This TF schedules meetings as needed. Each meeting will be announced on the GSWG mailing list and the #governance-architecture-tf Slack channel.

The meetings (and Zoom links) are available on the ToIP meeting calendar:
LFX Meetings

Zoom Meeting Links / Recordings

Video and Transcript:

Meeting starts 07:00 in

Attendees

@John Phillips

@Scott Perry

Agenda Items and Notes (including all relevant links)

Summary of meeting:

Summary of meeting generated by NoteBookLM from the transcript and chat messages.

The prompt used is “Using a professional but friendly style, create a minutes of the meeting based on the selected sources. Summarise the key discussion points made by the speakers and list any decisions and agreed actions. Make any references explicit by citing the time at which they occur.”

Minutes of the Meeting

Date: 17 September 2025 Present: John Phillips (Sezoo), Scott Perry (Digital Governance Institute)

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1.0 Opening and Purpose

John Phillips opened the discussion by outlining his preparation for an upcoming UNCEFACT Global Trust Registry (GTR) meeting, where he plans to discuss governance and operating models [00:05:42.440]. The goal is to encourage the group to start thinking about these models rather than finalising them [00:06:20.870].

2.0 Key Discussion Points

2.1 Case Studies for Governance Models

To facilitate the discussion on governance, John is using two contrasting case studies:

• ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD): This is the system that supports e-passports [00:06:41.140]. John highlighted its success, noting it is a self-sustaining model funded by its 107 participating countries [00:10:39.480, 00:12:31.500]. It was established to simplify the complex web of bilateral agreements needed for key exchanges, reducing thousands of potential connections to just one per participant [00:09:42.840].

    ◦ Financial Model: The PKD has a simple, transparent cost-sharing model. There is a one-off registration fee of about US$15,000 and an annual fee of around US$14,200 to US$20,000 per country [00:12:08.160, 00:14:20.010, 00:14:43.230]. Costs per participant decrease as more members join [00:13:44.630]. While this model is simple, Scott noted that it doesn't account for population size or economic differences between countries, a point of contention for some developing nations [00:12:43.810, 00:13:08.030].

    ◦ Governance Structure: The structure is relatively lean, with a board of 15 members recommended by participating countries and approved by the ICAO Council [00:11:06.570, 00:11:25.330]. Key documentation, such as the MOU for participation, is impressively concise at only 12 pages [00:11:42.140].

• UNCEFACT LOCODE (Code for Trade and Transport Locations): This system provides 5-character alphanumeric codes for shipping locations, like "AUMEL" for the Port of Melbourne [00:07:00.390, 00:14:48.960]. In contrast to PKD, John presented LOCODE as a cautionary tale [00:17:18.099].

    ◦ Technical Infrastructure: The system is built on outdated technology, including Microsoft Access and Google Sheets, which John described as "bubblegum and string territory" [00:15:22.780, 00:15:39.100]. This leads to inefficiencies and data quality issues [00:15:53.730].

    ◦ Financial Model: LOCODE is a free service, which contributes to it being underfunded and technologically poor [00:08:15.560, 00:15:53.730]. This lack of quality and features (like infrequent updates) has created a market for commercial services that build value-added offerings (e.g., APIs, more frequent data checks) on top of the free data [00:16:06.830, 00:16:59.110]. John observed that if LOCODE captured even a tiny fraction of the trillions of dollars in global trade it supports, it would be more than adequately funded [00:19:34.590].

2.2 Lessons for C2PA (Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity)

Scott and John discussed the relevance of these case studies for C2PA's conformance program, which is currently unfunded [00:14:03.330, 00:17:32.860].

• Sustainability is Key: John stressed that a sustainable operating model is essential for C2PA's long-term success [00:17:36.380]. Companies like Google, Leica, and Sony are making significant investments to integrate C2PA into their devices, indicating a substantial flow of value through the ecosystem that could support its governance [00:18:36.820, 00:19:19.970].

• Operational Integrity: Scott highlighted that beyond establishing a governance framework, the operational side is critical. This includes having robust, transparent, and modern processes for managing submissions and change requests, supported by modern tools—unlike LOCODE's reliance on Microsoft Access [00:25:53.700, 00:29:17.130, 00:50:50.770].

• Technology Lifecycle: John added that any sustainable model must account for the cost of technology replacement, as today's solutions will be obsolete in 5-10 years [00:29:46.930, 00:30:01.750].

2.3 Australian Regulation on Social Media Access for Minors

John discussed a new Australian law being enacted in December to ban under-16s from social media platforms [00:31:22.670].

• Age Assurance Technologies: The law will require designated platforms (like TikTok, Facebook, YouTube) to take "reasonable steps" to verify age [00:31:51.130, 00:34:00.430]. John detailed the two main types of technology available: "guess tech" (estimation via biometrics or behaviour) and verification against legal documents [00:32:57.960, 00:33:27.060].

• Future of Verification: John predicted that estimation technologies have a limited window of opportunity (around two years) before they become obsolete in Australia [00:35:00.119]. He foresees a shift to verification using government-issued digital credentials, such as mobile driving licences and, eventually, digital student IDs [00:35:05.809, 00:36:03.710].

3.0 Decisions and Actions

• John Phillips will present the ICAO PKD and UNCEFACT LOCODE case studies at the upcoming UNCEFACT GTR meetings to initiate discussions on governance, operations, and sustainable business models [00:05:58.320, 00:27:51.390].

• John Phillips may propose using the Trust over IP (ToIP) metamodel within the GTR project as a framework for how credentials should be considered and issued [00:47:44.970].

• Scott Perry suggested that for John's work to be relevant to the ToIP symposium, it needs a clear "hook" into ToIP's work, such as demonstrating the application of the metamodel, similar to how it was used at C2PA [00:47:29.030, 00:48:23.400].

Chat notes

None