EvidenZ — Telegram QUIZ & AMA — August 23
On Sunday, August 23, we had the pleasure to welcome to our Telegram chat:
Luc Jarry-Lacombe, CEO of EvidenZ, and
Vincent Langard, CTO of EvidenZ.
We asked them questions about the development of EvidenZ.
Some sentences have been slightly edited for readability but the meaning has been conserved.
Summary
EvidenZ allows deploying of registers on the blockchain for all types of high-value data. It is a B2B solution and was patented in the US in 2018.
It is intended to enable institutions, companies, and universities to issue certified data over the long term while respecting the regulations concerning personal data.
EvidenZ provides individuals with direct and permanent access to data through a simple URL on which anyone can click for free.
The EvidenZ cryptographic protocol guarantees the control of the access to data and the “right to be forgotten”. The data stored by EvidenZ cannot be modified or collected for commercial purposes.
Introduction
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: Can you tell us what you did before crypto, how you got into crypto, and if you’ve had any other venture in crypto previous to being involved with EvidenZ?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: Well, for my part, I actually caught the Blockchain through Bitcoin in 2014 after the Mt. Gox hack. And I started to see a real interest in application development — which is my area of expertise — in 2016 with the arrival of Ethereum.
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: I became interested in blockchain applications in 2017, as a product owner and was immediately attracted by the potential of Ethereum.
With Vince, we have been working for many years in the field of IT for academics. During this experience, institutions were faced with the problem of storing and securing certifications on a very long-term basis. With the emergence of Ethereum, we made specifications and then an ICO to develop EvidenZ and start the commercialization of BCdiploma. And here we are!
Product
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: Can you tell us what your role is at EvidenZ and what the project is about in a few simple sentences?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: I am CTO and Co-Founder, in charge of the Development Team, Architecture and Roadmap, Delivery and Product Quality, Technology Partnerships, and Crypto Aspects.
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: I’m CEO, in charge of the Sales/Product Marketing Teams, Business Partnerships, and Finance
What’s EvidenZ?
EvidenZ allows you to deploy registers on the Blockchain for all types of high-value data. It offers individuals direct and permanent access to data through a simple URL that anyone can click on for free.
EvidenZ was patented in the United States in 2020. It is designed to enable institutions, companies, and universities to deliver certified data over the long term while complying with personal data regulations (GDPR, and in particular the “right to be forgotten). Find out more here.
Q — Telegram user Catherine: What is the logic behind naming the project EvidenZ?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: “Evidence” is synonymous with “proof”, and “proof” of authenticity is central to the project. EvidenZ is the registered trademark of this concept.
Q — Telegram user Hitman: Briefly explain what BCdiploma is.
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: BCdiploma is EvidenZ’s first use case dedicated to academic documents.
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: I want to respond by telling you about our value proposition for academic clients:
- Protecting the value of your diplomas
- Enhancing your innovative brand image
- Becoming the leader of the digital student experience
- Revitalizing your Alumni network
- Accelerating the digitization of your processes
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: What’s the business model?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: It is a B2B solution. It is the institutions that issue certificates that pay in this business model, not the certificate holders (the graduates) nor those who consult them (the recruiters).
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: BCdiploma is our first use case dedicated to higher education and universities. It is a success and our goal is to become the world leader in this sector. Nevertheless, we already have clients outside the academic sector, notably AFNOR, which already uses BCdiploma to produce ISO certificates.
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: How many people are in the team right now?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: 6 full time + 3 internships/freelancers
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: I am surprised by the storage capacity of EvidenZ, but why does your platform not store documents or Hash fingerprints? Why does EvidenZ only store encrypted data on blockchains?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: Ok, storing meaningful data and not document fingerprints is at the heart of the EvidenZ project and is described in detail in BCdiploma’s whitepaper. It brings immediate benefits:
- Data is stored in a decentralized way with the highest level of security and sustainability offered by a public blockchain;
- Verification is instantaneous and does not require a complex comparison process;
- This allows the production of native multilingual certificates as opposed to PDF documents for example;
- Unlike document timestamps, our approach includes the identity of the issuer of the data.
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: What volume of data is currently stored using EvidenZ, how many diplomas or items? With how many partners are you working?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: We’ve more than 90 institutions using the solution in 12 countries. Find out more information here.
Our main partnerships:
- Aleph
- IMS Global Certification (Open Badges blockchain/ IMS Global)
- Microsoft for Startups & Co-sell program MICROSOFT
- We have signed a major partnership with the AUF (a grouping of more than 1,000 universities worldwide), which will be announced in early September following the success of the 2019 Pilot project. We can’t say too much, but it’s a long-term (4 years) and exclusive business development agreement for us.
- Berkeley Blockchain Xcellerator: Berkeley
- Emlyon Business School
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: How does the EvidenZ cryptographic protocol guarantee control of access to data? Is it possible to modify or collect data in EvidenZ?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: The data are deposited encrypted on Ethereum, and the certificate holder has a cryptographic key that he may one day decide to delete (Shamir's secret).
No one can access the certificate without the holder’s key. BCdiploma does not have access to the data.
You got it: everything is designed so that no one can exploit the data in mass.
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: This is a good question that is difficult to answer precisely without going into a lot of detail. With that said, EvidenZ integrates many mechanisms to optimize the amount of data sent on the blockchain. For example, some parts of the certificates are only written once in the smart contract, whereas the certificate's data are written in batch.
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: Since you seem to have a lot of users, how does the token come into play? How will it capture the value of the ecosystem you’re building?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: BCDT is the fuel of the EvidenZ ecosystem. It is designed for B2B: for each certificate issued, an amount of BCDT has to feed the smart contracts.
Here is the token usage macro process:
- An institution buys issuance credits to BCdiploma in FIAT => in the real world, institutions aren’t able to buy tokens by themself.
- BCdiploma company buys BCDT on the market at the market price.
- We feed the EvidenZ smart contract with BCDT to “buy issuance credits”, 25% are burnt during this operation.
- Institution issues certificates, the number of credits decreases.
- Go back to (1)
In conclusion, the more institutions need to issue, the more BCDT is used.
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: What is the target market of $BCDT? What does the $BCDT team think of the Asian crypto market? Does the $BCDT team have any plans for Vietnam? There are many great teams and investors who want to work and earn money from crypto over there.
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: Our approach is simple: we believe in bringing together the crypto and institutional communities with BCdiploma. For example, we are presenting EvidenZ to a very large Vietnamese crypto community next week. We also have in parallel Hoa Sen University as a Vietnamese customer. This is our vision: bring blockchain and cryptos to the institutional community through our B2B solution.
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: EvidenZ’s target market is the management of all registries: education, administrations, and states. The BCDT token allows us to envisage a much faster and more decentralized deployment of the ecosystem in the future. In short, everything is designed so that the framework works “on-premise” for large customers, with direct payment via the smart contract. This is the vision that guides us. Find out more here.
Q — Telegram user Adam Lee: Can you explain the micro-certidication Medium article in simpler terms?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: Micro-certification: this is a concept deployed by some universities, including our partners eCampusOntario. It is about certifying a precise and professional skill. The certification is awarded by both the university and a company.
In other words: it is a professional certification on a small perimeter.
Q — Telegram user Tong: Many people see EvidenZ micro-certifications as an added bonus to landing a new job. Could it be said that micro-certifications can benefit new employers to get a job or advance their career? How innovative can this be?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: Yes, the Open Badges and Micro-certifications trend allows for the recognition of skills throughout a career. So also issued by companies.
This is a major change: we are moving towards an evolving diploma or a portfolio of skills that is constantly updated.
A godsend for Evidenz!
Q — Telegram user Karan: You recently announced a partnership with Aleph. What are the major benefits for this partnership?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: EvidenZ is already a cross-chain framework (compatible with ARK for example). The partnership with Aleph will allow us to deploy easier and faster on other blockchains and thus respond to new business use cases while limiting development investment.
Q — Telegram user Emi 💌: EvidenZ was patented in the United States in 2020. What other achievements and milestones have EvidenZ achieved in 2020?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: There have been other events since May, including signatures from prestigious clients that we will be communicating about soon.
GDPR compliance has been our primary concern. We obtained a legal opinion from a firm specializing in data law (Lexing) in the first months of the company’s existence, guaranteeing in particular that our encryption algorithm complied with the GDPR. In general, we are very well advised at the legal level on the topic and have patented the technical answer to this important subject.
Q — Telegram user Emi 💌: How legitimate is BCdiploma? What are the benefits and advantages of certificates on the chain?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: BCdiploma is above all an international success story: Please find here all the institutions. The benefits of on-chain certificates:
- One-click access with a URL that can be used on all social networks
- Direct access to proofs of authenticity
- Multilingual in as many languages as desired (accessible from the link of the diploma only)
Q — ️Telegram user Cleo❤️: My understanding is that EvidenZ puts the data at the heart of the system. How do document Hashing frameworks work in relation to the EvidenZ ecosystem and how central is it to the platform?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: There is no Hash storage in EvidenZ. Much of the innovation is there!
Q — Telegram user Chris Luna: The data stored by EvidenZ cannot be modified or exploited for commercial purposes. Does only the EvidenZ team have access to the users’ data?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: Only certificate holders (graduates) initially have access to the data. They decide whether to share it or not using a URL provided to them by the institution. BCdiploma does not have access to this data.
Q — Telegram user Adam Lee: I have seen the keyword “Open Badges” on the EvidenZ website, Medium articles, and whitepaper. Please explain in simple words, what Open Badges are?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: Open Badges: An open-source standard for sharing skills in the form of digital badges.
It is a very dynamic market with big players.
We are very proud to have certified the first Open Badges 100% blockchain with our technology.
Q — Telegram user Mohit Kumar: How does BCdiploma’s blockchain digital credentials work? And kindly brief us on how EvidenZ gives traceability, authenticity, and durability?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: How does it work? The issuer of certificates (a university for example) has DApp and APIs. This issuer certifies their certificates on the blockchain by simply sending data. The DApp generates a unique and forgery-proof URL that is delivered to the holder of the certificate (the graduate for example).
Discover an example here.
In this example, you have direct access to the proofs of authenticity. Here is the FAQ.
Q — Telegram user Apocan: Which exchanges or wallets can I trade/swap BCDT token?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: Find out more here. This page is always up to date.
Q — Telegram user Sergey: When will a patent be issued?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: It was issued in July 2020. We are proud because it was accepted in its entirety at first reading. This is rare!
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: Is there a graphic interface for people to show off their skills/badges?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: BCdiploma certificates all have an interface fully customizable to the brand of the institution issuing them. It is also a marketing object: beautiful and secure. It allows graduates to showcase their skills by promoting their institution’s brand.
Finances
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: How much did you raise in the ICO? How long has it been since you’ve been working on the project?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: We raised 1800 ETH in January 2018, the idea came up in 2017, and started working on the project in July 2017.
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: BCdiploma is the 4th successful ICO in France.
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: How much was that back then and if I may ask, what did you do with the funds, did you keep it all in ETH, sold all in stablecoin or a mix of both?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: At the time, this represented €1.5M.
For the record, to finance the project during the “crypto winter”, we succeeded in raising equity capital less than a year after the ICO.
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: 2/3 of the funds has remained in ETH, and moreover we kept them. With the other 1/3, we financed the development and the beginning of the commercialization of the product.
Q — Alex Raffin from GAINS: I’m asking because money is one of the most important things. If you have enough to last, keep on building and market, then that’s a big green checkmark.
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: Yes, you’re right!
We’re starting to get some good commercial traction and revenue for BCdiploma. We have a financial horizon of more than two years ahead of us.
Q — Telegram user Olode Amotekun: EvidenZ’s metamorphosis is a laudable one. How have you been able to survive this long bear market and how do you continue building and developing although many projects have died out in this time period?
A — Luc Jarry-Lacombe from EvidenZ: The EvidenZ project has precisely followed the whitepaper from the beginning, without any change of direction. We survived because we managed to complete a seed round in equity during the crypto winter. For us, this proves that our project is a bridge between economic token economics and classic B2B business.
Business Development
Q — Telegram user Emi 💌: How would you encourage institutions around the world to adopt blockchain certification?
A — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ: By providing them with the best possible software solution on the market.
Thanks a lot for all the answers Luc and Vincent. It was very interesting to hear more about EvidenZ. I was very surprised to learn you have so many big name partners and already have access to a network of more than 1,000 universities! Is there anything else you’d like to say? Where can we follow EvidenZ? — Alex Raffin from GAINS
Thank you very much for all these interesting questions👏👏👏
Do not hesitate to join our community on our Telegram channel. Also we are very active on Twitter, follow us! — Vincent Langard from EvidenZ
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