Why the Queensland Digital License App Project Should Be Used as a Blueprint and Replicated in Other Countries

By Phil Sealy | 3Q 2024 | IN-7477

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Adoption of the Queensland digital license app solution continues to go from strength to strength. Officially launching in late 2023, downloads of the app have increased from zero to over half a million across a short 7-month period.

The latest population census showed Queensland was home to approximately 5.185 million residents. According to TMR (the Department of Transport and Main Roads), as of 2022, there were 3.97 million driver's license holders, representing 77% of the total population. With over 640,000 digital license app downloads, this represents a mobile/digital penetration rate of over 15%, which is an impressive amount given the fact that the solution is optional and has only been commercially available for just over 7 months. Growth continues with downloads increasing by approximately 1,300+ each day, standing at over 640,000 as of mid-September 2024. Although adoption isn't linear in nature and comes in waves, this averages out at one new user nearly every minute. If the project continues on this growth trajectory, subscribers could easily exceed the 1 million mark by this time next year.

This is a significantly quicker adoption rate than other mobile Identity (ID) projects, including itsme in Belgium, which launched in 2017 and in the first 7 months onboarded approximately 125,000 users, and Italy's SPID project, for which the first few years of adoption were extremely slow. The U.S. mobile driver's license variant is very well known, but has witnessed very slow uptake in comparison. Based on public information, the annual average adoption rate only reached 4% in the United States as of March 2024. Understanding how Australia achieved what it has will be critical, as well as using it as a case study to mirror and create similar mobile ID success stories in other countries.

During the procurement phase of the Queensland digital license app project, TMR undertook extensive research to understand not only how a mobile driver's license should work, but also how it would be used by both citizens and businesses. As per any government-issued ID credential, the Queensland digital license app has multiple use cases outside of its primary purpose, namely, to verify identity, age, or address by myriad business types, often used outside the remit of government services and already widely accepted by parcel couriers, rental agencies, pubs, banks and financial institutions, and pharmacies.

From here, TMR undertook a 10-week development sprint, shortlisting three vendors to develop digital wallet prototypes, which were then tried and tested by citizens and businesses. As part of this process, an anonymous feedback mechanism was set up with information fed back to the technology suppliers in order to fine-tune solutions. Once the development phase had been finalized, a select number of citizens and businesses were able to vote for their favorite app, with the final technology providers chosen being Thales, Code Heroes, and Aliva.

A prototype design was then piloted and rolled out in Hervey Bay and Maryborough (Fraser Coast region) to 1,000 inhabitants. Following on from this, the app was updated based on user feedback, and the pilot was subsequently expanded to Townsville to further test scalability across a broader demographic. Regional locations were chosen from across Queensland to demonstrate the app's viability across the state, not just in the higher-populated southeast corner.

Alongside the technology innovation and public and private consultations was the employment of Customer Liaison Officers who became the representatives of the local community. Additionally, engagement with the education sector was undertaken, partnering with local schools through creating digital ambassadors.

During the pilot stage, approximately 150 police officers on the Fraser Coast were educated on how to accept digital licenses and a closed community Facebook page was set up to share experiences and to help expediate any trouble shooting.

In parallel, TMR built out use cases and development of its verifier app to help organizations easily implement digital acceptance capabilities to help streamline and simplify the acceptance process. A Digital Licence Verifier app was developed to allow businesses that require ID checks in exchange for goods or services to do so in an automated manner, breaking down barriers related to storing and maintaining sensitive ID information.

It is also important to note that the Queensland digital license app is the first in Australia to adhere to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards (ISO/IEC18013-5) and is not just limited to drivers. It has already expanded beyond this by integrating the Marine Licence and Photo Identification Card (the successor to the Adult proof of age card), to include non-license holding citizens. Although the initial focus was on digitizing driver's licenses, this demonstrates how an approach that utilizes a mobile wallet can be used to digitize other credentials in order to increase usage and expand use cases.

Subsequently, the app was then rolled out in Queensland. The motto for the Queensland digital license app is "designed by Queenslanders for Queenslanders," which is a very apt description given the fact that they were involved from the start. Overall, the project demonstrates a true collaborative effort with the government authority essentially becoming the intermediary between technology suppliers, citizens, and business, while ensuring at every juncture consistent, ongoing communication and education.

Mobile driver's licenses are one of the fastest growing mobile ID types globally, already being used and implemented across multiple states in the United States, Brazil, Georgia, and South Korea, to name but a few. According to ABI Research, there were 346 million mobile driver's licenses in use worldwide in 2023 and this is forecast to grow to 677 million in 2028. However, the market is fragmented, given that different countries have different technology and implementation strategies, which has translated into differing levels of success. Although the market will retain a level of fragmentation, lessons can be learned from projects such as the Queensland digital license app and reapplied to other projects:

• Prototype Solutions First and Get Feedback: Allow time to prototype different solutions and involve citizens and businesses in the evaluation process to enable tweaks. In this instance, the government body becomes an intermediary between technology innovator, citizen, and business, feeding back information, thoughts, and opinions on prototypes in order to fine-tune solutions.
• Understand Your Public and Private User Base: It's important to understand how citizens and businesses use ID credentials. Many times, they are seldom used for intended purposes and use cases can expand well beyond their original purposes. This is an important step in creating a rich model and used to identify use cases and opportunities. It's not about delivering a digital alternative to a physical credential, but rather creating a digital ID that can be utilized across myriad use cases, and provide a solution for people to transact digitally through an approach focused on customer experience.
• Mobile Driver's License by Name Does Not Mean Mobile Driver's License by Nature: Vison is important and although a government may start by digitizing a specific credential, it should not limit itself to a singular credential type. A digital wallet is a secure digitization enabler and not tied to a specific ID credential type. Any digital wallet strategy should first focus on strong ID proofing mechanisms to ensure a wallet can only house documents that belong to the holder. Overarching digital ID visions should revolve around creating a digital wallet that has ID security and trust at its center, enabling the secure binding of an ID to a digital counterpart, using strong ID proofing as the foundation from which to expand to multiple credential types. This approach will help increase use cases, citizen reliance, and stickiness. Once one credential type has been successfully digitized, the vision should be to expand and get other government departments to embrace it.
• Give the Power to the Citizen: Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) is a big trend and very much related to privacy, giving control of the ID to the user, who can define who their ID is shared with. Focus should be placed on sharing attributes, citizen ownership and control of ID, and using technology to define what is shared. This means that a privacy by design approach should be a core focal point.
• Establish Trust: Regardless of ID type, whether it be a driver's license, national ID, or passport, the value is in creating a digital root of trust, which use can then be expanded into other use cases. Trust and security go hand in hand, further aided by the ability to protect digital credentials with built-in mobile ID verification features such as biometrics (facial and fingerprint) and/or smartphone Personal Identification Number (PIN) locks.
• Recognized Standards Should Form the Foundation: Become part of a larger ecosystem that is growing thanks to the use of ISO/IEC18013-5, allowing the verification function to be publicly available. The use of the ISO standard is underpinning, not just in terms of security, but also in terms of how the ID is stored, how it can be used and what information is shared. The use of internationally recognized standards increases the likelihood of cross-border future use cases and sets the foundation from which digital ID projects can be expanded.
• Educate on All Fronts: Education strategies should focus on public and private user bases. Citizens need to understand how and where they can use their digital ID and the advantages of using a digital over physical credential. Accepting government bodies, such as law enforcement and enterprises, need to understand how to accept the digital credential, what the benefits are for them and how it can break down barriers related to physical checking, and increase accuracy, alongside simplifying requirements related to ID data storage and maintenance.