Incubation

Emerging specifications and technologies being developed by the W3C Credentials Community Group to extend and enhance verifiable credentials and decentralized identity capabilities.

Community Group Incubation

The W3C Credentials Community Group serves as an incubator for new specifications and features that may eventually become W3C Recommendations. These specifications are actively being developed, tested, and refined based on community feedback and implementation experience.

Current Incubation Specifications

Verifiable Credential Barcodes

Specification for encoding verifiable credentials in various barcode formats, enabling offline verification and integration with existing barcode scanning infrastructure.

CBOR-LD

A compact binary representation of JSON-LD that reduces the size of verifiable credentials while maintaining semantic interoperability. Being developed by the JSON-LD Working Group.

Verifiable Credential Rendering Method

Defines how verifiable credentials should be visually presented to users, including styling, layout, and internationalization considerations for credential display.

Confidence Method

Specification for expressing confidence levels and uncertainty in verifiable credentials, allowing issuers to indicate their level of certainty about credential claims.

Quantum-Safe Cryptosuites

Cryptographic suites that are resistant to quantum computing attacks, ensuring long-term security for verifiable credentials in a post-quantum world.

VC API

HTTP API specification for issuing, verifying, and managing verifiable credentials, providing standardized endpoints for credential lifecycle operations.

Verifiable Presentation Request

Specification for requesting specific verifiable presentations from credential holders, including query parameters and response formats for credential presentation workflows.

Verifiable Issuers and Verifiers

Framework for creating verifiable credentials about credential issuers and verifiers themselves, enabling trust networks and issuer verification chains.

Verifiable Credentials Over Wireless

Specification for transmitting verifiable credentials over wireless protocols like NFC, Bluetooth, and WiFi, enabling proximity-based credential sharing.

Credential Refresh

Mechanism for automatically updating verifiable credentials when the underlying data changes, enabling dynamic credentials that stay current without manual reissuance.

Authorization Capabilities (ZCAPs)

Specification for object capabilities that enable secure delegation of authorization without requiring a centralized authority, useful for fine-grained access control.

Incubation Process

  • Problem Identification - Community members identify gaps or needs that aren't addressed by existing standards
  • Use Case Development - Document specific use cases and requirements that drive the need for new specifications
  • Technical Design - Develop technical specifications with input from implementers and subject matter experts
  • Implementation Testing - Build proof-of-concept implementations to validate the technical approach
  • Community Review - Gather feedback from the broader community through public review periods and discussions
  • Standardization Path - Mature specifications may be proposed to W3C Working Groups for formal standardization

Participation

The W3C Credentials Community Group welcomes participation from anyone interested in contributing to the development of verifiable credentials and decentralized identity technologies:

  • Join the Community Group - Membership is free and open to anyone interested in contributing to the work
  • Participate in Discussions - Join weekly meetings and participate in mailing list discussions about ongoing work
  • Contribute to Specifications - Help write, review, and test new specifications being developed by the community
  • Implement and Test - Build implementations of incubating specifications to provide real-world feedback
  • Share Use Cases - Contribute use cases and requirements from your industry or application domain

Resources for Implementers

  • Draft Specifications - Access the latest versions of specifications under development through the community group's GitHub repositories
  • Implementation Guides - Find guidance and examples for implementing emerging specifications in your applications
  • Test Vectors - Use test data and examples to validate your implementations against the specifications
  • Interoperability Testing - Participate in plugfests and testing events to ensure different implementations work together
  • Feedback Channels - Report issues, suggest improvements, and provide implementation feedback through established community channels