Singpass launches digital driver licenses for professionals, integrated by Okta

Singapore said goodbye to paper driver licenses for professional drivers, including taxi, private-hire car and bus drivers, after integrating the new digital licenses in the country’s national digital identification service Singpass last weekend.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that users will no longer need to worry about replacing lost or damaged physical cards as they can easily access them through the Singpass app, the Strait Times reports. The mobile driver’s license will also be accepted as identification to restricted areas in the country’s national airport Changi while drivers can use them for loyalty programs at gas stations. The LTA, however, advised against taking screenshots of their digital license to protect themselves against unauthorized access.

Singpass, which started operations in 2022, allows Singaporean residents to access over 2,700 government and private sector services online. Of the 4.5 million residents on Singpass, more than 3.5 million users are on the Singpass app.

On Tuesday, independent identity provider Okta announced its integration with the platform. Okta customers that are approved by Singpass can use the Singpass QR Login with the Universal Login feature in Okta Customer Identity Cloud allowing them to access business and government services, the company said in a press release.

Singpass is run by the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) which has recently gone through a leadership change: Current chief executive Kok Ping Soon is set to be replaced in June this year by Goh Wei Boon, chief executive at Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies (CSIT), according to a GovTech press release.

Another strategic digital identity project run by GovTech is LifeSG, an app that delivers 400 government services and is accessible through Singpass. LifeSG, which had more than 1.5 million app downloads as of January 2023, announced a revamp of its mobile app this week that included a reorganization of services bundling multiple transactions into a single seamless experience.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  government services  |  mDL (mobile driver's license)  |  mobile app  |  Okta  |  Singapore  |  Singpass