Certificates can be issued to objects that we call 'things', partly to align with the phrase 'Internet of Things'. An example is the UK's MOT certificate that is issued to a car. When the car changes ownership, the certificate moves with it and nothing needs re-issuing because the certificate itself is independent of the owner. Another example is the Energy Performance Certificate associated with buildings in the UK.
On our platform, things have an owner (custodian) which can either be an individual (associated with a user account) or an organisation. As such, a certificate is issued to the thing via the custodian's email address. We use the term custodian because it also relates to distributors in the supply chain that may take temporary responsibility for a thing without really owning it.
Things are created when a certificate is issued to it, but you can also create a thing in advance from the received certificates table menu. If the issuer knows the name of thing they can issue it to an existing thing.
Somethings are uniquely identifiable (like the VIN or number plate of a car, or the address of a building). This makes issuing certificates to the right thing easier.
Things have a public profile that shows the name of the thing, an optional image, the custodian and any public certificates. The custodian can edit these details and also manage its certificates (like make them public or private, etc).
You can transfer ownership to another custodian using the 'transfer ownership' button.
More details will be added soon...