VERANA FOUNDATION

CERTIFICATION POLICY v1 DRAFT 20261012

VERANA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

Status. Draft for review by the Certification Office and counsel. Not in force. This document becomes effective when the Foundation (in Formation) publishes it as version 1 on veranafoundation.org and anchors its digest as the governance framework of the Verana Certification Ecosystem.

Controller. Verana Foundation (in formation), represented by 2060 OÜ (Estonia, registry number 16853041) as its organizer and steward until incorporation, hereinafter the "Foundation".

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SECTION 1. PURPOSE AND SCOPE

1.1 This Certification Policy (the "Policy") governs the Verana Certification Program (the "Program"), through which the Foundation certifies the competence of individuals and organizations that use, sell, build or operate products and services based on the Verana specifications and software.

1.2 The Policy binds the Foundation, every Authorized Certificator, every candidate and every holder of a certification. It is incorporated by reference into the Authorized Certificator Agreement and into the Candidate Terms.

1.3 The Policy is also the governance framework document of the Verana Certification Ecosystem, the Ecosystem of the Verana Public Registry through which certifications are issued as verifiable credentials (Section 7).

1.4 Nothing in the Policy grants membership, governance, voting or validator rights in the Foundation, the Verana Council or the Verana Network. Membership is governed by the Membership Agreement.

SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS

2.1 "Authorized Certificator" or "Certificator" means an Associate Member of the Foundation accredited under Section 10 to deliver training, assess candidates and issue certifications under the Program.

2.2 "Candidate" means an individual enrolled for a certification, or an organization applying for a designation.

2.3 "Certification Office" or "Office" means the function of the Foundation that administers the Program, exercised by Foundation staff and, until incorporation, by staff of 2060 OÜ acting for the Foundation (in Formation).

2.4 "Certified Instructor" means an employee or contractor of a Certificator who meets the requirements of Section 4.5 and is recorded as such by the Office.

2.5 "Certified Organization" means an organization holding a valid organization designation under Section 9.

2.6 "Certified Professional" means an individual holding a valid certification under Section 4.

2.7 "Curriculum" means the modules, tracks, learning material, labs and assessments published by the Foundation under the Program, in the version applicable at the time of assessment.

2.8 "Designation" means one of the organization certifications of Section 9.

2.9 "Marks" means the names and logos "Verana Certified Professional", "Verana Certified Associate", "Verana Certified Expert", "Verana Certified Instructor", "Verana Certified Integrator", "Verana Certified Solution Provider", "Verana Certified Operator", "Verana Authorized Certificator" and "Verana Certification Program", and any mark the Foundation later designates as a Program mark.

2.10 "Module" means a unit of the Curriculum with defined learning objectives and one assessment.

2.11 "Program Version" means a published version of the Curriculum, aligned with a version of the Verana specifications.

2.12 "Registry" means the public record of certifications maintained by the Foundation, as the participant tree of the Verana Certification Ecosystem and as the registry pages of veranafoundation.org.

2.13 "Showcase and Certification Working Group" or "Working Group" means the working group of the Foundation that authors and maintains the Curriculum.

2.14 "Track" means a role-based set of Modules whose completion earns a certification.

2.15 Capitalized terms not defined here have the meaning given in the Membership Agreement.

SECTION 3. GOVERNANCE

3.1 The Office approves Certificators, Program Versions, assessment instruments and this Policy; maintains the Registry; decides appeals at first instance; conducts audits; and issues the credentials of Section 7 that the Foundation issues itself.

3.2 The Working Group proposes the Curriculum and its versions, reviews training material and assessment instruments, and records its decisions in its published minutes. Question banks, grading rubrics and lab solutions are confidential and are not published in the minutes.

3.3 The Foundation approves the fee schedule of Annex A, the Authorized Certificator Agreement and the Candidate Terms. Until incorporation these approvals are given by 2060 OÜ acting for the Foundation (in Formation).

3.4 Decisions of the Office are recorded in the Foundation's audit log. A decision that affects a Candidate, a holder or a Certificator is notified in writing.

SECTION 4. INDIVIDUAL CERTIFICATIONS

4.1 Levels. The Program has three levels:

Level	Name	How it is obtained
1	Verana Certified Associate (Fundamentals)	Self-study of the published material and an online knowledge exam administered by the Foundation. No Certificator is involved.
2	Verana Certified Professional, in a Track	Completion of the Track's Modules: a proctored knowledge exam administered by the Foundation and a practical lab or case study graded by a Certificator against the Foundation's rubric. Workshops are optional and offered by Certificators.
3	Verana Certified Expert, in a Track	Level 2 in the Track held for at least one year, a portfolio of real deployments or engagements, and an oral defense before two Certified Instructors from two different Certificators. Level 3 opens with a later Program Version.

4.2 Tracks and Modules. The Tracks, their Modules and the core Modules common to every Track are published in the Curriculum. A Module passed under a Program Version counts for every Track that includes it under the same Program Version.

4.3 Eligibility. Any individual of legal age who holds a Contributor membership of the Foundation may enroll. Contributor membership is free for individuals and is obtained on veranafoundation.org. The membership shall be active at each assessment and at the issuance of a certification; a lapsed membership does not affect a certification already issued. Certificators may add commercial conditions to their workshops but not to the assessment itself beyond the fees of Annex A.

4.4 Enrollment. Candidates for Level 1 enroll on veranafoundation.org. Candidates for Level 2 and Level 3 enroll through a Certificator, which onboards them to the Program and records their enrollment with the Office. Every Candidate accepts the Candidate Terms before the first assessment.

4.5 Certified Instructors. A Certified Instructor holds Level 2 in the Track taught, has passed the instructor Module of the Curriculum, has delivered one observed session to the Office's satisfaction, and works for a Certificator. The Office may withdraw the instructor status for cause.

SECTION 5. ASSESSMENT

5.1 Knowledge exams are administered on the Foundation platform, drawn at random from the confidential question bank of the applicable Program Version, and graded automatically. Unless the Curriculum states otherwise for a Module, an exam lasts sixty minutes and the pass mark is seventy percent of the available points. Level 2 and Level 3 exams are proctored by a Certified Instructor; Level 1 exams are not proctored.

5.2 Practical labs are executed on the environments designated by the Curriculum, which may include the Verana Playground and the Verana test networks. Where the Curriculum provides automated checks, their result is binding; a Certified Instructor reviews the remaining criteria against the published rubric.

5.3 Case studies and live demonstrations are graded by a Certified Instructor against the published rubric. The Office second-marks a sample of graded work each quarter.

5.4 Retakes. A Candidate who fails an assessment may retake it twice, with at least fourteen days between attempts. A third failure requires a new enrollment after ninety days.

5.5 Accommodations. A Candidate may request additional time or another reasonable accommodation from the Office before the assessment. Requests are granted where justified and recorded.

5.6 Integrity. A Candidate shall not copy, record, share or attempt to obtain assessment content, impersonate another Candidate or be impersonated, or receive assistance during an assessment beyond what the Curriculum allows. A breach voids the attempt, may void existing certifications of the Candidate and may bar the Candidate from the Program. A Certificator that facilitates a breach is subject to Section 10.8.

5.7 Language. Assessments are available in English. Other languages are added by Program Version; the English version prevails in case of discrepancy.

SECTION 6. VALIDITY, RENEWAL AND CONTINUING EDUCATION

6.1 An individual certification is valid for two years from its issuance date.

6.2 Renewal. A certification is renewed by passing the knowledge exam of the Track under the current Program Version before expiry. A certification that expires can be obtained again as a new certification.

6.3 Delta Modules. When a Program Version follows a major version of the Verana specifications, the Curriculum publishes a delta Module. Holders keep their certification until its expiry; holders who pass the delta Module carry the new Program Version on their certification.

6.4 Continuing education. A holder who documents participation in a working group of the Foundation during at least twelve months of the validity period is exempt from the renewal exam fee of Annex A. The renewal exam itself remains required.

6.5 Program Versions and the dates from which each applies to new assessments are published on veranafoundation.org.

SECTION 7. ISSUANCE, THE REGISTRY AND PUBLICATION

7.1 Verifiable credentials. Each certification is issued as a verifiable credential under the Verana Certification Ecosystem:

Credential	Issued by	Held by
Verana Authorized Certificator	The Foundation	The Certificator, published on its DID
Verana Certified Professional	The Certificator that assessed the Candidate	The individual, in a personal wallet
Verana Certified Organization	The Certificator that assessed the organization	The organization, published on its DID

7.2 Credentials carry the name of the holder, the Track or Designation, the level, the Program Version, the certificate identifier, the issuance and expiry dates and the issuing Certificator. The credential schemas are published by the Foundation.

7.3 Network. Until the Verana main network is available for the Program, credentials are issued on a Verana test network and the Registry pages of veranafoundation.org are the authoritative record. When the main network becomes available, the Foundation re-creates the Verana Certification Ecosystem there and valid certifications are re-issued at no charge.

7.4 Registry. Certified Organizations and Certificators are listed in the Registry. Certified Professionals are listed only with their consent, given in the Candidate Terms and revocable at any time. The Registry shows the holder's name, the certification, the Program Version, the validity dates and the issuing Certificator.

7.5 Verification. Anyone may verify a certification on veranafoundation.org by its certificate identifier or by presenting the credential, and through trust resolution of the holder's DID for organizations.

7.6 A certificate identifier is unique and never reused. A re-issued credential keeps its certificate identifier.

SECTION 8. SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATIONS

8.1 The Office may suspend or revoke a certification when it was obtained in breach of Section 5.6, when the holder misuses the Marks, when a Certified Organization no longer meets Section 9.3, or when the holder brings the Program into disrepute.

8.2 The holder is notified with the reasons and may appeal under Section 12. A revoked certification is removed from the Registry and its credential status is set to revoked.

8.3 Certifications issued by a Certificator whose accreditation ends remain valid until their expiry unless revoked under Section 8.1. The Office may re-attest them.

SECTION 9. ORGANIZATION DESIGNATIONS

9.1 Designations. The Program certifies organizations under three Designations:

Designation	For organizations that	Certified staff required	Evidence required
Verana Certified Integrator	Build products and services on Verana	Two Certified Professionals in the Developer and Integrator Track; one in the Infrastructure Engineer or the Solutions Consultant Track	A verifiable service operated by the organization, live on a Verana network and passing the conformance checks designated by the Curriculum; a documented support process
Verana Certified Solution Provider	Sell, resell or advise on Verana-based solutions	One Certified Professional in each of the Solutions Consultant and Pre-sales Tracks; one in the Legal and Compliance or the Procurement and Tenders Track	Two customer references, or one documented engagement reviewed by the Certificator
Verana Certified Operator	Run their own ecosystem or verifiable services on Verana	One Certified Professional in each of the Ecosystem Operator and Infrastructure Engineer Tracks	A live Ecosystem or verifiable service operated by the organization and a published governance framework

9.2 Membership. A Certified Organization shall hold at least a Contributor membership of the Foundation, active for the whole validity period of its Designation.

9.3 Process. The organization applies through a Certificator, which verifies the staff requirements against the Registry, reviews the evidence against the published rubric and issues the Designation credential. The Certificator shall not be the organization itself or an affiliate of it (Section 10.6).

9.4 Validity and attestation. A Designation is valid for two years. Each year the organization attests to the Certificator that the required staff are still employed and still certified; the Certificator records the attestation with the Office.

9.5 Cure. An organization that no longer meets the staff requirement or whose membership lapses has ninety days to cure. After that period the Designation is suspended, and revoked if the cure is not completed within a further ninety days.

9.6 Staff are counted once: an individual's certification supports the Designation of one organization at a time, the one that employs them.

SECTION 10. AUTHORIZED CERTIFICATORS

10.1 Eligibility. A Certificator is an Associate Member in good standing that employs at least two Certified Instructors covering every Track it delivers, operates a verifiable service on a Verana network that holds its Certificator credential, has the capability to deliver training and keep candidate records, and has signed the Authorized Certificator Agreement.

10.2 Accreditation. Applications are submitted on veranafoundation.org. The Office reviews an application within two weeks of a complete file, onboards the applicant, issues the Certificator credential and lists the Certificator in the Registry. Accreditation is granted for one year and renewed after the annual review of Section 10.7. The Office may limit an accreditation to specific Tracks, regions or languages.

10.3 Launch Certificators. The Office may accredit the first Certificators directly, and certifies their instructors and their organizations itself.

10.4 Obligations. A Certificator shall:

(a) deliver the published Curriculum unchanged, additions being allowed when marked as the Certificator's own;

(b) proctor assessments and grade practical work with Certified Instructors only, against the published rubrics;

(c) report assessment results to the Office within five business days;

(d) keep candidate and assessment records for the validity period of the certifications it issued;

(e) accept audits, including attendance of Office observers and assessments by unannounced candidates;

(f) keep the question banks, rubrics and lab solutions confidential and use them only for the Program;

(g) use the Marks only as the trademark policy of Section 11 allows;

(h) pay the fees of Annex A;

(i) process candidate personal data in accordance with Section 13;

(j) inform the Office of any change in its instructors, its membership status or its verifiable service.

10.5 Independence of results. A Certificator decides on practical and case-study results independently and in good faith. The Office may overturn a result after review.

10.6 Conflicts of interest. A Certificator shall not certify its own organization, its affiliates, or its own employees and contractors, nor grade their work. Such certifications are delivered by the Office or by another Certificator.

10.7 Annual review. Each year the Office reviews the Certificator's results, audit findings, candidate feedback and instructor coverage, and renews, limits or ends the accreditation.

10.8 Suspension and withdrawal. The Office may suspend an accreditation with immediate effect for a breach of Section 5.6, Section 10.4 or Section 10.6, for loss of Associate membership, or for conduct that brings the Program into disrepute, and may withdraw it after hearing the Certificator. On withdrawal, the Certificator's credential and its issuer entries in the Verana Certification Ecosystem are revoked, it stops using the Marks, and it hands its candidate records to the Office.

SECTION 11. THE MARKS

11.1 The Marks belong to the Foundation, or are held for it by 2060 OÜ until incorporation. Holders of a valid certification and accredited Certificators receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the Mark that corresponds to their certification or accreditation, in the form published by the Foundation, for the duration of its validity.

11.2 A Mark may be used only with the name of its holder and only for the Track, Designation or accreditation actually held. A Mark shall not be used in a way that suggests endorsement by the Foundation of a product, a service or an opinion, nor altered, combined with another mark or registered as a domain name or company name.

11.3 The license ends with the certification or accreditation. The Foundation may require the removal of a Mark used in breach of this Section.

SECTION 12. APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS

12.1 A Candidate, a holder or a Certificator may appeal a decision of the Office or a result within thirty days of its notification, in writing, stating the grounds.

12.2 The Office decides the appeal within thirty days after hearing the appellant and, where relevant, the Certificator. A second appeal lies to the Foundation, or to 2060 OÜ acting for the Foundation (in Formation), whose decision is final within the Program.

12.3 Complaints about a Certificator are addressed to the Office, which investigates and may audit the Certificator.

12.4 Appeals and complaints do not suspend the contested decision unless the Office decides otherwise.

SECTION 13. DATA PROTECTION AND RECORDS

13.1 The Foundation processes the personal data of Candidates and holders to administer enrollments, assessments, certifications and the Registry, as described in the privacy policy of veranafoundation.org. Assessment records, including attempts, scores and proctoring records, are kept for the validity period of the related certification and twenty-four months after it.

13.2 A Certificator processes the personal data of its Candidates for its workshops and assessments under its own responsibility and in accordance with applicable data protection law, and shares with the Office only what the Program requires.

13.3 Publication in the Registry of a Certified Professional requires the holder's consent and may be withdrawn at any time; Certified Organizations and Certificators are published as a condition of the Program.

13.4 Credentials issued on a Verana network contain the claims of Section 7.2 and no other personal data. A revoked or expired credential remains verifiable as revoked or expired.

SECTION 14. FEES

14.1 The fees payable to the Foundation under the Program are set out in Annex A. They are invoiced by the Invoicing Entity designated under the Membership Agreement and are subject to Sections 7.9 to 7.11 of the Membership Agreement.

14.2 Certificators set the prices of their own workshops, coaching and services freely and invoice them directly.

14.3 Fees are non-refundable once an assessment has been attempted or a credential issued, except as required by law.

SECTION 15. VERSIONS, AMENDMENTS AND PUBLICATION

15.1 This Policy is versioned. Each version is published on veranafoundation.org with its integrity digest, and the digest of the version in force is anchored as the governance framework of the Verana Certification Ecosystem.

15.2 The Foundation may amend the Policy. An amendment takes effect on publication of the new version, with at least thirty days' notice to Certificators for changes to Section 10 or to Annex A, except for changes required by law.

15.3 An assessment is governed by the Program Version in force on the day of the attempt; a certification is governed by the Policy version in force on the day of issuance, and by later versions for its renewal, suspension and revocation.

SECTION 16. LIABILITY

16.1 A certification attests that the holder met the requirements of the Program at the time of assessment. It is not a warranty of the holder's future performance, of any product or service, or of compliance with any law.

16.2 The Foundation and the Certificators are not liable to any third party for reliance on a certification. Liability between the Foundation and a Certificator is governed by the Authorized Certificator Agreement; liability between the Foundation and a Candidate by the Candidate Terms.

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ANNEX A. FEE SCHEDULE

A.1 Fees are stated in euro, exclusive of value added tax and similar taxes, and payable to the Invoicing Entity. The amounts below are the initial schedule and may be amended under Section 15.2.

Fee	Payer	Amount
Certificator accreditation, per year, in addition to Associate dues	Certificator	2,500 EUR
Issuance of a Verana Certified Professional credential, per certification	Certificator	100 EUR
Issuance of a Verana Certified Organization credential, per Designation	Certificator	1,000 EUR
Renewal exam, per attempt	Candidate	50 EUR, waived under Section 6.4
Level 1 exam, per attempt	Candidate	No charge until 31 December 2027

A.2 Issuance fees are invoiced to Certificators monthly in arrears. Accreditation fees are invoiced on accreditation and at each renewal.

ANNEX B. PROGRAM VERSIONS

Program Version	Verana specifications	Applies to new assessments from
2026.1	Verifiable Trust v4, Verifiable Public Registry v4, Verana Specifications v4	Publication of this Policy

ANNEX C. ENVIRONMENTS

C.1 Practical labs run on the Verana Playground at playground.testnet.verana.network and on the Verana test network, or on the environments the Curriculum designates for a Module.

C.2 The Verana Certification Ecosystem is created on the Verana test network at the launch of the Program and on the Verana main network when it becomes available (Section 7.3).