One key benefit of the approach proposed in the white paper is that there are many existing standards to build upon, such as OpenID Connect, FAPI, and OIDC for Identity Assurance. The OpenID Foundation has committed to host the GAIN Proof-of-Concept (POC) Community Group to facilitate implementation of standards and certification tools that support the GAIN vision.

What hypotheses will the GAIN POC test?

The POC is pulling together a test bed where key technical hypotheses can be tested over the course of 2022. Since the Community Group is still forming, this list may not be exhaustive and will be updated as new members join and feed into the group. Key hypotheses include:

1. A Global Assured Identity Network can be built on top of existing networks and solutions.
2. Identity Information Providers (IIPs) from different jurisdictions can be part of a network for assured identity.
3. IIPs with different architectural approaches (e.g. federated, self-sovereign) can pass assured identity data into a network through interoperable interfaces to Relying Parties (RPs).
4. IIPs can offer a variety of APIs – built to serve different purposes – into the network.
5. The network can support multiple protocols – e.g. OpenID Connect, DIDComm, WACI, etc.
6. RPs can access assured identity data from different IIPs with a single credential and a single technical integration
7. RPs can use different authorization flows, e.g. redirect or decoupled.