Questions and answers
Is Sanad a blockchain?§
No. It uses hashes, signatures and an append-only log, which are older techniques. It has no token and no mining. A checkpoint of the log may optionally be timestamped with an existing public service.
Is this accreditation?§
No. Sanad does not accredit institutions or certify people. It practises decentralised assessment: independent assessors sign what they saw, and each verifier decides what to accept under its own policy.
Who runs it?§
One person for now: Dr. Arash Kermani Kolankeh, interim steward. A foundation in the United Arab Emirates is in preparation and a second steward is being appointed. The governance charter commits to at least three independent stewards from two regions before version 1.0, or by 31 December 2028.
Does it cost anything?§
The specification, the code and verification are free. Taking part in a live sitting may involve a fee for the assessors, set by whoever organises the sitting; the protocol does not require one. The project has received no funding; see Support.
Can it prove that someone did not cheat?§
No. A chain records what was observed and by whom. Procedures and people reduce cheating; no software can eliminate it.
What are hidden skills?§
Skills that follow from a demonstrated skill through the prerequisite graph. They are shown to the holder first, marked inferred with their derivation, and published only if the holder chooses.
Will matching rank people?§
No. The specification forbids a score of a person across skills. An index may return the set of people who satisfy a query and have consented to be listed; contact goes through a mediated introduction.
How is privacy protected?§
The holder controls what is published, using selective disclosure. There is no central database of profiles. The log contains hashes only. Employment matching may be regulated as high risk in the European Union and needs human oversight and legal review before it is offered.
What if the author cannot continue?§
A sealed instruction names a stand-by person to transfer the domain, repositories and keys. The sunset clause in the charter aims to make the standard larger than its founder.
How can people help?§
Read the specification, comment, build a second implementation, or become an attestor. See Participate.