Cross-sector

Parties in different sectors exchange verifiable references across domain boundaries, each verifying independently.

Diagram

This diagram is free to copy into your own presentation. The reference crosses the sector boundary with its proof travelling alongside it, and each party verifies independently.

When to use, when not to use

When to use. Use cross-sector when parties in different sectors or domains exchange verifiable references across a domain boundary, with each party verifying independently and the proof travelling with the reference. A sector-coordinator mediates admission through a working group, so parties that do not share infrastructure can still exchange references that each side can check on its own. This is the right pattern when an exchange crosses an organisational or sectoral boundary and neither side should have to trust the other's infrastructure.

When not to use. If the exchange stays within a single sector or a single known recipient set, use one-to-many or broadcast instead, which carry less coordination overhead. If the exchange is a bounded question and answer between two parties rather than a reference crossing a domain boundary, use request-response.

Example configuration (YAML)

pattern: cross-sector
protocol_version: "0.1"
exchange:
  topology: cross-domain-reference
  participants:
    - sector-coordinator
    - public-body
    - retailer
  admission: working-group
delivery:
  mode: reference
  ordering: per-topic
payload:
  encryption: field-level
  disclosure: selective
audit:
  anchor: public-audit-layer
  proof: per-record

Use case

This template fits a sector-coordinator mediating verifiable references exchanged across sector boundaries, illustrated by the cross-sector fraud signals use case, where parties in different sectors exchange references while each verifies independently. It configures the base data-sharing protocol.