Acting our way into new thinking…

A progress update on implementing decentralized SLAs and the EWT Escrow Model

At the end of February our CEO Walter Kok laid out the concept of a decentralized SLA and how it will form the basis of a new type of service-level agreement (SLA) for enterprises and vendors alike. Unlike a traditional, bilateral SLA, a DSLA approach is inherently distributed and establishes multilateral trust that the services will be delivered according to the agreement. This new type of business and technical architecture will enable very transparent reporting on the actual, real-world service quality.

We see the DSLA as an important aspect of the Utility Layer of the Energy Web tech stack. The Utility Layer comprises a variety of ‘digital machinery’ (i.e., services) that power the dApps running on the Energy Web Chain. That’s why we unveiled the EWT Escrow Model, as a way to unlock the full potential of the Energy Web tech stack to achieve the delivery of a decentralized service operation and its objectives. The EWT Escrow Model allows for both Providers (i.e., vendors providing Utility Layer services) and Patrons (e.g., community members who may stake some amount of EWT in support).

The entire process leverages EW Switchboard to manage DIDs and roles for Customers, Providers, and Patrons.

Our goal is to launch the first Utility Layer services, complete with escrow and subscriptions, in production by Q3 2021. Between then and now, we’re aiming for a several key milestones, including: a) an alpha release on our testnet, Volta (this is when Patrons will be able to test an early version of the Escrow Model); b) a beta release on the Energy Web Chain; and c) scaling the Utility Layer service network, onboarding additional Providers and Patrons from the wider Energy Web community, adding new Utility Layer services, and integrating the escrow and subscription models with exchanges and other external systems to make it even easier to participate.

If you’ve watched our pipeline of major announcements and initiatives in recent weeks and months, you know that the Energy Web team and the broader ecosystem have been incredibly busy. But we’ve also been making progress on the EWT Escrow Model, and are excited to share this update with you.

SPOILER ALERT: DEAR PATRONS AND PROVIDERS, STAKING IS STILL COMING AND Q3 IS STILL A REALISTIC TARGET.

We finalized the architecture, designed the UI, and got the resources (almost) in place…

The picture below lays out the architecture of the decentralized service operations. It breaks down into four important blocks: 1) Customer Tasks (consuming the service, in green), 2) Provider Tasks (delivering the service, in yellow), 3) The Watchtower (monitoring and reporting on the service operations, in red), and 4) Governance Tasks (smart contracts executing the DSLAs, in blue).

And yes, there at the top are the Patrons, who can stake together with their service provider of choice. Let’s get into a little bit more detail.

THE SERVICE PROVIDER AND THE PATRON

Service Providers (“Providers”) are organizations that operate Utility Layer service nodes. In order to become a qualified Provider, an organization must pass a basic KYC check and deposit a minimum balance of EWT into an escrow smart contract for a multi-year period. Once qualified, Providers can launch service nodes by depositing an incremental amount of EWT in escrow and claim they are ready to deliver the service. The Watchtower will validate the claim (more on the Watchtower below). The following animation shows the User Interface we have developed so far to onboard Service Providers and Patrons:

To meet the minimum escrow balance requirement, Providers can either acquire the necessary EWT themselves or accept EWT from external Patrons in the wider community. As long as Providers deliver services in accordance with the prescribed rules, they will earn a stable income on their deposited EWT.

THE CUSTOMER

Customers follow an onboarding process similar to that of Providers. We want the system to be trustless, so the Providers (and Patrons) need to be assured that the Customer will pay for the service once it has been delivered. So basically, they put their pre-payments into escrow, too. Once the Customer claims that they are ready to consume services, the Watchtower will also validate this claim. The following animation shows the user interface we have developed so far to onboard customers and how they can choose the services and SLAs they want to consume:

THE WATCHTOWER AND GOVERNANCE TASKS

The Watchtower will be a similar decentralized architecture as the one we deploy for the validators of the Energy Web Chain. Watchtower nodes will also follow the Proof-of-Authority consensus algorithm. They are trusted entities, similar to our validators (we expect a subset of our validators to also run a Watchtower node).

Each Watchtower will validate the claim of readiness from both Provider and Customer and individually report on it. The smart contract (part of the governance tasks) will move both to the operational status when there is consensus amongst the Watchtowers. The services are now ready to be delivered and consumed and all the Watchtowers will start to monitor the actual performance. When it is their turn, they will measure and publish their results individually. Again, the consensus algorithm will ensure a decision of the actual performance for the interval, taking all scores into account.

We expect that these intervals will aggregate to a daily / weekly Service Level Score. Then depending on the Service Level Agreement, the payment / slashing logic will kick in. The necessary evidence will be stored on the Energy Web Chain so that at any time it can be accessed (taking into account privacy preserving requirements, etc.).

So what can you expect next..

Looking ahead at the coming months, we’re forging ahead with the schedule we laid out in the original EWT Escrow Model article:

• In May 2021, we will conduct an alpha release of escrow and subscription tools on our testnet Volta. This is when our Patrons will be able to early test the staking feature.
• In June and July 2021, we will conduct a beta release of escrow and service components on the Energy Web Chain (EWC), with an initial cohort of Service Providers from the EWC validator community.
• Throughout the remainder of the year, we will focus on scaling the Utility Layer service network, onboarding additional Providers and Patrons from the wider Energy Web community, adding new Utility Layer services, and integrating the escrow and subscription models with exchanges and other external systems to make it even easier to participate.

Expect to continue to hear from Energy Web over the coming months. If you have questions or ideas, drop us a note in the comments below! To stay up to date with the latest information, follow us on Twitter or join our Telegram community.

The EWT Escrow Model is closer than ever to becoming a reality — including the 10–20% return on deposited EWT we mentioned when we first announced the Escrow Model. We are now seeing a convergence of positive developments: major projects deploying on the Energy Web tech stack in partnership with our members, a robust community around EWT, and a stronger-than-ever appetite for digital solutions that address the urgent climate challenge. We continue to act our way into new thinking indeed.