FB pixel

Kenya’s private sector can push digital identity drive: Estonian leader

Kenya’s private sector can push digital identity drive: Estonian leader
 

The President of Estonia has praised Kenya’s digital identity journey and says she believes the private sector can help push the initiative to greater heights, The Standard reports.

President Kersti Kaljulaid was speaking while on a recent visit to the East African nation.

Kaljulaid lauded the rollout of the digital identity card (Huduma Namba) which started in 2019 in an interview with The Standard, noting that the document is designed in the same way as the digital identity card of her own country.

She shared the experience of Estonia’s own digital identity venture, mentioning how the private sector was able to get on board to give the government a significant push forward, leading the project to great success.

To her, the same example can be replicated by Kenya’s private sector in order to support government’s rollout of the Huduma Namba.

“The private sector came on board and made this development sustainable because the government was relatively slow with its rollout. The private sector sustained us for this period and people did not get disappointed in the digital ID. They got to use it and realised that there were benefits in having just one access tool for every service in the country and also having an encrypted format for it,” Kaljulaid told The Standard.

Just four years after the digital ID system in her country was started, the Estonian leader said banks and telecommunication companies quickly adopted it as a tool for Estonians to access services, not only because of its guarantees but because the government had put in place the necessary regulatory framework.

The Standard recalls that Estonia’s digital ID system has been in place since 2001 and has been developed to the extent that up to 99 percent of all government services can now be accessed by citizens digitally.

President Kaljulaid also advised Kenyan authorities to continue progress on respect for the rule of law and the enhancement of freedoms, conditions she believes, can attract investment and expand the development of digital technology for the benefit of all Kenyans.

The praises from the Estonian President notwithstanding, Kenya’s digital ID journey has not been without challenges. Apart from concerns about exclusion for millions of minority citizens, millions of others are reticent to pick up their produced cards.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Biometrics providers and credentials level up with new capabilities

Biometrics is a fast-evolving field about persistence, so new versions of major digital identity providers and biometric technology companies naturally…

 

Alan Goode offers insights on booming transitional IDV market on BU Podcast

Technology is transforming identity verification. According to Alan Goode of Goode Intelligence, by 2030, digital identity verification will pass traditional…

 

Share less data in more places: inching towards decentralized digital ID for travel

The travel industry is slowly shifting to a more decentralized model of digital identity. This was one of the key…

 

Clearview takes fresh legal hits over Canada class action, UK fine

Few biometrics companies have taken a bigger regulatory and legal beating than Clearview AI. It has already been a rough…

 

Mexico makes biometric identifier mandatory for all citizens

Mexico has officially introduced a digital identification system by signing a law that turned the previously optional biometric-based citizen code…

 

MOSIP highlights the UN DPI Safeguards Initiative

The United Nations’ DPI Safeguards Initiative has released 259 recommendations designed to guide regulators, advocates, donors, technology providers and governments…

Comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Biometric Market Analysis

DIGITAL ID for ALL NEWS

Featured Company

ID for ALL FEATURE REPORTS

BIOMETRICS WHITE PAPERS

BIOMETRICS EVENTS

EXPLAINING BIOMETRICS