Fayda digital ID critical to Ethiopia’s 2025-2030 digital govt strategy: official

A data and governance system advisor at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology has underscored the role of the Fayda digital ID in the implementation of the country’s new five-year digital government plan to go operational soon.

Abiyot Bayou Tehone was speaking in a webinar organized by the Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP) ahead of Identity Day 2024 which was observed by several countries around the world Monday September 16.

The hour-long virtual exchange also featured Dr Joseph Atick, Executive Chairman of ID4Africa, the identity movement championing global recognition of the day by the United Nations.

The new Ethiopia digital government strategy, which will cover the period 2025-2030, has already been drafted and is awaiting approval by the competent state authorities, said Tehone.

Speaking on behalf of the minister of innovation and technology, the official said Fayda, which now has over eight million enrollments, is a key component of Ethiopia’s ‘govstack’ which includes a digital payments system and an interoperable data exchange platform.

“The govstack will facilitate interoperability and the Fayda digital ID is a central tool in the govstack because it will simplify interaction among citizens and make sure there’s easy access to government services,” he said.

“Digital ID will streamline data exchanges as well as protect people’s data during digital government interactions. Integrating Fayda into the digital government application will be a great thing for Ethiopia.”

In March, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, commended the Fayda as a crucial driver of the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy, a digital transformation agenda that will give way next year to the new digital government strategy.

In his turn, Atick spoke about the impact of policy and governance frameworks on identity and the work he’s leading at ID4Africa to advance Africa’s digital and legal identity agenda.

“Without the right policy and governance system in place, ID systems are bound to fail. These hold the key to identity systems,” said Atick.

Explaining further, he said governance frameworks build trust among relying parties and partners because they institutionalize a balance of power which ensures that all stakeholders have a say in the way an identity system is managed.

And with shared governance, Atick says, comes an atmosphere of trust which makes it expressly possible for members of the public and other concerned parties to unreservedly engage with the system: what he calls the ‘buy-in.’

“At ID4Africa, we believe governments need to make informed choices. So, we are giving that knowledge to the continent. We facilitate knowledge exchange among countries without dictating or prescribing outcomes because the continent needs to make choices for itself.”

Julia Clark, Economist with the World Banks’ ID4D initiative emphasized the role of an ID system in building digital public infrastructure (DPI). “Not all ID systems constitute DPI,” she says, adding that for an ID system to be part of a DPI stack, it must be “foundational, must act like a building block and must be built for the public good.” It must also be built around the essential elements of inclusion, data protection and user-centricity, she goes on.

Joseph Biribonwa, Board Chairman of Uganda’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), shared the ID authority’s experience saying its technology-driven nature has helped it streamline identity registration and management in the country.

He says NIRA operates an interface that facilitates digital government. Uganda plans to begin nationwide biometric enrollment for a new generation national ID card next month.

On the whole, the webinar dialogue highlighted the primordial nature of identity and how digitization, through digital public infrastructure, can catalyze the transformation of governance.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital ID  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP)  |  Fayda  |  ID4Africa  |  International Identity Day