Federation
The Federation: Foundation of Hierarchical Trust
The Federation serves as the core governance structure in IOTA Hierarchies, establishing and maintaining hierarchical trust relationships within a specific domain. A Federation functions as a trust distribution framework that enables entities to organize around shared objectives while maintaining defined authority structures.
Federation
A Federation implements a trust distribution model that differs from both traditional centralized systems (where trust flows from a single point) and fully decentralized systems (where trust is distributed equally). Instead, Federations implement local centralization - structured hierarchies within the broader decentralized IOTA ecosystem. This architecture addresses the requirements for organized decision-making processes while maintaining transparency, immutability, and resilience against single points of failure. Each Federation operates as an autonomous trust domain with its own governance rules.
What Does a Federation Do?
In Hierarchies, a Federation provides the following governance functions:
- Manage Trust Distribution: Control which entities can make authoritative statements about target objects, ensuring that only accredited entities can attest to claims within their designated domain.
- Enforce Hierarchical Delegation: Implement delegation patterns where root authorities can empower accreditors, who subsequently authorize attesters, establishing defined chains of responsibility.
- Validate Credibility: Provide mechanisms to verify whether a statement is authentic and originates from an entity with legitimate authority to make such claims within the Federation's scope.
- Maintain accountability: Enable the withdrawal of trust when entities do not meet their designated responsibilities through transparent delegation chains and revocation mechanisms.
Federation object
The Federation is implemented as a shared object that can be deployed on the IOTA network as part of the Hierarchies Move module. The Federation object can be accessed in two ways:
- Through the Rust/WASM bindings API: This library provides an off-chain management perspective for the Hierarchies, utilizing an API natively exposed by the IOTA network for the Hierarchies module.
- Directly: This involves a pure smart contract interface, allowing direct interaction between IOTA modules installed on the network.
Each Federation contains the following components:
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Federation Properties | A registry of all properties with their shapes that the Federation recognizes as valid within its domain |
| Root Authorities | The foundational entities with ultimate administrative power over the Federation |
| Accreditations to Attest | Rights granted to entities allowing them to make verifiable statements |
| Accreditations to Accredit | Rights granted to entities allowing them to delegate authority to others |
The Root Authority
Upon Federation creation, the creator automatically becomes the first Root Authority, establishing ownership of the trust domain. This transition from creator to authority establishes the initial governance structure and provides the foundation for all subsequent delegations.
Root Authority possesses ultimate administrative power within its Federation
The primary responsibilities of Root Authority are:
- Define properties and their conditions that are valid within the Federation's domain
- Add additional Root Authorities, distributing administrative power among trusted entities
- Grant accreditations directly without requiring permission from other entities
- Revoke authorities and accreditations as needed
This initial concentration of administrative power enables efficient decision-making and clear accountability during the Federation's establishment phase. As the Federation develops, Root Authorities can add additional authorities and distribute governance responsibilities, creating more resilient and distributed leadership structures.