Case Study: SSI Admin Portal

DIDx built the Admin Portal as a white-label product: an institution runs it under its own brand, issuing and verifying credentials in its own name.

SSI (Self-Sovereign Identity) is a way for universities and other training institutions to create trustworthy records of a person’s academic qualifications and employment history. The portal was built with three roles in mind:

• Issuers: Universities, colleges, and training institutions can issue verifiable credentials to graduates, containing details such as earned degrees or certifications, graduation dates, and academic transcripts.
• Verifiers: Potential employers, academic institutions, or professional organizations can use cryptographic proofs to verify the credentials of holders and ensure the authenticity of their academic qualifications.
• Holders: Graduates or learners can store their verifiable credentials in a digital wallet and share them with verifiers as needed, while having complete control over their credentials, including the ability to revoke access at any time.

PDFs and paper certificates are easy to alter and costly to check. Graduates must share a complete, permanent copy of their records, while verifiers carry the risk of fraud.

The challenge was to turn SSI, unfamiliar to most registrars, into a simple issuing experience. The goal: tamper-evident credentials that graduates control and organisations can verify with confidence.

• We collaborated with a South African training institution to gather requirements and build a roadmap.
• These discoveries consisted of SSI training sessions, information-gathering workshops and regular feedback sessions using prototypes and live demos.

In essence, the Admin Portal allows super admins to manage and oversee the issuance and verification of verifiable credentials within the SSI ecosystem. The portal has several key views, which have been broken down below:

This dashboard aims to provide an overview of the SSI trust ecosystem, along with relevant metrics and insights pertaining to its growth and performance. By examining the ecosystem’s progress, we can gain a better understanding of its impact and potential for the future.

The super admin has the following overview:

• View or delete the organisation.
• View the organisation's credentials, transactions and trust registry.
• View the connection information and details.
• View the organisation’s opportunities or jobs.

Verifiable Credentials are secure digital versions of important credentials that can be shown to organisations for verification. They can include things like identity documents, academic achievements, and licenses. Unlike paper versions, they’re easy to verify and can be used instantly.

The prototype below shows how I’m attempting to make it easier to issue credentials for a non-technical person.

Here you set up the building blocks of your credential. The name, description and then the schema of information that is required to be completed to qualify for a credential upon completion of the training.

Verifications are how we request, approve, and confirm data from the verifiable credentials in an identity wallet.

The prototype below shows how I’m attempting to make it easier to create policies for a non-technical person.

• Understanding the technology.
• Not using overly complicated jargon that might confuse platform users.

• Getting a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of SSI and how to translate that into the design process.

The pilot gave the industry a tangible example of how verifiable credentials could make academic records more secure, portable and easier to trust. The work continues to evolve as SSI becomes better understood and broader audiences adapt the model to their own needs.