Solid Protocol forward progress

Dear Solid Community,

The growing global impact of Solid is a result of the combined effort we've dedicated to its development. What started as a humble initiative with ambitious goals has transformed into a cutting-edge technology that resonates with various companies, organizations, and individuals. I am grateful for the support and collaboration that has brought us to this point, and I am excited about the potential to achieve even more together.

The Solid project plays a crucial role in my vision for the future of the Web. Similar to how the Web revolutionized access to documents through universal interfaces, we now require the same approach for identity and authorization. This will empower people and organizations to explore innovative possibilities on the Web.

The Community Group, along with numerous stakeholders involved in Solid, has undertaken significant incubation efforts to establish the groundwork for a universal identity and authorization system. We've developed multiple implementations, showcasing the existing interoperability. Recognizing the importance of our incubation work, we aim to contribute valuable input for an official W3C Recommendation. This will be instrumental in delivering the interoperable protocol necessary to bring our vision to fruition.

For most of this year, I have deliberately stepped back from public discussions around Solid and W3C due to the multiple hats I wear in the context of both. Due to recent events, I’ve decided to re-engage.

I, like many of you, was genuinely surprised to learn that our proposal for a Solid W3C Working Group did not receive enthusiastic approval. Despite robust backing from numerous W3C Members who expressed eagerness for our group, a few objections have unfortunately delayed our intended start.

To navigate our way back on course, I've composed a formal response to the W3C TAG <https://github.com/w3c/strategy/issues/377#issuecomment-1850361915> review of the proposed charter. In this response, I've taken the opportunity to address certain process  issues and clarify technical misunderstandings about Solid. I am confident that, collaboratively, we can resolve these final issues standing in the path of establishing the Solid W3C Working Group.

Throughout this process, it's crucial that we stay connected around our shared goal: establishing a unified protocol for the secure management and exchange of personal data on the Web. The diverse implementations underscore the strength of our collective effort. Now, we're looking to the W3C to provide a platform for transitioning our incubation into a standard that considers the requirements of all stakeholders. 

We are building a web that is better for everyone. I look forward to the bright future ahead of us and formalizing the specification work we have incubated together. 

Tim

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Prof Sir Tim Berners-Lee         
Cofounder and CTO, Inrupt
Lead, solidproject.org
Founder, World Wide Web Consortium.   
Em. Prof. of Computer Science, Dept Computer Science, Christ Church, Oxford.
Em. Prof. of Engineering, Computer Science and Artificial Research Laboratory,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-founder WebFoundation, Open Data Institute.