OpenG2P, PhilSys conduct pilot for financial inclusion program using PhilID

Open-source digital public startup OpenG2P says it has successfully completed a social welfare digital payments pilot for some Filipinos using the Philippines Identification System (PhilSys) digital ID.

In a LinkedIn post, the startup says the pilot was launched under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and OpenG2P (Government-to-Persons) programs in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

More than 80 million people are now said to have enrolled for the PhilID.

OpenG2P explains that reflections on the social welfare payments pilot, which took place from July 3-7, started back in March during a G2P Connect event which was sanctioned by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the International Institute of Information Technology of Bangalore (IIITB) and the DSWP.

“The teams of OpenG2P, AICS, DSWD, and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) collaborated to digitise the existing benefits delivery system, and showcase its integration with PhilSys ID for offline authentication,” a section of the post reads.

OpenG2P, as a digital public good, has been designed to be used by governments and humanitarian organizations including support for non-monetary benefits, proof of delivery, beneficiary management, secure registries, and decision-making supprt.

Through the platform which is versatile, transparent, inclusive and sustainable, benefactor organizations are able to deliver social protection benefits directly to people who need them.

OpenG2P was founded by a trio at the IITB as a way of helping governments tackle the challenge of G2P payments, motivated by experiences including years in Sierra Leone when social support payments for Ebola proved difficult to manage. An improved OpenG2P system also helped the government save huge sums of money by removing thousands of ghost workers from the public service payroll.

OpenG2P has also had a partnership with MOSIP, also based at IIITB, in the past to enable governments such as that of Sierra Leone, businesses and other organizations, deliver services and social assistance to beneficiaries more seamlessly.

The partnership also entails MOSIP linking OpenG2P’s digital public goods technology stack with its open-source digital identity management technology, and to support the development of OpenG2P’s technical roadmap, governance and reference implementations.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  financial inclusion  |  OpenG2P  |  PhilID  |  Philippines  |  social protection