# EWC Validator Roles & Responsibilities

The Energy Web Chain (EWC) is a **public, Proof-of-Authority EVM blockchain**.&#x20;

Unlike other consensus mechanisms that depend on solving arbitrary difficult mathematical puzzles (Proof-of-Work) or locking up funds (Proof-of-Stake), [**Proof-of-Authority**](https://openethereum.github.io/Proof-of-Authority-Chains) **(PoA) relies on a trusted set of "authorities" - nodes that are explicitly permissioned to create blocks and secure the network**. The EWC uses a specific PoA algorithm called AuRa (for a technical specification of AuRa, see [here](https://openethereum.github.io/Aura)).&#x20;

In the EWC, these authorities are called **validator nodes**; the organizations who host these nodes are referred to as Validators. To maintain credibility and trust, EWC Validators must be known, reputable entities with valid market influence and/or activity in the global energy sector.&#x20;

EWC Validators have three primary responsibilities:

1. **Securely host validator nodes:** Each Validator organization is expected to host a validator node on the main EWC as well as the Volta test network (maintaining both is critical to have a test environment that mirrors the production EWC as closely as possible). Hosting a node includes installing, maintaining, and monitoring their node while following best practices for key management, regular maintenance / updates to the node host environment, and proactively alerting the EWC community if they identify any potential bugs, vulnerabilities, or risks that can impact validator nodes. <br>
2. **Participate in the EWC Governance**: Validators are expected to offer opinions and contribute to technical and non-technical decisions (i.e. voting) relating to modifications of the Energy Web client, protocol, and governance mechanism itself. <br>
3. &#x20;**Actively participate and contribute to the EWC community:** All validators are expected to proactively contribute to the EWC community in one or more of the following ways on a regular basis: Developing Applications & projects on the EWC; Contributing to open-source EW-DOS code; Contributing to Community Fund Proposals; Contributing to Governance Proposals; Community Building. &#x20;

To view the current list of EWC validators, visit <https://validators.energyweb.org/>