THE DIGITAL DIASPORA PROJECT
The Displaced
A diaspora signifies a displaced group outside its native land, whether they were displaced voluntarily (for work or other economic reasons) or involuntarily (because of war or unrest).
As they settle into new homes, they negotiate their old and new identities practically and emotionally; oscillating between the strange and the familiar; having both a sense of belonging and a sense of being alien.
The Dispersed
As they live their daily lives, culture and customs become entwined, creating a tapestry of new norms, behaviors and even create innovative customs that influence the society they are in.
The diaspora are not only dispersed, they disperse their culture in the process.
Did you know? One of the oldest cultural practice dispersed by the Romans and Greeks is public bathing?.
The Problem
Fixed identities, discriminatory labels
Today’s digital technologies are not able to express the multi faceted social identity of the diaspora that is negotiated and practiced daily. Especially in getting an economic life e.g. bank accounts or employment, our digital society dictates that Identity has to be fixed.
Fixed identities often create labels that can lead to discrimination, polarising society and causing tension. They also create dissonance and conflict within the person.
There is no room to feel safe about who they are that can help them negotiate the old and the new.
The Solution
Digital Identity, Identifiers and Data of the Diaspora has to be Self-Sovereign.
Accommodating and empowering the social identity of the diaspora require a digitally safe space to hold both fixed identities that they can declare for economic activity, as well as cultural ones that they can verify whenever they wish to, for example their clan, village, city or any cultural group that they belong to, and express themselves with stories, feelings, ideas and lived customs.
The Project
Who we are
The digital diaspora project is an open innovation project led by the HAT Community Foundation to widen the understanding of, and enable access to, digital identity.
The project manages research, development, policy and learning and have privileged research access to diaspora ecosystems. It also coordinates the open source community of multiple products, tools and services available to diaspora ecosystems.
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Technology
Diaspora Project uses the HAT Microserver as well as other Self-Sovereign technologies as the underpinning digital infrastructure to power self-sovereign ecosystem and programs.
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Community
Our community is a special interest group in the HATLAB Studio researching and reporting on the ecosystems. Our open source community develop new tools, solutions and data assets that are discoverable and reusable.
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Ecosystems
Ecosystems of the Diaspora Project benefit from shared experiences and resources; standardisation of their IDs; and the governance of self-sovereign data assets that are interoperable.
Diaspora Ecosystems: