Experts outline risks Zambia must overcome to advance its DPI implementation

Zambia is at the strategy and design phase of its digital public infrastructure (DPI) implementation, and there are a number of risks it must beat to have a truly inclusive and safe system, two United Nations Development Program (UNDP) experts have advised.

In an analysis, Tariq Malik, Technical Advisor for Digital ID Governance & Safe DPI at UNDP, and Rachel Chang, Inclusive Digital Transformation Specialist at the same UN agency, explore Zambia’s DPI journey, highlighting progress the country has already made especially in terms of national identity coverage which is said to be at over 88 percent.

Zambia became a member of the 50-in5 campaign in June, an initiative that seeks to support at least 50 countries around the world to design, implement and scale up at least one component of DPI in a safe, secure and interoperable manner in the next five years.

The UNDP duo posits that because the country is now at a critical moment in the implementation of its DPI program, it must guard against certain potential risks as it looks to “design inclusive and safe processes, build trust in the system, and actively engage all players and partners for streamlined and efficient coordination.”

Per the experts, Zambia must be mindful of certain technical, operational and normative risks.

At the technical level, the suggestion is that authorities must ensure proper transition from the legacy ID to a new digital ID system, put in place the right infrastructure which can support mass biometric registration and secure data storage and management, ensure data interoperability to facilitate data sharing among public and private entities for identity verification purposes, and then expand internet penetration which is currently at less than 60 percent in the country.

With regard to operational risks, the experts advise that appropriate and sufficient measures be taken in the area of data privacy and security, effective coordination be done in the ID system implementation, digital ID coverage gap be closed, the commitment of stakeholders to the cause be closely monitored, and that staff and other personnel involved in the process be given the required training and capacity to execute their functions.

The normative part of the issue includes getting the right legal framework, ensuring data harmonization among government institutions and making the system inclusive enough to accommodate refugees and asylum-seekers.

While the government of Zambia is already taking steps, including the launch of a legal digital ID model governance assessment proposed by the UNDP, to address these different levels of risks, the experts underline that more collaborative engagements are required as the country continues its DPI journey to transform lives.

Zambia is modernizing its DPI with financial support from the World Bank.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Tariq Malik  |  UNDP  |  Zambia