DIF is excited to announce our impressive lineup of 2024 Hackathon sponsors and provide a preview of our challenges. This year’s hackathon promises to push the boundaries of decentralized identity innovation with challenges focused on education, reusable identity, frictionless travel, and more!

Meet Our Sponsors

We are honored to have the following organizations supporting this year’s event, contributing challenges, prize pools, and guidance for participants.

Gold Tier Sponsors

  • Jobs for the Future Foundation & Digital Credentials Consortium: Driving the Future of Education & Workforce Track, invite you to explore a future where access to education is available to any learner and where education opens the door to economic advancement.
  • Pinata: Specializing in file-based identity solutions, Pinata offers challenges that use verifiable credentials and immutable content to create secure and innovative access control systems.
  • Privacy + Scaling Explorations Focusing on advanced cryptographic techniques like Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), Privacy + Scaling Explorations aims to improve privacy and security in SSI solutions.

Silver Tier Sponsors

  • ArcBlock invites you to use its developer-friendly framework and tools (including the No-code AI Application Studio) to build Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and VCs, creating privacy-preserving, secure identity solutions. Standout projects will have the opportunity to be showcased in ArcBlock's Blocklet Store.
  • Truvity offers a challenge focused on streamlining digital identity management, helping users navigate complex processes like eKYC with seamless integration of digital wallets and VCs.The challenges focus on building innovative applications that simplify the journey of individuals like Miko, an expat moving to Amsterdam, by leveraging digital wallets, to-do lists, and interlinked VCs.
  • Vidos offers two challenges - one focuses on decentralized identity solutions for recruitment and employee onboarding using secure, verifiable credentials. The other challenge explores reusable identities and credentials for multiple scenarios e.g. a single passport credential used for travel and age verification.

Bronze Tier Sponsors

  • Anonyome focuses on privacy-preserving Personhood Credentials (PHCs), allowing users to interact anonymously while maintaining control over their data.
  • Cheqd's challenge, "Harnessing Decentralized Identity for Verifiable AI," invites participants to build solutions that address societal and technical challenges arising from the rise of generative AI. 
  • Crossmint challenges participants to create reusable identity solutions for KYC/KYB, ensuring compliance and security with minimal friction across platforms.
  • NetSys NetSys aims to streamline frictionless travel experiences, using verifiable credentials to make traveling more secure and seamless.
  • Ontology focuses on building decentralized authentication systems, using DIDs and VCs to create reusable identity solutions for secure logins and verification.
  • TBD/Block offers challenges in reusable identity and decentralized storage, simplifying KYC processes through verifiable credentials and decentralized web nodes.

Tooling Sponsors

We’re excited to announce that Trinsic is providing its global document and identity verification tooling for free to hackathon participants.Participants who want IDV as part of their wallet onboard, reusable identity creation, etc can optionally integrate this into their solutions.

What You’ll Be Building

This year’s hackathon offers challenges that align with DIF’s mission of advancing privacy, security, and interoperability in decentralized identity systems. 

We previously announced our original hackathon tracks, including Frictionless Travel, Future of Education & Workforce, and Reusable Identity.

We are thrilled to add three more challenge focuses thanks to our generous sponsors: File-based Identity Solutions, Personhood Credentials, and Zero-Knowledge Proofs in Self-Sovereign Identity.

Full challenge details and requirements will be available on our DevPost site, coming October 1 at 9am ET. Highlights are described below.

File-Based Identity Solutions

Create file-based identity solutions using VCs to associate files with users, protect data, and build secure access control systems. Your solutions will explore the use of immutable file storage to ensure data integrity and privacy, with the flexibility of public or private storage options.

Sponsors: Pinata

Frictionless Travel

Build seamless travel systems using decentralized identity technologies that allow travelers to share information securely across booking and transport platforms. Leverage VCs to create frictionless, portable identities for a hassle-free travel experience.

Sponsors: NetSys

Future of Education & Workforce

This track focuses on building solutions that empower individuals to control their education and employment data. Participants will showcase transformational experiences enabled by verifiable learner/worker IDs and records, develop tools for multilingual credentials and browser integrations, and enhance existing tools like Learner Credential Wallet and VerifierPlus. The challenge emphasizes cross-border recognition and skills verification to open new opportunities for learners and workers globally.

Sponsors: Digital Credentials Consortium, Job for the Future, and Vidos

Personhood Credentials (PHCs) and Verifiable AI

These challenges aim to enhance AI safety and trustworthiness using decentralized identity. You'll focus on attestations of AI- and/or human-initiated interactions and content, and combinations such as proof of authorized AI agents. These challenges draw from ideas in the Personhood Credentials (PHCs) paper. PHCs enable anonymous interactions, ensuring user privacy by making digital activity untraceable by issuers and unlinkable across service providers, even in cases of collusion, effectively countering scalable deception.

Sponsors: Anonyome, Cheqd, and Pinata

Reusable Identity 

Develop reusable identity solutions that enable credentials issued for one use (like KYC) to be repurposed for others, such as age verification or employment history. Highlight the benefits of interoperable identity systems across platforms.

Sponsors: Anonyome, ArcBlock, Crossmint, TBD, Truvity, and Vidos

Zero-Knowledge Proofs in SSI 

Build applications that use Zero-Knowledge Proofs to enhance privacy and security in digital identity. You’ll work with advanced cryptographic tools to create privacy-preserving SSI systems. This is a chance to apply cutting-edge technology to real-world identity challenges and set new standards in data privacy and interoperability.

Sponsors: Privacy + Scaling Explorations

Key Dates

  • Hacking Period: October 1, 2024 (6:00 am PT) – November 4, 2024 (3:00 pm PT)
  • Educational Sessions: October 1, 2024 – October 10, 2024
  • Sponsor-Run Office Hours: October 14, 2024 – November 1, 2024
  • Judging Period: November 7, 2024 – November 17, 2024
  • Winners Announced: November 20, 2024 (9:00 am PT)

How to Get Involved

  • Pre-registration as a participant is open now! Don’t miss your chance to be part of this exciting event. Register here to secure your spot as a participant. 
  • DevPost Site Goes Live on October 1, 2024, where you’ll learn details of the challenges, submit your projects, and track the competition.
  • Educational Sessions start October 1, with sponsors leading workshops to provide technical guidance. Register to attend the opening ceremony.
  • Office Hours will run from October 14 to November 1, offering participants the chance to ask questions directly via DIF’s Discord channel.
  • Join the DIF Hackathon Community by the DIF-Hackathon Discord.

Prizes and Recognition

With cash prizes approximately $70,000, participants will also have the chance to network with other decentralized identity builders and experts, participate in educational sessions, and receive public recognition.

Join Us in Shaping the Future of Decentralized Identity

This hackathon is your opportunity to innovate and build solutions that can change the world of identity as we know it. Whether you’re tackling privacy challenges, building reusable identity systems, or reimagining the future of education and workforce, the DIF Hackathon is the place to be.

Pre-register now and be part of the next wave of decentralized identity innovation!