Designing for Sovereignty: Ethereum for Digital Public Infrastructure
Ethereum offers a novel approach to digital public infrastructure, providing a global, decentralized network that is open-source and controlled by no single entity. The Ethereum Foundation's new website, publicsector.ethereum.foundation, explores how this design can facilitate collaboration while preserving sovereignty for governments, multilateral organizations, NGOs, and other public-interest institutions.
Institutional Sovereignty and Individual Agency
Traditional shared infrastructure operated by a single entity can lead to dependencies that have long-term implications. Ethereum empowers institutions to use shared infrastructure without ceding control to any one organization. They can independently verify records and choose their service providers, ensuring they retain authority over their policies and systems.
For individuals, Ethereum allows for greater control over personal information. Applications built on Ethereum can enable individuals to hold their digital credentials and decide how to share them. Services can verify these credentials without accessing the underlying personal data, giving individuals more control over their information.
From Principles to Practice
Consider Bhutan's National Digital Identity (NDI) system, which uses Ethereum to facilitate remote identity verification. Individuals hold their NDI credentials in wallets and choose what information to share when accessing services. A shared registry on Ethereum enables services to verify these credentials without storing them centrally. Bhutanese institutions maintain control over trusted credential issuance, while individuals have greater control over their personal data.
Read the Bhutan NDI case study to learn more.
Another critical application is in humanitarian assistance, where organizations often need to coordinate while safeguarding sensitive information...