The Mojaloop Foundation has been diligently working to make vNext a potential release candidate, as outlined in Paul Makin's "Process Towards vNext Adoption”. Significant progress has been made since the release of the Beta code, thanks to the dedicated efforts of ThitsaWorks in addressing tasks from the structured list created to guide vNext toward release candidate status. Their contributions include improving definition documents, unit testing, and the deployment process.
Why the change?
At the same time, challenges have surfaced:
- Resource Constraints: Despite ThitsaWorks’ efforts, advancing vNext has been constrained by a scarcity of dedicated resources.
- Refinement of vNow: In the intervening time since the inception of vNext, the previously identified limitations of the vNow codebase, such as in the area of performance, have largely been addressed, strengthening vNow’s foundations.
- Momentum of vNow: With deployment projects under way with the vNow codebase, and many potential adopters showing strong interest in deploying Mojaloop—evidenced by the participation of 15 Central Banks at the recent Mojaloop convening in Kigali—the reality is that new features are being developed for vNow. This further compounds the functional gaps between vNow and vNext, with features like ISO 20022, foreign exchange and interscheme support being planned for migration to vNext, further impacting timelines for vNext’s readiness for production beyond the previously-identified issues around code readiness and documentation.
- TigerBeetle’s Integration: Initially envisioned as a key benefit of vNext, this integration has not been completed, and the TigerBeetle team has now committed to integrating TigerBeetle directly into vNow.
Taken together, these factors have prompted a re-evaluation of the strategy for vNext.
What’s the new strategy?
To ensure resources are used effectively and align with customer needs, the Foundation is introducing a revised approach:
- Feature, Component, and Principle Migration: vNext itself is not being abandoned, instead its strengths will be incorporated into vNow over time. Features, technical components, and principles incorporated into vNext will be analyzed for their potential to enhance vNow. For example, security improvements and concepts from the various portals will be prioritized for migration. This ensures that vNext’s innovations continue to inform and improve Mojaloop. Two dedicated workstreams have been established to oversee this process:
- “Mojaloop Evolution” will focus on identifying those vNext elements that would most benefit Mojaloop, and refactor them for the vNow codebase. This workstream will comprise members from the Mojaloop Community.
- “TigerBeetle Integration” will be dedicated to integrating TigerBeetle into the Mojaloop central ledger, and exploring new approaches to settlement. As well as members from the Mojaloop Community, this workstream will be supported by the TigerBeetle team.
All analyses and implementations will be reviewed by the Design Authority (DA) before coding begins.
- Continuous Reference Architecture Review: Insights from the vNext development process have underscored the importance of evolving the approach to reference architecture reviews. Moving forward, each impactful new feature implemented in Mojaloop will prompt a re-evaluation of the reference architecture to identify opportunities for improvement. A catch-up process will also address recently implemented features like foreign exchange to assess their architectural implications.
The Mojaloop Community will continue to operate a stable roadmap and release programme which adopters can rely on and plan around, while focusing available resources on the most impactful changes. This strategy has been approved by both the Mojaloop Technical Governance Board (TGB) and the DA.
The Foundation is actively seeking community members eager to contribute to strengthening Mojaloop and driving continuous improvement of the platform.
If you are interested in joining either of the new workstreams, please refer to the details below:
For any questions or to explore opportunities to contribute, please contact James, Paul, or Julie.
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