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Version: Stage 4 - For Public Review

2026-09-17 1652 AEST

 

UN CEFACT GRID Project - EU ​

Sep 17, 2026

 

Attendees​

  • John Phillips
  • Alina Nica Gales
  • Sankarshan
  • Yash Gondaliya
  • Jo Spencer (first half)
  • Steve Capell (last quarter)
  • Andrew Higgs (after first 10 minutes)

 

Summary​

Project schedules and technical scopes and cross-border pilots reviewed via collaborative discussions.

Public Review and Issues
Project schedule timelines maintained flexibility for system outages. Glossary definitions improved for verification terms.

Global Pilots and Scope
Cross-border interoperability prioritized for international pilots. Grid scope distinguished from transparency protocols.

 

Registry eligibility and trust neutrality standards 

The Grid project established that it will not dictate member state technology choices or assign relative trust levels, relying instead on national legal frameworks to designate authoritative registrars.

 

 

Next steps​

  • [John Phillips] Draft Data Section: Draft a section for the operating manual that describes how the technology supports data state transition processes. Complete this task by next week.

  • [Steve Capell] Contact Mo: Write to Mo regarding potential pilots for cross-border identity verification. Shape the structure of the pilot to include interest from Europe and other regions.

  • [Steve Capell] Create Pilot Pattern: Draft a pattern outlining a proof of concept for trade between countries using 2 identifier registers and a commercial invoice. Circulate the proposal to potential participants to solicit engagement.

  • [John Phillips] Process Review Comments: Follow up with the review comments provided by the China CAICT organization. Address the feedback within the relevant project framework.

 

 

Details​

  • Public Review Period Timeline: John Phillips reported on the UN CEFACT Grid Project schedule, noting that the public review period officially started around the 14th or 17th of September and is scheduled to finish on the 21st of September. John Phillips proposed providing schedule slack, suggesting that the end of the following week might be more appropriate due to site outages caused by system upgrades [00:00:03]. The consensus was to maintain flexibility regarding the timeline [00:01:09].

  • Issue Tracking and Review Workflow: John Phillips explained the process for handling the 17 total issues in the GitLab repository, noting that public review items are highlighted with specific labels while general topics like implementation guidelines suggested by sankarshan do not need resolution during the public review [00:01:09]. John Phillips described the workflow where external review issues are flagged for discussion, moved to ready for review when a resolution is reached, and content edits are managed through dedicated branches [00:01:57].

  • Manu Fontaine Review Comments on Verifiable Credentials: John Phillips and sankarshan discussed review comments from Manu Fontaine regarding the hash mesh approach and deep integrity technology down to the hardware level [00:02:53] [00:05:36]. Manu Fontaine argued against using verifiable credentials; however, John Phillips and Alina Nica Gales agreed that Manu Fontaine's assumptions exceeded the grid's scope, which does not attempt to enforce hardware and operating system rigor globally [00:06:54] [00:09:51]. The decision was made by John Phillips and sankarshan to improve glossary definitions—specifically for terms like verifiable—within a branch to prevent misunderstandings without adopting Manu Fontaine's broader technical demands [00:07:53] [00:09:51].

  • Chris Pap Review Comments and State Transition History: John Phillips and Alina Nica Gales reviewed comments from Chris Pap (issue numbers 68, 75, and 78) regarding eligibility, disputes, and the lifecycle states of grid members [00:15:20] [00:19:01]. The underlying problem identified was that while operating models tracked state transitions for member countries over years, the data schema lacked a mechanism to handle historical validity queries over time [00:16:21] [00:19:01]. John Phillips and Steve Capell worked on cryptographic event logs to address this, and John Phillips committed to producing a draft section addressing data-level state transitions by the following week [00:18:03] [00:20:05].

  • Jose Spencer Fernandez Nunez Review Comments and Scope Boundaries: John Phillips discussed review comments from Jose Spencer Fernandez Nunez containing multiple sections, noting that four out of five child issues were ready for review while the history-related issue (number 85) required more work [00:20:05]. John Phillips noted that Jose Spencer Fernandez Nunez questioned how external credentials reference grid-identified registration authorities and raised supply chain validation concerns [00:20:57] [00:22:37]. John Phillips concluded that no document changes were necessary because existing operational and legal manuals already addressed these points, though they clarified that supply chain tracking tasks belong to the United Nations Transparency Protocol rather than the grid [00:21:51].

  • Registry Form Submissions and Trust Levels: Alina Nica Gales and John Phillips reviewed a submission from the review page form concerning varying trust levels across national registries in countries like Switzerland and Panama [00:24:25]. Alina Nica Gales and John Phillips addressed the problem of differing digitalization levels worldwide, confirming that the grid avoids declaring specific registries as having higher or lower trust to align with United Nations sustainable development goals encouraging global participation [00:25:25].

  • Interoperability with European Models and Technical Alignment: John Phillips and Alina Nica Gales discussed interoperability between the United Nations Transparency Protocol models and European specifications such as the European Union wallet and digital product passports [00:30:19]. Alina Nica Gales noted that discussions with the team working on the European wallet concluded satisfactorily, with the Spanish pilot lead ensuring that European models align with the broader framework rather than conflicting with them [00:31:29].

  • Global Pilots Status and International Interest: John Phillips, Alina Nica Gales, and Steve Capell reviewed ongoing pilot interest from various countries, including Spain (the most advanced due to co-leadership), India, China, Germany (identified via the Global Digital Conference), Australia, and Canada [00:32:17] [00:51:46]. Steve Capell and Alina Nica Gales emphasized the goal of establishing pilots combining European and non-European countries, such as Spain and India, to demonstrate cross-border operability [00:32:17] [00:45:16].

  • New Zealand Trust Framework and Accreditation: Andy Higgs joined the meeting to share experiences with identity management standards, noting that New Zealand's voluntary trust framework became law in 2023 after navigating eight cabinet ministers. Andy Higgs announced the accreditation of the first credential under these rules issued by Westpac Bank after two years of preparation, highlighting the urgent need to address cybersecurity challenges and secure cross-sector interoperability [00:34:01] [00:40:14].

  • Grid Scope Versus United Nations Transparency Protocol Scope: John Phillips and Steve Capell clarified the distinction between the Global Registry Information Directory and the United Nations Transparency Protocol. John Phillips explained that the grid focuses strictly on identifying authoritative registers for trade-related assets (such as businesses, land, marine assets, and trademarks) in United Nations member states, whereas the United Nations Transparency Protocol handles broader supply chain tracking like greenhouse gas emissions [00:41:00]. Steve Capell emphasized their adherence to a protocol-not-platforms philosophy rather than mandating specific proprietary technologies [00:43:15].

  • Cross-Border Proof of Concept Pilot Planning for India and China: Steve Capell and gondaliya yash discussed plans for a proof-of-concept pilot involving India and China, focusing on verifying export-import codes and commercial invoices [00:45:16] [00:47:28]. gondaliya yash explained that India is focusing on the exporter perspective by making export-import codes verifiable through decentralized identifiers, while Steve Capell proposed structuring the pilot around trade chains such as battery manufacturing involving India, China, and Spain [00:47:28] [00:49:38].

  • Clarification on National Registries and Scope Boundaries: Steve Capell, Alina Nica Gales, and Andy Higgs addressed final questions regarding what constitutes an authoritative register under grid's eligibility requirements. Steve Capell and Alina Nica Gales clarified that the grid lists national-level authoritative registers operated by United Nations member states—such as business, intellectual property, or land registers—rather than unaccredited entities like beekeepers, while Andy Higgs noted the relevance of government trust services to these efforts [00:54:16].

  • Global Accreditation Authorities and Grid Operation: John Phillips explains that global peak authorities, such as the New Zealand-based Global Accreditation Cooperation Institute, known as Global ACI, operate independently of United Nations relationships to recognize national authorities for testing associations across regions including Spain, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Andy Higgs requests clarification on the acronym, prompting John Phillips to reiterate the Global ACI name. Additionally, John Phillips points out that the grid does not require a United Nations link because it functions as a trade and commerce body, allowing their pattern to be replicated by other entities [00:57:22].

  • Upcoming Meeting Schedule and Session Conclusion: John Phillips informs the group that another meeting will take place in 16 hours to accommodate the west coast of the United States time frame, providing an opportunity for participants to raise further topics [00:57:22]. With no further business presented, John Phillips calls the meeting to a close.

 

Chat​

00:10:17.250,00:10:20.250

sankarshan: for reference: https://opensource.unicc.org/un/unece/uncefact/gtr/-/issues/79

 

00:11:20.082,00:11:23.082

sankarshan: changes are in the branch: https://opensource.unicc.org/un/unece/uncefact/gtr/-/tree/PublicReviewCommentsUpdate02

 

00:21:50.473,00:21:53.473

sankarshan: https://opensource.unicc.org/un/unece/uncefact/gtr/-/work\_items/84

 

00:25:14.491,00:25:17.491

Andy Higgs: I did an APEC Conference panel last week on the Trust and verification gap in the Agentic Economy with Monica https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-hardy-whaley-90a210a/ she is interested in Grid and Trust Solutions

 

00:27:13.745,00:27:16.745

Andy Higgs: The NZ Govt operate a VICAL – the Digital Trust Service: https://github.com/NZ-Digital-Public-Infrastructure/digital-trust-service

 

00:49:28.187,00:49:31.187

Andy Higgs: Digital Product Passports Feasibility Study Report (GS1 NZ, Feb 2026)

 

00:54:07.817,00:54:10.817

Steve Capell: https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-recognized-entities-1.0/

 

00:54:36.209,00:54:39.209

John Phillips: https://untp.unece.org

 

00:54:54.694,00:54:57.694

Andy Higgs: https://trustalliance.co.nz