The Future Now Problem

by | Oct 4, 2021 | Blockchain, Digital Identity, Digital Wallet, Identity and Access Management (IAM), Leadership, Rants, Raves & Rambles, Self Sovereign Identity, Sovrin, Standards, TrustOverIP, Verifiable Credentials

For a quick briefer, I recorded a short Loom video. I will update it with newer versions as the message gets crisper.

The Future Now Problem blurs the lines between what is feasible NOW and what is only going to be possible in the FUTURE.

NOTE: This article is going to evolve and be updated. Thus, I likely won’t announce all of the changes.

The decentralized identity/SSI space is particularly good at creating and exacerbating this problem. We’re working through, with several clients, planning production deployment and the Future Now Problem keeps cropping up. There are so many issues here that I could probably write a small book – though I won’t.

When the idea of what is available right NOW is blurred among the ideas of the FUTURE, you can’t differentiate between what is feasible TODAY from what is not ready for prime time.

As an example, there are ongoing issues in many of the “standards” that are driving the industry. Most of the standards haven’t been passed and if they have, they have enough vaguaries that compliance is easy but interoperability is a non-starter. So the sharp projects are working through many of the interop and other issues in their own ecosystems and making progress. In order to do that, they are critically examining where the Future Now Problem has led them astray.

This takes hard work and the ability to operate in a trusted environment. We’re happy to help our clients understand what is NOW and what is FUTURE (and how to plan for and influence that future).

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