# DIF Contribution to W3C Press Release about DID Standard

## Explanation

The W3C is planning a press release about the (upcoming) DID Core standard, which is currently at "Proposed Recommendation" stage: https://www.w3.org/TR/2021/PR-did-core-20210803/

Examples of previous W3C press releases with contributions from external organizations:

- https://www.w3.org/2021/06/pressrelease-webaudio.html.en
- https://www.w3.org/2021/01/pressrelease-webrtc-rec.html.en

**Deadline:** End of August

## 08 Aug 2021 Initial Straw Man by Markus

The Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) is pleased to see (supports and celebrates) Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) 1.0 becoming an official W3C standard. This is a significant milestone in the

DIF was founded --- TODO --- with the objective to promote the same shared vision of decentralized identity that motivated this W3C specification.

DIDs are an important technical foundation for the products and activities of virtually all of our members, many of whom have actively contributed to the creation of the specification and its various implementations.

We believe DIDs will change --- TODO --- the way how interactions and relationships work in the digital world, and we stand ready to --- TODO --- support this emerging paradigm as well as the business ecosystem around it.

## Chris and Juan brainstorm

- what does DIF want to emphasize about itself? centrality? influence? cooperation? co-development? software industry cat-herding?
- can DIF say they "partnered with" w3c or ccg? complementarity approach?
- Chris: "partner" rhetoric seems the default/standard approach here...

- signed by ~~chris~~, **rouven**, or ~~no one~~?

## 25 Aug 2021 Iteration by Chris and Juan (first pass, way too long and a touch too DIF-forward)

The Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) was founded in 2017 with the explicit mission of supporting and accelerating development based on the W3C standards for decentralized identity.

DIDs are an important technical foundation for the products and activities of virtually all of our members, many of whom have actively contributed to the debates and decisions that forged the specification. What's more, a majority of the implementations tested in the [specification's implementation report](https://w3c.github.io/did-test-suite/#report-by-methods) were made by engineers and companies who compared notes and debating design decisions at DIF while building their implementations. DIF also hosts the collaborative Universal Resolver project, a key way in which DIF members and non-members can also test interoperability and deepen their understanding of prior art, concretely accelerating the evolution of DID-relying systems.

We believe DIDs will change the course of cybersecurity and public-key infrastructure, building in identifier portability and interoperability at the lowest possible level of a cryptographically-secured future. This will bring new possibilities into our digital lives, and we stand ready to continue championing these new possibilities and fomenting disruptive approaches to identity in the software industry.

## 26 Aug 2021 Iteration (shortened by Markus, plus edits by DanielB)

The Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) was founded in 2017 with the objective to promote the shared vision of decentralized identity that motivated the W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DID) specification.

DIDs are an important technical foundation for the products and activities of virtually all of our members, many of whom actively contributed to the specification. What's more, a majority of the implementations tested in the [specification's implementation report](https://w3c.github.io/did-test-suite/#report-by-methods) were developed by engineers and companies who choose to openly collaborate at DIF. DIF also hosts the Universal Resolver community project, which supports various DID-based development and interoperability efforts by DIF members and non-members alike. Similarly, other DIF efforts like the DID Communications protocol and the Presentation Exchange protocol serve to align a broad range of implementations and ecosystems already building on these standards.

We believe DIDs will change the course of digital identity, building in portability and interoperability at the lowest possible level. This will bring new possibilities into our digital lives, and we look forward to leveraging DIDs and other technologies developed in the community to champion a new class of user-first, self-owned digital identity systems.

## 1 July 2022 Iteration (shortened by Brent)

We believe DIDs will change the course of digital identity, building in portability and interoperability at the lowest possible level. DIDs are a foundation for creating a new class of products, services, and experiences that advance our digital lives, and we look forward to leveraging DIDs and other technologies developed in the community to champion a new class of user-first, self-owned digital identity systems.

DIDs are an important technical foundation for the products (such as the Universal Resolver, the Sidetree protocol, and DIDCommv2) and activities of virtually all of our members, many of whom actively contributed to the specification.