About the Trusted Global Network (TGN) for HR Data
The Trusted Global Network for HR Data was set up by Competitive Edge Technology to help create a modern infrastructure for HR by providing guidance and development of an Australia-wide Microgrid Network, powered by Holochain.
The Microgrid Network will consist of autonomous nodes throughout regional Australia to bring the benefits of economic development to remote communities, underpinned by a secure platform that enables employee data ownership and portability.
The Trusted Global Network for HR Data (TGN) was conceived more than five years ago from a simple but increasingly important question:
What would the technology and network architecture need to look like if employees and organisations could securely control and exchange HR information without having to place that information into a centralised cloud platform?
The concept was developed to explore how Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) could provide an alternative foundation for HR information – one in which data could remain closer to its owner, be exchanged directly between authorised participants, and be governed through a trusted network rather than being dependent on a single centralised application provider.
At the time, this represented a significant departure from the dominant HR technology model. Most enterprise HR systems were – and remain – built around centralised SaaS applications in which employee and organisational data is stored within the infrastructure of a software provider. The TGN concept instead explored a distributed, peer-to-peer model, capable of supporting secure data exchange, identity and credentials, network participation, local governance and, ultimately, employee-owned data.
From a future concept to an emerging necessity
The technology environment has changed significantly since the TGN concept was first developed.
The rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence has fundamentally increased the value – and sensitivity – of the data required to support intelligent applications. AI needs access to high-quality, contextual and continuously available information, yet organisations are simultaneously becoming more concerned about data sovereignty, privacy, security, ownership, latency and the risks associated with concentrating valuable information in large centralised platforms.
At the same time, computing and data are increasingly moving toward the Edge. Rather than sending every transaction, data set or AI interaction to a distant cloud data centre, organisations can increasingly process information closer to where it is created and where it is needed.
These developments have transformed the original TGN proposition.
What was initially an exploration of an alternative architecture for HR data has become a framework for considering how HR information, AI and computing infrastructure can operate together in a distributed environment.
TGN and the Holochain framework
The emergence and maturation of Holochain provides an important technology framework for implementing this vision.
TGN is now intended to provide the network, governance and service environment within which Holochain-based applications can be developed and deployed. Rather than treating Holochain simply as a replacement for an existing HR application, TGN provides the broader environment required to support an agent-centric, distributed HR ecosystem.
This includes the potential for:
- Holochain application development for modular HR capabilities;
- agent-centric hosted networks in which participating organisations or service providers can operate network infrastructure;
- network administration and management services;
- local and network-level governance defining participation, permissions, standards and operating rules;
- peer-to-peer data exchange between authorised participants;
- employee-owned and portable information where appropriate;
- digital identity, credentials and verification;
- local Edge computing and AI capabilities;
- migration pathways from existing legacy HR systems;
- modular replacement of conventional HR SaaS applications; and
- new forms of trusted collaboration between organisations, employees, technology providers and network operators.
The objective is not simply to decentralise an existing HR system. It is to provide the foundations for a different model of digital HR infrastructure.
A platform for HR technology modernisation
TGN therefore sits above any individual application or use case. Its purpose is to establish the trusted network environment in which multiple HR applications, data services and AI capabilities can operate.
This creates the possibility of moving from the traditional model of:
Organisation → SaaS application → centralised cloud → data
towards a distributed model in which:
Employee + Organisation + Applications + AI + Edge Nodes → Trusted Peer-to-Peer Network
Within this environment, an organisation could progressively modernise its HR technology rather than undertake a single large-scale replacement of its existing systems. Legacy information could be migrated progressively, new modular applications could be introduced as required, and specialised AI capabilities could operate closer to the data and the users they serve.
The result is intended to be a technology-neutral network foundation for the next generation of HR systems – one that can accommodate Holochain applications, Edge infrastructure, AI services, digital credentials, employee-owned data and other peer-to-peer capabilities as they mature.
Why TGN matters now
The original TGN question was therefore not simply about finding an alternative to cloud HR software.
It was about defining the infrastructure required for a future in which people and organisations could participate in a trusted digital network without surrendering control of their information to a centralised platform.
The arrival of AI and the movement towards Edge computing have made that question considerably more important.
TGN is now being developed as a potential trusted network layer for this emerging environment — providing the architecture, governance and management framework through which Holochain and other distributed technologies can be applied to the modernisation of HR technology.
The vision is a world in which HR technology is no longer constrained by a single centralised application architecture, but can evolve as a distributed ecosystem of modular applications, autonomous agents, local infrastructure, trusted data and peer-to-peer services.
The Trusted Global Network for HR Data is intended to provide the foundation for that transition.