NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania/UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20 (IPS) – Governments are increasingly taking the digital public infrastructure (DPI) approach to delivering public services. A key component of this is digital identity. Digital identities are often designed to provide users with a seamless experience that is secure, easy to use and privacy-friendly.
Like Mauritania, this is particularly important for countries undergoing their digital transformation, where digital legal identity* can be used to catalyse development opportunities. While the opportunities inherent in digital transformation are clear, everything from design to implementation must be inclusive to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities.
In Mauritania, forty-four percent of the population living in rural areas where physical infrastructure, connectivity and public services are limited. Given the differences between urban and rural areas, it is essential to inclusive of intent when introducing new digital interventions.
UNDP is working with the Government of Mauritania to shape an inclusive and rights-based digital transformationWhile Mauritania already has a digital identity system in place, the government considered it critical to further assess its safeguards and privacy, accessibility for people living in areas with low connectivity, and the usability of digital identity to authenticate services for the private sector, civil society, and government services.
UNDP is working with the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Public Sector Modernization (MTNIMA) in Mauritania to improve the country’s digital identity infrastructure, focusing on the development and pilot of an open-source, mobile digital identity solution called e-ID Mauritania.
Here are four key points from the pilot:
1. Establish a steering body for strategic decision-making
In Mauritania, as in many other countries, identity management is a sovereign function, linked to issues of security, governance and protection of people’s rights. Mauritania’s National Agency for People Registry and Secure Documents, under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior, is responsible for issuing identity cards, passports and residence permits. This agency developed and manages the national biometric system.
Given the strategic nature of a digital identity project, its intersectoral nature and the sensitivities involved, it is important to establish a strategic steering body (for example at the level of the Prime Minister) that is effectively involved in decision-making, in the case of Mauritania the Ministry of the Interior. This body can provide strategic guidance on decision-making, for example on the mechanism and governance structure of the e-ID system.
2. Support robust governance
Robust governance of digital legal ID is a must for effective design and implementation. Ideally, this is based on agile methodologies and the active participation of various stakeholders, which is necessary to ensure the independence of the identity provider, as well as establishing safeguards for quality oversight, protection of personal data, and so on.
As the Mauritania pilot experience made clear, outlining the roles and responsibilities of all involved goes a long way toward fostering greater transparency and collaboration. It also helps identify complementary expertise and perspectives. UNDP’s legal digital ID model governance framework provides useful guides for navigating a rights-based, multi-stakeholder, governance setup. Similarly, this blueprint is designed to support the creation and management of digital, legal ID systems worldwide.
3. Prioritize stakeholders
The project team felt it was paramount to identify and validate the interests of key stakeholders. This involved exploring various options for a national digital identity system, while gathering input on their potential strengths and weaknesses. With inclusivity as a priority, the team aimed to develop a solution that would enable the use of multiple digital identities on a single mobile phone, alongside an identity verification process that works without mobile connectivity.
Designing with end users in mind helps ensure that diverse needs and preferences are taken into account. In this regard, thoughtful steps have been taken in Mauritania to ensure that the mobile solution would serve everyone, regardless of their technological access or level of connectivity. By using design thinking, governments can ensure that various authentication options are built in.
4. Discover the benefits of open source components
The pilot resulted in a highly functional and secure solution that leverages a number of open-source and digital public goods. To overcome existing and future concerns, it is crucial to explore different open-source business models and their implications; develop an open-source strategy and institutional setup within the government; manage license compliance for open-source projects to ensure effective governance and continuity.
As the experience in Mauritania has shown, local governance of any solution built on open source components requires significant capacity building among national stakeholders. The open source components used in e-ID Mauritania (accessible on MTNIMA’s GitHub) proved valuable in avoiding licensing costs and made it possible to combine different components for the solution.
Moving forward
Ensuring rights-based and inclusive governance of digital legal identity systems is crucial to align them with the public interest. In essence, regulations and standards set the ‘rules of the road’. These rules can guide decision-makers on the most appropriate technologies to deliver public services, build confidence in the private sector to invest and innovate, and foster end-user trust.
UNDP will continue to work with MTNIMA for the next phase of the project, including mobilizing financial resources, developing the system and facilitating steps to adopt the necessary legislation for its implementation. Follow Mauritania’s digital transformation journey here for the latest updates.
*The legal identity is defined by the UN Legal Identity Working Group as the basic characteristics of an individual’s identity. e.g. name, gender, place and date of birth, granted through registration and the issuance of a certificate by an authorized civil registry authority after the birth has occurred. In the absence of birth registration, legal identity may be granted by a legally recognized identification authority.
The Digital Legal ID referred to in the blog is a physical or digital credential, as well as the process that ensures that credential is recognized and trusted. Digital Legal ID can be ‘fundamental’, with multiple applications – such as a birth certificate, passport or national identity card or intended for more ‘functional’ applications such as access to more narrowly defined services or rights. A digital identity system is thus the combination of technologies, systems and institutions that enable these processes.
Eight hundred and fifty million people worldwide do not have the means to prove who they are. People without legal identity are often pushed to the margins of society, unable to find decent work, obtain a driver’s license, claim benefits, or “exist” in society. They are often exposed to extreme vulnerabilities and have limited access to public goods and services, as well as private services.
The United Nations Task Force on the Legal Identity Agenda, co-chaired by UNDP, UNDESA and UNICEF, is working with Member States to ensure that more than 300 million people have a legal identity by 2025. Join in!
The importance of legal identity is integral to Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP actively works with open-source software to accelerate inclusive digital transformation in countries and achieve the SDGs. SDG Target 16.9, which aims to “provide legal identity for all, including birth registration”, underlines the widespread importance of civil registration in societies worldwide.
UNDP co-leads the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) and is the official knowledge partner for India’s G20 leadership on DPI. UNDP works extensively with both DPGs and DPI through our government colleagues and global partners. visit And https://www.undp.org/governance/legal-identity.
The Hassen Teguedi is Head of the Monitoring and Evaluation and Programme Management Support Department of UNDP in Mauritania; Benjamin Bertelsen is a Digital Public Goods Product Specialist at the UNDP Head of Digital Affairs; Jonas Loetscher is a digital transformation consultant at UNDP.
The authors would like to thank Soraya Habott, Project Manager at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Public Sector Modernization of Mauritania, for her contribution to this article.
Source: UN Development Programme
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