Input Output Global (IOG), the driving force behind the Cardano blockchain, has done just that stopped developing the ambitious Atala Prism project, an initiative previously intended to transform education and identity management systems in Ethiopia. The news, shared via the Midnight Discord and later confirmed via multiple internal sources, raises questions as no official statement has been released yet.
The Atala Prism project aimed to use the Cardano blockchain to facilitate decentralized identity solutions. The technology is designed to enable secure issuance, ownership and management of digital identities using Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and Verifiable Credentials (VC). In October 2021, the project received a lot of media attention when IOG announced a partnership with the Ethiopian government to deploy a blockchain-based national ID and performance tracking system for students and teachers.
The project aimed to digitally verify grades, remotely monitor school performance and improve education and employment across the country. It aimed to create a tamper-proof overview of the educational performance of five million students, 3,500 schools and 750,000 teachers, to identify and address areas of underperformance and optimally allocate educational resources.
IOG is shutting down Cardano’s Atala Prism project
However, recent developments have seemingly changed the project’s trajectory dramatically. According to a Discord post from a user identified as johnny5i, the termination of the Atala project was announced during an online meeting. “IOG just stripped Hyperledger Identus. The Identus DID program is effectively dead,” reports johnny5i.
What makes the situation worse is that a significant number of Atala team members, including the entire product team, have been laid off. “They lost 25 people, including platform engineers Esteban and channel community outreach person Faye,” johnny5i wrote.
Despite the suspension of the Atala Prism initiative, IOG has stated that a small contingent of the team will transition to Input Output Engineering (IOE) to maintain and further develop the Hyperledger Identus Project. Esteban, a former IOG engineer, revealed via Discord: “Unfortunately, the majority of Atala, including all members of the product team – including Fay and myself – have been let go. However, IOG has expressed its commitment to continue the Hyperledger Identus Project.”
He further writes: “As far as Atala products and Atala’s commercial activities are concerned, it is safe to assume that they will not be developed. (…) I also emphasize that every former IOG employee is free to decide whether he or she wants to remain involved with Identus.”
Matt K, former CTO of Atala within IOG, shared a heartfelt message with his team on Discord, reflecting on the end of an important chapter and the impact on the team: “It is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to so many talented and dedicated colleagues (…) I am extremely proud of the innovative, self-sovereign identity solution we have brought to life, even despite the challenges.”
He added: “To the few remaining team members who will retain Identus at IO, I wish you all the best as you navigate this transition. I have no doubt that your talent and determination will continue to drive Identus forward.”
In particular, the closure of Atala Prism raises questions about the future of Cardano-based identity solutions in regions such as Ethiopia. “As of today, there are no details on the future of the PRISM Sandbox; I assume updates will be shared at some point,” Esteban wrote.
(UPDATE: 11:11am GMT+2) Charles Hoskinson responded via X: “This is just a reminder that Prism became Hyperledger Identus about 10 months ago. It is an Apache2 open source framework for identity applications. IO Engineering maintains the core team in addition to community contributions, and products like Midnight, RealFi, and Lace will use the framework for their identity needs. This is a common practice in the open core world and how SSI should work. Identity should not be the product. That makes you the product. Identity should improve the experience of other products.”
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