Getting Started with the Identity Enabler of the Zebra-IOTA Edge SDK

Getting started with the Identity Enabler of the Zebra-IOTA Edge SDK
 

Leveraging IOTA Identity, this SDK module makes it easier to develop solutions on the edge that exploit the capabilities of decentralized identities for people, devices or organizations. 

This blog provides additional details on the Identity Enabler of the previously introduced Zebra-IOTA Edge SDK. It is actually a summary of a detailed four part tutorial that you can find at the Zebra Devs Github repository and published here.

Webinars and feedback 

The Identity Enabler of the Zebra-IOTA Edge SDK opens up a new world of business opportunities and applications. Thus, we encourage you to participate in our first introduction webinar:

1. Zebra DevTalk | Introducing the Verifiable Credential SDK for Zebra Devices | Wednesday, February 16 10 am CDT
   • An overview of decentralized identities and how to use and develop with the Zebra-IOTA Edge SDK.
   • Jose Manuel Cantera (IOTA Foundation) 
   • Register now!

Overview

As we described in our previous blog post, the Identity Enabler makes it easier to develop decentralized identity solutions running on Zebra devices. Identity is needed for adding provenance and trust to reported data from a Zebra device. The Identity Enabler  can be used as a scaffold / blueprint for developers, and as guidance on how to solve the most common problems, such as credential issuance or verification using the APIs offered by the IOTA Identity Framework.

The SDK uses Web Technologies for the user interface. In particular, reference applications are coded in TypeScript, using the Svelte framework. To package those Web Applications as Android applications, the Capacitor framework is used. That means that you can run these applications in your favourite browser as Web Applications or in your Android device or emulator. The SDK also solves the problem of bridging Zebra DataWedge and the Web Application code. The main idea is that there is a DataWedge service that is awakened whenever a new DataWedge intent is triggered (if properly configured through a DataWedge profile as explained in our detailed tutorial).

Managing Credentials

All the scaffolding needed to create a solution for managing credentials on Android devices is packaged under the so-called Holder Application. This application also allows sharing credentials with interested parties by way of a scannable data matrix. The example application guides the user to set up an Identity (a DID document) before associating Verifiable Credentials to this Identity.

(Detailed tutorial available here)

Verifying Credentials

The Verifier Application provides the blueprint of how a user could, in an interoperable way, verify credentials scanned using their Android device. The reference app guides the user to scan a data matrix (rendered by another application, such as the Holder Application) using their camera or Zebra scanning device to verify its validity and keep track of previously scanned credentials. Once the credential is deemed as valid it is shown and persisted on the inbox (third capture below) for demonstration purposes. When implementing a concrete solution different actions could be taken when scanning a valid credential. 

(Detailed tutorial available here)

Onboarding Devices

The DeviceID Application provides a blueprint of how devices can be onboarded to participate in supply chain processes by obtaining a new decentralized identity verified by the organization owning the device. This process is aimed at improving auditability, data provenance and traceability all the way from device events to business events. Particularly, once a new Device Identity is available, the concerned device can start reporting authenticated scan events (after having been previously registered to the Track & Trace Ledger APIs) that can be immutably recorded on the IOTA Tangle. Those events could later be transformed into EPCIS 2.0 events. 

(Detailed tutorial available here)

Conclusions

The Identity Enabler of the Zebra-IOTA Edge SDK includes libraries, UI components and reference applications that facilitate the development of novel decentralized solutions running on Zebra devices. The final aim is to lower the barriers of entry and to foster experimentation and innovation on trusted and decentralized supply chains, powered by Distributed Ledger Technology (IOTA). 

Stay tuned!