# Decision Framework for Verifiable Credentials When governments come to us with questions about Verifiable Credentials, they rarely start with technology. They start with a problem — a border crossing that needs to work offline, an agricultural export certificate that takes weeks to verify, a health credential that must protect patient privacy across jurisdictions. This framework answers the questions our operations team hears most often from countries implementing digital public infrastructure: * **Which standard fits my use case?** * **Which open-source DPG platform do you recommend?** * **How do these systems interoperate across countries?** We mapped 12 real-world use cases — from national ID and education to agriculture traceability, and tourism against the six dominant VC standards and four Digital Public Good platforms: **INJI**, **CREDEBL**, **walt.id**, and **QuarkID**. *** ### Resources #### 🗂️ Standards by Use Case An interactive reference covering all 13 use cases. Each card shows the recommended standards, the reasoning behind them, and the key technical and regulatory requirements — with indicators for privacy, interoperability, adoption maturity, and offline capability. [View Standards by Use Case](https://vc-use-cases.cdpi.dev/) *** #### 📊 VC Stack Comparison A detailed technical comparison of INJI, CREDEBL, walt.id, and QuarkID across standards support, credential formats, revocation, offline verification, DID methods, and interoperability. [View VC Stack Comparison](/technical-notes/data-and-credentialing-infra/decision-framework-for-verifiable-credentials/comparative-analysis-of-verifiable-credential-stacks.md) *** #### 📄 Decision Cheatsheet A single-page printable reference. Includes the full DPG × Use Case matrix, the six standards at a glance, critical interoperability gaps, and a quick-guide for platform selection. [View Cheatsheet](https://vc-use-cases.cdpi.dev/vc-cheatsheet.html) --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.cdpi.dev/technical-notes/data-and-credentialing-infra/decision-framework-for-verifiable-credentials.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.