Identification for development: A Who’s Who

Identification for development, sometimes styled as “ID4D,” is a global initiative that seeks to provide legal identity for the 850 million people who lack such documentation. This means they are often unable to access essential services such as healthcare, education, and government services. A lack of legal identity can also be exploited by bad actors and criminal organizations.

In addition, there are 3.3 billion who lack a digital ID for official online transactions. The ID4D initiative is working with countries to reduce this number and to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Enabling people, businesses, and governments to conduct trusted transactions online using officially-recognized digital IDs is seen as a way to empower individuals, reduce poverty, inequality, and ensure universal access.

World Bank ID4D

The World Bank is a defining driver of identity for development. The Washington D.C.-headquartered organization develops resources and knowledge, facilitates cooperation and collaboration, and, crucially, helps to implement legal and digital identity programs with funding and investment from its dedicated Identification for Development (ID4D) Initiative.

In the process, the World Bank works closely with the United Nations and its agencies, governments, foundations, regional bodies, private sector associations, among many others, with ID4D operating as a partnership platform.

The organization has created the ID4D Country Diagnostic Tool, which assesses a country’s identity ecosystem when requested, and will help with technical assistance and advisory services, analysis and policy, design and implementation, among its capabilities. World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed co-chair the ID4D High-Level Advisory Council, which provides strategic guidance and considers emerging trends and challenges.

UNDP (+ 50in5 initiative)

The United Nations Development Programme works to eradicate poverty and reduce inequalities through sustainable development, and it has identified digital public infrastructure (DPI) – such as digital payments, ID, and data exchange systems – as a critical accelerator of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 50-in-5 refers to 50 countries in 5 years. The goal is to have 50 countries to have designed, implemented and scaled at least one component of DPI by the end of 2028. The ambitious campaign is spearheaded by 11 first-mover countries: Bangladesh, Estonia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Moldova, Norway, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Togo. The 50-in-5 initiative brings countries together to help shorten DPI implementation journeys by sharing learnings, best practices, and built-for-purpose open technologies.

MOSIP

MOSIP — Modular Open-Source Identification Platform — is a platform that enables countries to build their foundational digital ID systems in a cost effective manner. Incubated at IIIT-Bangalore as a global digital public good, MOSIP consists of a modular architecture that’s flexible, easy to configure, and customizable. The use of open standards and open-source code ensures that MOSIP is agnostic to specific applications, programming languages and platforms, thus helping to avoid vendor lock-in. MOSIP is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation, Tata Trust, Omidyar Networks, and NORAD (The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation).

OpenG2P

A not-for-profit digital public good, OpenG2P offers open-source building blocks for governments to digitize and automate social benefit delivery processes. A vision fuels OpenG2P — to contribute to an open and inclusive approach to benefit transfers, aiming to leverage digital technology for government-to-person service delivery. The open-source interoperable software supports secure, inclusive registries, efficient program management, and digital cash transfers, serving as a key component of DPI.

ID4Africa

A Pan-African movement devoted to assisting African nations build the “strategic capacity” needed for developing identity ecosystems. A fundamental aim of ID4Africa is to enable more people on the continent to have proof of legal identity, especially in digital form. Founded in 2014, the organization holds an Annual General Meeting (AGM), which has been hosted by a different African city since the inaugural meeting in 2015. Previous themes for AGMs include “Pathways To Digital Identity” (2017) and “Digital Identity As DPI: Fostering Trust, Inclusion & Adoption” (2024). ID4Africa is a tripartite organization with representation from African governments, development agencies and industry.

World Identity Network (WIN)

WIN focuses on those without a recognized proof of ID, especially minors, of which there are more than 600 million children under 14 years old who do not have a birth certificate or official proof of their identity. WIN advocates for the use of blockchain technology to store information and to help prevent human trafficking. The World Identity Network was founded in 2017 on British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson’s Necker island.

WEF

The World Economic Forum convenes its well-known meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Switzerland, annually with business, political and NGO leaders, investors, celebrities and journalists, among others, in attendance. WEF is “committed to improving the state of the world” and the think tank arm of the organization has produced various white papers on digital identity. WEF has a track record of promoting digital identity issues, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders.

GSMA

GSMA is a global organization trying to unify the mobile ecosystem and unlock connectivity. Much of the infrastructure for the registration and use of digital identity depends on Internet connectivity, and particularly mobile. GSMA’s Connectivity for Good mission engages governments, civil society, and its members to facilitate digital innovation to tackle societal challenges such as digital inclusion. GSMA’s partners include telcos around the world, computing and cloud companies such as IBM and Amazon Web Services, investment firms and tech corporations.

In terms of ID4D, GSMA’s portfolio of work on the GSMA Open Gateway (a framework of common network APIs); on networks, eSIM, mobile identity, data, and security has great overlap. The GSMA was created to support GSM, the technology that unified mobile communications by enabling the first global digital network, which came together in the 1980s.

Alan Turing Institute

The UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. The institute is researching “Trustworthy Digital Infrastructure for Identity Systems” to enhance the privacy and security of digital identity systems. The initiative has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and will work with the World Bank’s ID for Development on implementation of new software and technical components developed under the project.

Caribou Digital

A UK-incorporated company that offers advisory, research, and impact measurement services, as well as fund management, with expertise in digital transformation and development. Caribou Digital has led research on digital wallets and their efficacy for migrants; worked on The Mastercard Foundation’s FIDA Partnership that promoted financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa, a region where many lack legal identity. More broadly, it has worked on research for the World Bank, the Omidyar Network, DFID, UNICEF, and others, on digital identification systems.

Article Topics

50-in-5  |  Caribou Digital  |  digital identity  |  GSMA  |  ID4Africa  |  Identification for Development (ID4D)  |  legal identity  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  OpenG2P  |  SDG 16.9  |  Turing Institute  |  UNDP  |  World Bank  |  World Economic Forum  |  World Identity Network (WIN)