Unlike physical documents, digital IDs cannot be lost, stolen, or destroyed, ensuring that citizens can receive critical support even during wars and natural disasters. Growing demand and emerging technological solutions suggest that the goal of providing digital IDs to nearly one billion people by 2030 is within reach.
LONDON/BRASÍLIA – We often take the ability to prove our identity for granted, but a government-issued ID is key to accessing essential services like health care, banking, and registering property ownership. And not everyone has one. That is why United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, which aims to “provide legal identity for all” by 2030, is so important.
Digital IDs are even more valuable. Unlike physical documents, they cannot be lost, stolen, or destroyed. Digital IDs have been especially important in war-torn Ukraine and flood-ravaged Brazil, where they enabled citizens whose physical documents were lost or destroyed to receive critical support – both in person and online.
Despite these advantages, an estimated 850 million people around the world lack legal identification. But growing demand and emerging technological solutions suggest that the goal of achieving universal access to digital IDs by 2030 is within reach.
On the demand side, digital IDs promote financial inclusion, increase economic participation, and help curb benefit fraud. According to McKinsey, digital ID programs could boost a country’s GDP by 3-13% in 2030. On the supply side, the past decade has provided valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges associated with digital ID systems. Notably, low-cost tools like the Modular Open Source Identity Platform have shown that such programs can be implemented cheaply and efficiently.
But significant challenges remain. For starters, nearly one billion people without digital IDs are spread across dozens of countries with different governance arrangements, demographic structures, and technological capacities. A one-size-fits-all approach is neither practical nor desirable, as ID systems must be tailored to each country’s unique needs and cultural norms.
Governments, which typically issue and regulate digital IDs, also pose a risk of misuse or abuse. In the absence of legal frameworks for a standardized global approach, policymakers must establish robust safeguards to ensure ID systems are used responsibly.
At a time of escalating global turmoil, there is an urgent need for incisive, informed analysis of the issues and questions driving the news – just what PS has always provided.
Subscribe to Digital or Digital Plus now to secure your discount.
Subscribe Now
To this end, we recently convened senior policymakers, civil-society leaders, and experts on digital infrastructure under the auspices of the 17 Rooms initiative to develop strategies for improving and expanding digital ID systems. Participants sought to identify “good patterns” for digital IDs that – if reinforced by international organizations and funders – could help governments deploy and manage these systems.
National statistics agencies offer a useful model. In many countries, these agencies are relatively insulated from political pressures, enabling them to protect data privacy, maintain credibility, and build public trust. Similarly, setting transparent, independently defined standards for the design, implementation, and maintenance of digital ID systems can facilitate responsible and scalable development.
We propose five approaches to designing reliable digital ID systems. First, both digital and physical IDs are more trusted when they are testable, tailored to individual preferences, and designed to minimize data collection. Taiwan, for example, collects only the necessary data for each transaction, enabling users to disclose personal information selectively – a practice known as meronymity – through secure verification methods.
Second, governments must work closely with civil-society partners to mitigate risks and develop compelling use cases. One possible approach is to create public-facing mechanisms that allow civil-society organizations to test ID systems and identify potential issues early on. Jamaica’s experience with digital IDs serves as a cautionary tale. A lack of engagement with non-government stakeholders has led to widespread distrust, slowing adoption and reducing the system’s effectiveness. By contrast, the West Africa Journalists Association has bolstered state accountability by training journalists to use digital public infrastructure (DPI), including digital IDs, to monitor and report on government actions. Other initiatives, such as SlashRoots in the Caribbean and Taiwan’s g0v movement, underscore the importance of engaging with civil society and media professionals.
Third, reducing the cost of digital IDs is vital, particularly for smaller countries with limited resources. This requires an ecosystem of open-source solutions that can be deployed using local talent, infrastructure, and preferred technologies. Off-the-shelf systems are less flexible, but they offer a cost-effective way for governments to implement digital IDs while maintaining national sovereignty and avoiding dependence on proprietary vendors.
Fourth, establishing stronger global technical and governance standards is crucial. The UN Development Programme’s DPI safeguards, endorsed by all 193 UN member states as part of the Global Digital Compact, provide a solid foundation for designing safe and inclusive DPI, including digital IDs. But translating guidelines into action requires practical toolkits to help governments establish multi-stakeholder governance structures, introduce balanced privacy and data controls, and ensure effective implementation.
Lastly, emerging economies need sustained international support to develop and maintain digital ID systems, while civil-society organizations also require training to monitor implementation effectively. By directing resources toward strengthening open-source software, international donors could help foster sustainable business models.
These five approaches can and should be tailored to national contexts. Large countries like South Africa and Indonesia are best equipped to develop customized, large-scale digital ID systems that can serve as models for others. Governments of mid-size economies must cultivate an ecosystem of civil-society actors to help guard against state overreach and misuse. And smaller countries with limited state capacity and weaker private-sector incentives would have to rely on low-cost, internationally supported solutions.
The SDGs recognize legal identity as the foundation of societal inclusion and economic opportunity. We now understand the key strategies that governments, civil-society groups, companies, and funders must adopt to achieve universal access to digital IDs. It won’t be easy, but the potential benefits are enormous.
This commentary draws on insights generated through the 17 Rooms Initiative. The views expressed here are the authors’ own.
To have unlimited access to our content including in-depth commentaries, book reviews, exclusive interviews, PS OnPoint and PS The Big Picture, please subscribe
During the postwar era, Germany's traditional parties worked to establish an economic model that balanced markets with the need for rules to limit economic power. If they want to end their country's economic malaise and help prepare Europe for the future, they would do well to revive the social market tradition.
urges the next German government to help revive the postwar European social market economy.
“There’s a new sheriff in town,” declared US Vice President J.D. Vance at this year’s Munich Security Conference. With his boss, “Sheriff” Donald Trump, openly disparaging America’s longstanding security commitments and actively undermining European security, the United States can no longer be trusted, and it is up to Europe’s leaders to bolster the continent’s defense capacity – and fast.
Incoming Germany Chancellor Friedrich Merz is an unlikely candidate to lead a decisive break with the United States. But an erstwhile über-Atlanticist and fiscal conservative might be the only German politician who can credibly bury the country's economically disastrous "debt brake" and pave the way for a truly independent Europe.
asks how Germany's incoming chancellor can ensure the continent's defense – not least against the US.
LONDON/BRASÍLIA – We often take the ability to prove our identity for granted, but a government-issued ID is key to accessing essential services like health care, banking, and registering property ownership. And not everyone has one. That is why United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9, which aims to “provide legal identity for all” by 2030, is so important.
Digital IDs are even more valuable. Unlike physical documents, they cannot be lost, stolen, or destroyed. Digital IDs have been especially important in war-torn Ukraine and flood-ravaged Brazil, where they enabled citizens whose physical documents were lost or destroyed to receive critical support – both in person and online.
Despite these advantages, an estimated 850 million people around the world lack legal identification. But growing demand and emerging technological solutions suggest that the goal of achieving universal access to digital IDs by 2030 is within reach.
On the demand side, digital IDs promote financial inclusion, increase economic participation, and help curb benefit fraud. According to McKinsey, digital ID programs could boost a country’s GDP by 3-13% in 2030. On the supply side, the past decade has provided valuable insights into the opportunities and challenges associated with digital ID systems. Notably, low-cost tools like the Modular Open Source Identity Platform have shown that such programs can be implemented cheaply and efficiently.
But significant challenges remain. For starters, nearly one billion people without digital IDs are spread across dozens of countries with different governance arrangements, demographic structures, and technological capacities. A one-size-fits-all approach is neither practical nor desirable, as ID systems must be tailored to each country’s unique needs and cultural norms.
Governments, which typically issue and regulate digital IDs, also pose a risk of misuse or abuse. In the absence of legal frameworks for a standardized global approach, policymakers must establish robust safeguards to ensure ID systems are used responsibly.
Winter Sale: Save 40% on a new PS subscription
At a time of escalating global turmoil, there is an urgent need for incisive, informed analysis of the issues and questions driving the news – just what PS has always provided.
Subscribe to Digital or Digital Plus now to secure your discount.
Subscribe Now
To this end, we recently convened senior policymakers, civil-society leaders, and experts on digital infrastructure under the auspices of the 17 Rooms initiative to develop strategies for improving and expanding digital ID systems. Participants sought to identify “good patterns” for digital IDs that – if reinforced by international organizations and funders – could help governments deploy and manage these systems.
National statistics agencies offer a useful model. In many countries, these agencies are relatively insulated from political pressures, enabling them to protect data privacy, maintain credibility, and build public trust. Similarly, setting transparent, independently defined standards for the design, implementation, and maintenance of digital ID systems can facilitate responsible and scalable development.
We propose five approaches to designing reliable digital ID systems. First, both digital and physical IDs are more trusted when they are testable, tailored to individual preferences, and designed to minimize data collection. Taiwan, for example, collects only the necessary data for each transaction, enabling users to disclose personal information selectively – a practice known as meronymity – through secure verification methods.
Second, governments must work closely with civil-society partners to mitigate risks and develop compelling use cases. One possible approach is to create public-facing mechanisms that allow civil-society organizations to test ID systems and identify potential issues early on. Jamaica’s experience with digital IDs serves as a cautionary tale. A lack of engagement with non-government stakeholders has led to widespread distrust, slowing adoption and reducing the system’s effectiveness. By contrast, the West Africa Journalists Association has bolstered state accountability by training journalists to use digital public infrastructure (DPI), including digital IDs, to monitor and report on government actions. Other initiatives, such as SlashRoots in the Caribbean and Taiwan’s g0v movement, underscore the importance of engaging with civil society and media professionals.
Third, reducing the cost of digital IDs is vital, particularly for smaller countries with limited resources. This requires an ecosystem of open-source solutions that can be deployed using local talent, infrastructure, and preferred technologies. Off-the-shelf systems are less flexible, but they offer a cost-effective way for governments to implement digital IDs while maintaining national sovereignty and avoiding dependence on proprietary vendors.
Fourth, establishing stronger global technical and governance standards is crucial. The UN Development Programme’s DPI safeguards, endorsed by all 193 UN member states as part of the Global Digital Compact, provide a solid foundation for designing safe and inclusive DPI, including digital IDs. But translating guidelines into action requires practical toolkits to help governments establish multi-stakeholder governance structures, introduce balanced privacy and data controls, and ensure effective implementation.
Lastly, emerging economies need sustained international support to develop and maintain digital ID systems, while civil-society organizations also require training to monitor implementation effectively. By directing resources toward strengthening open-source software, international donors could help foster sustainable business models.
These five approaches can and should be tailored to national contexts. Large countries like South Africa and Indonesia are best equipped to develop customized, large-scale digital ID systems that can serve as models for others. Governments of mid-size economies must cultivate an ecosystem of civil-society actors to help guard against state overreach and misuse. And smaller countries with limited state capacity and weaker private-sector incentives would have to rely on low-cost, internationally supported solutions.
The SDGs recognize legal identity as the foundation of societal inclusion and economic opportunity. We now understand the key strategies that governments, civil-society groups, companies, and funders must adopt to achieve universal access to digital IDs. It won’t be easy, but the potential benefits are enormous.
This commentary draws on insights generated through the 17 Rooms Initiative. The views expressed here are the authors’ own.