ICO-TS-001:2026 July 2026
The International Communication Organization (ICO) is a multi-stakeholder platform developing open, neutral, and inclusive digital trust standards for cultural products, specialty agricultural goods, geographical indications (GIs), and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) products.
Our flagship standard, DPP-CQ (Digital Product Passport for Cultural & Quality Goods), extends the digital product passport paradigm beyond environmental and circular economy data to encompass cultural value, quality attributes, and craft heritage — addressing a significant gap in the global digital trust landscape.
⚠️ Early Stage — Draft for Public CommentAll specifications are currently in draft form and subject to revision based on community input. This is an open development process — we invite participation from all stakeholders.
- White Paper v1.3 (Draft for Comment): docs/white-paper/README.md
- DPP-CQ Technical Specification: In development
- Reference Implementation: Targeted for Q4 2026
- Public Comment Period: 45 days (July 6 – August 20, 2026) · Accelerated Procedure
| Standard ID | Title | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ICO Std 2001 | Digital Product Passport for Cultural & Quality Goods (DPP-CQ) | Draft |
| ICO Std 1001 | Global Information Credibility & Data Traceability Specification | Planned |
| ICO Std 3001 | Global Digital Credibility Certification (GDCC) | Planned |
| ICO Std 2002 | Haute Couture & Cultural Craftsmanship Standard | Planned |
| ICO Std 2003 | GI Cross-Border Mutual Recognition Standard | Planned |
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Governance & Compliance Layer (4000-series) │
│ Standards process · Multi-stakeholder governance │
│ Dispute resolution · Certification rules │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ System & Assessment Layer (3000-series) │
│ Institutional credibility · Cross-cultural trust │
│ AI content traceability · Assessment frameworks │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Product Standards Layer (2000-series) │
│ DPP-CQ · GI Mutual Recognition · Haute Couture │
│ Intangible Cultural Heritage · Specialty Foods │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Base Protocols Layer (1000-series) │
│ DID · Verifiable Credentials · Data Traceability │
│ Naming conventions · Cryptographic suites │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
- Standards-based: Fully aligned with W3C DID Core and Verifiable Credentials
- Dual verification support: QR code (low-cost) and NFC (high-security) physical carriers
- Three-tier verification: Quick scan → Deep verification → Judicial-grade forensics
- Privacy by design: Zero-Knowledge Proofs enable compliance verification without disclosing sensitive data
- Technology neutral: Multi-chain hash anchoring, no vendor lock-in
- Inclusive by default: Lightweight implementations for low-resource environments
Existing digital product passport frameworks — developed primarily by advanced economies — focus on industrial products and environmental compliance. This leaves significant categories underserved:
- Cultural products lack digital mechanisms for provenance and heritage verification
- Geographical indications face high counterfeiting costs and cross-border recognition challenges
- Specialty agricultural goods struggle to communicate quality differentiation globally
- Developing economies are excluded from standard-setting and infrastructure building
DPP-CQ fills this gap by focusing on the cultural value dimension and quality dimension of digital product passports, while maintaining full interoperability with existing and emerging global standards.
- Issues: Technical questions, bug reports, and feature proposals → Open an Issue
- Email: Formal inquiries and working group applications → info@icoun.org
| Pathway | Description |
|---|---|
| Technical Contribution | Contribute to reference implementations, SDKs, and tools (coming soon) |
| Standard Development | Join a Working Group to shape the standards themselves |
| Ecosystem Partnership | Become a certified service provider, regional node, or industry partner |
| Adoption | Implement ICO standards in your products or organization |
| Pilot Program | Participate in early pilot projects (tea, ceramics, haute couture) |
- DPP-CQ Technical WG — Core technical specification development
- Governance & Compliance WG — Governance framework and legal alignment
- Interoperability WG — Integration with W3C, GS1, ISO, EU DPP, and UNECE
- Use Cases & Pilots WG — Real-world implementation and case studies
dpp-cq-standard/
├── _config.yml # Jekyll configuration for GitHub Pages
├── index.md # Documentation site homepage
├── schema.md # JSON Schema reference page
├── examples.md # Credential examples page
├── docs/
│ ├── white-paper/ # White paper (CN + EN) — PDF & Markdown
│ └── README.md
├── schemas/ # JSON schemas for DPP-CQ data models
├── examples/ # Example DPP-CQ credential payloads
├── .github/ # Issue templates (Bug, Comment, Feature Request)
├── ROADMAP.md # Project roadmap
├── CHANGELOG.md # Version history
├── CONTRIBUTING.md # Contribution guidelines
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md # Community conduct expectations
├── SECURITY.md # Security / vulnerability reporting policy
└── LICENSE # Apache 2.0
This repository contains two types of content with different licenses:
- Specifications, documentation, and white papers: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Software, reference implementations, SDKs, and tools: Apache License, Version 2.0 (LICENSE)
The full documentation site is available at: https://ico-cloud.github.io/dpp-cq-standard/
- Standards inquiries: info@icoun.org
- Security reports: info@icoun.org
- Partnership: info@icoun.org
- Website: https://icoun.org (forthcoming)
Trust is the most valuable public good in the digital age. We invite you to join us in building a more inclusive digital trust ecosystem — where the unique value of every culture is visible, verifiable, and respected worldwide.
International Communication Organization (ICO)