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Digital IDs for Development

Article in World Bank Research News · April 2015

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 Connections
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Transport & ICT

96254
Digital IDs for Development
Access to Identity and Services for All
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Mariana Dahan and Randeep Sudan

Lack of personal official identification (ID) prevents

$
50 billion
people from fully exercising their rights and isolates
them socially and economically—voting, legal
action, receipt of government benefits, banking, and
borrowing are all virtually closed off. The widespread
lack of ID in developing countries is a critical stumbling
block to national growth. Digital ID, combined with
the already extensive use of mobile devices in the
developing world, offers a transformative solution to The potential annual savings
Public Disclosure Authorized

the problem—a simple means for capturing personal in 2020 for governments that
ID that can reach far more people; and new, more adopt nationwide digital ID
efficient ways for government and business to reach systems
and serve the population.

Robust digital ID systems can produce huge savings

for citizens, government, and business, increase transparency and accountability, and drive
innovation. Harnessing their power will require strong political will and leadership, foreign
assistance matched with local incentives, and a supportive institutional environment. Trust in
data security will be critical to achieving tangible results.

Identity: A Fundamental Right and a burden on poor rural women, whose lack of an ID of-
Public Disclosure Authorized

ten nullifies their legal right to divorce or exert prop-

Gateway to Development erty claims or directly receive government benefits.
Official identification (ID) is more than a conve- The expansion of digital mobile phone technology in
nience; it is a fundamental human right. It is in- developing countries has accelerated the emergence
dispensible for connecting residents to electoral of digital identification and the electronic delivery of
participation, educational opportunities, financial services. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the
services, health and social welfare benefits, and population in some countries is without official ID,
economic development. It gives people a chance to but more than two-thirds of residents in the region
better communicate with and be recognized by their have a mobile phone subscription. Over the past
government while giving governments the opportu- few years, digital IDs have become a game-changer,
nity to listen and improve the lives of their citizens. overcoming the barriers to distributing official ID
nationwide and opening the way to digital service
Yet in the developing world, nearly 2 billion people delivery as a key development tool.
lack an official ID. The problem imposes a particular

APRIL 2015 NOTE 13

 A digital ID can be established biometrically through waste by idenitifying duplicate records and de-
a person’s facial or optical characteristics or finger- ceased beneficiaries.
prints, all of which can be verified online, in real time,
using a smartphone or other connected device.
Harnessing the Power of Digital IDs
In Ghana, a new digital national ID system is using
fingerprints for registration. Targeted at the entire Countries seizing the opportunities presented by
population of more than 25 million, the system aims digital ID must have robust legal and technical frame-
to better connect citizens to government and com- works for the protection of data and privacy. Success
mercial services. will depend on government instilling a climate of
trust through such systems, and these in turn require
strong political commitment and leadership.
Benefits for Citizens and Businesses
A recent study estimated that in 2020 alone, two-
Full deployment of digital IDs could put a bank ac- thirds, or $480 billion, of the potential value of digital
count within reach of the 500 million people whose ID in the European Union is at risk if personal data is
lack of recognized ID excludes them from banking. not trusted. Moreover, government missteps in ad-
For social services, a biometric ID system in India dressing trust and handling citizens‘ data can affect the
allowed the first-ever delivery of social welfare pay- economy as a whole, threatening revenues and efficien-
ments directly to all female beneficiaries instead of cy gains derived from all personal data applications.
to one of their male relatives. Pakistan has used digi-
tal ID embedded in smart cards to facilitate transfers Establishing digital ID systems can be costly. An
to poor women and emergency disaster relief. important way for governments to reduce the initial
financial burden is to establish public-private part-
Modernizing government ID systems is opening the nerships that will create revenue flows and ensure
way to the huge efficiency gains in business that sustainability.
come from digital transactions—so long as the data
are trusted. In the G20 countries, Internet com-
merce could be reduced by as much as $1 trillion A Global Agenda
per year if trust in digital ID is undermined.
Recognizing the transformational potential of 21st-
century ID systems for the delivery of basic ser-
Benefits for Government vices to the poor, the World Bank recently launched
its Identification for Development (ID4D) agenda.
Digital ID systems yield gains in efficiency and The goal is “making everyone count” by “provid-
convenience that could yield global taxpayer sav- ing an identity and delivering digital ID-enabled
ings of up to $50 billion per year by 2020. Through services to all.”
online transactions and other e-services, digital ID
systems also can reduce the corruption and theft in The Digital ID program is a key element of the mul-
paper-based systems that siphons off entitlement tisectoral ID4D agenda. The latter is aligned with
payments from their intended recipients. Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, “legal identity
for all, including birth registration,” by 2030. As it
Digital ID systems also advance government ac- pursues ID4D, the World Bank will collaborate with
countability and transparency. A 2010 biometric development partners and governments to provide
census of civil servants in Guinea-Bissau report- unified technical and financial support to low- and
edly identified 4,000 nonexistent workers on the middle-income countries.
public payroll. Nigeria reported eliminating 43,000
“ghost” workers in the first phase of a pilot in 2011 For more information on this topic:
http://blogs.worldbank.org/ic4d/using-digital-identities-fight
that saved $67 million. In Botswana, biometric -poverty
enrollment of pensions and social grants eliminated https://www.secureidentityalliance.org/index.php/news-events/
news/311-mobile-identity-gsma-sia

Connections is a weekly series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) Global Practice. Covering projects, experiences, and front-line developments, the series is produced by Nancy
Vandycke, Shokraneh Minovi, and Adam Diehl and edited by Gregg Forte.
The notes are available at http://www.worldbank.org/transport/connections

APRIL 2015 NOTE 13

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