2026-10-28 –, LUMC03
Self Addressing Identifiers (SAIDs) provide a decentralized, content based method for verifying the integrity of structured data and metadata. By hashing an object’s content and embedding the result back into the object, SAIDs allow anyone to independently confirm authenticity without relying on a central authority. This session introduces the principles behind SAIDs, explains how they complement traditional identifiers like DOIs, and highlights their advantages for workflows requiring immediate, verifiable integrity checks. Real world adoption at Agri Food Data Canada (ADC) demonstrates how SAIDs can be embedded into schema writing tools, enabling each schema version to carry its own built in proof of integrity. The session also covers the newly registered urn:said namespace at IANA, which supports interoperability across systems. Participants will learn how to generate SAIDs, integrate them into infrastructures, and apply them to enhance trustworthy, standards based metadata practices.
Do you ever wonder how to ensure a piece of metadata is exactly what it claims to be, regardless of who created it or where it goes? Do you want an identifier you can mint yourself—one that anyone else can independently verify?
In this session, you’ll learn why Self Addressing Identifiers (SAIDs) are valuable for structured data, metadata, and decentralized systems. SAIDs offer a simple, reliable way to confirm an object’s integrity by comparing it directly to its identifier, without relying on a central authority.
A SAID is created by hashing the content and embedding the result back into the object using a defined algorithm. Because the identifier is mathematically tied to the content, anyone can generate and verify one. If the content changes, the SAID changes, providing a built‑in integrity check that remains reliable across systems and environments.
You’ll also explore how SAIDs fit into today’s identifier landscape. Centralized identifiers like DOIs provide managed resolution and guaranteed uniqueness, but they rely on a governing authority. SAIDs complement these systems by offering a decentralized, content‑based identifier you can generate instantly. They don’t replace traditional identifiers; they enhance workflows where independent verification matters.
To make this concrete, you’ll examine how SAIDs are used at Agri‑Food Data Canada (ADC). ADC’s Semantic Engine includes a schema‑writing tool that generates SAIDs for every schema version. Through the schema composer interface, researchers describe their data, and the system produces a machine‑readable schema containing SAIDs. Each schema carries its own integrity proof, allowing immediate verification with no registry lookup. This showcases how SAIDs enable decentralized, standards‑based metadata practices.
The session also covers the newly registered urn:said namespace at IANA, which provides an official, interoperable way to reference SAIDs across systems. This makes them easier to adopt within existing infrastructures and ensures they coexist cleanly with DOIs and other established identifiers.
By the end of the session, you’ll understand what SAIDs are and how to begin using them—through ADC’s tools or publicly available code for generating SAIDs yourself.
After this session, you will:
- Learn how to create self‑addressing identifiers, how they work, and the benefits and trade‑offs of using them.
- Learn how to incorporate SAIDs into infrastructure, including referencing them via the new urn:said namespace at IANA.
- Learn how ADC is embedding SAIDs into its infrastructure and how similar approaches can strengthen your own data and metadata systems.
Join this session to see how self‑addressing identifiers can make your metadata—and your work—more trustworthy and easier to verify.
Carly Huitema helps lead the strategic design and development of Agri-food Data Canada at the University of Guelph, a cross-sectoral platform for research data and analytics. Her work focuses on improving the accessibility, interoperability, and usability of agri-food data across academia, government, and industry.
She also contributes to decentralized digital infrastructure as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee at the Trust over IP Foundation, where she supports the development of frameworks for digital trust, decentralized identity, and interoperable data ecosystems.
Carly holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of British Columbia and previously worked in Switzerland with a medical diagnostics start-up. Her multidisciplinary experience spans data science, regulatory frameworks, and project management, which she applies to advancing trusted, decentralized approaches to data sharing.