Digital ID to become gateway to government services: Adviser Rehan

A single digital identity will become the main gateway for accessing various government services in Bangladesh, as the government is working to build an AI-driven Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Prime Minister's Telecommunications and ICT Adviser Rehan Asad has said.

"We want to implement the best and safest DPI and digital ID in the world," Asad said.

Speaking at a high-level side event of the United Nations in New York yesterday (22 September), he said Bangladesh has already started developing the system and plans to launch it within the next 18 to 24 months.

The event, jointly organised by the Office of the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), brought together ministers and senior officials from different countries and regions to discuss the development and management of DPI.

Bangladesh was the only country from the Asia-Pacific region represented on the panel.

The adviser said Bangladesh has begun developing its digital ID and broader DPI infrastructure by learning from best practices and experiences from different countries.

"We have started this journey. It will take time; there is no shortcut. But we are building the foundation for our future," he said.

The event discussed how DPIs developed by different countries can be made interoperable, particularly how such systems can work across national borders.

As part of its efforts to build its own DPI infrastructure, Bangladesh is also working with Estonia's X-Road, Asad said.

X-Road is widely regarded as an important model for securely exchanging information among different government systems.

The event also highlighted initiatives from several countries.

Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, for example, are jointly working on cross-border digital systems, while Rwanda is pursuing the use of digital IDs for accessing government services and verifying identities across borders in East Africa.

The European Union (EU) is also moving towards interoperable digital identity wallets. Under common EU standards, each member state will introduce at least one wallet.

Through these wallets, citizens will be able to securely verify their identities and share digital documents and identity-related information even outside their home countries.

According to Asad, Rwanda's initiative aims to reduce the need for citizens to visit government offices for services such as obtaining birth registrations and various certificates.

At the same time, regional interoperability will allow citizens of one country to use their digital identities in another country, he said.

The event also discussed security, privacy and trust in the use of DPI, as well as how AI can safely support the use of such infrastructure.

The UN's broader DPI security initiative seeks to address security, privacy and governance risks while developing digital systems at scale.

Asad said DPI and digital ID will play an important role in the delivery of government services worldwide in the future.

"The key point is that this is not just a Bangladesh or Asia-Pacific issue. In the future, DPI and digital ID will become the centre of government service delivery," he said.

He also stressed the need for closer cooperation among countries and regions to ensure that their digital systems can work with one another while maintaining trust and security.