Madagascar’s $143M Prodigy initiative to advance digital identity infrastructure

The Prodigy initiative, a digital transformation project in Madagascar, is progressing towards the development of a national digital identity infrastructure. The initiative aims to provide legal identity for all citizens, backed by biometrics, thereby fostering inclusivity and enhancing access to public services.

Launched with a $143 million investment, the Prodigy initiative is spearheaded by the Malagasy government with support from the World Bank. The project’s primary objective is to create a robust digital ID system, addressing issues of low digital literacy and limited access to mobile technology.

The initiative’s most recent update highlights the progress of the e-Fokontany pilot project in Ambohidratrimo, where civil registration is actively underway. This pilot project is a part of the broader implementation strategy that aims to ensure that all citizens are accounted for and can benefit from the digital ID system. The process involves the collection of demographic data, which will feed into the national database, newsmada reports. Citizens will be issued a unique identification number (NUI) and a biometric ID card.

Fokontany means “village” in Malagasy.

A key component of the Prodigy initiative is the deployment of advanced technology to streamline the registration process. Through the World Bank-supported Digital Governance and Identification Management System project, the Government of Madagascar aims to achieve universal birth registration and identity coverage, and strengthen the identity management “ID-M” system and government capacity to deliver services in several sectors.

The initiative also includes mobile registration units, which are designed to overcome geographical and infrastructural challenges to biometric data collection. Additionally, its aim is to address the challenge of low digital literacy. Training programs are being rolled out to educate citizens on how to use digital IDs and the associated services.

Madagascar is learning from successful models in countries like Namibia, tailoring its strategy to fit local contexts and challenges, according to a World Bank blog post. Namibia’s experience with digital identity systems has provided valuable insights into overcoming obstacles related to digital literacy and mobile technology access.

In 2022, Madagascar signed a memorandum of understanding with MOSIP for a national digital ID system pilot. MOSIP partnered with Neurotechnology to provide an automatic biometric identification system (ABIS) for digital ID registration and credentialing.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  e-Fokontany  |  identity management  |  legal identity  |  Madagascar  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  Prodigy (Madagascar)  |  World Bank