Support the project
Costs known today§
Figures are planning estimates, to be confirmed by the steward, except the domain price, which is a stated fact taken from the registrar's invoice. Where a source is named it is the source as seen in November 2026.
| Item | Planning estimate | Basis and status |
|---|---|---|
Domain sanadprotocol.org |
AED 60 per year | Registered on 7 November 2026 at AEserver; next payment due 7 November 2027. Source: the registrar's invoice page |
| Website hosting | none | GitHub Pages is free for this kind of site |
| Trademark application "Sanad Protocol" (UAE) | 750 AED examination, 750 AED publication, 5,000 AED registration, per mark and class (6,500 AED for one class) | Ministry of Economy fees as seen on the Ministry page in November 2026; to be confirmed on the portal. The steward files the application himself. Not yet filed |
| UAE lawyer for the foundation and trademark clearance | quote pending | No quote received |
| A small log server (later, when the transparency log goes live) | about 14 EUR a month, about 170 EUR for twelve months | The price of a small cloud server as used by a related project; not needed before the first log |
| Accessibility test and native-language review | none planned | Volunteers first; a paid review only if funded |
What a grant would add§
A grant would add speed and independence, not the design, which is open and free. Qualitative only; no amounts are claimed.
- Time of an editor and of a security reviewer for the specification.
- A paid independent review of the cryptographic parts and of the accessibility of the site.
- Legal advice for the foundation, the trademark and data protection, instead of waiting for a volunteer.
- Native-language review of translations.
- A second implementation in another language, written by an independent developer.
- Costs of a first pilot with real assessors.
Twelve-month plan§
Planning estimate, to be confirmed by the steward. Dates are targets, not promises; see also the roadmap.
| Months | Aim | Gate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Publish the repositories and the archive copy of the specification; appoint a second steward; file the trademark application; first legal advice on the foundation | A stranger can implement the specification from the text and vectors alone |
| 4 to 6 | A second independent implementation; invite comments; open a W3C Community Group | Both implementations pass the same vectors |
| 7 to 9 | A pilot with a small number of real sittings and two or three verifiers; revise to v0.2 | A public pilot report |
| 10 to 12 | Third implementer; foundation formed if two council members and a lawyer are in place; transparency log with a second operator | Governance independent of the founder |
Roles needed§
Second steward; editor; security reviewer; accessibility tester; translators and native-language reviewers; independent implementers; a lawyer in the UAE. All are open; none is filled except the interim steward.
Risk register§
| Risk | Likelihood and effect | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| Key person: one steward | High likelihood, high effect | A second steward; a sealed succession instruction; the sunset clause in the governance charter |
| Legal entity: the foundation cannot be formed with one person | Certain today | The free-zone foundation regimes examined (ADGM, DIFC) require a council of at least two; other forms to be confirmed by a lawyer; interim holding in trust |
| Trademark: the name is common and may be refused or conflict | Medium | Clearance before filing; the descriptor "Sanad Protocol"; a fall-back name |
| Funding: none | High | Lean costs; volunteers first; no dependence on any single funder |
| Adoption: nobody implements it | Medium to high | Small specification, reference code, vectors, outreach to groups that serve people without portable proof |
| Reputation: confusion with accreditation | Medium | Wording rules in the specification and on this site |
| Security and privacy flaws in the design | Medium | Public review, a security reviewer, a security policy |
How to help§
Write to contact@sanadprotocol.org. Please say what you can offer and whether you want to be named. Nobody is named publicly before agreeing in writing.