Luxembourg plans digital wallet, Bhutan uptake slows, Ukraine expands capabilities

Luxembourg has created a digital wallet in the interim until the EU releases its own version. At the same time, Bhutan is seeing a modest uptake of its wallet over the past four months. Ukraine is adding new capabilities to its digital wallet as it considers digital ID solutions for the military.

Luxembourg to create digital wallet

Luxembourg Digitalisation Minister Stéphanie Obertin has announced efforts to create a digital wallet – which would include digital ID – for citizens, according to RTL Today. The initiative is intended to be temporarily in place until the EU releases a uniform platform.

Citizens can voluntarily participate at no cost. The government will oversee its security.

A release date for Luxembourg’s new e-wallet was not disclosed during the session of the Chamber’s digitalisation commission.

Bhutan National Digital Identity sees 24K users in four months

Since its launch last year, Bhutan’s self-sovereign National Digital Identity (NDI) digital wallet app has been adopted by over 24,000 users in the four months it has been available. Still, the country has 800,000 citizens, and government officials hope to see more widespread adoption. Its creators consider the app’s issues with biometric verification to explain part of the cause, according to The Bhutan Live.

Developed in partnership withGovTech Agency, which facilitates the country’s digital transformation, the NDI app is a secure platform to store and use digital IDs.

The digital wallet does not automatically grant access to all government services, rather, agencies can authenticate individuals using the app.

The app can be used for passwordless logins for government to citizen services and academic and employee credentials storage. It also integrates with systems such as the Royal University of Bhutan and Druk Holding and Investments (DHI).

DHI CTO Jacques Von Benecke explained Bhutan’s adoption plan for its SSI-based digital ID to Biometric Update in an interview last year.

Ukraine expands Diia capabilities, consider adding military ID

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is considering adding a military ID to its Diia state services app, but the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said in a recent interview that it looks unlikely due to the presence of an undisclosed separate project, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.

“I can’t give any spoilers yet,” he said. “Let’s just say that there could be a military ID in Diia. However, most likely, there will not be. We are currently working on this project separately.”

Fedorov has previously said Diia will not be used to hold elections or issue draft notices, the latter of which is in response to a recent statement from Defense Minister Ruslan Umerov that Ukraine was considering using electronic notifications to invite men to join the military.

A number of recent updates have expanded the app’s capabilities. With Diia, Ukrainian military members will soon be able to get married online via video. Patient accounts will also be available in the app, allowing citizens to more easily access information to make doctors appointments and get prescriptions for medicines.

Article Topics

Bhutan  |  Bhutan NDI  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  Diia  |  Luxembourg  |  Ukraine