Create Alma.md

[MizukiSonoko]

Project Abstract

ALMA is a software and also a protocol for managements parameters like DID/VC.

ALMA has two goals to realize:

• A society where people can easily establish relationships with the world by their own choises without any boundary between countries or companies.
• A society where things communicate with each other behind the scenes, making human society more convenient and smooth.

Grant level

• Level 1: Up to $10,000, 2 approvals
• Level 2: Up to $30,000, 3 approvals
• Level 3: Unlimited, 5 approvals (for >$100k: Web3 Foundation Council approval)

Application Checklist

• The application template has been copied and aptly renamed (project_name.md).
• I have read the application guidelines.
• Payment details have been provided (Polkadot AssetHub (USDC & DOT) address in the application and bank details via email, if applicable).
• I understand that an agreed upon percentage of each milestone will be paid in vested DOT, to the Polkadot address listed in the application.
• I am aware that, in order to receive a grant, I (and the entity I represent) have to successfully complete a KYC/KYB check.
• The software delivered for this grant will be released under an open-source license specified in the application.
• The initial PR contains only one commit (squash and force-push if needed).
• The grant will only be announced once the first milestone has been accepted (see the announcement guidelines).
• I prefer the discussion of this application to take place in a private Element/Matrix channel. My username is: @_______:matrix.org (change the homeserver if you use a different one)

[github-actions]

CLA Assistant Lite bot All contributors have signed the CLA ✍️ ✅

[MizukiSonoko]

I have read and hereby sign the Contributor License Agreement.

[takahser]

@MizukiSonoko thanks for applying to our grants program.

I've studied your proposal and got a couple of questions.

1. The proposal is rather abstract, and I didn't fully understand which business problem ALMA is solving. Is this mainly a protocol that aims to enable projects to use DIDs in some way, or is there a deeper or more nieche problem being addressed by ALMA?
2. Staying at the topic of DIDs, how does the value proposition of your project differ from Kilt? They are a parachain on Polkadot and provide DIDs, so while I understand that the architecture is completely different (you mention your project is not a blockchain), I'm still curious to see what difference your solution makes to potential customers.
3. I was curious to learn more about the project Taisei won the JP Hacks at University of Tokyo with.
4. By "Solamitsu" I assume you mean "Soramitsu", the Polkadot parachain, is that correct?
5. Regarding the deliverables, we usually don't support deployment activities through this program. Hence, I recommend to merge M2 with M1 or M3.
6. Please note that the DOT % should be at least 50%, as per our guidelines.
7. Could you elaborate on the relevance for the Polkadot ecosystem (if any), and also add more details to the deliverables, incl. the technologies you're planning to use (e.g. Polkadot SDK)?

[MizukiSonoko]

@takahser
Thanks for replying! I will answer for your questions.

The proposal is rather abstract, and I didn't fully understand which business problem ALMA is solving. Is this mainly a protocol that aims to enable projects to use DIDs in some way, or is there a deeper or more nieche problem being addressed by ALMA?

1. This time, Alma seeks to provide a solution to an essential identity challenge rather than a business challenge. there are various problems with the systems surrounding IDs:

• There is a cost of guaranteeing compatibility between services due to the proliferation of proprietary ID standards.
• There is a risk that the data associated with IDs may be subject to changes inevitable for users. For example, an ID can be suspended by compulsion due to the circumstances of the ID providers or global conditions.
• Web services including blockchain solve the above issues to some extent, but they are not user-friendly because it is difficult for many users to manage their information, passwords, and private keys.

Staying at the topic of DIDs, how does the value proposition of your project differ from Kilt? They are a parachain on Polkadot and provide DIDs, so while I understand that the architecture is completely different (you mention your project is not a blockchain), I'm still curious to see what difference your solution makes to potential customers.

2. We believe that DID/VC is just one of the easy-to-understand UseCases of Alma, and that the essential value lies in distributed storage.
   We believe that only “Alma”, which stores property related to IDs in a decentralized, has the significance (speed, dispersion) that only a transaction-specific architecture such as “blockchain” can provide. We believe that there are significant advantages (e.g., speed, decentralized )
   We will also make the architecture more people-friendly with regard to private key management using MPC and ZK.

I was curious to learn more about the project Taisei won the JP Hacks at University of Tokyo with.
By "Solamitsu" I assume you mean "Soramitsu", the Polkadot parachain, is that correct?

3. At the time, I created a gadget that allowed business cards to be exchanged with a handshake.
   ( Sorry for the Japanese article.
   https://japan.zdnet.com/article/35058222/ )
   Yes, that Soramitsu. I was making Hyperledger/Iroha architecture with Takemiya-san.
   Ah, yes Soramitsu is correct, https://soramitsu.co.jp

Regarding the deliverables, we usually don't support deployment activities through this program. Hence, I recommend to merge M2 with M1 or M3.

4. Understood. How do I update my PR?

Please note that the DOT % should be at least 50%, as per our guidelines.

5. Ok

Could you elaborate on the relevance for the Polkadot ecosystem (if any), and also add more details to the deliverables, incl. the technologies you're planning to use (e.g. Polkadot SDK)?

6. By utilizing Polkadot's smart contract capabilities (such as Ink!), you can build a system that ties data generated through secret sharing to a token economy. For instance, fragments of a secret can be managed in a decentralized manner and only assembled under certain conditions, such as completing a specific action or achievement. This enables the setup of conditional incentives, where tokens are awarded as a reward when those criteria are met.

Regards.

[takahser]

@takahser Thanks for replying! I will answer for your questions.

The proposal is rather abstract, and I didn't fully understand which business problem ALMA is solving. Is this mainly a protocol that aims to enable projects to use DIDs in some way, or is there a deeper or more nieche problem being addressed by ALMA?

1. This time, Alma seeks to provide a solution to an essential identity challenge rather than a business challenge. there are various problems with the systems surrounding IDs:

• There is a cost of guaranteeing compatibility between services due to the proliferation of proprietary ID standards.
• There is a risk that the data associated with IDs may be subject to changes inevitable for users. For example, an ID can be suspended by compulsion due to the circumstances of the ID providers or global conditions.
• Web services including blockchain solve the above issues to some extent, but they are not user-friendly because it is difficult for many users to manage their information, passwords, and private keys.

I have some follow-up questions:

• When you talk about "compatibility between services due to the proliferation of proprietary ID standards", are you referring to web2 or web3 standards?
• I'm not sure what is meant by "suspended by compulsion due to the circumstances of the ID providers or global conditions"; would you mind making an example?

Staying at the topic of DIDs, how does the value proposition of your project differ from Kilt? They are a parachain on Polkadot and provide DIDs, so while I understand that the architecture is completely different (you mention your project is not a blockchain), I'm still curious to see what difference your solution makes to potential customers.

2. We believe that DID/VC is just one of the easy-to-understand UseCases of Alma, and that the essential value lies in distributed storage.
   We believe that only “Alma”, which stores property related to IDs in a decentralized, has the significance (speed, dispersion) that only a transaction-specific architecture such as “blockchain” can provide. We believe that there are significant advantages (e.g., speed, decentralized )
   We will also make the architecture more people-friendly with regard to private key management using MPC and ZK.

I'm not knowledgable about VC (verifiable credentials) - would you mind explaining the difference to VC and Kilt's Verification feature? In general, it would be good to understand the difference between your solution and Kilt, and what the ramifications of that design choice are (advantages and disadvantages).

I was curious to learn more about the project Taisei won the JP Hacks at University of Tokyo with.
By "Solamitsu" I assume you mean "Soramitsu", the Polkadot parachain, is that correct?

3. At the time, I created a gadget that allowed business cards to be exchanged with a handshake.
   ( Sorry for the Japanese article.
   https://japan.zdnet.com/article/35058222/ )

Interesting idea. 👍

Yes, that Soramitsu. I was making Hyperledger/Iroha architecture with Takemiya-san.
Ah, yes Soramitsu is correct, https://soramitsu.co.jp

👍

Regarding the deliverables, we usually don't support deployment activities through this program. Hence, I recommend to merge M2 with M1 or M3.

4. Understood. How do I update my PR?

Please note that the DOT % should be at least 50%, as per our guidelines.

5. Ok

This has still not been updated.

Could you elaborate on the relevance for the Polkadot ecosystem (if any), and also add more details to the deliverables, incl. the technologies you're planning to use (e.g. Polkadot SDK)?

6. By utilizing Polkadot's smart contract capabilities (such as Ink!), you can build a system that ties data generated through secret sharing to a token economy. For instance, fragments of a secret can be managed in a decentralized manner and only assembled under certain conditions, such as completing a specific action or achievement. This enables the setup of conditional incentives, where tokens are awarded as a reward when those criteria are met.

Regards.

Likewise, this is still not specified in the deliverables. Could you update them accordingly?

[semuelle]

pinging @MizukiSonoko

[semuelle]

@MizukiSonoko, there are still some unanswered questions in the comment above. Please note that if we don't hear from you within the next week, we will close this application.

[MizukiSonoko]

Sorry for I'm late reply. I will answer in this weekend.

[keeganquigley]

@MizukiSonoko to answer your question, you would basically just update this section to say 50% instead of "none". Total costs can remain the same. Also be sure to include both your USDC Asset Hub address (currently it is an ETH address) and DOT address if it is different than the USDC one. Let us know if you have questions about this.

[semuelle]

Closing due to inactivity. Please reach out if you would like to continue the conversation, @MizukiSonoko.