In the first six months of 2021, OriginTrail transformed into amultichain network, making way for a faster global adoption of the Decentralized Knowledge Graph(DKG). This report covers the most significant events of the second half of 2021 which helpedshape strong fundamentals to amplify the impact of world-class organizations and individualsusing OriginTrail.
With the Starfleet phase successfully overlaying DKG on two moreblockchain networks — xDai (now Gnosis) and Matic (now Polygon) — important efficiency gainsmade it possible for the permissionless OriginTrail Decentralized Network (ODN) to gain tractionin various industries. Introducing the DKG to the pharmaceutical industry with AidTrust, a joint Trace Labs and British Standards Institution (BSI) product, coupled withcontinuous growth in already established sectors resulted in connecting millions of essentialassets and grew the total graph size (TGS) beyond 100 million. As the spectrum of use cases grewalong with the network, so did the support by the Next Generation Internet initiative funded bythe European Union, resulting in OriginTrail being selected as one of the building blocks forthe Ontochainproject — further advancing the European infrastructure for amore inclusive and fair Internet.
With the advent of OriginTrail v6, ushering an evolutionary epochof making the world’s most important assets discoverable, verifiable and valuable across Web3,OriginTrail immensely expands its capacity to grow well beyond the established enterprise — thevision encapsulated by an updated website OriginTrail.io. The builders of the DKG are thusfurthering the capability for connecting physical & digital worlds in a single connectedreality. With that, for the first time ever, new and increasingly sought for solutions arebecoming possible giving organizations and individuals alike an ability to vastly expand thevalue of their assets across metaverses. The first v6 based product prototype named NFTSupercharger was presented at the NFT.NYC conference in New York and represents the firstevolutionary step towards the new OriginTrail Explorer set to launch in 2022.
The $TRAC utility token received further institutional supportand more market exposure as Coinbase — the leading global cryptocurrency exchange listed theasset, and followed soon after by the Uphold Inc global outlet. With technological advancementcontinuing in 2022, like OriginTrail V6, Polkadot integration through parachain, a new opensource SDK for developers community, the evolving OriginTrail Explorer and the overarchingvision of the “knowledge graph of knowledge graphs” the network effects powered by the DKG willdecidedly shape Web3.
Decentralized Knowledge Graph adoption update
BSI solutions
The launch of AidTrust,a joint Trace Labs and BSI product, marked the entry of DKG-poweredsolutions into yet another global industry, pharmaceuticals. AidTrust harnesses thepower of OriginTrail DKG to bring visibility and trust to pharmaceutical supply chains, ensuringthat medicines reach the intended patients, even in complex environments. The initial roll-outof AidTrust is in progress in India to 80+ treatment centers, working withan NGO that distributes donated medicines from leading pharmaceutical companies to over 40countries. Preparations for roll-out to further countries are already in the works,bringing millions of pharmaceutical assets onto the DKG. Trace Labs and BSI teams are alsoin discussion with global pharmaceutical companies and aid programs forfurther deployments of AidTrust to fully unleash the power of OriginTrail DKGacross the pharmaceutical industry.
See AidTrust in action:
SCAN Trusted Factory, the solution that harnessesOriginTrail DKG to secure security audits of over 22k factories acrossAsia for the largest retailers like Home Depot and Walmart, received an exciting upgrade. Linking security audits with certificates ofthe auditors who performed them, SCAN members can now verify that auditors have an up-to-datelevel of SCAN audit training. This upgrade directly leverages the linked-data capabilities ofthe Decentralized Knowledge Graph and its capability of connecting multiple distinct assets inone single graph. Further extensions of the solution are being discussed and will likely beimplemented throughout 2022. SCAN Trusted factory was also the focus of a great discussion withKen McElroy (Home Depot), Dan Purtell (BSI), and Diana Sabrain (OneAgrix) on how such DKG-basedsolutions play an increasingly vital role in facilitatingFrictionless InternationalTrade.
Building on the foundations of SCAN Trusted Factory, Trace Labs and BSI have also beenworking on the TrustedBytes project, developing a DKG-based solution thatcombines an enhanced Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) framework and shipment data,aiming to facilitate the flow of goods across the UK borders. Utilizing the OriginTrail DKG asthe technological backbone, BSI’s expertise in supply chains, and global data standards such asGS1 EPCIS 2.0 to ensure interoperability, the solution looks to enable UKCustoms to perform comprehensive and verifiable risk assessments for shipments entering orexiting the UK. We expect the first proof of concept to be implemented in early2022.
At WOFExpo, a leading logistics event in the CEE region, both SCAN Trusted Factory andTrusted Bytes solutions were presented by Trace Labs’ General Manager Jurij Skornik,highlighting how DKG-based solutions can address many of the challenges faced in internationaltrade today.
Trace Labs and BSI also launched the DKG-based Training Certificates solution in Q4 last year. Starting the roll-outwith Malaysia and the UK, almost 4k certificates were powered by the DKG by the end of 2021 andas additional countries continue to be onboarded, over 200k BSI trainingcertificates will be transformed into Web3 assets and secured on the DKG annually.
Trace Labs and BSI continue working with Church of Oakas they finalize the construction of the distillery in Monasterevin. Development of theimmersive experience application has been completed and, within the scope of the NGI Atlantic data marketplace project, lots of farm data collected.Once distilling starts, OriginTrail DKG will be the backbone of ensuring trust and transparencyof each bottle of whiskey, from grain to glass.
GS1
Trace Labs continued its engagement in the GS1 EPCIS and CBV 2.0working group, contributing to the development and validation of the new supply chainevent visibility standard. As the standard is being finalized for the official release, first OriginTrail DKG solutions utilizing EPCIS 2.0 are already inpreparation and will be deployed as soon as Q1 2022. Among others, EPCIS2.0 is being used in AidTrust, making it one of the first production-readysolutions based on the novel GS1 standard.
We have also been working with our partner Swiss RailwaysSBB to improve the DKG-based GS1 EPCIS repository initiative. Throughout the secondhalf of 2021, we enhanced the repository by increasing interoperability, extending it withadditional features, and onboarding additional suppliers to drive network effects.
Finally with OriginTrail v6 adding support for RDF/SPARQL and other semantictechnologies, the implementation of GS1 standards within OriginTrail technological stack bringseven more powerful capabilities to builders looking for standardized, open-source tools.
EU projects
FSM
In H2 2021 the Food Safety Market project was coming to an end ofthe second year of its three year commitment. Trace Labs continued to work on co-developing theFSM platform, to which other project’s partnersprovide data in scope of the project’s aim to transform the European foodcertification market with the power of Big Data and the support of blockchaintechnology. Trace Labs also analyzed other partner’s software systems in order tohave a clearer view over the technical requirements and developed theSmart Contracting Layer of the TheFSM platform on top of OriginTrail DKG. Withinthe final year of the project in 2022 Trace Labs, along with their project partners, expectstheFSM platform to go live and to integrate it with other data marketplaces. The purpose is toget broader adoption even out of the project’s limits.
NGI Ontochain
Announced in December 2021, Trace Labs will develop OriginTrail DKG technologycomponents as part of another Next Generation Internet initiative, ONTOCHAIN. TheOriginTrail DKG has been selected as a core infrastructure network to be used within theOntochain project, supporting builders within the Ontochain ecosystem. AdditionallyDKG-based knowledge economy tools developed through the project will become part of theONTOCHAIN technology stack, harnessing the power of the DKG to support thecreation and exchange of trusted, traceable, and transparent ontological knowledge.We are looking forward to the upcoming months of the project, as we get an opportunity to knowand collaborate with other remarkable development innovators. Trace Labs aspires to introduce arounded approach adding to ONTOCHAIN’s distributed storage, core protocols and applicationprotocols stack to facilitate a transition from a broken data economy to a trusted, semantic,human-centric and privacy-by-design adopting knowledge economy.
Demeter
As part of the H2020 DEMETER project — a large-scale deployment of farmer-driven,interoperable smart farming-IoT (Internet of Things) based platforms — TraceLabs is providing to their project partners the infrastructure for two of a totalof 20 pilots across 18 countries. Trace Labs collaborates closely with their partner DunavNET inorder to integrate data of wine and poultry production to the blockchain. Apart from thetechnical component of the project, Trace Labs is active also in communication and disseminationactivities within the project, helping with event organization and presenting Demeter atconferences and summits. One of such examples was the IEEE 5G Summitevent, where Branimir Rakic together with Srdjan Krco from DunavNET showcased howthe OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph and blockchain are utilized to bring transparencyand trust to supply chains.
Ekopakt
In the scope Ekopakt, a project supported by theEuropean Commission, Trace Labs is establishing a national traceabilitysystem for organic beef in Slovenia. The project encompasses development of atraceability framework which utilizes OriginTrail DKG as the backbone for trusted data exchangeand data integrity. Significant progress has been made within the project in the second half of2021, clearly defining how the DKG will be used to better position the products from locallyraised organic beef on the market. Once implemented, the nationaltraceability framework defined within Ekopakt will be available for replication and use inother sectors and countries, further expanding the reach of OriginTrail DKG.Sharing the expected impact of Ekopakt, Trace Labs team also attended a combined panel andseminar that discussed the traceability system being built.
SmartAgriHubs
While Trace Labs wrapped up the implementation of SmartAgriHubs initiatives — tracking poultry products and automating payments tomilk farmers — earlier in 2021, we continued working with the consortium to promote thedeveloped solutions and key outcomes. In a piecefeatured by SmartAgriHubs, Trace Labs’ Project Management Associate Ema Lovsin reflectedon how OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph was applied in agri-food supply chains to drivetransparency and integrity while maintaining privacy of business-sensitive data.
NFTs
At the NFT NYC event that took place in November lastyear, Trace Labs unveiled a novel and revolutionary use of OriginTrail DKG in the NFT area. Tomaz Levak, one of our founders, took the stage and showcased how the DKG can be used to supercharge NFTs bymaking them discoverable across different blockchains, connecting them to other Web3 assets, and evsolvingthem through verifiable asset graphs. Starting with the upcoming OriginTrail v6release NFT owners, app builders, and other NFT enthusiasts will be able to utilize OriginTrailDKG to significantly extend the way they use and interact with their NFTs.
At the event Trace Labs also unveiled Tracies, the first OriginTrail NFT collection andthe prototype Superchargerapp that can be used to supercharge any NFT.
Technology development
During H2 2021 we’ve seen the expansion of the OriginTrail technical ecosystem inseveral fields, including the Polkadot parachain and additional blockchain integrations, as wellas the research and development activities on the Decentralized Knowledge Graph, expanding boththe active v5 and introducing the latest update v6.
Decentralized Knowledge Graph updates
With the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph becoming multichain in early 2021with the integration with Gnosis blockchain (formerly xDAI chain), the OriginTrail mainnet hasalso been integrated with the widely used Polygon blockchain,making ODN a tri-chain network. Having multiple blockchains integrated enables the DKG toincorporate all of their ecosystem assets, such as the growing ecosystem of NFTs on Polygon,into a single Decentralized Knowledge Graph. The multi-chain expansion to Polygon has furtherextended the network robustness in the consensus layer, as well as createdan additional option for network participants to utilize when interacting with theDKG. Further enhancements, such as the highly anticipated data pruningupdate and many smaller improvements have been introduced to further optimize thenetwork as a whole, as well as reduce the load set on network nodes. An additional Rust based dkg-client has been created to facilitate easierintegration with rust and Substrate-based solutions.
Finally we’ve seen significant progress in the DKG evolution through the introduction of the latest and most advanced version 6 of OriginTrail, bringing native support for Web3 assetgraphs, interoperability with existing knowledge graphs through W3C standardized technologiessuch as RDF/SPARQL and significant performance improvements. The first public OriginTrail v6testnet has been launched at the end of 2021 as the public environment in which v6 matures toreach mainnet in 2022. The network has quickly grown to over 100 nodesoperated by the OriginTrail community and expected to grow due to the extensive v6bounty program intended to battle-test the v6 network prior to mainnet release.
Polkadot integration updates
Throughout the second half of 2021 the OriginTrail team has been driving thedevelopment of OriginTrail technologies for multiple integration pathswith the Polkadot ecosystem. Through the efforts of engineering teams at Parity andTrace Labs in the Substrate buildersprogram, significant progress has been made on the development and maturity ofthe OriginTrail Parachain. After crossing the 3-month designated testing duration of theOriginTrail Parachain running continuously without downtime in the testnet, the system has reached the necessary technology readiness needed for Polkadotintegration (TRL8).
In parallel to the OriginTrail parachain development, Trace Labs has been working oncreating a customizable Substrate off-chain pallet, designed toenable oracle functionalities for any Polkadot parachain wanting to integrate with the Decentralized Knowledge Graph. After presenting the pallet at the Sub0 conference, it has been further put in motion in partnership with the Acala ecosystem. The OriginTrail &Acala ecosystem integrations and use cases include:
- Bridging the TRAC token to Acala for a potential listing as an accepted fee token,as well as giving any DApp on Acala the ability to integrate TRAC (money markets, DEXs,etc.)
- Integrating the OriginTrail Substrate pallet into Acala’s parachain, enabling anyDApp developer to leverage information from the DKG
- Integrating OriginTrail smart contracts into Acala’s EVM+ development environment
- Integrating Acala’s aUSD stablecoin into the OriginTrail ecosystem to be used bynetwork participants, node operators, and other use cases
Key ODN adoption metrics
The multiple advancement of the network, especially achieving the multichain stage,were crucial in growing the Decentralized Knowledge Graph. The H1 2022 report will also featurenew metrics, in line with the expanded capabilities of the OriginTrail v6.
Total graph size (TGS)
Total graph size (TGS) is one of the core metrics designed to measure the growth in theOriginTrail Decentralized Network . It is a measurement of the size ofknowledge supported by the Decentralized Knowledge Graph. This is done by combiningtwo key elements of a knowledge graph — data objects and connectionsbetween data objects. In more precise terms, it combines the total number of graphvertices (also known as graph cardinality or the order of the graph) and the total number ofgraph edges (known in graph theory as graph size) of a decentralized graph. The term verticesrepresents all the different objects that have been added to the graph (such as identifiers orspecific information for supply chain events, products, attestations, locations, andcertificates) while the edges represent the connections between these objects.
The second half of 2021 saw a steep growth in TGS, with an increase from 30 million toover 100 million TGS mark. Further, faster growth is expected as the OriginTrail v6 rolls outdue to enhancement in network efficiencies and expanded usability of the technology.
Other metrics
The rest of the metrics followed the growth in TGS. Starting with the number of published datasets on the ODN, the number of publishings keptincreasing towards the end of the year, touching capacity thresholds which are to be addressedwith the upcoming DKG v6 update. With OriginTrail v6 we expect orders of magnitude higherthroughput capacity, as already observed on the v6 testnet via the Telemetry Hub (so farreaching as high as 70.000 publishings in a single day).
We have seen a steady increase in total TRAC staked inH2 2021 months, the total amount surpassed 11MM TRAC locked up for network utility. Asadditional staking becomes available with v6 in ’22, it is expected that this metric willsignificantly increase.
Marketing & communications
In terms of marketing and communication related activities, the second half of the year2021 was an incredibly busy one for Trace Labs, OriginTrail and the wider involved ecosystem. Itwas a period that included some of the largest technological advancementsof the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph (DKG) to date as well as theachievement of key milestones, gaining industry leaders as coreadvisors, attending leading industry events, and, forming partnerships that will bring the DKGinto new and exciting growth markets.
For ease of reading and navigation, these activities have been broken down intorelevant subsections below.
EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF THE DKG
One of the largest and most exciting developments for the OriginTrailecosystem was when we completed a brand new website overhaul as well as released a comprehensivenew explainer video. The goal with both of these initiatives was to furtherhighlight and explain the expanded vision of the Decentralized Knowledge Graph particularly whenit comes to areas in which the technology can and is adding value. The DKG is widely applicabletechnology that is currently powering solutions for multiple fortune 500 companies across avariety of industries and we are actively expanding its use cases, scope, and adoption.
At the beginning of August, the OriginTrail team revamped the technicaldocumentation that contains more detailed information on the DKG, updated developermaterials, tutorials and a collection of the latest and greatest created by the OriginTrailcommunity. This update was part of the efforts for the OriginTrailevangelist program, which aims to provide additional materials and support to developers who want to learn about the workings of the DKG and build on top of it.
Shortly after refreshing the technical documentation and as part of the OriginTrailevangelist program, the team also launched theFirst OriginTrail Builders Challenge to empower the builders’community in the OriginTrail ecosystem. The aim of the challenge was for developersor participants with different backgrounds to create solutions, prototypes or provide ideas forbuilding on top of the decentralized knowledge graph foundations. The team reviewed a lot ofuseful solutions and prototypes.
Towards the end of the year the team has revamped the roadmap.Divided into 3 phases the newroadmap introduces key activities and targets that will establish the DKG as theubiquitous Semantic Web3 layer for amplifying network effects. Each roadmap phase is named afterimportant individuals within computing space — Alan Turing, Bob Metcalfe and Tim Berners-Lee.The Turing phase encompasses everything around Web3 assets, OriginTrail DKG v6 launch, NFTsupercharger and UALs. Metcalfe phase promotes network effects across NFT, DeFi & real wordassets and Berners-Lee phase focuses on Web3 Semantic Internet.
As the year came to the end, the team launched the DKG version 6,which has been the biggest technological advancement since the mainnetlaunch. Version 6 brings greatperformance enhancements as well as bigger Web3 capabilities and utility for the TRAC token.These improvements will allow the OriginTrail DKG to act as the global fabric and standard forall Web3 activities by providing a trusted, multi-chain, robust network which is already powering value-adding applications for some of the largest organizations inthe world. It represents the opportunity for all assets whether they be NFTs ordigital representations of physical assets, to be truly discoverable across the entire Internetand Web3.
NEW ADVISORS JOINING TRACE LABS’ ADVISORY BOARD
The second half of 2021 brought the revelation of a part of theTrace Labs’ advisory board. It started with announcing Dr BobMetcalfe as the first advisor. He is one of the earliest Internet pioneers and the father ofEthernet. The Trace Labs founders met Dr. Metcalfe in 2017 through his mentorship during theFood+City innovation competition in Austin, Texas, where OriginTrail won the People’s ChoiceAward among many prospective food supply chain startups. Dr Metcalfe, famous for Metcalfe’s Law,is helping apply it for predicting the value of linked data in the OriginTrail DecentralizedKnowledge Graph as well as guiding and advising on other related operations.
The second member of Trace Labs’ advisory board announced was GregKidd, who is an adviser and an early investor for companies like Twitter, Coinbase, Ripple,Uphold, Solana, Filecoin, and more.
Next to join the board were Aaron Bradley and DanPurtell. Aaron is a knowledge graph strategist at Electronic Arts (EA) and will be advisingTrace Labs’ founders on strategies for evangelizing the OriginTrail Decentralized KnowledgeGraph to developer communities within various sectors such as enterprise, media, contentcreation and others. On the other hand, Dan will be advising the team on innovation strategiesfor deploying the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph in diverse industries and sectorssuch as assurance, pharmaceuticals, and supply chains.
Overall, the advisory board will help extend OriginTrail’sfootprint into the metaverse realm by providing the framework for enablingdiscoverability, verifiability and further value extension for NFTs through linked datatechnology. This framework will unlock immense potential for developers to build on theDecentralized Knowledge Graph.
EVENTS & PODCASTS
Throughout the backend of last year the team was incredibly active at leading globalevents as well as through a variety of media interviews with partners, podcasters, andpublications.
There were over fifteen in-person industry events thatthe team attended including;
NFT.NYC: As part of the leading NFT event, co-foundersBranimir Rakic and Tomaz Levak launched theOriginTrail NFT Supercharger demo. Designed to protect, connect, and level up the valueof NFTs through adding deeper and richer data and utility, theSupercharger was presented to attendees as part of an event-long display as well as adedicated presentation.
League of bridges (Paris): In July, CTO Branimir waspart of the League of Bridges event in Paris, France, where he delivered a winning pitchshowcasing how the OriginTrail DKG revolutionizes the Web3 semantic layer by introducing aviable, productive, multi-chain approach.
Frictionless International Trade: Ina specially crafted event, founders Tomaz Levak and Ziga Drev were joined by Ken McElroy —Global Manager, Trade Risk & Export Compliance at Home Depot -, Dan Purtell — Group Directorof Innovation at British Standards Institution -, Diana Sabrain — founder at OneAgrix -, andAjša Vodnik — CEO at AmCham Slovenia — to discuss the challenges of international trade and howthe OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph can help overcome them by utilizing blockchains astrust networks together with knowledge graph technology to create rich linked data.
European Blockchain Week: The OriginTrail team was specifically invited to join European Blockchain week and present on the topic of frictionless international trade. At the panel, the team was joinedby Dan Purtell from British Standards Institution and Ken Mcelroy from Home Depot.
WOF Expo: In early October, Trace Labs General ManagerJurij Skornik presented the value-adds of the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph,including the Trusted Bytes initiative, on the mainstage at the WOF expo.
Polkadot Miami meetup: Co-founders Ziga Drev and TomazLevak attended the Polkadot Miami meetup where they liaised with key partners in the Polkadotecosystem as well as outlined and presented OriginTrail’s plan for a parachain and the newvalue-adds it will bring.
CoinAgenda Caribbean: As a key sponsor of this event,OriginTrail presented on the OriginTrail DKG and how it is powering network effects through thesemantic web3 and across multiple industries.
From Web2 data silos to the semantic Web3 event: At this public event, co-founder and CTO Branimir Rakic was joined by Dr BobMetcalfe, and John G Keogh — Managing Principal, Shantalla Inc. — to discuss how the OriginTrailDKG is actively transforming web2 data silos to the semantic web3. Discussions included networkeffects, knowledge graphs, and updates regarding Trace Alliance working groups.
GSI Global Forum: Co-founder Branimir presented on EPCISand standards used together with the Decentralized Knowledge Graph, being developed through theGS1 EPCIS 2.0 Working Group with participation by the OriginTrail team.
Walmart Global Food Innovation Launch: As a winner ofthe Walmart spark award in 2017, co-founder Ziga was invited to speak on OriginTrail, the keyproblems it is solving and the OriginTrail evolution within the last 5 years.
#Sub0 Online: OriginTrail co-founder and CTO Branimirwas invited to present at the Substrate developerconference where he introduced the OriginTrail DKG, the value adds the technology bringsand how Substrate developers can build on it and supercharge their own applications by doing so.
Podim Conference: At the Oracle and Podim organizedevent, co-founder Tomaz Levak spoke about the OriginTrail DKG’s ability to be used ubiquitouslyand referenced how the technology is currently adding value for safety and payment in the Dairyindustry as part of a joint Oracle, OriginTrail, and SmartAgriHubs project.
NSAC: As part of a dedicated event, co-founder Tomaz wasinvited to speak at NSAC, which provides fisheries related advice to the EU Commission and theMember States, about the OriginTrail technology and how it can deliver positive impact in thefishing sector and in food supply chains in general.
Crypto Unplugged: OriginTrail co-founder Ziga Drev andcommunications associate Martina Poberaj were invited to the Crypto Unplugged podcast for aninsightful interview about everything OriginTrail. They further discussed transparency issues invarious industries and the latest developments within both OriginTrail and Trace Labs.
The whole podcast is available here.
Breaking Banks Europe: Ziga Drev was invited to theBreaking Banks Europe podcast and showcased how the OriginTrail DKG enables enhancedtransparency, traceability & increased sustainable usage in agricultural supply chains.
INTERVIEWS & AMAs
Co-founder and CTO Branimir Rakic was interviewed by Ivan onTech where he did an introduction to the OriginTrail Decentralized Knowledge Graph(DKG) and showcased building apps utilizing the network. Watch the full interview below.
