India
Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP), a not-for-profit university-incubated project, has called on remaining countries to adopt a national digital identity aimed at enabling greater service accessibility from the government to its citizens.
President of MOSIP, Prof S Rajagopalan, highlighted the establishment of MOSIP in 2018 as a not-for-profit project at the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIITB), where more than 60 countries had attempted to build National Digital ID Systems, including every sub-Saharan African country but only a few were successful.
The obstacle for nations is the implementation of identity systems due to the inflexibility of proprietary solutions, siloed approach to digital identity and diverse solutions, as per Biometric Update.
However, Rajagopalan said that the platform’s structure offers countries the flexibility to integrate existing infrastructure with MOSIP technology or build systems from scratch.
MOSIP is currently in various stages of adoption in 25 countries across three geographies where 188 million residents are registered across, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The five countries with MOSIP ID national rollouts are Morocco, Philippines, Ethiopia, Togo, Uganda, Tonga and Trinidad & Tobago while Zambia and Cambodia stand as the two eSignet national rollouts.
Global
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows the challenges that women face in accessing the digital ecosystem, including obtaining formal identification, owning mobile phones, and possessing digital skills.
The CSIS report says women, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, face numerous barriers that limit their ability to engage fully in the digital economy. One of the fundamental challenges is the lack of formal identification.
This lack of formal identification is particularly pronounced in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where cultural and social norms often restrict women’s mobility and access to administrative services.
According to the identification for development data set, approximately 850 million people around the world do not have official ID and women are a large share of this group.
North America
IDEMIA Public Security North America is teaming with My Family ID to launch a new digital ID solution aimed at enhancing child safety. The My Family ID app, now available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play, allows families to create digital IDs and capture their children’s fingerprints using touchless technology via a smartphone app.
The app features facial recognition and fingerprinting capabilities, enabling parents to maintain safety profiles for their children. These profiles include personal details such as the child’s name, date of birth, physical characteristics, and relevant medical information. In the event of an emergency, parents can generate a PDF of the safety profile to share with law enforcement, facilitating a rapid response.
Mauritius
Mauritius has launched its Mobil ID digital identity card, alongside a Mobile Wallet Application (MWA), the tool through which the digital ID can be obtained.
Technology Minister Deepak Balgobin said the Mobil ID represents a decisive government commitment to modernising the nation. “Mauritius stands out as the first African country to adopt a digital identity card that meets international ISO standards. This technological advancement positions our country at the forefront, reinforcing our role as a leader in this new digital era,” he said.
The Mobil ID is the result of a collaboration between Thales and Harel Mallac Technologies. It is a key component of the Digital Mauritius 2030 strategy, which aims to make digitalisation one of the main pillars of the Mauritian economy.
France / United Kingdom
French security consulting and testing agency Fime has acquired the UK’s Consult Hyperion, citing the latter consultancy’s expertise in payments, smart mobility, and digital identity.
Toward the end of last year, Fime became the first European lab to be accredited under the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)’s National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) for biometric testing (“NVLAP Lab Code 600365-0”). That accreditation attested to Fime’s use of standards and protocols in testing biometric devices.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is planning for one million citizens using digital identities by the end of 2026, the country’s Ministry of Digital Development and Transport has announced.
Since July, Azerbaijanis are no longer required to use physical ID cards with 65 percent of the population already using the national mobile digital ID Asan İmza. Starting in September, the country’s largest mobile network operator Azercell started accepting digital identity cards for all transactions in its office by presenting their identity verification information through the Mygov application.
