# Web4 Landscape Analysis - Source Database

This document provides a comprehensive database of all sources referenced in the competitive and collaborative landscape analysis for Web4.

## Academic Research

### Trust-Native Networks & Protocols

| Title | Authors | Publication | Year | Citations | URL | Key Relevance |
|-------|---------|-------------|------|-----------|-----|---------------|
| From Cloud-Native to Trust-Native: A Protocol for Verifiable Multi-Agent Systems | Muyang Li | arXiv:2507.22077 | 2025 | N/A (preprint) | https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22077 | Parallel work on trust-native systems for AI agents |

### Decentralized Identity

| Title | Authors | Publication | Year | Citations | URL | Key Relevance |
|-------|---------|-------------|------|-----------|-----|---------------|
| Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) v1.0 | Sporny, Guy, Sabadello, Reed | W3C Recommendation | 2022 | N/A (standard) | https://www.w3.org/TR/did-core/ | Official W3C standard for decentralized identity |
| Health-ID: Blockchain-Based Decentralized Identity | Javed et al. | Healthcare | 2021 | 132 | N/A | Healthcare identity management |
| Self-sovereign identity empowered patient tokenization | Zhuang et al. | Computers in Biology and Medicine | 2023 | 45 | N/A | Patient data sovereignty |
| Decentralized Identity Management for E-Health | Satybaldy et al. | Blockchain in Healthcare Today | 2022 | 25 | N/A | Healthcare SSI review |

### Parallel Architectures

| Title | Authors | Publication | Year | Citations | URL | Key Relevance |
|-------|---------|-------------|------|-----------|-----|---------------|
| IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System | Juan Benet | arXiv:1407.3561 | 2014 | 2,653+ | N/A | Decentralized storage, potential integration |
| A Brief Introduction to Named Data Networking | Afanasyev et al. | N/A | N/A | 217+ | N/A | Alternative internet architecture |
| Holochain: Agent-Centric DHT Security in Smart IoT | Gaba et al. | IEEE Access | 2023 | 22+ | N/A | Agent-centric computing framework |

### Energy Sector

| Title | Authors | Publication | Year | Citations | URL | Key Relevance |
|-------|---------|-------------|------|-----------|-----|---------------|
| Blockchain-enabled Peer-to-Peer energy trading | Wongthongtham et al. | Computers & Industrial Engineering | 2021 | 178 | N/A | P2P energy trading with blockchain |
| Applications of blockchain in renewable energy integration | Bhavana et al. | Nature Scientific Reports | 2024 | 55 | N/A | Blockchain for energy grids |
| Developing a distributed trust model for DERs | Fernando | IEEE | 2021 | 13 | N/A | Trust model for distributed energy |

### IoT Identity

| Title | Authors | Publication | Year | Citations | URL | Key Relevance |
|-------|---------|-------------|------|-----------|-----|---------------|
| EBIAS: ECC-enabled blockchain-based identity authentication | Wang et al. | ScienceDirect | 2025 | 11 | N/A | IoT device identity authentication |
| BDIDA-IoT: Blockchain-Based Decentralized Identity | Yang et al. | MDPI Applied Sciences | 2024 | 7 | N/A | DID scheme for IoT |
| Consortium blockchain-based IoT identity management | Hanumantharaju et al. | Taylor & Francis | 2025 | N/A | N/A | Fog computing + blockchain for IoT |
| Identity Management in IoT Using Blockchain | Mohanta et al. | IEEE | 2022 | 8 | N/A | IoT identity challenges and solutions |

## Commercial Initiatives

### AI Agent Authorization

| Company/Product | Status | Type | URL | Key Features |
|-----------------|--------|------|-----|--------------|
| Auth0 for AI Agents (Okta) | Developer Preview (2025) | Centralized SaaS | https://auth0.com/ai | Token Vault, async authorization, MCP support, XAA protocol |
| Stytch (Twilio) | Acquired 2025 | Identity Platform | https://stytch.com/ | Identity layer for humans & AI agents |
| 1Password for Agentic AI | Active (2025) | Security Platform | https://1password.com/solutions/agentic-ai | Secure agent authentication, access control |

### AI Agent Platforms

| Platform | Company | Status | URL | Key Features |
|----------|---------|--------|-----|--------------|
| Microsoft Agent Framework | Microsoft | Preview (Oct 2025) | https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/introducing-microsoft-agent-framework-preview/ | .NET libraries, Azure AI Foundry integration |
| AWS Agentic AI Solutions | Amazon | Active | https://aws.amazon.com/ai/agentic-ai/ | Tools and frameworks for agentic AI |
| Google Agent Frameworks | Google | Active | https://cloud.google.com/discover/what-is-agentic-ai | Cloud-integrated agent development |
| LangChain | LangChain AI | Active | N/A | Community favorite agent framework |
| LlamaIndex | LlamaIndex | Active | N/A | Data framework for LLM applications |

### Decentralized Identity Companies

| Company | Role | Status | URL | Key Focus |
|---------|------|--------|-----|-----------|
| Digital Bazaar | Co-editor W3C DID | Active | N/A | Verifiable credentials platform |
| Evernym/Avast | Co-author W3C DID | Active | N/A | Enterprise SSI solutions |
| Danube Tech | Co-editor W3C DID | Active | N/A | DID resolution infrastructure |
| Transmute | Co-author W3C DID | Active | N/A | Enterprise blockchain identity |
| Dock.io | Platform | Active (2025) | https://www.dock.io/ | Verifiable credentials, blockchain identity |
| Ping Identity | Enterprise | Active | https://www.pingidentity.com/ | Enterprise verifiable credentials |
| IBM Verify | Enterprise | Active | https://www.ibm.com/products/verify/digital-credentials | Digital credentials platform |
| The Hashgraph Group (idTrust) | Platform | Launched Aug 2025 | N/A | Self-sovereign identity at scale |
| Polygon ID | Web3 | Active | N/A | Blockchain-based decentralized identity |
| SpruceID | Web3 | Active | N/A | Decentralized identity tools |

## Open-Source Projects

| Project | Creator/Organization | Status | URL | Key Relevance |
|---------|---------------------|--------|-----|---------------|
| Solid Project | Tim Berners-Lee (MIT CSAIL, Inrupt) | Active | N/A | Personal data pods, data sovereignty |
| Holochain | Holochain Foundation | Active | N/A | Agent-centric distributed computing |
| Urbit | Urbit Foundation | Active (since 2013) | N/A | Complete OS/network stack reimagining |
| IPFS | Protocol Labs | Active | N/A | Decentralized file storage |
| Trust Over IP | Linux Foundation | Active | N/A | Standards for internet-scale digital trust |

## Standards Bodies & Organizations

| Organization | Role | URL | Relevance to Web4 |
|--------------|------|-----|-------------------|
| W3C Decentralized Identifier Working Group | DID Standards | https://www.w3.org/2019/did-wg/ | Potential standards alignment |
| IETF | Internet Standards | https://www.ietf.org/ | Potential protocol standardization |
| Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust | Trust Infrastructure Standards | N/A | Trust Over IP framework |
| IEEE | Technical Standards | https://www.ieee.org/ | IoT and blockchain research |

## Market Research & Analysis

| Source | Type | Date | URL | Key Insights |
|--------|------|------|-----|--------------|
| McKinsey - Seizing the agentic AI advantage | Consulting Report | June 2025 | https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/seizing-the-agentic-ai-advantage | Agentic AI Mesh concept |
| Bain - Agentic AI in Retail | Consulting Report | Nov 2025 | https://www.bain.com/insights/agentic-ai-in-retail-how-autonomous-shopping-redefining-customer-journey/ | Autonomous shopping agents |
| Pew Research - Distributed Energy Resources | Research | Nov 2025 | https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/data-visualizations/2025/11/distributed-energy-resources-are-transforming-the-electric-grid | Energy grid transformation |
| NREL - Designing a Decentralized Power System | Research | Aug 2025 | https://www.nrel.gov/news/feature/2019/from-the-bottom-up-designing-a-decentralized-power-system/ | Blockchain for energy markets |

## Venture Capital & Investment

| VC Firm | Focus Area | URL | Relevance |
|---------|------------|-----|-----------|
| SineWave Ventures | Infrastructure | N/A | Trust infrastructure investment |
| Blue Bear Capital | Infrastructure | N/A | Early-stage infrastructure |
| Heavybit | Developer Tools | N/A | Developer-focused infrastructure |
| Suffolk Technologies | Infrastructure | N/A | Infrastructure startups |
| SHAKTI | Infrastructure | N/A | Trust-first startups |

## Cross-Domain Patterns

### Energy Trading Platforms

| Platform/Research | Type | Status | Key Features |
|-------------------|------|--------|--------------|
| RETINA | Research | 2024 | Smart contract-based energy trading with trust factors |
| NREL Transactive Energy | Research | Active | Blockchain for distributed energy markets |
| Various P2P Energy Trading Platforms | Commercial | Emerging | Peer-to-peer electricity trading |

### Healthcare Identity Solutions

| Solution | Type | Status | Key Features |
|----------|------|--------|--------------|
| Patient-Controlled Health Records (PCHR) | Framework | Active | Patient data sovereignty |
| Healthcare 4.0 Initiatives | Industry Trend | 2025 | Blockchain + AI + IoMT convergence |
| Verifiable Health Credentials | Standard | Emerging | Vaccination certificates, health credentials |

### DeFi & Self-Custody

| Platform/Concept | Type | Status | Key Features |
|------------------|------|--------|--------------|
| MetaMask | Wallet | Active | Self-custodial wallet, browser extension |
| Coinbase Wallet | Wallet | Active | Self-custodial mobile wallet |
| Trust Wallet | Wallet | Active | Multi-chain self-custody |
| DeFi Protocols | Ecosystem | Active | Decentralized financial services |

## Key Conferences & Events

| Event | Focus | Relevance |
|-------|-------|-----------|
| W3C TPAC | Web Standards | DID and verifiable credentials |
| IETF Meetings | Internet Standards | Protocol standardization |
| IEEE IoT Conferences | IoT Technology | Device identity and security |
| Blockchain Conferences | Distributed Systems | Trust and identity solutions |

## Timeline of Key Developments

| Date | Event | Significance |
|------|-------|--------------|
| 2013 | Urbit network launch | Early decentralized OS/network |
| 2014 | IPFS whitepaper | Decentralized storage foundation |
| July 2022 | W3C DID v1.0 ratified | Official decentralized identity standard |
| 2024 | Surge in blockchain IoT identity research | Growing focus on device identity |
| July 2025 | TrustTrack preprint published | Parallel trust-native protocol research |
| August 2025 | Hashgraph idTrust launch | New SSI platform |
| October 2025 | Microsoft Agent Framework preview | Major cloud provider enters agent space |
| 2025 | Auth0 for AI Agents developer preview | Validation of AI agent authorization market |
| 2025 | Auth for MCP limited early access | Model Context Protocol security |
| 2025 | Stytch acquired by Twilio | Consolidation in identity space |
| November 2025 | Multiple AI agent platforms mature | Market acceleration |

## Search Queries Used

This analysis was conducted using the following search strategies:

### Academic Research
- "trust-native networks"
- "decentralized identity standards"
- "witnessed interactions protocol"
- "blockchain IoT identity"
- "peer-to-peer energy trading blockchain"
- "patient data sovereignty blockchain"
- "self-custodial wallet architecture"

### Commercial Intelligence
- "AI agent authorization platform"
- "AI agent delegation commercial"
- "decentralized identity startups"
- "self-sovereign identity companies"
- "AI agent platform 2025"
- "autonomous agent framework announcement"

### Cross-Domain
- "distributed energy grid trust"
- "healthcare decentralized identity"
- "DeFi decentralized finance trust"
- "device identity management blockchain"

## Notes on Source Quality

- **Academic Sources**: Prioritized peer-reviewed publications and high-citation papers
- **Standards**: Focused on official W3C Recommendations and IETF RFCs
- **Commercial**: Verified through company websites and official announcements
- **Market Research**: Used reports from established consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain)
- **Preprints**: Noted as such (e.g., TrustTrack on arXiv)

## Recommended Follow-Up Research

1. Deep dive into TrustTrack protocol technical details and potential relationship to Web4
2. Monitor W3C DID Working Group for new method specifications
3. Track Auth0 for AI Agents adoption metrics and customer feedback
4. Follow Microsoft Agent Framework development and Azure integration
5. Survey energy sector pilots for blockchain-based trading platforms
6. Monitor Trust Over IP standards development
7. Track venture capital investment in trust infrastructure startups
