitively. One good trick for making glossaries more concrete and human-scaled is to avoid defining nouns and put the emphasis on verbs: who does what, and how, in each system?

In this post, we unpack the often-misunderstood concept of “sovereignty” in self-sovereign identity (SSI), clarify how it differs from related terms, and explain why it matters for both human and non-human identities in Spherity’s approach to digital trust.

It's a good time to reflect on the wide variety of non-human identities and how their specific needs can be critically important to business, society, and the future of our economy.

Where self-sovereign Identity (SSI) starts — This is the first glossary entry from our #SSI101 series.

“Identity” is an important, hotly debated, and nearly undefinable core concept of human life. Outside of a few philosophers, social scientists, and a tiny minority of specialized technologists, however, most people feel uncomfortable making any definitive or authoritative statements about identity.

The W3C’s recognition of the Decentralised Identifier Working Group marks a key milestone for digital identity. It signals the start of a new internet era—where trust, data control, and collaboration are built into the very foundation of digital infrastructure.