Mauritania pilots digital ID app

Governments are increasingly adopting the digital public infrastructure (DPI) approach to deliver public services. An essential component of this is digital identity. Digital identities are often designed to provide a seamless experience for users which ought to be secure, user-friendly, and preserve privacy. Like Mauritania, this is particularly important for countries on their digital transformation journey, where digital legal identity* can be harnessed to catalyze development opportunities.

Whilst the opportunities inherent with digital transformation are clear, everything from design to implementation needs to be inclusive to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities. In Mauritania, forty-four percent of the population live in rural areas where physical infrastructure, connectivity and public services are limited. Given the rural-urban disparities, it is imperative to be inclusive by design when introducing new digital interventions.

UNDP is working with the Government of Mauritania to shape an inclusive and rights-based digital transformation. Whilst Mauritania has had its digital identity system, the government thought it was critical to further assess safeguards and privacy, accessibility for people living in low connectivity areas, as well as 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 advance the country's digital identity infrastructure, where the focus has been on developing and piloting an open-source, mobile-based digital identity solution called e-ID Mauritania.

Here are four takeaways from the pilot:

1. Establish a steering body for strategic decision-making

In Mauritania like 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 Home Affairs, is responsible for issuing identity cards, passports, and residence permits. This agency developed and manages the national biometric system.

Considering the strategic nature of a digital identity project, its intersectoral nature, and related sensitivities, it is important to establish a strategic steering body (for instance at the level of the Prime Minister) that has effective involvement in decision-making, in Mauritania's case the Ministry of Home Affairs. This body can provide strategic guidance for decision-making, for example regarding 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 for ensuring the independence of the identity provider, as well as establishing safeguards for quality supervision, personal data protection, amongst others. As the Mauritania's pilot experience made clear, outlining the roles and responsibilities of all those involved goes a long way to promoting greater transparency and collaboration. This also helps with identifying additional expertise and perspectives. UNDP's legal digital ID model governance framework provides useful guide rails for navigating a rights-based, multi-stakeholder, governance setup. Similarly, this blueprint is designed to aid the establishment and governance of digital legal ID systems globally.

3. Prioritize stakeholders

The project team thought it paramount to identify and validate the interests of key stakeholders. This included examining various options for a national digital identity system, whilst collecting inputs on their potential strengths and weaknesses. With inclusivity prioritized, the team aimed to develop a solution that would enable the use of multiple digital identities on a single mobile phone, in addition to an identity verification process that works without cellular connectivity. Designing with the end users in mind helps to ensure that diverse needs and preferences are considered. In this respect, thoughtful steps were taken in Mauritania towards ensuring that the mobile-based solution would serve everyone, regardless of their technological access or level of connectivity. By using design thinking, governments can ensure that several verification options are built in.

4. Explore the benefits of open-source components

The pilot resulted in a highly functional and secure solution that uses some open-source and digital public goods. To navigate existing and future concerns, it is critical 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 highlighted, local governance of any solution built on open-source components necessitates considerable capacity building among national stakeholders. The open-source components used in e-ID Mauritania (accessible on MTNIMA's GitHub) proved valuable in avoiding licensing fees and made it possible to combine various parts for the solution.

Moving ahead

Ensuring rights-based and inclusive governance of digital legal identity systems is crucial for their alignment with the public good. In essence, the regulations and standards set the 'rules of the road'. These rules can guide decision-makers on the most suitable technologies for public service delivery, instill confidence in the private sector to invest and innovate, and foster end users' trust. UNDP will continue to collaborate 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 authors would like to thank Soraya Habott, Project Lead, Ministry of Digital Transformation, Innovation and Public Sector Modernization, Mauritania for her contribution to this piece.

*Legal identity is defined by the UN Legal Identity Task Force as the basic characteristics of an individual's identity. e.g. name, sex, place and date of birth conferred through registration and the issuance of a certificate by an authorized civil registration authority following the occurrence of birth. In the absence of birth registration, legal identity may be conferred by a legally-recognized identification authority. The digital legal ID which is referred to in the blog is a physical or digital credential, as well as the enabling process that supports ensuring that the credential is recognized and trusted. Digital legal ID can be 'foundational', with multiple applications - such as a birth certificate, passport or national identity card or intended for more 'functional' application such as accessing more narrowly defined services or entitlements. 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 with no legal identity are often pushed to the margins of society, unable to secure decent work, acquire a driver's license, apply for 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 Legal Identity Agenda Task Force, co-chaired by UNDP, UNDESA and UNICEF, is working with Member States to ensure that more than 300 million people acquire a legal identity by 2025. Join us!

The importance of legal identity is an integral part of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP actively works with open-source software to accelerate inclusive digital transformation in countries and to achieve the SDGs. SDG Target 16.9, which aims to "provide legal identity for all, including birth registration," underscores the widespread significance of civil registration in societies globally. UNDP co-leads the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA) and is the official knowledge partner for India's G20 leadership on DPI. UNDP does extensive work with both DPGs and DPI through our government counterparts and global partners. To learn more, visit https://www.undp.org/digital and https://www.undp.org/governance/legal-identity.